Best Space And Sci-Fi Games On Nintendo Switch 1 & 2

Alien: Isolation (Switch eShop)

Every facet of Alien: Isolation is superbly detailed and it's this slavish attention to detail that sees it successfully transfer the fundamental spirit of Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece to video game form for the very first time.

The superb 1970s sci-fi stylings from the classic movie are intact here; it's all leather-clad walls, swishing automated doors, CRT screens, blinking lights, smoke and flickering light-filled corridors, as well as the constant plinking and plonking of retro-futuristic technology.

It's an Alien theme park, and you just happen to be thrown into it on the day a real-life Xenomorph has been let loose.

Astroneer (Switch eShop)

Many space games deal with the organisational joy of building and maintaining a space base, but often those games position you as a SimCity-style omnipresent sky-being. Astroneer puts you on the ground, moving gigantic building blocks around by yourself, and terraforming the planet with nothing but a handheld terrain tool.

Astroneer's colourful, varied, and deadly planets offer a surprising amount to discover, and the resource-collecting heart of the game is incredibly moreish.

Beyond Galaxyland (Switch eShop)

Beyond Galaxyland is a well-written, artistically diverse space adventure which mixes several different flavours of RPG with puzzling and semi-open exploration. The story is filled with well-rounded characters and emotional narrative payoffs and, as much as Enright's galactic adventure is a collection of stylistic and mechanical homages, it doesn't feel like a patchwork of fan service.

For all its influences and adherence to specific genre execution, Doug’s journey through multiple worlds is still very much its own thing.

Catastronauts (Switch eShop)

We've also got a soft spot for Switch eShop minnow Catastronauts. It's essentially Overcooked in space and charges you and your local co-op crew with repairing and maintaining ship functions while all manner of spacefaring calamities strike you and your hull.

It's far from original, but by tapping into communication and cooperation, it hits on Star Trek's fundamental themes and wraps them in a comic party game. We can't help but like it.

Citizen Sleeper (Switch eShop)

Citizen Sleeper is a tabletop RPG-style game which places you in the role of a synthetic robot-person—called a Sleeper—who awakens on a grimy space station bustling with all kinds of morally and legally grey activities and organisations.

Your character escaped from working at a colony for a megacorporation who literally owns their body and now has to contend with the consequences of this break for freedom. The atmosphere is top notch; Citizen Sleeper does a great job of immersing you in this dark and diverse community.

And Citizen Sleeper 2 improves on every aspect, so if you love the first game, grab that sequel.

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Everspace - Stellar Edition (Switch eShop)

Everspace is a roguelike slice of solitary space combat that has you constantly weighing the cost (or benefit) of exploring versus scarpering before enemy forces show up. A narrative hook means frequent death is expected (and even required), and while you’ll lose your ship, the credits you earned can be spent before your next try; persistent upgrades and unlocks turn failure into progress.

Sure, you bought the farm in a spectacular dogfight or embarrassing collision, but at least you’ve got something to show for it.

Gnosia (Switch eShop)

You take a place on a spaceship currently under siege from Gnosia, humans who have been infected with an alien presence and are compelled to wipe out humanity and spread the infection to the rest of the cosmos. The only way to defeat Gnosia, it seems, is through good, old-fashioned democracy.

Between the surprisingly deep plot for such a simple game, the clever narrative explanation of the mechanics, and enough chaos going on in the discussions to keep you guessing, we had a lot of fun with this one.

Graceful Explosion Machine (Switch eShop)

Graceful Explosion Machine is a masterful example of how to do an arcade shooter right. Eye-catching visuals and extremely fine-tuned gameplay combine to make this a memorable and compelling experience for anybody looking to get into a faster-paced, action-focused game.

It may "just" be a side-scrolling space shooter, but much like any good sci-fi, it tries to break the mould with rich colours, bold geometry, and a chaotic-yet-minimalist aesthetic. After all, why would space be boring?

Heaven's Vault (Switch eShop)

In Heaven's Vault, you play an archaeologist, travelling across the riverways of a fictional galaxy to discover what happened to a lost civilisation through fragments of their writings. It's a unique take on spacefaring, in which an entire race of people is made to exist through nothing but what they left behind.

InnerSpace (Switch eShop)

InnerSpace takes you on a seemingly isolated adventure; you’ll be travelling (almost) alone through a world where the physics are inverted, exploring a number of strange, foreign planets that are inside-out. Each planet is made up of once-inhabited islands surrounded by water, where gravity pulls outwards from the centre and little hints of former life can be seen.

The whole idea feels rather majestic and the aesthetic styling of the game supports this perfectly; the worlds really do feel like they’re wondrous places.

Journey to the Savage Planet (Switch eShop)

Journey to the Savage Planet is a wonderfully unique mixture of No Man's Sky-style exploration, first-person shooting, and Metroidvania-esque platforming with a dark sense of humour that arrived on Switch in a slightly compromised but still eminently playable state.

ARY-26 is a fantastically vibrant planet to explore, filled with cute creatures, bizarre flora and fauna, and super-slick platforming and environmental puzzle design. The monolithic tower that sits in the middle of this alien planet is a compelling mystery to work towards and the game doles out plenty of fun new tools and toys at just the right rate to keep you highly entertained as you jump, grapple, boost and blast your way to the secret at its core.

There have been obvious graphical concessions made on Switch and the frame rate does wobble from time to time — performance definitely feels worse in docked than handheld — but overall Typhoon Games created an adventure that's strong enough to transcend any of these technical shortcomings.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Switch eShop)

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is one of those chaotic couch co-op games that's great for parties and partners alike. It doesn't go super hard on space themes, but it's on this list as a take on the space shooter genre that does things a little differently — with love, bunnies, and teamwork.

Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)

With Metroid Prime Remastered, the seemingly impossible was achieved: a masterpiece was made even better.

The minor issues we had with the motion controls and the occasional visual hiccup pale in comparison to the enhancements that were made in this 2023 overhaul. The visual improvements are extensive, right through to the tiny details, and it all comes together to create one of the best-looking games on Switch, remaster or not.

The new twin-stick control setup works flawlessly for both veterans and newcomers, too, but if you're itching to go back to the original GameCube controls, that option is there. With an expanded gallery feature to round things out, Metroid Prime Remastered felt like a new benchmark in how older games can be thoughtfully revitalised for the modern age.

Of course, don't forget the fantastic Metroid Dread, either. Planet ZDR may well keep Samus inside for most of the game's runtime, but those creatures are the perfect space fodder for Samus' arm cannon. And then there's Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, too.

No Man's Sky (Switch)

No Man's Sky on Switch is a fantastic port of a game we genuinely didn't believe could make the transition to Nintendo's console without some serious technical issues. Hello Games has made the necessary cutbacks and downgrades to get this intergalactic survival sandbox playing at a super solid frame rate and the colourful, chunky graphical style here ensures that it all still looks pretty fantastic to boot.

With all of the game's previous updates and content included — barring multiplayer — and a plethora of customisation options courtesy of the massive Waypoint update, which arrived soon after release, this is an easy recommendation for survival fans and an impressive Switch port.

Of course, on Switch 2 via the free upgrade, it's even better.

OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition (Switch eShop)

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 10 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.