The Excavation Of Hob's Barrow (Switch eShop)

At its best, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow feels like the halcyon point-and-click days of LucasArts. Some of its puzzle chains are compelling, immersive, and pitched just right difficulty-wise. It gets a bit messy in the third act, but not enough to undo the excellent scene-setting and plot-thickening that precedes it. Hob's Barrow could have been hobbled by its muted setting; instead, it brings a barrowload of supernatural chills.

The Inner World - The Last Wind Monk (Switch eShop)

The first Inner World introduced the entertaining, eccentric world of Asposia and the naïve flute-nose Robert, but its lack of touchscreen support left us feeling frustrated. This sequel, however, addressed our primary issue with the original and improved things no-end, making The Last Wind Monk a much easier recommendation.

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Experimentation is a breeze with touch controls and the expanded possibilities offered by character-switching mean puzzles feel more varied. It maintains the original’s great writing and presentation, but offers a far better all-round experience, making it the best entry point for Switch owners. We've still got our fingers crossed for a part three.

The Lion's Song (Switch eShop)

An emotional story that weaves big themes across its episodes, The Lion’s Song is a poignant point-and-click adventure with excellent audio, a beautiful art style and great writing. The exploration of its subjects isn’t muddied with obstinate riddles or ill-fitting mechanics and it’s a satisfying, albeit brief, experience that is absolutely worthy of your time.

The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo (Switch eShop)

This standout, surrealist point-and-click is short, and not entirely sweet from a technical perspective, but Nacho Rodríguez's spectacular animation in The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo made a huge impression from the moment we laid eyes on it.

Granted, the interaction is limited, the puzzles are obtuse, and we experienced a few crashes when we reviewed it, but fortunately, the presentation and music are good enough to distract you from those facts and provide an hour or two of great, surreal entertainment.

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The Red Strings Club (Switch eShop)

A neat little narrative game with point-and-click elements, The Red Strings Club tells a brilliant cyberpunk tale that's full of big ideas, tough moral questions and carefully mixed drinks. Its gameplay sections are a little flimsy and repetitive, but fortunately its sharp writing and memorable characters are always there to distract you and pull you through your funk, and you'll want to play through this memorable adventure nonetheless.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season (Switch eShop)

Point-and-click in the loosest sent of the term, whether you played this episodic narrative adventure back in 2012 or are completely new to the series, The Walking Dead: Season One is a masterpiece in video game storytelling.

It features some of the best voice-over performances you’ll find on any gaming platform and sets the stage for a grand, multi-season odyssey of tragic proportions. However, this is also a satisfying and poignant collection even if you never play the subsequent episodes.

There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Switch eShop)

When it comes down to it, There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is a bit of a misnomer. There is certainly a game to be found here, and it’s a ruddy good one.

If you’re not a fan of point-and-click style adventure games, then you may want to look elsewhere (and maybe ask yourself why you're scrolling through a list like this), but with an experience packed with ingenious puzzles and excellent self-aware jokes, this is one of the strongest examples of the genre in recent years. It’s right up there with the best; don’t miss out.

Thimbleweed Park (Switch eShop)

Point-and-click beginners may struggle with the myriad puzzles Thimbleweed Park lays across its curiosity-piquing plot, but its developers have rightfully made it possible to get ahead even when all you see are dead ends, with the inclusion of the tips line.

This is a love letter to the LucasArts adventure games of old, updated to be as convenient as possible without stripping away the challenge or the charm. These updates mean that what would have been essential only for a very specific audience is, with no explicit fail states, easy for anyone to not just enjoy, but actually finish.

And going around for a second time is still a treat, much as Monkey Island et al. were, as you can clearly see all the pieces of the grander picture coming together to comprise a fascinating whole, climaxing with one of gaming’s better twists.

When The Past Was Around (Switch eShop)

Concise, carefully crafted and beautifully malleable in its meaning, When The Past Was Around is a rather gorgeous little art game that remembers it needs to be interesting in its puzzles as well as its narrative.

Taking the principles of escape room-style gameplay and fitting them around its theme lends them a gravitas that belies their simplicity and elevates this game into more than just the indie flavour of the month. Sure, you're not likely to play it twice, but you'd be hard-pressed to forget about it.

Nintendo Life's Personal Picks

That's a lot of point-and-clicks up there! If you're looking for a tighter list — the real best of the best — here are the adventure games that NL staff love the most - the point-and-clickers that would make our personal Mount Rushmore as the face of the genre on the console:

  • Grim Fandango
  • Kentucky Route Zero
  • Return To Monkey Island
  • Thimbleweed Park

And Bubbling Under...

Here are a few more games bubbling under which didn't quite make the list (lots of 6s and 7s here) but may be worth checking out if you just can't stop pointing and/or clicking:

And special mention to The Case of the Golden Idol and its sequel, Rise of the Golden Idol - neither of which we've reviewed, unfortunately. Hey, nobody's perfect!

Think there's something missing from our list? Incandescent with rage at the inclusion of games that aren't pure point-and-click adventures? If it's the latter, perhaps go and open a window and have a little walk to cool off. If you think something brilliant is missing, though, point us in the right direction and we may click on it.

This article is one of our Switch Essentials guides which cover a wide variety of genres, including the Best Switch FPS Games, the Best Switch RPGs, the Best Switch Games For Kids, the Best Switch Couch Co-Op Games and the Best Switch Fitness and Exercise Games. We can also help out hunting down the Best Switch Horror Games, the Best Switch Racing Games, the Best Switch Action-RPGs, the Best Nintendo Switch Roguelikes, Roguelites and Run-Based Games, the Best Free Switch Games, the Best Remakes And Remasters, the Best Switch Music And Rhythm Games, Best Feel-Good Switch Games, Best Switch Open-World Games, Best Switch Soulslike Games, Best LGBTQ+ Switch Games, and even Games to Play After You've Finished Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Whatever your favourite genre, we've got you covered: Strategy Games, Metroidvanias, Puzzle Games, Party Games, Online Multiplayer Games, Local Wireless Multiplayer Games, Shmups, Twin-Stick Shooters, Visual Novels, Kart Racers, Fighting Games, Football Games, Funny Games, Golf Games, 'Walking Sims' And Narrative Games, Switch Games For Lovers And Lonely Hearts, Detective Games, Hidden Gems, 2D Platformers, 3D Platformers, Puzzle Platformers, Tabletop Mode Games, Run and Gun Games, LEGO Games, Sports Games, Survival Games, Beat 'Em Ups, Camera Games, Chill Games, Family Games, Retro-Inspired Games, Short Games, Card Games and Deck-Builders, and Life Sims And Farming Games.

Still hungry for more? Elsewhere we look at Wholesome Games, TATE Mode Games, Flight Sim and Space Combat, Point and Click Adventure Games, and the Best Switch Exclusives, as well as Every Arcade Archives Game, Every ACA Neo Geo Game, Every SEGA AGES Game On Switch, plus the Best Switch Ports, Best Wii U-To-Switch Ports, Best Switch Collections And Compilations, Best Cheap Switch Games, Best Switch Demos, Games That Are Better On Switch OLED, Switch Games Under $10, $20, $50, and Switch games with the Best Soundtracks and the Best Graphics. Phew!

If you're looking for the best Switch games regardless of genre, our reader-voted selection of the Best Nintendo Switch Games should help you out, and you can also find the Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. And finally, if you're interested in other Nintendo consoles and retro games, check out the Best Game Boy Games, Best GBC Games, Best GBA Games, Best Nintendo DS Games, Best Nintendo 3DS Games, Best NES Games, Best SNES Games, Best N64 Games, Best GameCube Games, and Best Wii Games, and Best Wii U Games, as well as Every Available Nintendo Switch Online Retro Game, and ranked lists of Every Nintendo Switch Online NES, SNES, N64 and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Game.