It's that time of year when many of us will be taking trips to far-flung corners of the country or globe to visit family and friends. It's a good job, then, that we've got our trusty Nintendo Switch or Switch Lite to while away the hours on planes, trains and automobiles this holiday season.
Of course, you may choose to pass the time playing a trusted standby, or grinding through your favourite RPG, but if you're after a wholesome, bite-size game to chew on and digest entirely in a single sitting, you've come to the right place. Maybe you've got no travel plans at all and you just want an amuse-bouche in between sweeping epics! Thankfully, there's no shortage of short games on the Switch eShop, and we're here to help you find the best short games on Switch.
All of the games below can be completed in a few short hours - potentially in one gaming session, subject to skill and the battery life of your Switch (owners of the revised model will have an advantage here). Delays are part-and-parcel of holiday travel, but with these games you can be sure of a complete and satisfying experience while you're stuck at the airport.
So, whether you're flying home for Christmas or squeezing in a whistlestop, mid-winter business trip, you can travel safe in the knowledge that the following short Switch games will keep you warm and occupied on your trip, and you'll have them wrapped up by the time you return. Who's got time to wait until hour 30 when a game supposedly 'gets good'?!
Let's kick things off in our list of the best short Switch games - in no particular order - with a short, sugary treat...
Donut County (Switch eShop)
Donut County is perfect if you're looking for a short, relaxing, funny puzzle game. It's an enjoyable experience that has just enough charm to justify its existence, and although some might find the relatively high price tag a tough pill to swallow for three hours max of content, it's a tasty little treat of a game that you can devour in a single sitting. Short and sweet, indeed.
What Remains of Edith Finch (Switch eShop)
What Remains of Edith Finch is a 'Walking Simulator' that doesn’t just tell an unforgettable story – it's genuinely unforgettable. As tragic as its tale is, it always manages to entertain. As one section ends and as you fight back tears, you’ll always carry on, because the next story is as engrossing as the last. If you want a strong feature-length story that doesn’t waste a minute, Edith Finch is the one you need.
Gato Roboto (Switch eShop)
With tight controls, retro-styled minimal art style and a superb sense of progression, Gato Roboto is the perfect Metroidvania to play whilst you’re waiting for an actual Metroid or appropriate Castlevania game. Only its difficulty leaves a bit to be desired at times - anybody with a lick of experience will likely breeze through it in no time, and its quality is such that you may end up wishing it lasted a little longer. Nevertheless, it's chock full of meaningful upgrades, secrets and spectacular boss battles to keep you joyously busy for a few hours.
Gone Home (Switch eShop)
Several years on, there’s no denying the cultural and developmental impact Gone Home has had on the game industry. Both as a near-perfect exercise in interactive storytelling and an example of how to handle complex and very real ideas in a game, only Life is Strange has ever come close to matching its significance. While there still isn’t much ‘game’ to be found here, the story you unravel through exploring an empty home will stay with you long after you’ve put down your Switch. Essential.
Pikuniku (Switch eShop)
We struggle to recall a dystopia quite as cheerful as the one found in Pikuniku. It’s a short game, but one packed with heart and imagination, with a great single-player component and excellent couch co-op that can genuinely be enjoyed by anyone. It makes us remember the fun we had cutting pieces from our friends in Snipperclips, but where we occasionally hit a brick wall with that game, Pikuniku sidesteps frustration in favour of a breezy and charming adventure; a perfect salve if you need a break from the backlog, but don’t dive in expecting endless hours of gameplay.
Firewatch (Switch eShop)
Firewatch is just as engrossing and enchanting on Switch as it was the first time around. From the warm glow of its forests in the morning summer light to the subtle tension of exploring a rocky gorge in the isolating silence of night, Shoshone National Forest is a character in its own right. With a story that’s both funny and heartbreaking – and enhanced by some brilliant performances by its two central actors – this is an essential purchase, irrespective of whether you're playing it for the first time on Switch or simply using it as an excuse to revisit an old favourite.
Comments (49)
I would add the Steamworld Dig games to this list as well. The second game is a little too long (around 8 hours) to be considered a one play session game, but the first game is only about a 5 hour experience.
Jotun is a pretty good short game. Fairly short levels with challenging boss battles and a beautiful animation style to boot.
I feel a little insulted that Kamiko was not on this list. I mean not everyone made the cut but the game was available a little over a month from the switch release date and the music and art style have stuck with me this whole time. I still listen to the soundtrack on YouTube...in fact I gotta go hear it right now.
Thumper should be on here. >:c
Abzu is gorgeous.
It's a game that you play only once, but the visual wil linger.
Creature In The Well didn't make the cut? Disappointing. Wish the game had a bit more replayability, but it's high quality, nonetheless.
I own quite a few of these games on various platforms and can't find time to finish any of them! I get easily distracted. Heh.
Gorogoa is very good, I played on phone but the touchscreen on the switch would be the way forward. Will have to try gone home, I enjoyed firewatch and edith finch.
@Joeynator3000 I love Thumper, but that’s pretty long to be beaten in one sitting for most people.
@imgrowinglegs Not really, most levels are about 20 or 30 minutes each. I mean, it can't be longer than some of the games on this list.
@magnumc500 Kamiko's release date was April 13th, over a month later from Switch's release
Thanks for this article NL! I love short games. Got most of these thanks to you all doing a good job covering so many indie greats. I still gotta catch up with some like Inside and Downwell and Goragoa and shoot there’s a bunch I still need to check out!
One I’d like to add that may be a tad over the “one session” concept is Katana Zero..I beat it in a difficult day I had in the hospital. It really fit my dark mood and was an awesome challenge.
Well, guess I'm not into short games because I only own one of those and that one was for the kids.
This article is not really helpful to me without showing the prices of the games...
@Panopticon I've corrected my post good kind sir/ma'am
Give me a V! Now give me five more Vs!
What have you got? One of my favourite ever 2D platformers. Two hours and you're done too.
The Messenger and Chasm deserve a spot here, those are great Metroidvania inspired game.
AMAZING LIST! I'd add
The Count Lucanor,
Little Nightmares,
The Final Station
I'm surprised to not see the OPUS games on here. I've only played the first one, but it was quite the experience!
At any rate, thanks for this list! The older I get, the more I appreciate short games with what limited time I have. Some of my favorite games in general have been those like Limbo and Journey.
Forgot Pokémon Sword and Shield.
Is that an odd picture for Edith Finch or is it me?
Where Bulb boy
I'd add Kamiko, The Legend of Dark Witch, and New Super Lucky's Tale to the list.
@Joeynator3000 Thumper took me like 20 hours to finish, lol
I would add Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP played with headphones.
For me, Inside is one of the best games on Switch and one of the most memorable games I've played in years. There's nothing else quite like it. Gone Home on the other hand is my most regrettable purchase by a country mile.
@retro_player_22 indeed. Tho The Messenger isn’t quite a breeze... it took me about 15 hours I’d say! I almost gave up on it due to the length:/ but I’m glad I stuck with it!
@OorWullie I’ve heard this about Inside! Thanks for the warning about Gone Home tho
@StephenYap3
I'd second Kamiko. Plus, if you get it on sale it's only a couple bucks.
@neogyo I can't recommend Inside highly enough. It may be short but there's not a dull moment. I've played through it twice now and will certainly play through it again at some point. Limbo is also really good. I can't wait to see what their developer Playdead come up with next. Gone Home left me cursing the loss of 3 hours of my life more than the money I wasted on it. It actually put me in a bad mood for the rest of the evening and I don't recall a game ever doing that to me.
Old Man's Journey is short but very good as well. I recommend that one, especially on a sale.
Holy carp guys....
APE OUT!
I'm with everyone wondering why the heck Kamiko is absent from this list. Great lil game, and cheap(it's even gotten the odd sale).
As a list lover I love this kind of articles, thank you! There are games that I had never heard of in here.
@OorWullie I had the exact opposite reaction to Limbo and Gone Home. I found Limbo to be a pretty mediocre game, mostly based on trial and error, with underused gameplay mechanics, pointlessly dark and vapidly pretentious.
Gone Home on the other hand, felt like a revelatory experience. To me, it showed how good a purely narrative game could work.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Really enjoyed Forgotten Anne. Not super short, not long either. Great art style, setting and story. Platforming a bit hit and miss, but overall a great game in my opinion. Would be quite keen to see a sequel set in the same universe.
Completely unrelated as I don't know if it will be a short game or not but really looking forward to The Tourist next week!
Nice to see short games getting some love. It's always annoyed me how a game being "too short" is often something that gets criticized (though rarely the same if a game is "too long", which I would say is more annoying). You wouldn't get it in any other form of media/entertainment, where it's usually the opposite.
@Joeynator3000 while the game isn't very long, I think it does take quite some time to complete if you're not a rhythm ninja. I'm good at rhythm games, and it took me a long time to finish. AMAZING game though.
@NintendoLife You should add the Gardens Between and The Darkside Detective. Both are great puzzle games
@Haywired too many games are overly long at the moment, for the sake of being really long because it's the in thing. There is nothing wrong with a short, punchy experience, distilled to perfection, I agree!
For anyone considering Gato Roboto, don't get it! Don't let the cute visuals and fun idea trick you. This game is fundamentally broken on so many levels. And I'm not being hyperbolic. In the first 45 minutes, I experienced two crashes and four entirely bugs/glitches that required me to close the game and lose my progress. I played through about two thirds of it and every 20 minutes or so something forced the game to crash or a bug caused me to do another reset. The game is just badly made. I uninstalled it never to play again. Disappointed!
@retro_player_22 The Messenger was among my favorite games last year. It rules a lot...definitely way too long to beat in one sitting though.
@Deltath that’s crazy! Shoot, I didn’t have a single glitch in my playthrough..
@SetupDisk true! How could they forget;) one of my faves
@OorWullie one of my coworkers has said the same about Inside. Def gonna give it a whirl one day!
I was a little underwhelmed by Pikuniku sadly, though I want to love it. I’d add Pan-Pan to this list, a nice little puzzle adventure that lasts and hour or two.
@neogyo @Deltath I played the entire game without any issue at all too.
Dragon quest 1 was under 4 hours for me after not playing it for 20 years.
@Ogbert I agree about Pikuniku, I really wanted to love it! I had a good time, but felt it could’ve used just a little bit more polish/depth. It was so close to being great.
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