In our last post about games developed in different countries, we focused on Indonesian companies. This time we decided to highlight games originating from Brazil! Let’s check it out!

Some Background

A República Federativa do Brasil – or the Federative Republic of Brazil – is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of area, and the sixth in terms of its population, with around 215,000,000 people. Brazilian Portuguese is very much the dominant language in the country; European Portuguese itself was first introduced in Brazil in the sixteenth century. The Portuguese claimed Brazil in 1500. Over 300 years later, the Portuguese royal court fled Portugal to escape from an impending invasion by Napoleonic soldiers. They stayed in Brazil for a little over a decade until political issues back home required the Prince Regent to return. The transfer of the Portuguese royal court resulted in a variety of factors that led to Brazil declaring independence from Portugal in 1822. Portugal’s heir to the throne at the time, who remained behind in Brazil, supported this move. He had grown up in Brazil since fleeing Portugal at age nine, seemingly identifying more as Brazilian, and his position as the heir to the Portuguese throne also seemed to smooth over issues with the Portuguese. He was crowned the first Brazilian emperor shortly after independence.

Portugal and Brazil now have very different forms of Portuguese. Brazil had a multitude of foreign words that entered their language. While both may have a more or less standardized spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, and different meanings have apparently split to the point that it may be easier for Brazilians to understand Spanish language films better than films from Portugal. Italian, German, Japanese, and Spanish speaking immigrants all contributed to some of Brazilian Portuguese’s differences, and some of the biggest differences may be traced to contact with indigenous groups in Brazil. The Tupian/Tupí-Guarani people have apparently contributed thousands of different words and expressions to Brazilian Portuguese, as well as changing the enunciation and speech patterns used in contrast with European Portuguese.

Nearly one-third of the Brazilian population games, and it’s an incredibly large market – a localization blog indicated that the Brazilian gaming market is the fifteenth largest in the world! (It’s number one in South America.)

The Switch console did not make it to Brazil until 2020, but there are some great games for the Switch that have come out of Brazil!

Vamos Jogar! Let’s Play!

Songs for a Hero: Definitive Edition

We reviewed Songs for a Hero: Definitive Edition last year, and really enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorite games of 2021. It’s a musically narrated platformer from the Castro Brothers and Dumativa Game Studios, and it’s one of the most creative games I’ve ever played.

In Songs for a Hero: Definitive Edition, your character will narrate his movements (controlled by you) in the form of rhyming songs. It is cleverly written and works well in English and Brazilian Portuguese! If you enjoy platformers, music, and wordplay, I’d highly recommend that you check this out!

Mad Mimic Interactive

Mad Mimic Interactive is a developer based in São Paulo, Brazil, and they’ve brought several games to Switch! Let’s take a look!

Dandy Ace

Dandy Ace is an action rogue-lite with card-based gameplay. Take advantage of permanent upgrades for each attempt at defeating the Green-Eyed Illusionist, who has trapped you in a cursed mirror! 😱

In order to succeed in your escape attempts, you’ll need to change up your card builds – there are more than a thousand different possibilities, so there’s a lot to work with! I like the look of this one a lot because it seems just…dandy. 😉

No Heroes Here

Mad Mimic also developed and published No Heroes Here, a co-op tower defense game with different difficulty options as well as different gameplay methods. Play by yourself in single player, or play with up to three other players locally or online! Do you have what it takes to defend your castle?

Monica e a Guarda dos Coelhos

Monica e a Guarda dos Coelhos, or Monica & The Rabbit Guard according to Google Translate, is a couch co-op game that allows one to four players to play as one of many heroes from the Brazilian series Monica and Friends. You’ll shoot magical bunnies out of cannons to destroy your enemies and defend your castle.

More Neat Games From Brazilian Developers!

Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition

Long Hat House brought this 2D metroidvania platformer to Switch in 2018. They expanded on the original release of Dandara, adding three new areas, new powers and music, another boss battle, and even a secret ending!

As the titular heroine Dandara, you will jump around the world of Salt, solving puzzles, discovering secrets, and attempting to rise up on behalf of the oppressed. With either touchscreen or Joy-Con input, Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition seems pretty accessible, and it sounds fascinating!

UNSIGHTED

As Alma the Automaton, you must save yourself and your friends from becoming uncontrollable killing machines called the Unsighted – Anima, the resource used to make the Automatons sentient (and not mindless killers), is running out. You’ll have to decide who to save and who to take Anima from in order to keep yourself alive.

Choice seems to be a very important aspect of UNSIGHTED, from who you choose to save to your preferred gameplay style. Upgrade Alma with different chips that you craft, and experiment with different builds as well as weapons! And you don’t have to do this alone – you can bring a friend with you through co-op features! There are boss rush and dungeon raid modes, and the multiple endings sound exciting!

Kaze and the Wild Masks

As Kaze, unleash the powers of the tiger, eagle, lizard, and shark by using the “Wild Masks”! You’ll need those powers to save your friend in this nineties inspired platformer. Complete thirty main levels with fifty different bonus levels! I think this looks really cute and fun, and it’s on sale until the 17th!

Wind Peaks

Wind Peaks is a hidden object game in which you and your fellow scouts will try to find items on a map. With ten hand drawn levels in a cute “cartoony” style, you can enjoy this relaxing and casual game and watch cutscenes triggered by the discovery of the items on the treasure map.

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight + Minoria

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is an action platformer game from developer Bombservice in which you play as priestess Kaho, who wants to lift the curse plaguing the land. On your way to the castle, you’ll battle different monsters and bosses. The game offers different difficulty levels to help you out if you aren’t quite as good at dodging or chaining combos (like me!). There’s item customization and the game also includes world-building lore!

The “Sacred Office” is leading a witch hunt to crush those who do not conform to the Church’s standards. Inspired by historical events in medieval Europe, Minoria has you play as Sister Semilla, who will attempt to destroy the heretics. Minoria is described as a spiritual sequel to the Momodora series, and also offers difficulty options in this action platformer.

Sky Racket

Sky Racket is described as the world’s first “Shmup Breaker,” meaning that it is the first game to combine shoot ‘em up game elements with those of block breaker games! You can play as either RacketBoy or RacketGirl, and regardless of who you play as, you will be chosen by the Capybara Goddess to save the galaxy!

Dodge projectiles that enemies shoot at you, and send them right back to break blocks and the bad guys! Play by yourself or with co-op options, enjoy the pixel art and zany aspects of the game, and learn how to creatively use your enemies’ attacks against them.

Tetragon

Solve puzzles to make your way through a labyrinth of different realities in the world of Tetragon. As the lumberjack Lucios, you’ll use a power called TetraGen to rotate and manipulate the environment to explore reality and attempt to find Lucios’ son! There are over 40 different levels for you to enjoy in this 2D puzzle game.

Horizon Chase Turbo

Horizon Chase Turbo is a racing game influenced by Out Run, Top Gear, Rush, and more. There are a variety of different conditions for you to drive in, with features like time attack modes, different weather conditions, and mirrored tracks. You can apparently even drive through a volcanic eruption, which I haven’t seen before in a racing game! 🌋 The game offers single player and split screen multiplayer modes.

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues

Play as Daniel and his students at Miyagi-Do Karate, or play as Johnny and his students at Cobra Kai. As one of the eight playable characters, play through 28 missions set in Los Angeles and punch your way to victory; completing both the Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai sides of the story will allow you to experience the game’s ultimate ending! Cobra Kai even features voice acting from the movie/show’s cast to help create a more immersive experience!

Community Inc

Build and manage a community with the help of “Lings,” who will work according to your commands. Develop buildings and the items inside or around them – with more than 150 craftable items, you’ll have plenty of different item effects to experiment with. Keep your “Ling” workers happy, clothed, and fed, because unhappy workers can result in the village you’ve worked so hard on literally going up in flames! Deal with other races and their villages, and decide if you want to fight or trade with them.

QUByte Interactive

As of today, the eShop has 66 games from Brazilian game developer QUByte Interactive. For the sake of brevity, we won’t be adding all 66 games in this article and will only include two of them in detail:

99Vidas – Definitive Edition

99Vidas – Definitive Edition is a brawler game that aims to pay tribute to the 80’s and 90’s while also incorporating modern elements. The game differentiates itself by having multiple endings, the ability to level up characters and upgrade their abilities, and having characters with different elemental alignments. There are 11 different characters to choose from, and you can play as a single player or with up to three other people in either local or online play.

Milli & Greg

Developed by 2ndBoss and published by QUByte, Milli and Greg is a platformer in which you play as Milli, whose cat has gone missing. You’ll have to platform your way through about 100 stages to try to find your kitty – and cats sure like to make themselves hard to reach! It looks like you’ll have to dodge spikes to get to your cat here though! 😱

Behold Studios

Behold Studios, a developer from Brasília that was founded in 2009, has also brought several of their games to Switch:

Chroma Squad

Inspired by the Power Rangers, Chroma Squad is a tactical RPG in which you control five stunt actors who quit their jobs to start their own show inspired by the Power Rangers. You’ll cast actors, buy equipment, props, and upgrades for the studio, and then film episodes for the show!

Control your Power Rangers Chroma Squad in turn based tactical battles to get the best shot for the episodes you film! The premise for this game is bizarre in the best way possible, and you can even customize your characters with skill trees and crafting. There are even three different endings!

Out of Space: Couch Edition

Out of Space: Couch Edition is an intriguing local co-op multiplayer game in which you move into a house in outer space with some friends. You’ll have to manage procedurally generated spaceship houses, planning how to acquire resources, keeping things clean, fending off alien attackers, and more.

You can expand your home, tend to your gardens, and even adopt some dogs! (Can we pet them? 🤔 🐶) The game can be played in single player or multiplayer modes, and has missions to help guide you through the game. Out of Space doesn’t seem like any of the games I’ve seen before, so I plan on checking it out when I can!

Upcoming Games From Brazil

Wolfstride

It looks like Raw Fury will be publishing Ota Imon’s Wolfstride on Switch at some point – according to info on Raw Fury’s website. The game will have you battle in a giant mecha tournament. You’ll have to deal with hand-me-down equipment, do whatever jobs that pay the bills, and use some of the money you earn to upgrade your mecha. It sure looks interesting so I can’t wait to see more!

That’s all for now – we hope you enjoyed this look at some of the creative games coming out of Brazil! We plan on writing more of these articles in the future, so look forward to those!