Summary
- Nintendo Switch's portability makes it the best platform for games like Dead Cells and Cuphead.
- Switch is a great home for JRPGs like Octopath Traveler, paying tribute to classics from Nintendo consoles.
- For roguelike games like Hades, Switch's structure of discrete runs is perfect for on-the-go play.
There's no denying that when compared to the Xbox, Playstation, and PC, the Nintendo Switch is an underpowered machine, even when it was first released. However, this lack of power didn't stop it from becoming incredibly popular, and also the best place to play some of gaming's greatest games.
Whether it's brilliant roguelikes that benefit from pick-up-and-play spontaneity, or mega-RPGs that harken back to the golden age of JPRGs past on the NES and SNES, the Nintendo Switch has plenty of cross-platform games that play the best on its small but mighty hardware. These are some of the best.
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8 Dead Cells
Dead to Rights
Dead Cells
- Released
- August 7, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Motion Twin
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike
When Dead Cells released, it came out to a market dominated by hundreds of roguelike indie games, so standing out from the crowd was always going to be a challenge. Yet, Dead Cells managed to gain an audience by sticking to its guns and delivering on high-difficulty platforming action.
While Dead Cells can be played on most consoles, it plays best on the Switch, not because of its power or because of the many crossover events, but because of the Switch's portability. There's nothing quite like doing a run of Dead Cells when a half an hour appears out of nowhere, and the Switch is a great console to do it on.
7 Cuphead
A 1930s Throwback
Cuphead
- Released
- September 29, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Before its release in 2017, Cuphead had already gained a reputation purely due to its unique 1930s-inspired cartoon art style that made it stand out from the pack. However, when it released, gamers were surprised to play a game that was almost defined more by the brutal difficulty that would put Soulslikes to shame.
Because the game's brutal but entertaining bosses require near-perfection for a couple of minutes, rather than long extended play sessions, the Switch is a great place to play the game where it can be picked up for a couple of minutes. Players can hone their skills, then put the game back down again. It's an ideal game for portable play that the Switch delivers on perfectly.
6 Octopath Traveler
The Old Style Reborn
Octopath Traveler
- Released
- July 13, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
These days, JRPGs can be found on almost every platform. But back in the day, the Nintendo consoles were well known for hosting the very best that JRPGs had to offer, including the Final Fantasy games before the 3D era began with Final Fantasy 7.
Therefore, the Switch is a great place to play Octopath Traveler, a loving tribute to those genre-defining games that have a lot of affection from gamers all over the world. The tribute adventure plays perfectly in bite-size pieces, making it a great one for the Switch.
5 Into the Breach
Sci-Fi Chess
Into the Breach
- Released
- February 27, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
After the release of FTL: Faster Than Light, gamers wondered what would be next for the breakout indie studio of Subset Games. Would they bring out a sequel? Maybe a grander space game?
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To most people's surprise, the follow-up came with Into the Breach, a deceptively simple grid-based tactical combat game which relies on positioning enemies in advance to minimize their harmful impact. The game gets really difficult and requires deep thinking, making it perfect for on-the-go play when players want to tackle problems a little bit a time.
4 Undertale
Pacifist Playthrough
Undertale
- Released
- September 15, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
To call Toby Fox's Undertale a sensation would be to undersell one of the biggest indie games ever made outside of Minecraft. The game, a send-up of old-school RPGs like Mother, tells a wholly unique story that to say too much about would spoil its greatest surprises. Needless to say, it's great, and is full of powerful quotes.
Considering that Undertale's lineage comes directly from the old-school RPGs that dominated the NES and SNES, the Switch is a perfect legacy console for the game, sitting alongside the very RPGs that inspired Toby Fox's masterpiece.
3 Hollow Knight
Hallownest Hellhole
Hollow Knight
- Released
- February 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Linux
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania
It's hard to stand out from the indie crowd. Most indie games go unnoticed by the world for no good reason, and some gain popularity through sheer luck. Luckily, the world took notice of Hollow Knight as not just one of the greatest indie games ever made, but one of the greatest Metroidvania games ever made, partially due to its incredible roster of tricky bosses.
The Switch is a great home for Hollow Knight, not just because of the legacy of the Metroid Prime and Castlevania games that call Nintendo home, but because the bite-size world of Hollow Knight fits perfectly onto the portable platform. Players can tackle small areas of the world at their leisure.
2 Hades
Tartarus Tango
Hades
- Released
- September 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Supergiant Games
- Platform(s)
- PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Switch, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Roguelite
At the very peak of the roguelike's popularity, Supergiant Games delivered Hades, perhaps the greatest version of the roguelike ever made. It is yet to be surpassed by anything else, even its own sequel. It's hard to imagine whether the roguelike can ever ascend to these kinds of heights again.
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While the Switch is more underpowered than its console cousins, the roguelike structure of doing discrete runs is perfect for the portable device. Players can squeeze in another run on their lunch break without having to sit down in front of a TV or computer. It's a match made in roguelike heaven.
1 Stardew Valley
Harvest Moon Reborn
Stardew Valley
- Released
- February 26, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
For a long time, the Harvest Moon franchise was dead, and there was no market for cozy games. All at once, Stardew Valley seemed to change the game entirely, not just reinvigorating the farming simulator genre, but introducing hordes of new players to the world of video games and breeding a whole new strand of completionists.
As Stardew Valley takes place one day at a time, it's a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch pick-up-and-play portability. Players can squeeze in a day of play while they're waiting on the train, and make meaningful progress towards making the farm of their dreams. It's a great symbiosis between game and console that beats out all the other platforms.
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