The critically acclaimed indie game Horace is now available on the Nintendo Switch via the eShop for $14.99. Published by 505 Games, Horace is a Metroidvania-style platformer with an emotional and rich story at its core. It has a beautiful pixel art-style that harkens back to the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.
In Horace, you play as a small robot on a journey of self-discovery. During your adventure, you will be met with challenging platforming, puzzles, mini-games inspired by the classics, and those oh-so-difficult retro bosses. Like other Metroidvania-style games, the titular character Horace can unlock new abilities as you progress. It also features full cinematic and hand-drawn cutscenes.
This “over-the-top” 2D platformer offers 15+ hours of gameplay and has received critical praise. It was released in July 2019 via Steam and it has been named by multiple outlets as one of the best, if not, the best indie game of that year.
Horace Developers
Horace was “hand-crafted” by a passionate development team of two: Paul Helman and Sean Scaplehorn. In regards to the game’s console release, lead developer Paul Helman states:
“The game is essentially the sum total of my life’s work and my 25+ years in the games industry. With such a small ‘team’, a ridiculous amount of effort was put into creating Horace. Along with Sean Scaplehorn coding everything, I created all of the huge amount of art, music, wrote the story and designed all the gameplay by myself, so it’s great for our hard work [to] pay off and finally see Horace on console.”
Scaplehorn also added that an indie game such as Horace was a “natural fit” for the console and that he was proud to see the game ported to the Switch.
Platforms such as Steam and the Nintendo eShop have made indie games available to a larger audience. What do you think of this digital age in gaming? Will you be trying out Horace on the Switch? Let me know in the comments below!
