Best Nintendo Switch Wacky Physics Games

Biped (Switch eShop)

The simple act of walking in video games is rarely, if ever, a challenging endeavour. It’s more likely that we’re asked to perform more complex moves like jumping, punching, or kicking, but walking is more of an immediate, automatic action that we probably take for granted. Biped flips this concept on its head, and makes walking the core foundation of its gameplay, offering a unique take on the puzzle-platform genre that we really enjoyed.

The controls are fairly simple: Your character’s legs are mapped to the analogue sticks, so you move the left leg with the left stick, and vice versa — like QWOP, but less engineered to be impossible. Add in a co-op mode that provides a nice twist to proceedings, and you'll have a great (if short) time with this gorgeous little game.

Manual Samuel (Switch eShop)

Manual Samuel has a wacky premise before you even get to the wacky physics: An ultra-privileged, lazy dingus signs a deal with Death to attempt to live 24 hours performing all autonomous bodily functions manually, from walking and controlling his hands, all the way down to breathing and blinking.

With strong echoes of Octodad, the absurdity produces hilarious results. Fail to blink and the screen gets hazy; forget to breathe and Sam’s face turns blue. Get a rhythm going and his spine will suddenly go limp, or he’ll do an impromptu splits, squirming on the floor as the narrator drops a withering bon mot. Even after leaving Sam’s house, within a couple of hours you’ll have negotiated several other nightmare scenarios including driving (with manual transmission, naturally), speaking to colleagues and operating machinery. This game will give you an incredible appreciation for your body taking most functions out of your incompetent hands.

Snake Pass (Switch eShop)

In Snake Pass, you control a lovable snake named Noodle, as he maneuvers across floating islands with the help of his hummingbird friend, Doodle. The main hook of this game is that it's technically a 3D platformer, but you're playing the whole thing as a wiggly little snake. There's no jumping here, and no enemies to fight, so the main challenge comes from mastering the nuances of snake movement and scouring every corner to find all the collectibles.

You control Noodle's head with the left stick, while the A button functions as the "jump" and lifts his head. Holding down ZR causes Noodle to move forward, while ZL causes him to tense up and grip, effectively functioning as a brake on some of the trickier segments. It can be a bit hard to get the hang of, especially if you're not a snake, but once you hone your skills, it plays like a dream.

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Snake Pass

• $149.99
• Amazon (US)

Fight Crab (Switch eShop)

The premise of Fight Crab screams "meme game" pretty loudly; taking control of a crustacean of your choice from a selection of snippy sealife, you go into pitched battle with an opposing decapod in an attempt to (usually) flip them onto their back. You're not just limited to your claws, though; just like in the GIF, you can wield (or dual-wield!) knives, but also a selection of other weapons. Nunchaku, tonfa, even a revolver.

The controls are a nightmare, but intentionally so. The D-pad moves your crab, with a double-tap letting them move faster – sometimes with the aid of jet propulsion. The left and right sticks control their respective claws, with ZL and ZR punching (or using the held weapon) and the bumper buttons pinching. In practice, this leads to directionless flailing, with the occasional delightful endorphin-buzz of actually managing to get hold of the enemy crab. It's pinchy-punchy perfection.

Fight Crab [Shella Awesome Edition]

• $34.99 $33.24 Use code Hookshot24
• Play Asia

Heave Ho (Switch eShop)

Heave Ho is a couch co-op game that is deceptively simple in premise, requiring up to four players to navigate a series of increasingly complex levels in order to reach the end goal. The twist here is that each player can only control their respective character’s arms.

By moving the analogue stick around, your chosen character will swing his/her arms around. You can then grip onto any surface with either hand, with your left hand mapped to 'L', and your right to 'R'. By utilising your character’s body as momentum, you effectively swing and heave your way across surfaces in order to progress through the stages. Unsurprisingly, this game is best as a party game — let the chuckles commence!

Robotry! (Switch eShop)

Robotry! is a chaotic physics-based platformer in the vein of Heave Ho, Octodad, and Biped — which, if you've been reading this list properly, means hilarious shenanigans aplenty.

By now, you may well be familiar with Robotry's style of platforming: You control both legs (or arms?) of a little robot lad, and you can use your controller to move them individually, grab onto things, and let go. It's a simple system, but if you've got excellent hand-eye coordination, you can use this simple system to approximate Real Human-Style Walking. Mostly.

Wobbledogs (Switch eShop)

Unlike most of the other games on this list, the physics-based funnies in Wobbledogs don't come from the player (badly) controlling a character, but instead from the procedurally-generated wobbledogs themselves.

In this partly-disturbing, partly-hilarious dog-breeding simulator, the dogs are physically simulated, which means they wiggle and wobble around like a baby deer with not-quite-enough legs. If you tire of passively observing, you can pet them, train them, or toss them (please do not replicate this in real life) and watch them tumble around the place. There are no goals to reach, just dogs to enjoy, breed, and watch.

Snipperclips Plus: Cut it out, together! (Switch)

Snipperclips was one of the Switch's launch games, designed to show off the Joy-Con capabilities just like 1-2-Switch — but with much greater success, because Snipperclips is something you might actually want to play on the reg.

Through snipping, crouching and going on tiptoes, you manoeuvre Snip and Clip in smart ways to fill gaps, create makeshift tools and more besides in increasingly tricky but clever physics-based puzzles. You can play solo but, let's be blunt, this is a multiplayer game, so grab a friend, family member, or a stranger off the streets, if you have to (note: we do not actually encourage kidnapping strangers).

You can buy the physical retail version, or the digital base game + an optional $9.99 top-up which adds features like new levels, new worlds, and new puzzles.

Snipperclips Plus: Cut it out, Together!

• $34.99
• £29.17
• Amazon (US)

What The Golf? (Switch eShop)

What the Golf? is not really golf. It's barely golf. Or, alternatively, it is the most golf ever to be golfed. After hours spent in its bizarre thrall, we're still not really sure what to make of it. Where do you even start? It's one of those comedy games, the sort that often aren't particularly funny and don't include much gameplay to make up for it. But What the Golf? is above par (sorry), thanks to a real surplus of enjoyable content.

You see, every one of the many, many "holes" has some sort of new gimmick or new take on an existing gimmick. This is the major strength of What the Golf? – variety, and plenty of it. We don't want to spoil any of the gags, because the surprise and sheer stupidity of each twist is well worth discovering for yourself. It may not be the most difficult game in the world, but it's damn good fun, even if you don't like golf. Especially if you don't like golf, in fact.

Fall Guys (Switch eShop)

For those of you unacquainted, Fall Guys is a 60-bean battle royale game show. Rather than the usual battle royale fare of blasting your enemies into a bloody pulp — or sending garbage in Tetris 99 — Fall Guys is a platformer in which you compete in several different rounds of tumbly, bean-eliminating minigames to take the crown at the end of the show. Think of it as the video game equivalent of Takeshi’s Castle, with all the soft pummelling and falling over that you'd expect.

Good Job! (Switch eShop)

Good Job! is a wonderful surprise that everyone should try out. You take on the role of the up-and-coming offspring of a corporate CEO, and you’ll need to rise through the ranks the good old-fashioned way: by completing every job to the absolute best of your ability.

Each level sees you tasked with one specific job, whether it be replacing a broken projector with a new one, ensuring all the employees return from their break, or watering all the foliage in the area. However you complete these is entirely up to you, though — why not save a bit of time and throw the new projector through the window overlooking the conference room? Sure, you’ll incur a few thousand dollars worth of damage, but the job’s got to be done swiftly, right?

Thanks to its hilarious physics, seemingly menial tasks have the potential to descend into utter carnage – whether intentional or not – and its grading system means there are plenty of opportunities to replay.