The Most Underrated Switch Games

The Nintendo Switch is full of fantastic titles, both from the indie atmosphere and from first-party powerhouses. Sure, there may be some obvious winners; no one will argue with the massive success of games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey. But everyone knows about those games.

Related

The Best Nintendo Switch Games Of All Time

The Nintendo Switch has dominated since its launch in 2017, and now we have a vast selection of fantastic games to take on the go.

What about all of the other games out there? There are plenty of amazing games on the Nintendo eShop that go unnoticed, either because they were overshadowed by larger titles or because they didn’t have Triple A level publicity. If you want to find some of the best, most underrated games on the Switch, check here first.

Updated November 5, 2024, by Branden Lizardi: Indie games will always be the best place to find interesting ideas made real. These range from cross-genre creations to immensely unique mechanics expanded on. Unfortunately, that same novelty often goes missed for forgotten by the mainstream. To ensure they get all the recognition they deserve, we’ve updated this list with more entries.

16

Monster Sanctuary

A Pokemonvania?

Nintendo is host to a surprisingly large number of wonderful indie games. And if indies know anything, it’s how to blend genres together in interesting ways. Monster Sanctuary, a monster-collecting metroidvania, is a perfect example of this. You play as a monster keeper, traveling the land to deal with powerful monsters ruining the balance of nature.

And that’s all the plot we need because the real charm is in the gameplay. In combat, monsters take turns performing different attacks, you know the drill. Exploration takes a 2D platformer perspective, where you can use certain monsters to overcome certain obstacles. With tons of monsters to collect and a satisfying world to explore, there’s plenty of time to be lost here.

15

Bear And Breakfast

All The Fun Of Being A Landlord, But In A Cute And Cozy Way

Systems

Released

July 28, 2022

Developer(s)

Gummy Cat

Publisher(s)

Armor Games Studios

Engine

Unity

ESRB

E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Mild Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol

Expand

There are few things more cozy than a good bed and breakfast. So it only makes sense that a game where you play as a charming cartoon bear managing their own BnB would be the coziest. You play as Hank, a young brown bear. After discovering an abandoned building, you decide to fix it up and run a bed and breakfast to encourage humans to return to the forest.

Its colorful cartoon style complements the comfortable vibes of each location you manage. Combine that with the surprisingly engaging plotline, wonderfully charming characters, and an absolute plethora of decorations and upgrades for your BnBs, and you have one of the most enjoyable management games you haven’t heard of.

14

PlateUp!

Running A Restaurant? In This Economy?

Like a complicated dish, PlateUp! is a fascinating blend of genres, coalescing into a buffet of fun. This cooperative roguelike game is all about running a restaurant and kitchen. You have to survive 15 days, with each day getting busier. The catch? If a single customer leaves unhappy. It’s game over.

It’s all of the chaos of games like Overcooked but with an extra layer of customer interaction (and, in our opinion, not so difficult). It’s the perfect game to play with friends, with each person taking on a different restaurant role. And the roguelike gameplay style is great for playing in small sessions without feeling like you’re ‘not winning.’

13

Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime

At Least You Have Each Other

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime will offer you one of two things: a unique strategy wrapped in pressure or a memorable level of social synergy. At its core, it’s a cooperative multiplayer action game in which you and your friends need to operate the various controls of a rotund spacecraft. Fight against space monsters and try to stay alive.

Alone, it’s a tense game of strategizing and prioritizing your focus to survive a tremendously hostile environment. But when you get some friends involved, it becomes a game of teamwork. With bright, colorful graphics and a very positive “love” theme, it creates a very wholesome experience from a chaotic setting.

12

Disney Illusion Island

Gawrsh!

Systems

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

July 28, 2023

Developer(s)

Dlala Studios

Publisher(s)

Disney Interactive

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

unity

ESRB

e

Expand

Disney games have always been hit or miss, with many of them being of that ‘movie-made-video-game’ quality we’re sure you’re familiar with. Disney Illusion Island, however, manages to break away from that trend, creating a stylish and engaging open-world platformer game that anyone can enjoy.

Run, jump, and utilize a variety of powers to traverse the map and battle against whatever is in your way. It borrows a lot of design elements from games like Metroid and Castlevania while beautifully implementing a clean and colorful cartoon style.

11

Ape Out

Aren’t You Tired Of Being Nice All The Time?

Ape Out

Systems

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

February 28, 2019

Developer(s)

Gabe Cuzzillo, Bennett Foddy, Matt Boch

Engine

Unity

ESRB

t

Expand

Ape Out is a beautiful example of how not all ‘artistic’ games need to be slow, dramatic, and about emotional nonsense. In Ape Out, you control an Ape as you escape from whatever cage you’re kept in. Bash throw doors, throw people out windows, just Ape Out.

Designed by (in)famous game designer Bennet Foddy (of Getting Over It acclaim), the construction paper style paired with the dynamic heavy drum backtrack takes the already intense and fast-paced gameplay from ‘a fun game’ and into ‘belongs in a museum’ status.

10

Mini Metro

The Puzzle Known As Public Transit

You most likely first heard of Mini Metro from the mobile game world. But it’s since expanded onto console. Thank goodness, too, because it’s one of the best puzzle games to pick up and play on the fly, making it perfect for the portability of the Switch.

Related

Best City Building Games On Nintendo Switch

These base building games for the Nintendo Switch offer creativity on the go.

In this game, you are tasked with managing a metro system. You have predetermined destinations and must establish train lines between them. The further you go, the more stops you have to link to while only using the limited number of trains and lines. It’s a clever game that really tickles the brain.

9

Tinykin

‘Mom, can we get Pikmin? No, we have Pikmin at home.’

Tinykin is ‘Pikmin at home,’ but in many ways, there are few things better than a homecooked meal made with love. That, too, is Tinykin. This indie love letter to the Pikmin franchise has all of the charm of its inspiration while still keeping a unique style and perspective.

You play as Milo, a little guy, as he collects his own army of the titular Tinykin. Explore a familiar word from a very small perspective, collect treasures, and take in the charming world at your own pace. It’s an engaging but relaxing experience that everyone could benefit from.

8

Enter The Gungeon

Now’s Not The Time To Get Gun Shy

There’s something classic about a good bullet hell game. It’s fast-paced, action-packed, and non-stop engaging. Mixing that with the replayability of a Roguelike, and you have one hard-to-put-down game. Enter The Dungeon does all of that and even adds an extra helping of humor.

Collect a seemingly endless supply of gun. There are guns that shoot knives, guns that shoot guns that shoot knives, guns that shoot the word “bullet,” and more. When your mind isn’t 100 percent focused on survival, it’s on all of the funny quips and concepts that will take you numerous playthroughs to fully experience.

7

Baba Is You

Game Is Fun

5.0/5

Baba Is You

Systems

Released

March 13, 2019

Developer(s)

Hempuli

Publisher(s)

Hempuli

Engine

Multimedia Fusion 2

ESRB

e

Expand

In Baba Is You, the rules of the game have never been so simple. At the same time, though, it’s never been more confusing. In this puzzle game, you move around the ‘rules’ of the game, rules like “Baba Is You” and “Flag Is Win.” To beat each level, you have to rearrange these rules to suit your needs. Remove “Stop” from “Wall Is Stop” to pass through them, change what the “Is Win” item is, or even change what “Is You.” It’s an amazingly creative idea that’s implemented in an even more creative way.

You may have heard of Baba Is You back in 2017, when a short demo of the idea was initially released as part of the Nordic Game Jam 2017. It became such a hit that developer Arvi Teikari would continue development and release the full game a few years later.

6

Dragon Quest Builders 2

A Surprisingly Captivating Take On A Minecraft Style RPG

On the surface, Dragon Quest Builders 2 may look like trend chasing from the Dragon Quest franchise, looking to take advantage of the Minecraft style sandbox hype. What we got, however, was far more than we expected. An acclaimed builder, you find yourself shipwrecked on an unknown land, with your only friend being none other than Malroth himself.

Related

19 Best RPGs On Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is the perfect home for some of the best RPGs of a generation. Let’s take a look at the best on the console.

You do more than just collect resources and build nonsense. Your building skills are used to establish new towns, home villagers with unique abilities, and restore the natural order. It’s town management, sandbox, and dramatic plot-driven RPG all in one. There’s a lot more to this game than you’ll expect, and all of it is good.

5

Spiritfarer

It’ll Be Difficult To Move On From This One

When you want a game with wholesome vibes, then you want Spiritfarer. In it, you play as Stella, a recently deceased girl invited to become the spiritual boatman. Your job is to sail the seas of the afterlife, finding and aiding lost spirits, helping them achieve closure so that they can move on to the great beyond.

Related

7 Video Games About Grief

Losing someone is hard and some games can go beyond to demonstrate all the complex feelings behind grief.

The beautiful hand-animated graphics are the perfect representative of the heartwarming and emotionally striking narrative. And all of it is driven by an enjoyable management system, where you have to collect resources, craft materials, and keep everyone happy about your ever-growing boat.

4

Chants Of Sennaar

非常に賢いインディーズ パズル ゲーム

One of the youngest entries on this list, Chants of Sennaar is definitely one of the most creative and unique. Inspired by the story of Babel, you play as a mystery person roaming a tower of stacked cities, all cut off from each other by language. Here’s the catch: You don’t know their language either.

Throughout the game, you need to interact with every corner of this colorful and stylized setting, learning new shapes and their meanings, and eventually deciphering their language. You uncover some dramatic secrets in the process, of course. It’s a fascinating puzzle mystery game with a premise that really makes our brains itch in a way games rarely can. The fact that everyone isn’t shouting this game’s praise from the rooftops is a tragedy.

3

Powerwash Simulator

The Most Oddly Satisfying Game

There’s something terribly hard to explain about what makes Powerwash Simulator so satisfying. At its core, it’s a game about using a Powerwasher to spray away thick layers of dirt and sludge from various items and locations. It’ll start mundane; you’ll spray down the side of a van.

But with each pass of the 15-degree nozzle, seeing the ooze blast away for a shiny blue coat of paint, that sense of both immediate and delayed gratification starts to set in. And before you know it, the DING of success after getting an item 100 percent clean will become all you care about. You don’t need to shower or go to work, you need to keep powerwashing. And by that point, you’ll understand why this game is included to the list.

2

What The Golf

It’s Technically Golf!

Mini-golf, one of America’s greatest pastimes. But what if it was… better? What if we threw out all of the humdrum and regulations of putting a golf ball between a windmill and opened the door for something new, something weirder. That’s what the heart of What The Golf offers. Putting yourself, space rocket balls, and physics-defying perspectives, it has it all.

Technically a golf game, technically a puzzle game, What The Golf is full of new and creative ways to present the sport. Each level is as humorous as it is challenging, forcing you to use what brain cells you have that aren’t actively laughing over the absurdity of the moment.

1

Heave Ho

The Most Fun You Can Have With Two Hands!

If you are to only own a single game, let it be Heave Ho. Arguably the most underrated game on the Nintendo Switch, this quirky Canadian platformer is one of the most entertaining social games you can find. The rules are simple: you are a head with two arms, move your arms, and manually grab onto surfaces to swing and climb your way to the goal without dying.

Heave Ho is perfect in its simplicity. The rules are easy to understand but far from easy to master. You’ll find yourself flopping and tossing around, chaotically trying to get through the wide selection of creatively designed levels. Invite a couple of friends over and play it cooperatively. Now, the chaos becomes a conduit for some extremely silly shenanigans and far less cooperation than you usually get from a coop game. It’s easy enough to understand that just about anyone who can hold a controller can play, gaming-savvy or otherwise.

5:13

Next

30 Best Indie Games On The Nintendo Switch, Ranked

The Nintendo Switch welcomes indie games with open arms, and some of them are must-plays.