Untitled Goose Game (Switch eShop)

Nothing like a walk in the country to raise your spirits, hmm? The breakout indie hit of 2019 is a refreshing change for the stealth genre. Gone are the night-vision goggles and dark camo-suits you might expect; here they're replaced by a big white goose with bad social skills. Untitled Goose Game dominated the indie gaming zeitgeist when it launched and conquered the internet. If you're after something light-hearted, give the goose a honk.

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Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game

Horizon Chase Turbo (Switch eShop)

Want to jump in a colourful car and burn rubber into the sunset? Horizon Chase Turbo harks back to an arcade past when all you needed for a good time was the top down, a sunset on the horizon and an attractive co-pilot with their hair blowing in the breeze. It's more Top Gear on the SNES than Out Run, but it channels that blue sky feeling beautifully and makes for an exhilarating ride on Switch.

Alternatively, there's always Out Run if Sonic Origins didn't fill your blue sky quota for the year.

Horizon Chase Turbo
Horizon Chase Turbo

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Switch)

With an incredibly mood-lifting soundtrack and 2D gameplay that recalls the classic Donkey Kong Country games, a restorative jaunt through the colourful, bouncy worlds of Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a great way to keep the clouds at bay. The original game was a fun nostalgia trip, but Playtonic's sequel polishes everything and delivers a far better experience overall, one which we heartily recommend.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)

And speaking of DKC, having topped our ranking of the best DK games of all time it's unsurprising that we love revisiting Retro's most recent Donkey Kong Country game when we're feeling down. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze isn't just a great platformer, it's one of the great platformers and it will help thaw the iciest of moods. Looking and playing better than the series ever has, veteran DKC composer David Wise returned with this sequel, meaning that the music alone is enough to reduce us to tears of happiness. Tropical Freeze is a total joy, and perfect company if you're feeling glum.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

A Short Hike (Switch eShop)

A Short Hike is a fat-free indie experience from top to bottom and feels like the very best bits of multiple game genres, stripped of all padding and bloat, mixed perfectly into a delicious video game stew that only gets richer and richer the more you play. An exploration in every sense of the word, and a perfect tonic if you're feeling down in the dumps, A Short Hike is cute without being twee, challenging without being obnoxious, and emotional without being cloying. A landmark game for all ages. Don't miss this one.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Switch)

It's a triple helping of 3D Mario goodness on Switch — what else is there to say? Super Mario 64 is an absolute genre-defining classic, Super Mario Sunshine, for all its flaws, is one of the brightest, bounciest games on any console ever (the Isle Delfino theme alone is worth the price of admission), and Super Mario Galaxy took the plumber to new heights. This limited-time port might not have added many real bells or whistles, but the underlying quality here is immeasurable.

There are still plenty of these knocking around on store shelves across the globe. Get it before it's gone.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Switch)

There's something reassuring about Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics. Yes, it's got all your old favourites like Chess and Four-in-a-Row, and there are hours of familiar fun to be had playing Solitaire, but it also brings back comforting memories of Wii Sports with its Bowling and Golf games. You're sure to discover new favourites in the roster (bead-moving strategy game Mancala — the first of the fifty-one, no less — became a fast favourite for us). It's no accident that we've spent several weekends recently noodling around with these winners rather than hitting our sizeable backlogs brimming with hardcore, 'proper' video games.

Individually, none of the included titles will knock your socks off, but cumulatively they knit together to form a warm fuzzy pair of the aforementioned footwear that'll keep you warm when it's cold outside and there's no kind of atmosphere. Throw in some friends and/or family and it's one of the most feel-good experiences on Switch.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics

Later Alligator (Switch eShop)

What do you get when you mix Professor Layton with Adventure Time? The comparison doesn't even begin to do it justice, but that's vaguely what to expect from the brilliant Later Alligator. It's a true joy to find a game that doesn't stretch out its stellar moments with long sections of padding. Every minute you spend with this short game is time well-spent, with background details to look at, terrible puns to appreciate, and a noodly jazz soundtrack that's full of bops. It has the highest laughs-per-second (LPS) of any game we've played.

Banjo-Kazooie (N64)

Rare's bear-iest, bounciest 3D platformer is sure to put a hop in your step and a bird in your backpack. Grant Kirkhope's fairytale, Brother's Grimm-style soundtrack for Banjo-Kazooie should be classed as an illegal substance for under-16s, as it will rapidly disperse into every crevice of your brain should you hear it before entering adulthood. Armed with the soundtrack, it took all of five minutes to indoctrinate our own children into the cult of Banjo, and now we're ordered to play 'Banjo Halloween' (Mad Monster Mansion) whenever we get in the car.

And now it's available on Switch via a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription. Worth the price of admission just for this. Breeeeeeee!

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Switch eShop)

With so many games featuring death and destruction, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a breath of fresh air. Much like Pokémon Snap, its focus on observation is a welcome change of pace, and it never feels like the underlying message is being shoved down your throat. At 2-3 hours in length, our only wish is that it lasted a bit longer, but with its relaxing tone and simple gameplay, this is one we suspect you’ll go back to again and again.