Crawl (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £4.28 / €4,94 (66% off)
Strictly speaking, this is more competitive than co-operative, but we really like Crawl and we’d bet our collected stash of gold and wrath you will, too. A dungeon-crawling hack-and-slash affair, one player is the hero trying to get through a dungeon and the others play as monster-controlling ghosts attempting to kill said hero and take their place. It's an everyone-for-themselves free-for-all, yet there are opportunities for frantic 3v1 co-operative play — a necessity when all the non-hero ghost characters must take joint control of bosses the hero faces.
So then, light on co-op but heavy on fun. Couchplay doesn’t get much better than this on Switch.
Death's Door (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £8.99 / €9,99 (50% off)
Death's Door is a modern classic, utilizing old gameplay ideas in a new setting to make for a short and sweet experience you won’t want to miss. The snappy combat, rewarding exploration, and relaxing music will stick with you once you've finished, and while it may not have anything 'new' to offer, Death’s Door is so high quality that you’ll hardly have time to think about it's lack of innovation. We’d give this one a very high recommendation, especially to any fans of Zelda or Soulslike games — Acid Nerve has crafted an experience that’s absolutely worth your time and money.
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Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £11.99 / €12,99 (43% off)
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is the full and complete Kentucky Route Zero experience. A magical realist point-and-click adventure that takes you on a beguiling journey to a place that exists both below and beyond. It's a trip to be savoured, ruminated on; no need to rush. Each act here brings with it some new perspective, new places, and people to forge deep connections with. You may be confused, even bewildered by your initial steps down into the subterranea that exists somewhere beneath this version of Kentucky but, by the end of your journey, you'll have made friends and memories and been escorted through a rich and beautiful experience that will stay with you much longer than you may expect.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £8.49 / €9,99 (50% off)
While utilising the ruleset of a more traditional CCG system might put off some players, the on-brand approach to turn-based combat in Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is still a positive addition to the world. Because with such an involved and intricately designed story – and such an interesting world to explore beyond the confines of Geralt – Thronebreaker offers the opportunity to lose yourself in the Continent like never before.
Thumper (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £7.99 / €9,99 (50% off)
Thumper is a fantastic video game, an extravagant rhythm experience that's also a brutal assault on the senses. It's extremely difficult - painfully so at times - yet we feel the need to persevere, retrying tough stages over and over again. Even when that's done, the drive for better ranks remains simply because the game compels us to play on. The only real flaw of Thumper, in actual fact, is that it offers so little respite and no 'easy' mode for players. Some may scoff at that, saying it's a game designed to be tough, but the downside is that without that optional concession the game will be inaccessible and impenetrable for some players. That's a pity, as for those up for the challenge it's a wonderful — albeit gruelling — gaming experience.
OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £16.86 / €18,74 (25% off)
OPUS: Echo of Starsong is a lovely game, an emotional adventure that represents the apex of the series to date and easily one of the best story-driven games on Switch. It's also excellent value for money, offering around ten hours of game for its low price, more if you really take your time and soak the whole thing up the way you really should do. While the character designs are a little too familiar, the characters themselves are complex, interesting, and likeable, and the story told with them is a complete, satisfying tale. Oh, and when the opening suggests playing with headphones? That's a hard agree from us, both to help with the music-based puzzles and simply to enjoy the excellent score.
Armello (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £7.49 / €9,99 (50% off)
While this turn-based affair might look, move and feel just like a real board game, Armello is actually a completely original creation - and one that does more than simply doff its cap at the world of tabletop gaming. From the deep tactics of its living board game gameplay to the sheer charm of its world-building and animal character designs, it's a quest filled with back-stabbing, political power plays and rampaging monsters that’s different each and every time you play. It’s at its absolute best when played in multiplayer, that human factor making for an even more unpredictable battle for the corrupted throne. You’d be doing yourself a disservice not to add this anthropomorphic tale to your wish list.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Switch)
Sale Price: £8.99 / €9,99 (50% off)
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is an utterly accomplished 2D fighting game. It's bursting with content and featuring the visual spectacle of combat that uses up every single trick in the book. A few strange decisions aside, this title is a must for fighting game fans. Even if you're not a fan of any of the franchises represented in this game, you most certainly will be by the time you're done with this stacked fighting package.
Axiom Verge (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £7.49 / €8,99 (50% off)
Axiom Verge on Switch is truly an outstanding port of an outstanding game, no more and no less. We would strongly urge those of you that missed this game on other platforms to pick it up here; this is the full Axiom Verge experience and it's available in a format that supports both handheld and home play. For those of you who have played it before on other platforms, it’s ultimately a question of just how much you love this game. This is the exact same, excellent game that you’ve played before, so whether or not you want to buy it again is personal choice. Regardless of which side you fall on, Axiom Verge is a fantastic example of how to do a Metroidvania right.
Enter the Gungeon (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £4.39 / €5,99 (60% off)
Enter The Gungeon is a brilliantly tactile, endlessly replayable twin-stick roguelike that sits right up there with the very best indie games on Nintendo Switch. With satisfying combat, random levels, and an endless supply of inventive weapons, items and secrets, it's always a total joy to play. Yet another modern indie classic found a natural home on Nintendo's console.
Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £3.49 / €4,54 (65% off)
Have you ever wanted to receive text messages from the Doctor Who universe? No, us neither. We were surprised, then, to find that Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins is quite possibly the best Doctor Who game ever made. Although, admittedly, that isn’t exactly a difficult feat to achieve given the series’ relatively bereft history with the medium. A 'lost phone' concept, this is comfortably the best Doctor Who game we’ve ever played – yes, even better than Dalek Attack on the Amiga. So good, you won’t want to blink. But you should, or your eyes will crust over.
Limbo (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £1.79 / €1,99 (80% off)
Limbo remains a brilliantly moody and expertly poised platform-puzzler many years on from its original 2010 release. It might be a little stark, but it is dense with ingenious physics puzzles and weighty platforming challenges. It's the perfect cut-price companion piece to Inside, but also a brilliant game in its own right.
Lost in Play (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £10.79 / €11,99 (40% off)
Lost in Play has many of the hallmarks of golden-age point-and-click adventures: a cartoon style, humorously animated protagonists, item-based puzzles, and curiosity-piquing 2D scenes serving as both play space and reward for clearing the previous area. However, it also shakes off many of the classic bugbears: pixel hunting is impossible because you’re moving a character, not a cursor; using no words in the game leaves the hint system to be helpful but not too transparent; there’s very little backtracking because environments are kept small and the time in them is brief; and wacky dream logic is completely excused because you’re playing in children’s imaginations. Over its five-or-so hours, Lost in Play barely puts a foot wrong, delivering cerebral gaming and effervescent entertainment. In doing so, it makes many of the genre’s design challenges look easy.
Stories Untold (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £1.79 / €1,99 (80% off)
Stories Untold is a chilling adventure that manages to draw us right into its world through the ingenious use of its UI and perfectly realised lo-fi aesthetic. Through the walls of old technology and complicated machinery, it creates a uniquely strong bond between player and narrative, giving you a real sense of place within its world as it slowly corrupts and twists from the comfortingly familiar to something else entirely. It's one of the best interactive horror stories we've ever played and a perfect fit for enjoying alone in the dark on Switch.
Blaster Master Zero 3 (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £6.74 / €7,49 (50% off)
As the conclusion to the modern take on the Blaster Master saga, Blaster Master Zero 3 hits all the notes to deliver a high-octane and satisfying retro platforming experience. The dark world mechanic adds a nice extra layer to the overall design, while the familiar aspects of gameplay are as polished as they’ve ever been. Inti Creates certainly could’ve stopped with the original Blaster Master Zero and that would’ve been enough, but what it’s delivered here with its third take on the franchise is nothing short of excellent. Whenever you next get a chance, be sure to add this one to your library, although we’d say so with the caveat that you should first play the preceding two entries. Really, these games are just that good.
World of Goo (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £5.99 / €7,49 (50% off)
World of Goo is a true classic, and it's revered for good reason. 2D Boy's game is instantly accessible but with plenty of depth; it's paced out perfectly, with a steady stream of new tricks and techniques to learn; and its puzzles can be solved with forward-thinking, quick reflexes or a mixture of both. Wrapped up in a unique, pleasantly apocalyptic presentation, with co-op support and a harder 'OCD' mode for added replay value, this is a complete puzzle package. If you've played it previously, the Switch incarnation might be worth a second go for its portable pointer controls and on-the-go co-op, but if it's your first time into the World of Goo it's absolutely a must-play.
Alien: Isolation (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £9.99 / €12,99 (33% off)
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror masterpiece and straight-up one of the very best horror video games ever released. It's a nerve-wracking affair – a slow, methodical game of cat and mouse against a brilliantly clever recreation of one of cinema's most infamous killers – but if you're up to the task you'll find one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences in the genre; a brilliant and beautiful homage to one of the greatest Sci-Fi movies of all time. Feral Interactive has done a stellar job with this Switch port and the excellent motion controls and inclusion of all previously-released DLC only go to sweeten the deal. This is essential stuff for survival horror fans.
Evergate (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £2.39 / €2,99 (70% off)
Evergate is a wonderfully designed puzzle/platformer that starts off strong and goes from strength to strength over the course of its campaign. Every new world you encounter here adds a new twist to proceedings, gradually becoming more complex as it layers mechanics on top of one each other, enabling you to experiment and come up with your own unique ways to bound across its intricate levels. Speed-running here, for us, feels like it was tacked on for no real reason but, besides this one little misstep, this really is an essential purchase for puzzle/platforming fans and a standout example of its genre on Switch.
Bayonetta 2 + Bayonetta (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £49.99 / €39,99 (33% off)
The original Bayonetta is starting to show her age, but that doesn’t stop this hyperactive melee/shooter action mashup from being one of the most rewarding and memorable cult hits of the previous generation. And Bayonetta 2 shines brightest on Switch. It runs without a hitch at 60fps, looks incredible in both TV and tabletop modes, and offers an addictive free-flowing combat formula that sprinkles in platforming, light exploration, and a ridiculous story to create something that you simply need to experience. If you’ve never played it before, you’re in for a treat. If you’ve already played it, it’s even more bewitching as a handheld gem.
Eschatos (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £14.48 / €16,09 (30% off)
The ultimate M-KAI package, this three-strong historical evolution is the purest distillation of the developer’s vision for the shoot-em-up. Eschatos’ beautiful bombast will suck you in, fire up the adrenaline, and spit you back out with an instant just-one-more-go mindset. If that’s not worth diving into, why are you playing games at all?
Card Shark (Switch eShop)
Sale Price: £12.05 / €13,39 (33% off)
Card Shark is the kind of game that at first blush seems like it just won’t work. Lots of dialogue bookended by brief, simplistic minigame sequences seems like it would make for an experience that would lose its luster quickly, yet we couldn’t put it down. Witty writing, high-stakes gameplay, and a gorgeous art style all come together here to make for a game that’s well-executed and unique in its appeal. If you’re looking to try something awesome that notably bucks most modern gaming trends, Card Shark is absolutely something we’d recommend, well worth your time and money.
Comments 38
Great list! Thank you for all the recommendations. I'll go for Alien Isolation and Death's Door (and perhaps Monkey Island, I played on PC and it's fantastic, but I want it physical!)
A pity I don't have plenty of money to waste... Lots of good stuff here!
I'm only looking at games that either digital exclusive or significantly cheaper than physical. Kaze and the Wild Masks fits the bill for me. Also tempted to pick up Blaster Master Zero 3 to complete the trilogy and DOOM 3 as I've heard it looks amazing on the OLED.
This a great list and also all stuff on my Deku Deals wishlist 😃
Just the 81 then...
Gris at that price is a CRIME!! That would be my #1 recommended game. It's a really compelling personal and emotional journey for anyone who plays it. Nothing else quite like it that I know of! There are definitely a LOT of great titles on this list though.
Amazing games.
Out of these I’d mainly recommend the Talos Principle, because it doesn’t get as much time in the light as most other games on this list.
Edit: also I think the pricing for the Messenger is a little off. I mean, it’s a great game but I wouldn’t recommend it for 79,99 . I’d probably only recommend Breath of the Wild for that price.
The Messenger at only 79,99 euro's? That's a steal! Or a typo.
Many great games though, some at incredible prices, but this month I went with the incredible sale of Qubic / Untold Tales games on my US account. Splatter Zombiecalypse Now, for just 0.23, and several other great ones for less than (often half) a dollar each. Insane value there.
Would love a sequel to mark of the ninja!
Very disappointed not to see the criminally underrated Murder by Numbers on the list, especially considering some of the dross/mediocrity that made it.
@Miyamotosan They didn't even mention it's sequel "Saved by Alphabets"
Sonic Mania made the list and not Frontiers? That's funny in many ways considering the comments I read on the last article here with Frontiers as the topic.
All the Capcom Arcade Stadium 2nd games are 46% off (a little over an € a piece).
I got the 3 Darkstalkers games and especially Vampire Saviour: The Lord of Vampire is a complete steal (all the games are in reality a steal at that price imo).
I'm looking into maybe getting SonSon and the 2 Megaman fighting games as well (there are a number Street Fighter games on there too - but I've already got those in the 30th Anniversary Collection)
There's leaderboards available for free as well (NSO is not needed) with Score, Timed and Special challenges to take up.
Edit: Ok, SonSon is actually free it seems.
It's quite an amazing package overall if you ask me.
I cannot recommend The Talos Principle enough. Easily one of the best games I've ever played in my life!
Diablo II and Diablo III together for £16.49 is a great deal. It's not very obvious that it's on sale though, because you have to hit the Prime Evil Collection tab on the Diablo II listing.to see it.
Sadly it hasn't been reviewed here, but be sure to pick up the platformer hidden gem Juiced!
@Shambo Ha, zapped! Thanks
@PineappleLake Juiced! Featuring Dywane "The Rock" Johnson.
Seriously, 81?!
Articles like this lose a lot of their utility with such a high number.
Just the 81 must have games….. a well curated concise list then…..
Great to see Eschatos on this list! Outstanding shmup with a killer soundtrack which I think is worth the price on its own.
How'd you score Skywalker Saga 9/10? After all the delays it was just so bland.
The fact so many of these games are a 9/10 says a lot about the quality of reviews on this site.
Some terrific games on here that I already got, and some great suggestions. :v
You must not have 81 of anything lol I own over 100 games on Switch, probably 12-15 are "must have". That's an insane amount of cash to get 81 games in one sale! Sorry for getting caught up on the #. Some good games in there anyway
Rogue Legacy I and Gris are practically free and those are both amazing games; I encourage
anyone who doesn't own them to snag them. Sales on Ni No Kuni 2 keep tempting me. Overall a lot of great games, although some of them are on sale quite often so they are not really urgent buys.
One I would recommend thats not here is Undernauts Labyrinth of Yomi for £20.
Its a super underrated and to my knowledge wasn't even reviewed by NL.
I hope this sale comes to the NA eshop!! I have many on my wish list and been waiting for a sale!
Picked up Lego city undercover when its on sale now
Tony Hawk's is £15.99, not £17.99.
A bargain either way
@Mr_Humpf thanks for the tip! Thanks to tou i've grabed them both
FWIW, I didn’t rate Gris at all - it’s quite pretty, but playing it was frankly quite boring. I’m only saying this because so many comments and reviews praise it - just a warning that you could be disappointed. I get why others love it, though. Glad you did.
I felt similarly about Horace too, for that matter - I liked everything about that game apart from actually playing it. Such a shame.
But this is a very strong list. I’m not quibbling with anyone’s score! Go for it - just read some reviews first.
If you haven't picked up Rayman legends, do it! It's truly amazing from start to finish... And then they have the complete previous game as unlockable bonus levels!
It plays like a dream, makes underwater levels cool and fun, has 5 amazing flowing music stages and is always thinking of something cool and strange to surprise you! (And it's ten bucks now!! )
@bluemage1989
NL has been reviewing Switch eShop games for almost six years, and there has been roughly 20 games coming out each week. They can't review them all, so it makes sense they review the ones that look interesting to begin with. And it makes sense that when there is a sale, they recommend the games on sale that they themselves gave a good score.
They have reviewed A LOT og eShop games here, and many of them are NOT on this list.
I got botvice in the sale, great pixel art gallery shooter, 50% of to 5 euros or something...
Thanks Nintendo Life for the list, I added some games I was missing to my wishlist (and also my collection) on Deku Deals so that later I can check which games if any I'll pick during this sale!
Persona 5 Royal and Mario + rabbids sparks of hope are obvious pick ups worth your time and money
@Krull OMG you're like my gaming twin or something - I feel the same about both Gris and Horace.
Er no thanks to any of them...
@gcunit @Krull Make that gaming triplets.
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