10 Best Board Games On Nintendo Switch

When Nintendo unveiled the Switch, it took a different approach than its competitors, sacrificing overall power for the dual home console and handheld component. One of the ways they sought to capitalize on the differential was with a greater investment in indie titles and mobile games, through things like their Indie World Showcases.

That made app versions of board games a prime target for the system, and in recent years the Nintendo eShop has built up a respectable library of titles for those looking for a console alternative to the Steam library. Nintendo unfortunately does a pretty good job of burying its board games category deep in the eShop and behind a wall of Hasbro titles like Monopoly and Cluedo. But there are gems to be found for those willing to dig a little deeper and these are 10 of the best.

10 Charterstone

Grow The Town

• Publisher: Acram Digital
• Key Mechanics: Worker Placement, Legacy

Stonemaier Games‘ sprawling legacy game, Charterstone, offers arguably the most interesting and unique board game experiences on the Switch. What starts out as a rather rudimentary worker placement game quickly evolves into a living, breathing world.

Designed to be played as a campaign rather than a standalone experience, new buildings, and features will populate the world after each playthrough. With the objectives slightly shifting with each subsequent game, the world of Charterstone will evolve before players, and it’s brought to life wonderfully with colorful sprites and animation in this digital version.

9 Mystic Vale

Restoring The Valley Of Life

• Publisher: Nomad Games
• Key Mechanics: Card Crafting, Push Your Luck

John D. Clair’s original card crafting system that the designer has iterated on several times with some more recent grandiose entries like Dead Reckoning. A spin on the popular deckbuilding genre, players upgrade a deck of 20 cards, adding new abilities to them, circumventing a lot of the luck usually associated with the genre.

Mystic Vale is a very pared-back experience, new cards add either purchase power or points that are awarded when they are subsequently drawn and played. The interface on the app could be neater, there are a lot of submenus and screens for information that should be easily available. But it does save on all that sleeving and unsleeving each game, plus there are already a few expansions available on the eShop to add replayability.

8 Overboss

16-Bit Dungeon World Builder

• Publisher: Goblinz Studio
• Key Mechanics: Drafting, Tile Placement

Overboss came out a short while before another similar game, Cascadia, which unfortunately quickly buried it in the myriad of releases each year. Set in the 16-bit world of Boss Monster, players draft a tile and token combo and attempt to place it in a grid for scoring. It’s a little more restrictive and complex than Cascadia but after getting to grips with the scoring, players will learn clever workarounds.

With 12 tile types, each with its own scoring rules and 11 character-specific scoring options, there are tons of combinations to mix and match in search of a high score. What’s more, solo games can be completed in 10 minutes, making it a great option on the go for the Switch.

7 Sagrada

Stain Glass Windows

• Publisher: Dire Wolf Digital
• Key Mechanics: Dice Drafting, Pattern Building

This won’t be the last Dire Wolf Digital entry, as the Clank! publisher’s digital division has become one of the go-to names for high-quality board game apps. Sagrada was an early benchmark for that brand.

Players take turns drafting colorful dice and placing them into their cathedral window. Each die must be placed adjacent to a previous die and each window comes with a number of restrictions for placement to further complicate the puzzle. Players will need to ply the Tools of the Trade to properly arrange their windows and best meet the scoring objectives.

6 Istanbul

Race For Rubies

• Publisher: Acram Digital
• Key Mechanics: Worker Movement, Pick Up and Deliver

The other major name in board game app development, Acram Digital, with the Rudiger Dorn classic Istanbul. Players move a stack of workers around a preset grid, collecting and trading goods in the quest to be the first to five rubies. Each time one of the workers is dropped off, meaning a route must be carefully planned for maximum efficiency.

The digital version of Istanbul makes the variety of setup options for more experienced players a snap, actually improving on its tabletop counterpart. The compact nature also makes it one of the easiest interfaces for a larger game on the console, without the need for scrolling or screen swapping.

5 Raiders Of The North Sea

Plunder, Raid and Pillage

• Publisher: Dire Wolf Digital
• Key Mechanics: Worker Placement, Hand Management

The game that put Garphill Games on the map and for many still the best in the critically acclaimed series. Shem Phillps burst into the board gaming zeitgeist with this innovative take on worker placement where players both place and take one worker each turn.

Workers are color-coded to certain spaces so players need to consider not just the action they want to take now but the action they’ll be able to take on their next turn. The digital edition is a fantastic translation of the game. The only downside is the expansions were never made available for this version, which most fans agree elevates the experience, so bear in mind, that it’ll only be the base experience.

4 Everdell

Creature Comforts

• Publisher: Dire Wolf Digital
• Key Mechanics: Tableau Building, Worker Placement

Now into the real cream of the crop, board games that are listed inside the top 40 of all time, according to Board Game Geek. Everdell is a definitive worker placement and engine-building experience adorned with adorable woodland critters giving the game effortless charm.

Not to sound like a broken record, but it’s another fantastic digital implementation from Dire Wolf Digital for what could have been a tricky interface to navigate. With 8 meadow cards, up to another 8 cards in a player’s hand, and a tableau of up to 15 cards, there’s a lot of information to present at once outside the central worker placement, but the experience is seamless and intuitive.

3 Wingspan

A Casual Afternoon’s Bird Watching

• Key Mechanics: Tableau Building, Engine Building

The best-selling modern hobby board game, Wingspan is quickly becoming a juggernaut that transcends board game circles into the mass market. Whether a seasoned veteran or just starting out on a board gaming journey, Wingspan is a game that caters to all and is well worth a try for those who haven’t already.

In digital form, it does suffer a little from the interface, requiring a lot of scrolling, which makes it an all-around clunkier experience than its tabletop counterpart. But it has all the same award-winning gameplay and there are already two expansions available on the Nintendo eShop.

2 Root

Woodland Might and Right

• Publisher: Dire Wolf Digital
• Key Mechanics: Area Control, Asymmetric Gameplay

The final two entries are not only the highest-rated board games on the list, but their respective digital versions help improve their accessibility. Root is an incredible game but like all Cole Wehrle designs, it has the drawback of being complex in a way that makes it hard to get to the table.

All the factions in Root play vastly differently. The key to success is maximizing a faction’s output whilst limiting all opponents’ abilities to do the same. That means a player must be adept in not just a chosen faction but all other factions at the table. It’s a lot of rule sets to learn and even then to have a good game requires getting 3-4 players together that can all do the same. The digital version features probably the best available Root tutorial for all the factions, walking players through a step-by-step guide, making it not only easier to play but also easier to learn.

1 Gloomhaven

Tactical Combat In A Unique Fantasy World

• Publisher: Asmodee Digital
• Key Mechanics: Grid-based combat, story-driven campaign

On any given day that it’s not Brass: Birmingham, Gloomhaven can usually be found in the number 1 spot of the best games of all time on Board Game Geek, as the two fanbases tend to go head-to-head boosting their favorite to the top. That’s the kind of pedigree on show in what is a huge dungeon crawl more of the scope fans would be used to with video games than board games.

Larger and larger games are a growing trend thanks to Gloomhaven but they all suffer from bloat, a ton of rules, a ton of components, and a ton of set-up. Without trying to draw too much ire the digital version improves on that by putting that glut of content into a digestible format and managing all the upkeep on a player’s behalf. The level of detail put into the digital version could easily see it mistaken as a standalone turn-based fantasy RPG. Even fans of games like Baldurs Gate 3 or Divinity: Original Sin who have never seen a board game before could find dozens of hours of entertainment in the layered combat and rich narrative.