Looking for the best Switch games to play? We’ve got you covered!
The Nintendo Switch has quickly become one of the most successful gaming consoles ever released. On the couch or on the go, the Switch is an ambitious gaming device that can be either used as a home console or a portable device.
One of the major reasons for the success of the Switch is its impressive game library. With the abundance of games, it can be pretty daunting for some to decide on what they should spend their money on at the Nintendo Switch store. However, with the endless variety of choices, everyone and anyone can find the right game that caters to their wants and likes.
With this guide, you can find some of the best games for Nintendo Switch you can try out today.
Best Selling Switch Games
Nintendo’s data on their best-selling Switch games shows us just which titles are worth considering. Listed below are the top five best selling Switch games as of September 30, 2020. Take note that all numbers shown below are worldwide consolidated sales.
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
First on this list is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with 28.99 million sales. Mario games have always been a staple for avid and casual Nintendo fans and it’s no surprise to see that the current best selling Switch game is from this franchise.
Mario Kart 8 isn’t anything new, especially to veteran gamers. This game was first introduced to us on the Wii U in 2014. The news of Nintendo releasing a Mario Kart 8 version for the Switch initially received mixed receptions. After all, not many thought that Wii U owners would purchase this game again. This was not the case, though.
Since its release in 2017, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has received critical acclaim worldwide and a commercial success selling over 28.99 million units globally.
This best selling Switch game has become an essential Switch purchase. It’s a game that can be enjoyed either on your own or with others. Hit the tracks with your friends on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and enjoy playing this best selling Switch game with up to seven friends on local wireless multiplayer. You can even play with up to 11 other players through Nintendo Switch Online, making Mario Kart 8 Deluxe one of the best multiplayer Switch games!
This best selling switch game includes a huge roster of 42 playable characters from your favorite Mushroom Kingdom. It’s the biggest roster in the entirety of the Mario Kart series to date!
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This 2020 entry in the Animal Crossing franchise took the world by storm, selling 26.04 million copies since its release in March. This second best selling Switch game gives players more creative freedom and more tasks to do in-game while still retaining what makes the series unique.
For those unfamiliar with the series, Animal Crossing players are placed in the role of a new resident of a rural village with anthropomorphic animals. The main objective of this Switch game is to build your own village or town from the get-go. Players can perform small tasks at their own pace, and gradually grow and customize their surroundings.
In New Horizons however, in lieu of a town, players find themselves on an island. They have control in creating and building their island from scratch on their own time.
This recent version of the popular Switch game introduced many new mechanics and gameplay systems that enhanced the game’s customization aspects. It gives players something new and fun to do on the daily, with occasional surprises and events here and there.
The Animal Crossing franchise is one of the best Switch games for kids. After all, cute animals like dogs and cats are your neighbors in the game. Nevertheless, it still appeals to an older audience as well.
For most players, the appeal of New Horizons lies in the easy-going atmosphere and all the short and long-term goals they can look forward to each day. With the current state of the world, New Horizons is easily one of the best Switch games for adults who want to forget the troubles of the real world. There’s less direction, and thus less need to be productive. Gamers can immerse themselves in a more sedated and relaxing world.
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Different gaming icons battling it out against one another is a weird yet strangely satisfying thing that only Super Smash Bros. can deliver. Millions of others think so too, with this Switch game selling 21.10 million copies globally.
This 2018 installment in the 20-year old franchise offers 74 characters from different gaming series and over 100 stages to battle on! Multiple campaigns with the World of Light and classic modes, tons of collectables, and many more features are sure to entice all gamers. After all, who wouldn’t want to see Mario battle it out against Pikachu on the Gerudo Valley stage from the Zelda series.
Ultimate is a great multiplayer romp that’s certainly a crowd pleaser. It’s perfect to play surrounded by friends and family. As such, it’s hands down one of the best party games for Switch.
Its diverse content pays homage to the top tier games that have adorned Nintendo consoles from the past 20 years, all the while introducing a new and exciting role-playing element for a new level of tactic and ingenuity.
As the third best selling Switch game of 2020, Ultimate is a flexible single-player and multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as the players want it to be.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate gives everything that fans have loved from all previous iterations and wrapped it in this fine-tuned and sharper version of the beloved series. As one of the best selling Switch games in 2020, Ultimate offers strong gameplay, as well as a rich and complex story mode. It builds on the tried and tested fighting system of Smash. Certainly, Super Smash Bros is one of the best multiplayer Switch games that millions of people enjoy.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
This 2017 action-adventure game is the nineteenth main installment of The Legend of Zelda series, selling over 19.74 million copies worldwide. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a much-needed reinvention of the Zelda franchise. Zelda games are incredibly hit-or-miss, from the fantastic and wonderful Majora’s Mask to the miserably slow Twilight Princess. Open-world games in general are hit-or-miss, however with Breath of the Wild, it’s definitely a hit!
As mentioned above, Breath of the Wild is an open-world game. Unlike its predecessors, this Zelda title is an open-world game that allows gamers to make decisions at their own pace. They can choose which quests or dungeons they want to accomplish and explore. In short, players are given more freedom in exploring the beauty of Hyrule Kingdom.
The world of this 2020 best selling Switch game is a satisfying adventure to indulge in. This is mostly thanks to the care that went into its character and art design. Breath of the Wild is an endless adventure from start to finish with one of the smoothest graphics and gameplay the franchise has released. The upgrade on the game’s physics and exploration-focused gameplay makes this latest Zelda installment about commitment, ingenuity, and creativity.
It’s no mystery why this game is one of the best selling Switch games in 2020. Fans of the game are already anticipating the release of its sequel, Breath of the Wild 2. With Breath of the Wild being a best selling Switch game, it wouldn’t be a surprise if its sequel performs just as well — if not better.
5. Pokémon Sword and Shield
Pokémon is known to offer some of the best Switch games for kids. It’s a beloved classic for this generation of young ones and those young at heart.
Pokémon Sword and Shield are the latest entries in the Pokémon franchise. Released in 2019, they sold 19.02 million units globally, becoming one the fastest-selling games on the Nintendo Switch as of September 2020.
As a dedicated unit for Nintendo’s Switch, Sword and Shield received a massive upgrade in terms of graphics, compared to its predecessors. The Switch gave it the opportunity to vastly improve the design of the locations.
Notably, Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and half of the Pokédex are gone. However, added in is the Dynamax feature. This new component is the middle ground between Mega Evolution and Z-Moves. It boosts your Pokémon’s stats by changing their size exponentially, allowing them to use more powerful moves. The only difference with the Dynamax feature is that players can only use it in certain places, like Pokémon arenas.
Players were also introduced to Gigantamaxing. This new feature is similar to Dynamax. However, as the Pokémon grows bigger their appearance changes as well.
Going back to the Pokédex, Sword and Shield features a reduced Pokédex that only contains Pokémon within the new Galar region. While not necessarily a deal breaker for most, the culled down Pokédex is a disappointment for those who have been playing Pokémon since the first generation.
On a positive note, players of Sword and Shield were delighted by how vast the Wild Area was. It gave the game a more open world feeling and made exploration much more dynamic. The addition of more customization options to the player characters was also a welcomed bonus by many fans.
Best Indie Games On Switch
6. Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight’s rich world and incredible depth of content will surely leave its players feeling anything but hollow. Dubbed as one of the best indie Switch games, Hollow Knight players forge their own epic adventure. They can travel through the mangled caverns, ancient cities, and deadly scraps of the long-dead kingdom of Hallownest.
Hollow Knight doesn’t hold its player’s hand through the entire story. This Switch game forces exploration and taking risks. The atmosphere, lore, and physics of this indie Switch game offer an ominous and exciting adventure which rarely feels boring or repetitive.
Released for Nintendo Switch last 2018, Hollow Knight offers its players tight controls, fluid combat movement, and stunning visuals. Players are treated to a plethora of diverse enemies, bosses, mini bosses, and platforming challenges that make it one of the best of its genre to grace the gaming community.
If adventure and challenge are what you seek, Hollow Knight is the game for you. It offers its players a vast, beautiful, and forbidding Metroidvania that’s absolutely thick with detail. This Switch game offers its players secrets, upgrades, and abilities that are scattered around everywhere. Hollow Knight never really forces players towards a specific direction, which makes it all the more enjoyable.
7. Undertale
Initially released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2015, this immensely popular indie game was finally made available for Nintendo Switch back in 2018. Developed by Toby Fox, whose previous endeavors include the massively popular webcomic, Homestuck, Undertale has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews ever since its release.
Many players have dubbed this one of the best indie Switch games. Undertale is a unique RPG, as it does not require players to kill anyone. Players are given the option to befriend any enemy they encounter. Trying to mollify adversaries becomes a much more gratifying experience than simply battling it out. This is a process that’s unique to each type of enemy.
For those who have never played Undertale, the story is about a human kid who falls into the realm of monsters underground. It’s the player’s job to get out from the underground. Players are given puzzles and tasks that offer just enough of a challenge to make its difficulty level still enjoyable. The challenges presented are nice little mind riddles that a majority of the game’s players will surely find entertaining and amusing.
It’s a great, simple story that’s pretty typical for an RPG with several twists and turns. Majority of the narrative in this indie Switch game is told through interactions with the characters.
The charm of Undertale for many gamer fans is that it plays like your typical 90s era RPG, with one minor twist. You can dodge opponent attacks through a combination of Shoot-’em-up, puzzles, and platforming elements. It’s a unique spin to the typical RPG formula.
This best indie Switch game clearly wants its players to replay the game several times in order to experience different endings. It’s this replayability that makes Undertale an even bigger bang for your buck. Ultimately, having the chance to experience the same story in different ways gives gamers a refreshing masterpiece overall.
8. The Banner Saga Trilogy
Another RPG adventure on our list is The Banner Saga Trilogy, an indie video game developed by Stoic Studio. The Banner Saga Trilogy is a single-player fantasy tactical RPG series that takes place in a fictional world inspired by Viking legends and medieval culture.
This indie game has made a name for itself as a remarkable piece of fantasy fiction, a great game trilogy, and an example of the genre at its best.
9. The Gardens Between
The Gardens Between is a single-player adventure-puzzle game that follows best friends, Frendt and Ariana, as they fall into a mysterious world of the majestic garden islands. They find themselves in a world peppered with everyday objects from their childhood. The two friends embark an emotional journey as they go back through the memories they’ve shared and built over the course of their friendship.
This indie Switch game offers a surrealist puzzle design with a time manipulation aspect, and it just might be as deep as it thinks it is. The game’s puzzles are conveyed to the player wordlessly and with little instruction. Solving each puzzle relies heavily on the player’s observation and deduction skills.
There isn’t much to this game. The player controls time forward or back and interacts with objects. That’s about it. It’s a nice little puzzle game that isn’t too difficult, but will still make one think. Nevertheless, that’s the beauty of The Gardens Between. It’s simple yet captivating. Aesthetically speaking, the game offers stunning storybook-inspired visuals that entices players while they walk through islands that represent the memories of Arina and Frendt.
10. Mosaic
Most people who have found a sanctity in the world of gaming are trying to escape the dreadful reality of life. Who can blame them? Both the news and social media can be so toxic that they can impact our mental state.
Playing games is an excellent way to mitigate stress from the outside world. There’s enough of paid and free online games that you can find to help you cope with the harsh reality of society.
So, we understand why for most people, Mosaic is not the game for them.
Here, players find themselves in a monotonous life in a cold and dystopian modern city. They don’t have any genuine sense of meaning and significance in this world.
Until, one day, bizarre things happen and everything changes. The main character begins to uncover the secrets that lay hidden within the city.
Mosaic explores themes of isolation, surrealism, and existentialism. It’s a dark surrealistic and atmospheric game that mirrors urban isolation. Players confront the fear of only being a piece in a societal machine of today’s society. It’s almost a depressing game, when you only look at it for its face value. Yet, many fans of Mosaic consider it as one of the best indie Switch games because of this. It confronts depression and burnout through the whimsy of puzzles, mini-games and exploration.
Mosaic is a game that you don’t necessarily play. You experience it. You are simply wandering from work to home — and back — for the most part. Players experience the most mundane, repetitive and mind-numbing aspects of everyday life.
Ultimately, Mosaic offers its players a beautiful narrative that encourages them to find an escape from the bleakness of the daily grind.
Best Free Switch Games
Spending money on Switch games during times like these may seem like a trivial feat. We understand. Gaming is an escapism not everyone can afford, however there are still free-to-play or F2P options available at the Nintendo Switch store.
Of course, some F2P titles have in-game purchases that allow players to unlock more stages and Battle Passes. Regardless, we have gathered a list of games worthy of the initial “purchase,” as not having to shell out a single cent makes them all worth it.
- Tetris 99
- Fortnite
- Fallout Shelter
- Super Kirby Clash
- Paladins: Champions of the Realm
- Arena of Valor
- Super Mario 35
- Fallout Shelter
- Brawlhalla
- Lightseekers
The Finish Line
The gaming industry in general is soaring. Game developers and companies are already lining up new games for their debut next 2021, and with the reemergence of old beloved classics like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it’s certain to say that gaming is endemic now. A vast majority of people find playing video games to be one of their favorite pastime activities. Some even make a living playing them.
With how prevalent gaming is today, having a console hybrid like the Nintendo Switch is a no-brainer. Selling millions of units worldwide since its 2017 release, the Switch continues to prove itself as one of the most innovative gaming devices in the industry. Admittedly, its vast library of titles can be overwhelming to choose from. However, with this list of some of the best Switch games, we’re sure you’re bound to find a new favorite sooner or later.
