So you finally got a Nintendo Switch, just in time for Nintendo to start hinting that the Switch 2 is dropping sometime next year. Well, don’t fret—being behind the gaming curve can be a good thing!
You might feel like you’re years late to the game, but actually, you’re lucky: You’ve got eight years' worth of catching up to do, and the Switch library is one of the best in gaming history—particularly if you look beyond beloved first-party properties like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon to the massive library of indie titles available for download with a single click. (And usually for a great price—especially if you wait for a good sale.)
Here are 30 of the best to get you started—from platformers, to puzzle games, to RPGs. And you’re only scratching the surface.
Animal Well
IGN rating: 9
ESRB rating: E (mild fantasy violence)
This just-released puzzle platformer has already garnered rave reviews, if not instant classic status. It's an ingenious twist on the "metroidvania" format: You play as a nondescript blob wandering a darkened forest atmosphere, and your only goal (at first, anyway) is to figure out how to progress to the next screen by solving increasingly complex environmental puzzles. That all sounds simple (and familiar) enough, but what sets Animal Well apart is its singular atmosphere (the pixel graphics are deceptively simple), excellent and ever-changing play mechanics, and quirky sense of humor.
Buy it digitally (24.99)
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
IGN rating: 10
ESRB rating: M 17+ (blood, sexual themes, strong language, use of drugs, violence)
A cross between a role playing game and an interactive novel, Disco Elysium is as difficult to describe as it is to get out of your head once you've started wandering down its myriad winding narrative rabbit holes. You play as a detective who has lost your memory and must navigate a fictional seaside city still recovering from a war years in the past. Through conversations with NPCs that involving branching conversational choices, you come to learn more about your past and discover your place in a strange world where reality (or your sanity) are less than reliable. This isn't a game for people who love a lot of action and combat, but it is unmatched as an example of interactive storytelling.
Buy it digitally ($39.99) | Buy a physical copy ($25.50)
Yoku's Island Express
IGN rating: 8
ESRB rating: E 10+ (animated blood, crude humor, fantasy violence)
This zany platformer combines metroidvania exploration with a unique pinball-based movement mechanic, and a healthy dose of physics, creating a frenetic experience that recalls early Sonic the Hedgehog games. You play as the titular Yoku, a dung beetle who arrives on the island of Mokumana to take on the job of postmaster. In between making deliveries and exploring, you're pulled into an adventure to save the island from a threat facing its resident deity. Moving around is a bit of a challenge, as instead of jumping, you use the shoulder buttons to activate pinball-like levers to propel you around each screen—and some mini-levels even have the feel of playing a traditional pinball game. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of the movement, it's great fun to zip around the map (which you'll be doing a lot of; the game has drawn mild criticism for the amount of backtracking you'll need to do).
Buy it digitally ($19.99)
Undertale
IGN rating: 10
ESRB rating: E 10+ (fantasy violence, mild language, use of tobacco, mild blood)
If you loved Earthbound on SNES back in the early 1990s, consider this quirky indie RPG its spiritual successor. You play as a human trapped in a monster-filled dungeon. On one level, it's a traditional dodging-based RPG, albeit it with a cutesy, throwback pixelated art style and joke-filled dialogue. But go deeper and you'll find it's also a meta-commentary on the medium of video games and the philosophical implications of the choices you make as you play. Not only will your game change based on the perceived morality of the choices you make (for example, you can choose to make a "pacifist run" and strive not to kill any of the monsters that attack you), but if you make a mistake and attempt to go back to correct it, the game will know you're attempting a do-over and comment on it. Instead of fighting monsters, you have the option to talk to them, and find out what they want out of life—even give them hugs. It was solely created by developer Toby Fox, and reflects a singular (deeply offbeat) vision.
Buy it digitally ($14.99) | Buy a physical copy ($39.99)
A Short Hike
IGN user rating: 8.2
ESRB rating: E
Created by Canadian developer Adam Robinson-Yu, A Short Hike has the gentle vibes and gorgeous natural setting you'd expect in an adventure/walking simulator from our neighbors to the north. You play as a young bird who needs to climb to the top of the mountain to get cell phone reception to call home (relatable), and getting there involves solving a succession of environmental and physics-based puzzles, as well as a bit of exploration and item-collecting. There are no enemies and you can't die, making it a good choice if you're looking for a cozy, relaxing escape from the modern world.
Buy it digitally ($7.99)
Pentiment
IGN rating: 10
ESRB rating: M 17+ (blood and gore, violence, strong language, sexual themes)
Originally an Xbox exclusive, this unique role-playing game puts you in control of Andreas Maler, an artist in 16th-century Germany who becomes embroiled in a succession of murder mysteries that you can solve by investigating the possible subjects through exploration and conversations. The narrative is uniquely open, allowing you to weigh the evidence you collect to decide who to accuse of the crime—whether you think they did it, or you just think they are most deserving of being punished. All of this unfolds via gorgeous 2D graphics based on the style of medieval paintings, manuscripts, and woodcuts, giving the impression you're playing one of the protagonist's artworks come to life.
Buy it digitally ($19.99)
Return to Monkey Island
IGN rating: 9
ESRB rating: E 10+ (alcohol reference, fantasy violence, mild language)
This relaunch of the classic LucasArts point-and-click adventure games is the first in more than 30 years to feature the involvement of series creator Ron Gilbert, and the throwback vibes are real...and fabulous. While the mechanics of the old games are largely unchanged—explore your environment, collecting and combining items, solving puzzles, and talking to NPCs—that's kind of the point, and the humor and clever design that were hallmarks of the original games are back in force, despite an updated 3D graphics engine. You play as pirate Guybrush Threepwood, and must explore the Carribbean sea in search of the so-called secret of Monkey Island. The music and voice acting are Disney-level, and the point-and-click mechanics work well with the Switch's controllers.
Buy it digitally ($24.99)
Braid: Anniversary Edition
IGN rating: 8.5
ESRB rating: E 10+ (language, mild fantasy violence)
A standout success from the early days of indie console gaming, Braid has finally made its way to the Switch in an anniversary edition with significantly overhauled graphics but the same tried-and-true play mechanics. Braid is a puzzle-based platformer (or a platforming-based puzzler?) in which you play as a boy name Tim trying to save a princess, though the story is a lot more complex than it seems on the surface, with lots of text boxes that reveal the hero's inner thoughts and motivations. But that's all window dressing for the gameplay itself, which requires you to use a series of evolving time-manipulating mechanics to solve increasingly complex environmental puzzles. If it feels a little familiar in 2024, it's still a fantastic game.
Buy it digitally ($19.99)
Chants of Sennaar
IGN user rating: 8.6
ESRB rating: E 10+ (fantasy violence)
An unusual adventure game that came out of nowhere last year and garnered immediate critical acclaim, Chants of Sennaar is set in a Tower of Babel-like structure. To climb higher, you must explore it and solve puzzles primarily based around decoding the game's fictional languages, as you play a traveler who moves between the various civilizations that live in disparate sections of the tower. Figuring out what to do requires decoding non-verbal cues from NPCs as well as spotting clues in the environment, like illustrated signs. As you progress in the game, you'll fill a virtual notebook with translations that, if correct, will reveal the deeper narrative. Obviously the experience is slower and more introspective rather than action-based, but if you can get on its wavelength, it's a meditative experience.
Buy it digitally ($19.99)
The Case of the Golden Idol
IGN user rating: 8.7
ESRB rating: T (blood, violence, use of alcohol, sexual themes, partial nudity)
If you grew up with the early '90s point-and-click adventures from companies like Sierra Games, you'll adore The Case of the Golden Idol, a throwback detective story in which you attempt to solve an archeological mystery spanning four decades by exploring crime scenes, collecting clues, and piecing together the story as you go. You can play in either "exploration" more, which unfolds like one of those aforementioned vintage point-and-click titles as you pore over moments "frozen" in time and across history; or "thinking" mode, which opens a menu of fill-in-the-blank sentences that allow you to add in words collected in exploration mode to uncover the game's backstory. (Confused? Here's a video that explains how it plays out.) This is a game that will test your wits and ask you to use deductive reasoning to figure out what's going on—it's more reflective than active, but still entirely satisfying.
Buy it digitally ($19.99)
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
IGN rating: 9
ESRB rating: E (mild fantasy violence, use of alcohol)
Have you ever played Mega Man? Shovel Knight is kinda like that. Did you ever play Duck Tales? Shovel Knight is also kinda like that. You play as the titular warrior (guess what your weapon is) on a quest to save your best friend from a group of villains calling themselves the Order of No Quarter. As you progress through each of their themed stages, you’ll navigate unique terrain and perfect your skills—which you’ll need to defeat the boss at the end. And once you’ve finished playing as Shovel Knight, you can replay the game as one of the baddies (most of whom don’t turn out to be quite as evil as they seem). More than simple reskins, these are (almost) entirely new adventures with their own play mechanics and control quirks. I couldn’t stop playing until I had finished all four of them.
Read the IGN review.
Buy it digitally ($39.99) | Buy a physical copy ($31.45)
Fez
IGN rating: 9.5
ESRB rating: E
Fez is one of the most mind-expanding games I have ever played, a hybrid of platformer and puzzler in which you play a little dude living in a two-dimensional world who suddenly gains the ability to see in three dimensions. As a player, this means you have the ability to, with a tap of the shoulder button, rotate the world on its axis; when viewed from a different angle, platforms that once seemed out of reach are an easy jump away, and hidden doors are revealed around the back side of a tree trunk. You set off on a quest to explore your new, wider world—and to save it—and you’ll need to use your new abilities to their fullest if you want to figure out how to do it. There are no enemies to defeat, only interlocking levels to navigate and traverse between, and a handful of nigh-impossible puzzles to solve. There’s even an alien language you can learn to decode (or, if you value your sanity, you can just look up hints online). Also, the music totally slaps.
Buy it digitally ($14.99)
Sayonara Wild Hearts
IGN rating: 7.9
ESRB rating: E 10+ (fantasy violence)
The gorgeous rhythm game-slash-interactive music video plays like a dream (because, conceptual spoiler alert, it kinda is one): You play a young woman chasing (or running from) a bunch of stylish baddies across forests and cityscapes, training your reflexes and tapping buttons at just the right
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