April was a pretty stellar month for new games on the eShop, helped somewhat by the fantastic Nintendo Indie World presentation that saw some great games launch immediately after the show.
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 April 2021!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out:
- There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension | Review: 9/10
- Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion | Review: 8/10
- The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark | Review: 8/10
- Smelter | Review: 8/10
- Toree 3D | Review: 8/10
- Picross S6 | Review: 7/10
- Astro Aqua Kitty | Review: 7/10
- Star Wars: Republic Commando | Review: 7/10
3. Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack (Switch eShop)
We're kind of cheating a little bit with our third-place choice this month; the Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack is a bundle of three games in one, perhaps making it an easy choice for this list.
Each of the games included offer up a content-rich and enjoyable story, and while the series' slower-paced slice-of-life vibe isn’t for everyone, we'd encourage anyone interested in crafting-based RPGs to give it a shot. While the value of the trilogy pack is one of this particular release's strong points, you could always opt to pick up one of the three included games on its own to see whether or not it's for you.
2. FEZ (Switch eShop)
Back to the normality of single, digital-only indie delights, FEZ takes second place this month.
FEZ is a fun, challenging puzzle platformer fit to burst with original ideas and unique gameplay wrinkles. Its puzzles bend reality and even leech into our own world on occasion, but aside from a few select mega-challenges never stray into the category of too obtuse or unfair.
With a fantastic core mechanic, lots of charm, and perfectly balanced brain teasers, this one's an easy recommendation to make. If you've never tried FEZ before, make sure to get it downloaded and don't look into it too much before you do – you don't want to have the game spoiled before you play.
1. PAC-MAN 99 (Switch eShop)
Taking first spot, though, is the latest in Switch's growing collection of quirky battle royales, PAC-MAN 99.
Just like Tetris 99 and the lost-but-not-forgotten Super Mario Bros. 35, PAC-MAN 99 takes a series we've all played to death and somehow manages to make it feel fresh and exciting again. We'd argue that the competitive nature and fast-paced action of these '99' battle royales make their base gameplay more addictive than ever, and it's hard to complain about the low, low price of free – as long as you have a Switch Online subscription.
Liked Tetris 99? You'll like this too. Get it downloaded and enjoy.
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - March 2021
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 18
Really, no comments?
Waiting of my physical copy of Atelier Mysterious Trilogy to arrive. Look forward to gradually playing through them over the next few months.
Grabbed FEZ from the eShop when it came out thanks to the launch sale but haven't found the time to give it a go yet thanks to the other games I've been playing. Might be the next game I play once I move on from New Pokemon Snap.
I ended up downloading 5 of the games mentioned in the article along with the honourable mentions. I haven't gotten around to downloanding Turnip Boy.
Fez is the one I have played most extensively and it is as good as when I played it a couple of years ago on the PS4.
Can’t say any of these are my type of game!
The House in Fata Morgana, which N Life is really sleeping on for some reason.
Fez is phenomenal, but I've played it on Vita. There is no Game was my pick as the most fun, original game I've played in a while!
PAC-Man 99 so far this year is the strongest contender for goty on Switch, in my opinion.
Pac-Man 99 is such an addictive game, there has been a few times now, that I turn my Switch on to play a game, only to see the Pac-Man 99 game and play that instead.
I guess I understand the marketing behind the 3d collection, but I don’t get why Nintendo would remove a free game on their online service. Should they not keep this stuff online to improve the offering and maybe attract more business?
Bought FEZ, and yes, it really is a fantastically crafted little title. Some of the secret cubes really took the ‘cryptic’ thing and ran with it, but it’s not like many - or in fact any - are necessary to beat the story.
In a weird way, it almost reminded me of the Pullbox/Pushmo series. The aesthetic, scale, and general structure of the game are completely different, but the whole vibe of ‘leisurely platforming mixed with blocky environmental manipulation’ struck a similar chord. If there was a game called ‘Spinmo’ it’d probably play just like this.
Where is most obviously differs is in weaving its worlds into a vast Metroidvania-like web, rather than a string of isolated challenges, with the keys almost making it feel like a giant Zelda dungeon at times.
Anyway, brilliant idea, masterfully executed. I’ve not been won over by every ‘indie gem’ I’ve played. I found the physics in Meat Boy somehow unsatisfying, Shovel Knight weirdly wooden, and Stardew Valley strangely stressful (with a cast seemingly assembled of annoying characters from American sitcoms). But FEZ was just... really well done. Well done, FEZ.
Fez for me! I only own Nintendo consoles, so I am very glad that this made it to Switch.
Pac-Man 99 is my second choice.
@BenAV "Waiting of my physical copy of Atelier Mysterious Trilogy to arrive."
Digitally it's a 24 GB download, which seems to be in the top 10 or so largest games in the entire Switch library. So I agree that physical copy is the way to go for me too.
@MontyCircus Even if it was smaller I still would have opted for a physical copy. I've started opting to buy a few games digitally for the convenience but still always choose physical for single player story games that I play through once then put away. Importing a copy was about the same price as buying from the eShop anyway which is nice.
I’m enjoying Legend of Keepers. The combat is engaging, with a variety of troop types, elemental and buff/debuff stacks, and even pre-set targeting needing consideration for success. The management is good enough for me. The pixel art is gorgeous, I just wish the characters and text were a little bigger. My eyesight sucks so I might not even try it on handheld.
Smelter's my fave. I still need to get Atelier Sophie DX, though.
Liked Tetris 99? You'll like this too.
...nah. I thought Tetris 99 was dece, but Pac-Man 99 was a mixed bag to me.
I like Pac man 99... But I really miss Mario 35.
One reason Is that I managed to get n°1 in Mario 35 many times, though I have only won once in Pacman 99
"Say No! More" is fun... wait, NL did not even review it?
No Pokémon snap?
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