Nintendo Life Switch Year In Review 2024
Image: Nintendo Life

We've all mulled over our music habits, got to grips with our PlayStation and Xbox recaps, and now, with Nintendo fashionably late to the party, it's time to check out our Switch playtime thanks to Nintendo's Year in Review 2024.

The Switch 'wrapped' site is now available, meaning you can see your gaming highlights from the past 366 days at a glance. This year, the recap covers your total Switch playtime, your three most-played games, a month-by-month breakdown and a handful of other features.

To see yours, you just need to head over to the official Nintendo website (below) and sign in — magic!

There may not have been a Tears of the Kingdom or Mario Wonder to really sink our time into in 2024, but it's still been a hell of a year for gaming! Read on to check out our personal stats and then take to the comments to share your most played games.

Jim Norman, Staff Writer

Balatro
Image: PlayStack

Most played games of 2024:

Not the biggest Switch numbers from me this year (heck, only one of my top three is a 2024 release), but I predicted Balatro would be at the top, and there it is. I'm a little surprised to see Wargroove make it to the podium, but I suppose I did play it for almost two weeks straight by a pool this summer, so I guess those hours add up. As for Hollow Knight, 2024 was finally the year that I can say, "Yep, I get it." They should really consider doing a sequel to that one.

The likes of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Hades narrowly missed out on some top-three representation, and I was a little gutted to see that I've only spent 13 hours in Mario & Luigi: Brothership — I was secretly hoping that I'd be a little closer to the end.

Overall, I racked up 351 hours across 55 games this year on Switch. It's small potatoes compared to a lot of totals, but I'd expect to see just a little bit of a bump in my 'Switch 2 Year in Review' next year (please).

Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble
Image: SEGA

Most played games of 2024:

Gosh, quite the year for Sega, huh?

Honestly, if you'd said to me at the start of the year that Super Monkey Ball and Sonic would rank amongst my most played games, I'd say you'd gone 'round the bend. But it's there, no joke. With Banana Rumble, despite my gripes with the multiplayer, the campaign has kept me absolutely hooked, and I just love tinkering with the new boost mechanic to see if I can shave more seconds off my time.

Honestly, what all three of these games have in common is that despite intending to play them through solely for review purposes, they've all managed to hold my attention long after submitting my opinion. Given the sheer number of great games being released on a near-constant basis, that says a lot.

I'm quite surprised Lumines Remastered didn't make the cut, actually, because I've been royally addicted to that game over the last few weeks. I can't stop, and I might need some help. Not yet, though. Just one more go.

Otherwise, the Switch has kept me locked in for a total of 321 hours this year, which doesn't sound much on its own, but when you consider it equates to almost two weeks, it's a little alarming.

Alana Hagues, Deputy Editor

Stardew Valley
Image: ConcernedApe

Most played games of 2024:

Uhh... okay, I can explain. I think? What a weird year.

The Switch became my decompression machine this year. I buried myself in Stardew Valley in April after moving house, then I came back in November when 1.6 dropped, hence the *gulp* 95 hours I've put into it. Fantasian in second is not surprising at all — when I'm reviewing something that dense (and challenging), I tend to take little breaks. So there's probably 5-10 hours of 'idle' in the 75-hour playtime. And, lastly, Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania kept me very happy last month. I'm a bit shocked I played it for over 70 hours.

Balatro barely missed out on a top-three spot — I've clocked over 70 hours on that thing. I mean, who hasn't? But I've been spread across lots of different things this year. Unicorn Overlord is high up there, and I spent about 40 hours on the GBA NSO app with Golden Sun and The Lost Age, the latter of which I still need to beat...

2024 saw my Switch playtime cut in half compared to last year - I have 640 hours here, much fewer than last year's four-figure sum. Still a big number, but I've spent the majority of my time on other consoles — Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Dawntrail, Elden Ring, Persona 3 Reload, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Hades 2, etc. will do that. I expect 2025 will be much different with Xenoblade Chronicles X, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and the Switch 2.

Gavin Lane, Editor

Unable to display content
Denied — Image: Nintendo

Most played games of 2024:

Try as I might, the Year in Review website doesn't want to play ball. Maybe having multiple Nintendo Accounts is throwing it off, but that wasn't an issue last year and I play everything through the same account.

Looking at my Play Activity profile shows recent dips into older games. No, I haven't played New Horizons for 295 hours this year, I played for 20 minutes last Sunday, mate. Surprisingly, my Balatro hour count is a fairly healthy 20 hours and I managed to side-step other massive time sinks (take that, Vampire Survivors) and tick off a bunch of '4 hours or more' games this year. I put over 25 hours into Zelda. And I'm knocking on 30 in Wizardry, which I reviewed. And I ended up 100%-ing Pikmin 4 this year, too, which is probably 25 hours' worth. I could check, but that would mean juggling memory on my packed micro SD to redownload the thing.

Nothing crazy this year, then. I'm looking forward to some serious time with Unicorn Overlord over the holidays.

Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor

Ace Combat 7" Skies Unknown
Image: Bandai Namco

Most-played games 2024:

Taking the bronze is the best game Ubisoft released in recent memory. This epic Metroidvania is truly a memorable franchise entry, which dials up to 11 everything that made the original Prince of Persia games cult classics: bigger combat, faster movement, harder platforming, challenging bosses… it’s all here! Don’t even get me started on the soundtrack (which wins the category at my game awards). I have yet to complete the (insanely hard) Mask of Darkness DLC, but it’s on the cards before this year ends. The only sour spot on this masterpiece has nothing to do with the game but the industry itself: it failed to sell enough copies for Ubisoft to consider it a success, and the developers have been disbanded and reassigned to other projects, so a sequel is wishful thinking. But that won’t stop The Lost Crown from becoming a future cult classic.

Prince of Persia
Image: Ubisoft

For the silver medal, I know it is a bit of a cheat to have a game from 2019 on my top three, but bringing the complete Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown experience to Switch seemed like one of those impossible ports that could never work - yet here we are. With a stunning soundtrack, detailed plane models, chaotic multiplayer, and surprisingly optimised performance for an Unreal Engine 4-powered game, you'd be crazy not to jump in this virtual cockpit. The guy who reviewed the game for the site seemed equally impressed.

It is funny how quickly we forget early-year games when picking GOTY candidates. Grabbing the gold this year is the game I jumped on as soon as I wrapped up The Lost Crown. Vanillaware's medieval fantasy epic Unicorn Overlord might not have a revolutionary plot, but the sheer quality of the developer's art direction never fails to mesmerise. True that the game mostly plays itself with our role being to mix and match the several dozen characters we met along the way, but as far as tactical RPG goes, this is one addictive formula. Unlike Prince of Persia, SEGA's reported sales were way above the expected numbers and while Vanillaware is not known to produce sequels to its franchises, hopefully there are further entries down the line. Perhaps for a Switch successor...

Kate Gray, Contributor

Everafter Falls
Image: Akupara Games

Most-played games of 2024:

Wow! I can't believe I put 75 hours into Everafter Falls. It's a really good cosy game, but I'm still surprised it is my number one most-played Switch game in a year where I've reviewed two Ace Attorney collection games! I suppose it's a lot calmer than murder, though.

As for Ace Attorney Investigations, yeah, that tracks. I reckon Apollo Justice would have been up there as well, except I got the review code for that one right at the end of 2023, which split my hours up. I spent a lot of time with Edgey this year, and I still can't believe that we finally got to play Ace Attorney Investigations 2. What a game.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is another remaster and another game that I was extremely excited to finally play. Loved every second of those 38 hours reliving my childhood. Man, this was such a good year for games!


Those are our Years in Review most played games, but what about yours? Vote in our poll below and let us know your favourite stats in the comments.

What is your most played Switch game of 2024?