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A Rich Open World
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
For Platforming Joy
Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Wonder
For Board Game Mario Madness
Nintendo Super Mario Party
For Mario Party Nostalgia
Nintendo Mario Party Superstars
The Switch is one of Nintendo’s most successful and influential systems ever. There’s something unique about carrying a home-console-quality gaming device everywhere you go. Figuring out what to play, though—that’s getting harder every year, as the roster of first-party and indie games grows deeper and deeper.
Thankfully, WIRED has plenty of opinionated Nintendo fans on staff, and we’ve put our heads together to compile a list of the best Switch games. We’ve listed the digital version for most of them here, so make sure you get a spacious microSD card to store all your game files. (We recommend this one.) Be sure to also read up on our Switch Tips and Secrets, Favorite Switch Accessories, and Switch Bundle Deals. And if you upgraded to an OLED Switch, here’s how to transfer all of your data.
Updated April 2024: We’ve added Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario Party, Mario Party Superstars, and Bayonetta 3, and removed older games.
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Photograph: Nintendo
A Rich Open World
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
To say this game was highly anticipated would be an understatement. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom follows the Nintendo Switch launch title Breath of the Wild—one of the best games of all time. This sequel sees our hero Link endowed with new powers and the sprawling world of Hyrule expanded and revamped.
WIRED reviewer Will Bedingfield says that Tears of the Kingdom is all about evolving the things that made Breath of the Wild such a wonderful experience. Gameplay systems feel tighter and more refined, and the brand-new Ultrahand ability lets you combine items from your environment to build machines, weapons, and just about anything else you can imagine.
1 player can save Hyrule, again.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Platforming Joy
Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the kind of game that hooks you in the first few minutes. In this game, Mario becomes an elephant, the Piranha Plants sing, and that’s just the start of this 2D side-scroller’s absurdist charm. The game’s signature feature, Wonder Flowers, transforms the world around Mario in some frankly baffling yet always delightful ways. You can play alone or with up to three friends, similar to many other recent Super Mario platformers.
1 to 4 players can experience the wonder.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Board Game Mario Madness
Nintendo Super Mario Party
The Mario Party series, which features an assortment of multiplayer mini-games, has included some all-time classics and some … pretty middling games. For our money, Super Mario Party is toward the top. The addition of motion-controlled mini-games, plus some of the funner features from the various handheld versions of the series, makes Super Mario Party the breath of fresh air that the series needed for years.
1 to 4 players can ruin each others’ lives.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Mario Party Nostalgia
Nintendo Mario Party Superstars
No matter how good Super Mario Party might be, it’s still hard to capture the experience of those early games in the series. If you’re interested in turning back the clock, then Mario Party Superstars might be more up your alley. Yes, the naming scheme is a bit confusing, but Mario Party Superstars has five revamped boards from the N64 Mario Party game, plus a collection of more than 100 mini-games from the N64 and GameCube iterations of the series. If you prefer your Mario-themed party games with a healthy dose of nostalgia, this is the direction to go.
1 to 4 players can go on a nostalgia trip.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
Angels versus Devils (But Sexy)
Nintendo Bayonetta 3
Bayonetta 3 came out eight years after the previous game, and it was (mostly) well worth the wait. While the ending left a sour taste in some fans’ mouths—enough that the creator has said the next entry will help address it in an “unexpected” way—the rest of the game is still the magnificent, furious hack-and-slash that the series has come to be known for.
1 player can slay angels in high heels.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
A Modern Classic
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild set a new standard for the Legend of Zelda series when it first came out in 2017. The linear story of previous Zelda games is gone entirely, replaced by a wide-open world with dungeons and hidden secrets you can tackle as you wish. Its successor, Tears of the Kingdom, built on this formula beautifully, but going back to the original feels like a whole new experience. After flying over Hyrule on a fan-powered hover-cycle, there’s something viscerally challenging yet satisfying about going back to traveling the countryside by foot. Read our full review for more.
The Expansion Pass DLC also adds challenge modes to test your combat skills, a Hero’s Path Mode which can track the path you’ve traveled over up to 200 hours of gameplay, and a ton of new items from the Zelda franchise history that you can discover and wear. If you haven’t played Breath of the Wild since it came out, there’s plenty new here to discover.
1 player can explore Hyrule.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
To Heal Your Inner Child
Disney Dreamlight Valley
If you’re looking to fill an Animal Crossing–shaped void in your life, Disney Dreamlight Valley might be just the thing you need. It left early access in December 2023, though it did not launch as a free-to-play game as was previously promised. Our review goes into full detail, but suffice it to say that this game is immersive, glorious, and as cozy as it gets. While characters like Remy and Elsa may seem familiar, the dialog is surprisingly poignant. It’s a game made by Disney, but it’s enjoyable for all ages. If you’re missing life simulations but just can’t bring yourself to restart Stardew Valley, give this one a shot.
1 player can rebuild the valley.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
An Odyssey for Everyone
Super Mario Odyssey
If it weren’t for Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey might have taken home even more game-of-the-year awards when it came out. The game plays like a 3D Mario game à la Mario 64, but instead of collecting stars, you’re hunting for nearly 1,000 moons that propel your airship. The worlds are quirky and densely packed with new gameplay, like Mario’s new living hat that lets him inhabit classic Super Mario creatures like Goombas and Chomp Chains. We called it “a surrealist triumph” in our review.
1 to 2 players can play together.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Taking It Easy
Cozy Grove
There’s irony in the fact that a really good life simulation game can result in burnout. Hyperfocusing for hours on little side quests, tasks, and to-do lists is a surefire way to get sick of something. Cozy Grove is designed with exactly this pitfall in mind. There are no consequences for failing to get a ton done in a day—in fact, that’s kind of the premise. It’s a super fun and cute game that doesn’t encourage players to binge it for 40 hours at a time. Bathe your island in light and color, help ghost bears with their purgatory-like existence, and collect oodles of badges for your efforts.
1 player can get cozy.
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COURTESY OF SAMOBEE GAMES
A Queer-Centered Visual Novel
Princess Farmer
If you’re unfamiliar, visual novels are like point-and-click adventures that you explore through dialog options. Think Dream Daddy and Hatoful Boyfriend. Princess Farmer packs familiar visual novel storytelling and relationship-building into a satisfying and puzzling match-3 game. The world and characters are memorable, adorable, and queer as hell (in the best way).
Playing a game that centers queer relationships and stories without wallowing in pain and despair is so refreshing. Princess Farmer is a celebration of queerness and queer joy that is so rarely seen in games and is even more rarely the center of the story. That’s not to mention how addictive the match-3 gameplay is. It’s a brilliant debut from Samobee Games.
1 to 2 local players can date bunnies together.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
Ancient Pokémon History
Pokémon Arceus
This isn’t your usual Pokémon game. Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes you way back in time to an era when humans were first starting to encounter Pokémon, and the changes don’t end there. This is the first open-world game in the entire series—a huge departure, but a welcome one. Arceus doesn’t get everything right on the first try. The world isn’t quite as seamless or engaging as the one you’ll find in Breath of the Wild, but running around in the open air catching Pokémon in real time is a fun twist on classic gameplay. Definitely give it a look if you’re a fan of the Pokémon series.
1 player with online co-op.
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Courtesy of Hazelight
For Couples
It Takes Two
May and Cody are in a bit of a rough patch—they’re about to file for divorce and go their separate ways, which is understandably devastating for their young daughter, Rose. That’s when Rose unknowingly uses the power of a magic book to wish they’ll stay together, causing the parents to shrink into tiny toys that must find their way back to their daughter. There’s a lot of relationship repairing along the way.
2 tiny players can take the journey at home or online.
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Courtesy of ZA/UM
For Your Inner Detective
Disco Elysium
Assuming your inner detective is a washed-up drunk, that is. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is an award-winning, critically acclaimed roleplaying game that puts you in the shoes of a detective who is, well … he’s certainly an experience. It’s not your average roleplaying game, either. The emphasis is on solving a mystery while navigating complex conversations and interactions using just your wits and charm, not on pumping up your strength to better defeat your enemies. It’s funny, wild, delightfully unhinged, and filled with memorable characters and situations that will inevitably end in your demise.
1 player can become a hero or an absolute disaster of a human being.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
An Island Vacation
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The Latest Animal Crossing installment plops you on a deserted island. Through the help of DIY recipes, crafting materials, your neighbors, and your favorite capitalist raccoon, you can transform the island into a bustling paradise. Robust social features let you live your island dreams alongside your real-life friends (though local co-op is a little lacking). AC:NH will be familiar to Animal Crossing fans, but there are enough new aspects to keep you intrigued if you’ve played other games in the series. This title is especially great if you could use a mental break.
The Happy Home Paradise DLC adds a new resort area, interior design challenges for villagers, and a ton of new design options throughout the game.
1 to 8 players can interact together.
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Courtesy of Epic Games
Shooting and Looting
Fortnite
Fortnite on the Switch is a marriage of a great platform with a stellar game. The stirring, driven competition of 100 players set against one another scales down to the portable framework of the Switch shockingly well, making for snappy, thrilling play sessions. And Fortnite is a much better game than its critics make it out to be, with a winning aesthetic, sharp gunplay, and dense but satisfying building mechanics. Best yet, it’s always changing, cycling through more ideas in a play season than some games do in their lifetime. Read our full review.
1 to 4 players can team up online in 100-person battles.
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Courtesy of Motion Twin
For Dungeon Crawlers
Dead Cells
In Dead Cells, you are a little ball of goo who inhabits a new dead body every time you die. And you’ll die a lot. (That’s part of the fun. No, really!) Dead Cells is a roguelike game along the lines of a Castlevania, but it is more than the sum of its predecessors. With rich progression and a clever blend of randomized and static world elements, Dead Cells offers a uniquely approachable (and addictive) spin on a classic genre.
1 player can try to survive.
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COURTESY OF SUPERGIANT GAMES
For Mythology Lovers
Hades
In Hades, you’ll eventually meet Sisyphus, the knave-king cursed to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity, and he’s surprisingly chill with his lot. After a few dozen attempts to escape the underworld, you start to understand how he can feel that way. Hades is fast-paced, beautiful, and hard as hell (in a good way). You play as Zagreus, son of Hades, on a never-ending quest to, quite literally, defeat death. The task is a whole lot easier said than done, but luckily, you’ll get a little bit stronger each time you fail. This game is nearly flawless, and the boon system of power ups, randomized encounters, and heat difficulty system all help keep every run feeling fresh and new. Read our full review.
It’s especially worth a visit now, since Hades II—Supergiant’s first ever sequel game—is due to hit early access later this year.
1 player can try to escape the underworld.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Ghost Busters
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Luigi’s Mansion began life as a launch game for the GameCube 20 years ago, but everyone’s favorite less-famous plumber has to rescue Mario and the gang from ghosts yet again using a tricked-out vacuum. This version has the same basic walk-and-suck gameplay, though you can now slam ghosts around and create a Goo-based duplicate of yourself (controllable by another player!).
The hotel you explore has a lot of fun floors filled with things you’ll never find in an actual hotel, like a desert, a movie studio, a pirate ship, and a castle. It’s a tough game at times, but it’s so packed full of secrets and cash (yes, ghosts apparently like to hide a lot of cash), that it never gets too repetitive.
1 to 2 players can adventure together. Up to 8 players can play a special mode online.
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Courtesy of Microsoft
A Punishing Platformer
Cuphead
Drawing inspiration from classic Disney animations, Cuphead is a gorgeous and hellishly difficult platformer from Studio MDHR. Why does it look so good, you ask? Well, it’s hand-drawn. Every frame of this quirky and offbeat platformer was drawn by hand and animated with traditional cel animation, and all of that painstaking work shows. This is a tough game, but the rich details make it like nothing else you’ve ever played.
1 to 2 players can work together.
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Courtesy of Team Cherry
For Wanderers in the Dark
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight puts you in the shoes of an adorably sullen nail-wielding bug-person and sets you loose in the bleak and lantern-lit world of Hallownest. As you explore the ruins of this fallen civilization, you’ll encounter fellow bug-folk, monstrous enemies, and hauntingly beautiful environments. It’s hard not to lose yourself in this sprawling subterranean empire populated by memorable, if bizarre and forlorn, characters.
It’s been seven years since Hollow Knight came out, and five years since the developers announced the sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. We’re cautiously optimistic that we might get some news about the follow-up this year, but for now, the original is worth a replay.
1 player can explore this world.
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Courtesy of Humble Games
For Tearing Up at Work
Unpacking
You might not think you could make a game about unpacking boxes—something you’ve probably put off doing in real life—and that it could be fun. Yet developer Witch Beam pulled it off with Unpacking. Its pixelated, point-and-click style and chill beats make for a cozy experience, while the game uses environmental storytelling to draw you into a world that’s about so much more than the stuff you’re pulling out of boxes.
1 player can get to work on these boxes.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
A Brawlin’ Beat ‘Em Up
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Ever want to watch Solid Snake punch Pikachu? A timeless addition to any game library, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate brings classic Smash to the modern day. Even with all the new content and characters, this is still the wild and technical fighting game you know and love. With a deep roster of characters (literally all of the characters from previous games are here), new arenas with new hazards, and a single-player campaign, Smash Bros. Ultimate has a lot to offer series veterans and newcomers alike. Read our full review.
1 to 8 players can brawl locally or online.
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Courtesy of Digital LTD
For Fighting With Friends
Overcooked 2
Some co-op games provide an environment to inspire moments of beautiful collaboration between you and your closest friends. Then there’s Overcooked 2. This cooperative cooking sim inspires a different kind of emotion, usually something between rage and oh-my-god-will-someone-please-wash-the-dishes! At its core though, it’s a game about facing unexpected challenges as a team and working together to defeat undead bread zombies—the unbread.
1 to 4 players can run a kitchen together.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Mess-Makers
Splatoon 3
The latest entry in the ink-squirting series from Nintendo, Splatoon 3 answers a question everyone was asking: What if humanoid squid kids could play paintball? In this multiplayer shooter, you’ll use a number of unique paint weapons (like paint sniper rifles and giant rollers) to color the map and take out enemies. The winning team is the one that paints the largest portion of the map. Even if you’re not usually into shooters, this is like nothing you’ve ever played before.
1 to 8 players can blast maps with ink.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
A Puzzling Adventure
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Toad has been Princess Peach’s loyal sidekick for decades in the Super Mario universe, but Nintendo has finally given him (and his friend Toadette) a starring role. Captain Toad was one of the best Wii U games, but it feels much more at home on the Switch. Instead of hopping around like Mario, Captain Toad places you into dozens of compact puzzle worlds where you must avoid danger and explore to find treasure. The Switch version has some added Mario Odyssey–inspired levels, too.
1 player can solve these puzzles at a time.
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Photograph: Jackbox
Party Games for Party People
Party Pack
Jackbox games are riotously fun. Each “Party Pack” comes with a few mini-games you can play solo or with a crowd. These made our list of the Best Games to Play When You’re Stuck Inside. Depending on the pack you get, players may find themselves designing awful T-shirt slogans, drawing Pictionary-style, competing in trivia contests, or sleuthing out fibbers from the group. Instead of using Joy-Cons or other controllers, players use their phones or tablets and a web browser. With some effort, you can even play with friends long-distance.
1 to 8 players can compete at a time.
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Courtesy of Ubisoft
A Turn-Based Strategy Adventure
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Mixing Super Mario and Ubisoft’s Rabbids sounds bizarre, but it’s so off-the-wall weird that it somehow works. You play as a mix-and-match team of Mario and Rabbids characters solving some simple puzzles in an overworld, but mostly battling against teams of enemy Rabbids. The gameplay is turn-based and tactical. You move Mario and other characters around a grid filled with obstacles and chain their attacks together to strategically take out opponents. It’s good, clean, goofy fun. Read our full review. It was so popular, Ubisoft has already followed it up with a sequel called Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
1 to 2 players can adventure together.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Racing Maniacs
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is another one of Nintendo’s enhanced Wii U ports, and it still holds up. Its spectacular tracks, colorful karts, and myriad dirty tricks make it a marquee multiplayer experience on Nintendo’s hybrid console. A new smart steering option opens the game up to younger kids, too, giving them a way to play along without getting completely trounced. Whether drifting, hovering, or gliding around the scenic courses, you’re almost guaranteed to grin while playing it.
1 to 8 players can race together.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Troublemakers
Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game lets you explore a single day in the consequence-free life of a criminal goose, and it’s fantastic. You’re given a series of increasingly difficult tasks, almost all of which involve acts of petty (and not so petty) larceny and vandalism, which you need to complete without being thwarted by the townsfolk of an idyllic English country village. It’s a self-described slapstick-stealth-sandbox game, with a surprising degree of replay value. Seriously, once you finish your initial to-do list (yes, this goose has a to-do list), the game restarts with an even more difficult version of that list, challenging you to be the very best goose you can be. An update after the game’s launch added multiplayer support, so now two geese can terrorize the town at once.
1 to 2 players can harass the townsfolk.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Pokémon Trainers
Pokémon Sword & Shield
Pokémon Sword & Shield is the first original Pokémon game on the Nintendo Switch, and it’s both a departure and a return to form for Game Freak. It’s the first mainline Pokémon game on a home console, which is exciting new territory, but unlike Pokémon Legends: Arceus it follows the typical Pokémon formula longtime fans will be familiar with. It’s approachable for beginners and deep enough for seasoned trainers to enjoy spending hours in the forests and meadows of the Galar region trying to catch them all.
1 to 4 players can team together locally or online.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Catsuit Lovers
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
If you’re someone who prefers 2D Mario games—or if you really like cats—this might be the Mario game for you. Mario has a catsuit, and he’s living in a cat-themed world. This game blends some of the exploration of 3D Mario games with the simplicity and speed of the sidescrollers. It lets you move in 3D, but the levels are more directional and your goal is to race to the flag pole at the end, like a classic Mario game. Since the camera is fixed in place, you don’t have to constantly tweak it, simplifying the whole experience.
Since this is an upgraded port of a Wii U game, Nintendo also included an extra game called Bowser’s Fury, which plays more like a traditional 3D Mario title where you have to work with Bowser Jr. (Player 2 can control him!) to find cat shines on a series of islands to save them from a massive, Godzilla-sized Bowser. It’s different, but also a ton of fun in its own way.
1 to 4 players can run and jump together.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
Putting the Metroid in Metroidvania
Metroid Dread
Is a Metroid a Metroidvania game? Feels weird to say that a game belongs to a genre named after itself, but Metroid Dread is one of the better entries in the series. You’ll spend a lot of time fighting your way through the side-scrolling map, doubling back to retrace your steps and explore new areas, and fighting some slightly boring-looking robots along the way.
1 player can backtrack halfway across the map.
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Courtesy of Nintendo
For Wildlife Photographers
New Pokémon Snap
The original Pokémon Snap was an utterly unique game when it first came out, and the New Pokémon Snap brings that spirit back. Unlike typical Pokémon RPGs like Pokémon Sword & Shield, in this game you simply go on leisurely automated strolls, taking photos of Pokémon as you encounter them in their natural habitat. It’s a chill game, although Professor Mirror really has a lot to learn about good composition.
1 player can get that perfect shot.
