WORTH CONSIDERING - Koral brings us on a journey to better understand the destructive nature of certain fishing practices, climate change, and more. The journey is a gorgeous, but humbling one. Highly accessible controls let you control the current of the ocean to solve lightweight puzzles and revitalize the ocean. With 10 chapters to explore, there’s a reasonable amount of content, but it won’t have much in the way of replayability once you’re done, although it’s still a worthwhile journey to embark on.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Golf Peaks blends logic-based puzzle gameplay with golfing aesthetics for the visual presentation. The game is neither a great golfing game, or really a challenging puzzle game as most of the levels are fairly easy and straightforward to solve, and the sport serves primarily as just window dressing. That doesn’t mean to say that the overall experience still isn’t polished and fun. Golf Peaks lands on the Nintendo Switch for a meager $4.99, and for that you’ll get a few hours of relaxed puzzle fun. It’s a decent alternative to hitting the real links on a given Sunday afternoon.
Think of the Children is a fun and frantic party game that delivers on its promise of parenting mayhem. I enjoyed the simplistic gameplay and objectives, but really struggled with the visual style, particularly in handheld mode. I would have also loved to have some options to make difficulty adjustments, but the game as it stands shines the best when played with others, though solo mode is still achievable.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Space Crew, the sequel to Bomber Crew, pits players against the perils of space, managing their crew and spaceship and defending the galaxy from the Phasmids. The game feels less like a sequel, and more like a complete reskin and a version 1.5 from the original. The controls are still a bit complicated, but gameplay is engaging with a lot of micro management to be had, albeit a tad more grinding than I would have hoped for. If you haven’t played Bomber Crew, or you want a new theme for that game, then take to the stars and enjoy some Space Crew.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break brings with it a create-a-level mode as the centerpiece. For me, the Story Mode was still the heart of the game, but it’s borderline frustratingly difficult with a combination of too many obstacles, precise AI opponents that are just too good, and grueling courses. The classic storytelling and graphic animation styles were still present, but playing the game on the Nintendo Switch also brought some system quirks with it too. For fans of the series, there’s still something here to have fun with, but I felt like the original game ultimately brought me more joy.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Turmoil is in fact a quite charming game, with a soothing soundtrack and a really clean 2d art style. The gameplay is casual, but addictive and at no time did I ever feel overwhelmed by any of the sim management aspects. It was a fun time for me hopping into the year 1899 and drilling for black gold.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Curious Expedition is a game for those that enjoy Roguelike strategy titles with some choose your own adventure thrown in for good measure. The graphics aren’t that great, but I had a fun time trying to nab some treasure without dying. If you don’t like having to start over from scratch after you die, then this one’s not for you.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Lost Orbit: Terminal Velocity is a clever narrative journey of a space repairman stuck in a predicament and he just wants to find his way home. Gameplay feels familiar to other genres, while finding its own unique mechanics to create a pretty enjoyable experience. It’s not a particularly deep game, but the voiced story is what keeps players engaged more so than the core gameplay.
If you’re up for a slick local play arena shooter for your Switch, Varion comes to the table with prominent visuals and easy controls. However the core game mechanic of ricochet-only kills will definitely turn off some players, as it feels more luck-based than skill.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Chime Sharp brings puzzle placing action into the music genre after a long hiatus from other platforms. It delivers a more refined experience than its predecessor from long ago, and certainly should whet the appetites for longtime fans. There’s a bit of a learning curve, and not everything is explained very clearly to new users, but it shouldn’t hold anyone back for too long. For fans of puzzle games, it’s a solid game to have in your library, but may be a bit niche for everyone else.
Party Hard is a controversial stealth slasher game that aesthetically shadows much of Hotline Miami. It finds some of its own identity in places, and tries hard not to take itself very seriously. You’ll get the gist of gameplay in the first couple of levels, and then it starts to feel like a monotonous grind.
GOOD - The much-anticipated Torchlight III has arrived on Nintendo Switch. The familiar art style and fantasy driven themes are back and as enjoyable as ever, however diehard fans of the series may be disappointed with the game’s back steps of previously deeper gameplay and strategy. This comes as a result of the game’s development changing drastically over the years. Still, the game offers all of the expected bullet points of an action-RPG styled game, and there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had with hacking and slashing in multiplayer with a friend.
GOOD - Ring of Pain is an artistic blend of casual card combat, procedural dungeon running, with some roguelike mechanics. Its strengths are in the short play sessions, and dynamic outcomes that can be had, along with the more advanced strategy that’s possible. Shortcomings include a heavily RNG based system, where sometimes the cards just won’t be in your favor. Additionally, a lack of really any meta unlockable carry-thru content was a strong disappointment for me. Still, I can see myself jamming on a run or two over a lunch break for the foreseeable future without feeling burned out, which says a lot for this genre.
GOOD - Urban Flow is a challenging stoplight/traffic management game that utilizes the Switch platform nicely. You can tackle the campaign levels solo which was my preference, or sync up 3 other players and turn the game into a sort of ‘party’ style game. There’s a lot of layered challenges this game will offer over it’s 100 levels, but the difficulty curve may turn some players off before they get to see everything that is offered. For $14.99 you’re getting a polished experience, but there are plenty of free or very cheap games in this genre on mobile platforms as well that may satisfy your traffic light switching urges.
GOOD - Dread Nautical is a tactical turn-based RPG with some roguelike elements. Mixing these elements with a compelling story, interesting characters, and the classic risk and reward systems works well. Ultimately it reminded me of the board game Clue come to life mixed with a little bit of XCOM. The repetitive layout of the ship and enemies put a damper on what otherwise is a great concept for a game.
GOOD - Felix The Reaper brings a tragic comedy in the form of a challenging puzzle game to the Nintendo Switch. With a catchy soundtrack, vibrant visuals, and a reasonably fun storyline narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart, there’s a good game play here for only $24.99 on the eShop.
GOOD - Cinders is an interactive novel that retells the classic Cinderella story from a more mature perspective of each of the four women involved. Seemingly countless decisions, a variety of endings and a well-written story make up a solid foundation. Couple that with beautifully made 2D art scenes and well-planned mechanics in the game and Cinders comes out as strong game in this genre.
Numizmatic has delivered a good entry into this genre with Light Fingers. They’ve managed to hit a sweet spot for a more medium-core digital table top game focused on local multiplayer, but I can’t help but feel there was a strong missed opportunity for a solo mode in the Board Campaign. Beyond that, the game has some areas that could use additional polish or more depth, but the Nintendo Switch is the perfect system for what they have created.
GOOD - Graveyard Keeper is the dark and twisted humorous companion to games like Stardew Valley. It boasts many similarities but delves particularly deep into crafting, exploration, and story intertwinement. For a more casual player, this game can easily feel overwhelming, somewhat confusing and definitely complicated though. Tending a cemetery ends up being far more enjoyable that one might expect with Graveyard Keeper and it’s a very reasonable to give this game a go for $20 on the Nintendo eShop.
GOOD - Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! brings an easy to learn, but difficult to master turn-based strategy space game to the Nintendo Switch. It includes a quirky cast of vegetable-themed characters and plenty of puns to go with it. Gameplay can get repetitive as there isn’t a ton of depth, but this is mitigated by a slew of customization and upgrade options along with well-planned missions to create a solid experience.