After the death of Xbox Live Arcade and the birth of cozy gaming, Nintendo has carved itself a niche in the market as the go-to company for console indie gaming. It started with the Wii U, supporting titles like The Binding of Isaac Rebirth, Shovel Knight, and SteamWorld Heist, and only expanded its indie offerings with the Nintendo Switch.
Since the majority of indie games don't rely on state-of-the-art graphics, the Nintendo Switch 2's beefed-up resolution and processing power aren't a huge boon for the industry, but the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the Switch successor's mouse controls are game-changing for console indies. The Switch has already mastered indie games with controller support, but what about mouse-reliant titles?
I love indies with old-school mechanics, like point-and-click games and visual novels, but playing them with a joystick is incredibly frustrating. Controlling a cursor with a joystick to search for things creates a mild disconnect in my brain that I don't experience when I use a mouse on my PC for the same kind of game. Given how strange and thin the Joy-Con 2 is as a mouse, I can hear some of you screaming that this will be just as uncomfortable, but now that we know the Switch 2 can use USB mice thanks to Koei Tecmo's Nobunaga's Ambition Awakening video, I'm hoping this is the start of a bright future for indie games on the Nintendo Switch 2.
Another genre that suffers from the joystick and buttons problem is the UIRPG. Coined by Polygon alumni Chris Plante, Russ Frushtick, and Griffin and Justin McElroy on their podcast The Besties, UIRPG stands for 'user interface role-playing game', and encompasses any game that emulates an existing system. For example, Emily Is Away is a story framed by a simulated version of Windows XP and AIM. UIRPGs are huge in the indie space because they're story-rich while not being graphics-intensive, making them a lot more accessible to developers.
Part of the reason why UIRPGs work well is that they're immersive. Playing Emily Is Away or Hypnospace Outlaw on a PC feels natural and intuitive, but as soon as you translate that experience to a console with controller inputs, the mental disconnect rears its head. Although a Nintendo Switch 2 will never be the same as a tower computer, I believe that switching from joystick navigation to mouse controls will make these kinds of games shine on the console even more than they already do, purely due to immersion.
But why, you might be thinking, would someone choose to play these games on the Nintendo Switch 2 instead of PC? There are a few reasons, but it mostly comes down to financial accessibility. These days, if you want to invest in a pre-built gaming PC that will last you a few years and has a decent level of storage, it'll set you back anywhere from $900 - $1.2k. Sure, you can get it cheaper if you build it yourself, but that requires extra technical knowledge (and guts). While the Nintendo Switch 2's price varies depending on where you are, it's still roughly half the cost of a decent PC.
Then, there's the portability and the game catalogue. If you've looked in detail at the Nintendo Switch 2 vs the Steam Deck OLED, you'll know that the Switch successor is significantly lighter and thinner than Valve's upgraded handheld. If I want something portable to play Hypnospace Outlaw or Needy Streamer Overload on, the Nintendo Switch 2 really is the most convenient option, whether you're using the Joy-Con 2s as mice or bringing your own. Yes, we can't ignore the fact that you can use a mouse on the Steam Deck as well, but while a lot of the best Steam Deck games are indie bangers, the Switch 2 combines these hidden gems with a ton of exclusive titles.
Although there's been a marked shift towards Steam Deck use in the indie and cozy gaming communities, I think the Switch and, therefore, the Switch 2, will always have the upper hand in these spaces. The addition of mouse controls, especially with USB mouse support, opens up new doors for the few genres of indie games that don't click as intuitively with the Switch's current control scheme. I hope that Nintendo opens up this feature to indie devs when porting games to the console, so I can pretend my sleek little handheld is a tiny PC while I play my favorite UIRPGs.
If you're as excited as we are for the Switch 2's launch, make sure you check out our Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on to see how we found our time with the console. There are also tons of other games that we're hoping get Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades, and we think you'll be inclined to agree.