Machinarium (Switch eShop)

While the Switch incarnation of Machinarium doesn’t offer anything different from the other versions already out there, it’s still a fine port of an award-winning point-and-click adventure. Even after a decade, Amanita Design’s brilliant little odyssey still looks, plays and feels fresh thanks to a quirky soundtrack, those instantly recognisable hand-drawn visuals and an approach to environmental puzzles that strikes the right balance between obtuse and tantalisingly obvious.

The lack of any additional content makes this a hard sell for anyone who's already played it elsewhere, but if you’ve never had the pleasure of joining Josef on his mechanical adventure, there’s arguably never been a better platform on which to try it.

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NAIRI: Tower Of Shirin (Switch eShop)

There’s a good chance you’ve probably never heard of 2018's Nairi: Tower of Shirin, but that doesn’t mean this hidden gem should pass you by.

While it doesn’t have the pedigree of a Double Fine game or the licence exposure of something from TellTale’s back catalogue, it still offers up a safe and engaging world full of quirky characters, challenging puzzles and all the screen-tapping backgrounds you could ask for. It’s no great reimagining of the genre, but it’s a curio worth playing nonetheless.

And if you enjoy this, Homebear Studio's 2024 sequel, Nairi: Rising Tide, picks up the story for the second chapter.

Oxenfree (Switch eShop)

A genuinely creepy creation, Oxenfree combines a clever story and smart dialogue mechanics with superbly sinister music to leave a deep and lasting impression on the player, one that should encourage an all-important second playthrough.

Fans of Stranger Things and Poltergeist will love the direction this game takes – if not to hell and back, exactly, then absolutely to some other place where horrors abound, just waiting for an invitation into our world. It’s yet another Switch essential, and playing with a touchscreen gives it a more point-and-click flavour.

If you end up liking this one, then you should absolutely check out the sequel, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals.

Return to Monkey Island (Switch eShop)

LucasArts' genre classic returns from Ron Gilbert and David Grossman of Terrible Toybox to show others in the genre just how it's done. Return to Monkey Island reaches into your heart, rips out your desire to know THE SECRET, and clenches it in front of your face. As hard as it would be to concede that The Secret of Monkey Island™ might always have been a McGuffin, it’s agonising to contemplate that your 30-year longing for the Monkey Island 3 might be just the same.

Return presents to your transfixed gaze a phenomenal point-and-click adventure, bubbling with passion and fun. All the way through, you will hope, achingly, that the big reveal is coming – and then…

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Sam & Max Save the World (Switch eShop)

This six-episode compilation remains just as entertaining as it ever was, and the remaster means Sam & Max Save the World feels far more stable than before. It's not the truly jaw-dropping complete makeover some may have been hoping for, but the former Telltale staff behind this remaster have clearly decided that they shouldn't fix what wasn't broken. Except the broken bits. But they've been fixed.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (Switch eShop)

A detective adventure with added minigames, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is the best Sherlock Holmes game we've encountered and a very auspicious debut for the consulting detective on Switch.

This is far from a lazy downgrade, with developer Frogwares presenting a full-featured and compelling experience from start to perhaps-too-soon finish. It looks great and plays brilliantly, with only occasional annoyances and some weak (though thankfully skippable) puzzles to knock it down a peg.

The fact that the game is willing to allow you to get it wrong means it feels less prescribed and inevitable than other titles in the detective genre, and that's quite refreshing. A little ironic that it took one of the form's oldest characters to finally land such a novel approach.

Simon the Sorcerer Origins (Switch eShop)

If you're an adventure game fan of a certain age, you’ll have a place in your heart for Simon the Sorcerer. Part of the first major wave of point-and-click adventures back in the late '80s and early '90s, Simon offered a goofy British counterpart to Monkey Island’s swashbuckling comedy.

Simon the Sorcerer Origins is a faithfully written prequel with all the charm of its predecessors, funny and cynical dialogue, and even Rick Astley popping up for some nostalgia-tinged opening credits sequence. What more could golden-era adventure game fans want?

Stories Untold (Switch eShop)

Stories Untold is a chilling adventure with some point-and-click mechanics that manages to draw you 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.

Tales from the Borderlands (Switch eShop)

Tales from the Borderlands is arguably Telltale Games' finest hour and easily one of the very best choice-driven narrative adventures available on any system. This is 10 glorious hours' worth of top-notch entertainment with a world-class cast, consistently excellent writing that manages to perfectly balance comedy and drama, non-stop twisted action and a cast of kooky characters that are a joy to spend time with.

This really is the best the Borderlands universe has ever been, and a game that everyone should experience at least once.

Tangle Tower (Switch eShop)

From the makers of the delightful Snipperclips, Tangle Tower is an exemplary addition to the point-and-click genre, providing superb puzzles and very well-written dialogue, backed up by some of the finest voiceover work in recent memory.

A few of the character interactions may drag on a bit too long in places as you try and uncover every piece of evidence available to you, and there’s little reason to play through the game multiple times. But to be honest, these are very minor gripes considering just how much fun we had in the company of Detectives Grimoire and Sally.

The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark (Switch eShop)

By cutting back on the pop culture references and focusing more on unique characters and situations, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is a strong follow-up to Spooky Doorway’s point-and-click adventure. The game is certainly lengthier and grander in scope, and while it occasionally feels a tad bloated with unnecessary tasks, it’s largely an immensely fun ride with the same excellent visuals from the first game.

If you enjoyed The Darkside Detective, then its sequel is an absolute no-brainer; for newcomers, you might want to consider checking out the first game before diving into this one.