Heck yeah, my favorite open-world indie game of 2023 is releasing on Switch in June

Tchia, an utterly enchanting open-world indie game first released on PlayStation and PC last year, is coming to Switch on June 27.

I know this because Nintendo unveiled a release date trailer during the Triple-i Initiative 2024 indie showcase today, which coincidentally reminded me I need to play through the game again on Switch when it launches. The gameplay shown in the trailer looks every bit as smooth and vibrant as I remember from the PC version, showing the titular protagonist glide through the air using her Zelda-style glider, solve puzzles, and transform into various animals to explore the map.

If you're unfamiliar, I can't at all blame you. Tchia released near the start of one of the busiest video game release calendars in history, buried by behemoths like Hogwarts Legacy, Diablo 4, Baldur's Gate 3, and Starfield. But if you have a soft spot in your heart for indie games that ever-so gently guide you through culturally rich worlds and stories, I'm basically begging you to give Tchia a shot.

Speaking only to the open-world exploration - and there's much more to the game than that - Tchia ignites the same wonder and excitement I feel when traveling to a foreign country, and that's very much by design. Tchia is inspired by New Caledonia, a Pacific nation within the French Republic where studio Aweceb founders Thierry Boura and Phil Crifo grew up.

The culture of the Kanaks, the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, inspired Tchia's fictional archipelago and the music, languages, folklore, traditions, and food you'd that find there today. For my money, exploration in video games is always so much more rewarding when you know it's rooted in a foreign culture, as it also serves as a discovery and learning process.

Anyway, yes, exploration in Tchia is wonderful, but I also love the Soul-jumping mechanic that opens up a bunch of fun new ways to explore the beautiful world. Then there's the wide variety of inventive minigames that actually move or