Five Indie Characters That Deserve Amiibo (And What They Can Do)

With the recent announcement of a Shovel Knight amiibo, it almost seems logical to think that this can be a stepping stone for many more indie companies to gain some wonderful publicity. If Yacht Club and Shovel Knight can create and distribute an amiibo, what other franchises can join the amiibo-verse? Here’s five characters that I think should get the amiibo-treatment:

Guacamelee Amiibo

Juan from Guacamelee!

The main protagonist from Guacamelee!, Juan, is a perfect choice for becoming an amiibo. This acclaimed multi-platform game has had it’s time to shine and gain some wonderful momentum with a DLC pack. An amiibo of this character for Guacamelee! could create time trials or challenges (similar to Splatoon’s use of their amiibo). Those sort of challenges can introduce the game to new players or have fans come back and enjoy it all over again!

Gunvolt Amiibo

Gunvolt from Azure Striker Gunvolt

Released a year ago almost today, Azure Striker Gunvolt is a hit side-scrolling game that received a lot of positive buzz with its reinvigoration of the genre. The game utilizes item-forging as a major nuance to the genre and can be imperative to getting the true ending of the game (without spoilers!). An amiibo of Gunvolt, when scanned daily, can give you random (or maybe more rare) items needed in the forging system. This way, you experience the same gameplay, but with an enhanced choice of getting the desired outcome at the end of the game.

Shantae Amiibo

Shantae from Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse

This half-genie half-hero character has been in the gaming world since 2002 when she first dawned on the GameBoy Advance. The most recent iterations of the Shantae series has been commercially successful as being one of the top Nintendo 3DS games out there. Shantae’s amiibo could offer a major opportunity to customize your character – both physically and with powers. For every level you complete, you’re given certain points that you can use to change Shantae’s hair color or alter her physical appearance (maybe Link’s tunic or Peach’s dress). Perhaps her powers can also change colors or contribute secondary abilities – something that can change the gameplay, but not so much where it offers an unfair advantage.

Steam World Dig Amiibo

Rusty from SteamWorld Dig

Though this might not be an instant Nintendo-related game I still think that Rusty deserves his own amiibo. With that said, I think a major thing that SteamWorld Dig players might enjoy is a quick-respawn ability. Typically, if you lose a life, you are forced to go all the way to the top of the surface. However, if you tap the amiibo, you can respawn at the point where you died – allowing you to continue with all your loot in check as well.

Pushmo Amiibo

Mallo from Stretchmo

The wonderfully cute and adorable Mallo was my first thought when trying to craft this list. Perhaps he could be the spiritual successor to the Yarn Yoshi amiibo and be fluffy (insert “IT’S SO FLUFFY” meme here). The great thing about the Pushmo series is the amount of creativity and design that players can implement in the levels that they themselves can create. The Mallo amiibo could save numerous stages in its NFC – whether to keep it as a favorite of yours, one of your best creations, or simply levels you want to show off to your friend without the QR code). This could bring about a new wave of excitement to the series and even usher a new iteration in the future!

So here are my thoughts on some indie games that deserve some amiibo love. What do you think? Any game I missed or oversold? Let’s hear your thoughts below!


Follow Harry Loizides, an Executive Editor, through his life of video games, obstacle races, and other adventures with Instagram, Twitter, and IGN.

*Shantae photo adapted from the art done by an artist from Deviant Art.

*Note that Pushmo is not actually an indie game, but from a first-party company by Nintendo. I apologize for any confusion or misinformation.

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