December was yet another busy month on the Nintendo Switch eShop, with plenty of fantastic games to choose from for some holiday fun. Naturally, then, we should probably crack out the good old Nintendo Life eShop Selects awards!
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo's digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could so easily be missed in the Switch's ever-growing library.
So, let's get started. Here are the best Switch eShop games of December 2020!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out.
- When The Past Was Around | Review: 9/10
- Double Dragon Neon | Review: 8/10
- Grindstone | Review: 8/10
- Football Manager 2021 Touch | Review: 8/10
- Sam & Max Save the World | Review: 8/10
- Phogs! | Review: 8/10
- Wildfire | Review: 8/10
- Wingspan | Review: 7/10
- Super Meat Boy Forever | Review: 7/10
- Monster Sanctuary | Review: 7/10
- Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate | Review: 7/10
3. Dicey Dungeons (Switch eShop)
Taking third spot this month is Dicey Dungeons, a cute, infuriating, but dangerously enjoyable roguelike adventure. The game takes place inside a bizarre game show, where players are turned into a playing die and have to battle their way through a series of treacherous, shifting dungeons that are ruled by chance. In our review, we gave it a very strong 9/10, praising its gameplay variety, music, and combat system. Make sure to give that a read and download the game if it sounds like it could be your thing.
2. Among Us (Switch eShop)
In second spot is one you've probably heard of, even if you haven't had the chance to play it yet: Among Us. This one has been taking the gaming world by storm over the umpteen lockdowns we've been facing recently, so it's no surprise that the Nintendo Life team has been having great fun with it now that it's finally on Switch.
You'll need a group of friends and a separate voice chat app to get the most out of this one, but when those barriers are overcome, what we have here is an instantly accessible and super-addictive casual gaming experience that's perfect for online get-togethers. Get on it if you haven't already!
1. DOOM Eternal (Switch eShop)
And taking the gold is a game that arguably shouldn't really even have qualified for the awards in the first place. Yes, DOOM Eternal is technically a digital-only eShop game on Nintendo's platform, meaning that despite its huge fanbase and its equally huge budget, it does indeed meet our strict criteria.
Of course, the big talking point with this one is the severe, but sadly essential, visual downgrade required to get the game running nicely on Switch. We'll admit, it looks significantly better on other systems, but the fact that Panic Button has got the thing running on a little portable tablet – at a solid 30fps, no less – is remarkable.
Throw in the fact that the game itself is yet another wonderful, gritty, demon-blasting trip through Hell that's just as satisfying as you'd hope for, and it becomes pretty easy to see why we've nominated this is our top pick of the bunch. Rip and tear, folks. Rip. And. Tear.
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< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - November 2020
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
Comments 20
Among us for me, but It loses a point for not having Skins on day one.
I love the Shiren games!
Tough choice for me between Dicey Dungeons or Nekopara Vol.4.
Where is Inmortals??
@the_beaver These are digital exclusives.
@BenAV Ah ok, my fault. Doom Eternal confused me. I forgot it was only digital... (what a terrible idea, by the way XD)
Easily Grindstone for me. Though Dicey Dungeons comes in second. Both games boast exceptional levels of presentation and, most importantly, they’re a blast to play.
Monster Sanctuary is a fun game. I've been having a good time with it.
Shame they cancelled the physical version of DOOM 😕
It was on my 'day one' list and now it's on hold until it gets discounted.
So excited to get DOOM Eternal on Switch... have been since it was announced looooong ago! But at full price, digital only after all this time, I’m simply not paying full price. So I’ll keep on waiting! It never even entered the eShop Top30 download only chart, so I’m not the only one waiting it seems. I have every other DOOM game available on Switch and I will have this, too... all in good time!
I’d love to have reason to vote for Double Dragon but here in the UK we STILL can’t play it.
Where the hell is it?!
Wingspan. It was the trailer for this switch port that taught me about the original board game. I've been playing the board game for months, but I'm glad to finally have that digital version too
If I ever get sick of Slay the Spire (which is seeming less and less likely), I will pick up Dicey Dungeons, but I have a hard time seeing myself actively playing both.
I actually find that Doom Eternal on Switch is more fun and feels faster than on PS4 due to gyro aiming. It's not PC quality obviously, but the gyro really does give you better control.
Also some of my other favorite digital games from last month, while not new releases, were the Bit Trip games.
Doom Eternal was the best game launched last year on the Switch. It looks better than DOOM 2016, and it plays better. For those of you that have not gotten it yet, what are you waiting for? It's 100% worth it at full price.
@koekiemonster my Vita version has been sadly underplayed. Ought to start from scratch so I can get a refresher on the mechanics
@FantasiaWHT I tired of Dicey Dungeons after about 10 hours and went straight back to StS. About 250 hours across Switch and ipad and still going strong. Best game ever!
Grindstone is great. Haven't played it on Switch (only iOS) but I highly recommend it.
Speaking of the eShop, Walmart in the USA is offering $70 eShop cards for $49.54. As of this post it is still active. Also if you don't want to click a link from some random commenter on NL, check Wario64's Twitter. That's how I found out about it.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nintendo-eShop-70-Gift-Card-Nintendo-Digital-Download/226325725
Toss up between Monster Sanctuary and Dicey Dungeons.
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