What games for Nintendo Switch would I like?

May 19, 2019 10:49 AM

I am getting a Nintendo Switch through an employee recognition program at work. I'm not a big gamer and never owned a console system before. I'm looking for some game suggestions to get me started.

I'm 50 years old, and never really got into video games. Over the years I've played things on other peoples systems, and my grown son has a Switch he's brought over a couple times so I've seen and used one. I kind of liked Mario Cart, and while Splattoon was interesting, I found it hyper-stimulating and I couldn't really figure the controls.

On mobile, I've enjoyed games like One More Brick and Holedown, paper.io, and word games like 7 Little Words. I've played Minecraft on PC but it's been several years. When much younger I tried Myst and other interactive fiction, and I liked Castle Wolfenstein on Apple ][ but I know that series has really changed. I don't think I like/understand current first person shooters.

I would be playing solo or with my wife, who is even less experienced with video games. Any suggestions on free/inexpensive games to consider and get started?

posted by jazon to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (31 answers total)

Best answer: You might like Baba is You, it's a new word-logic puzzle game, with a cute aesthetic and some fascinating puzzles.
posted by CrystalDave at 10:55 AM on May 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Snipperclips is a fun little cooperative game. My dad has barely ever played video games and we had fun playing together.

Firewatch is an interesting story to explore. It's single player but one of you could play while the other watched.

Zelda Breath of the Wild is the best game on the switch. It's the most incredible big varied works to explore. Some of the fighting is a bit tough but I'm not great at video game combat and I finished the game.

Overcooked is another fun cooperative game but very fast paced and my husband finds it stressful!

We played a lot of Lego City Undercover and generally the Lego Games are how I started playing console games. This particular one is not my favorite but we sure played it for a lot of hours!
posted by carolr at 11:00 AM on May 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I just beat this very adorable game called Yoku's Island Express, where you play a beetle who has just become the post master on this island, that you need to explore for both adventure and business reasons. The best part is the mechanics of how you get from place to place- they're pinball levels. It's currently available for download on the nintendo store for $9.99
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:12 AM on May 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

mario kart and mario party
posted by Morpeth at 11:15 AM on May 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I have considered getting a Switch just for Tetris 99... Not sure if that would be your thing.
posted by jimmereeno at 11:18 AM on May 19, 2019

Katamari Damacy is probably my favorite game of all time -- a joyful tone, unique and intuitive gameplay that's also deeply satisfying, a timeless design aesthetic, and one of the greatest soundtracks ever made. There's a reason it's one of the few video games included in the permanent collection of the MoMA, along with other landmarks like Tetris and Myst. It also got a note-perfect HD port for the Switch last year (Katamari Damacy Reroll), including a two-player competitive mode. Highly recommended.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:19 AM on May 19, 2019 [9 favorites]

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney came out for the switch and it’s an excellent mystery-puzzle-law game. Also, Cuphead which is one player or two, but it’s really frustratingly hard at times.
posted by buttonedup at 11:20 AM on May 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Seconding Katamari Damacy and Mario Kart 8. Overcooked is a fun multiplayer game, but it can be a little stressful.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:23 AM on May 19, 2019

Into the Breach is a delightful little war-strategy game. It might look like an RTS game at first glance, but plays a lot like a strategic board game. You can see upcoming enemy moves at all times, so every move can be strategically planned out. (It's on PC too, but the its perfect for short sessions on Switch!)
posted by Wulfhere at 11:41 AM on May 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Valkyria Chronicles is available on the Switch and is a turn-based strategy game set in a kind of alternate WWII. It's got beautiful graphics and a great story, and I think the gameplay works really well to help you learn as you go. It's one of my favorite games ever and I mostly dislike shooters and war-related games!
posted by augustimagination at 11:51 AM on May 19, 2019

Baba is you!! Yes!
posted by greermahoney at 11:51 AM on May 19, 2019

Best answer: Seconding Katamari! I also recommend Stardew Valley, which is a cute pretty stress-free game where you move to a rundown farm and fix it up, plant crops, make friends with all the villagers, fall in love, pet your cat or dog, pick fruit, mine ore, participate at local holiday festivals, etc. Each in-game day is about 12 minutes long so it’s easy to pick up and put down. There are no time limits on anything - didn’t get around to growing tomatoes this summer? You can grow them next summer! Missed the Festival of the Winter Star? They’ll hold it again next year! I find it very enjoyable and relaxing. The only thing, controls-wise, that can take a bit to get the hang of are fishing and fighting little monsters in the mines, but a bit of practice should have you picking up on it in no time. It is my go-to game when I’m stressed out and just want to relax.
posted by skycrashesdown at 11:57 AM on May 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is an immensely charming puzzle game.
posted by mmascolino at 11:59 AM on May 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Overcooked is so much fun! I found the sequel, Overcooked 2, to be a little easier to get into.
posted by kuma440 at 12:40 PM on May 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

I have played the abovementioned Into The Breach, got in a sale for £3, about a hundred times more than any of the £50 first-party titles I own. It's wonderful.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:42 PM on May 19, 2019

ToeJam and Earl is a remake of the popular 90s game and is fun, low-key and funny. You can play 1 - 4 people, cooperatively.
posted by jillithd at 12:59 PM on May 19, 2019

Captain Toad is a blast, but it’s better handheld than docked so you can use the touch screen.

Lumines is a fun block-dropping game.

Mario Kart is my favorite on the system.
posted by porn in the woods at 1:18 PM on May 19, 2019

Hidden Folks

(Disclaimer: I have not played this, but it looks delightful)
posted by O9scar at 3:19 PM on May 19, 2019

You should definitely check out Stardew Valley - it's a lot of fun, you can play it with your wife or on your own (and so can she), the learning curve is gentle but not boring, and the graphics are adorable.

I also think you should seriously consider Zelda Breath of the Wild because it's the most amazing video game I've ever played. My husband and I both finished it, but are now replaying it because we both love it so much. It has "combat" but it's not a first person shooter type game, and really, it's all about exploring the (huuuuuuge) world first, finishing quests is kind of optional - up to you :)

Overcooked is another game my husband and I both love and play each other. It stresses us both out at times - but in a fun way, if that makes any sense. I haven't played either version on the switch (did so on our ps4) but I imagine it's the same.
posted by jacquilinala at 4:22 PM on May 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Another vote for captain toad. I was hesitant when I bought it but it’s now my go to. It’s very easy going but getting 100% on each level is challenging!
posted by one4themoment at 4:38 PM on May 19, 2019

I'm not much of a gamer and I really liked Thimbleweed Park and Gris. I needed my son's help to get through one level on Gris, but Thimbleweed Park I could do on my own. It comes with hints if you need them and you need next to no finger dexterity which is why it was ideal for me! Plus the story was fun. We (my kids and I) played a lot of Stardew Valley for a while. I also liked Broken Age, which is available for the Switch, though I played it on an iPad.
posted by Cuke at 8:10 PM on May 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Mariokart is very simple to get into since it's basically just a car racing game, but it has a lot of cute stuff built in to discover and enjoy.

Lego city undercover has also been a hit in our not so gamey household. As with mariokart, two people can play at once so that's a plus.

We have minecraft too but have had a hard time getting into it. I haven't played it on another system and I'm not finding to be very intuitive...
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:17 PM on May 19, 2019

>Firewatch is an interesting story to explore. It's single player but one of you could play while the other watched.

There's another interesting option for Firewatch teamwork; download and print out the topo map, then go to the Gameplay Settings screen and disable “Show Location On Map”, so that there is no GPS-style you-are-here marker on the in-game map.

Now one person can handle the game controller while the other person can handle and notate the physical map and figure out where (you think) you are and where (you think) you are going.

I played it this way but single-player (handling both map and controller.) I'm maybe too experienced at orienteering so the navigation wasn't challenging but I still think it was interesting to use a map as if hiking.
(On a related note, I'm currently developing a game that involves some old-fashioned map skills, so I'm also curious if people find Firewatch with guidance turned off to be fun or frustrating. Feel free to mail me if you have opinions)
posted by Cusp at 12:13 AM on May 20, 2019

Best answer: nthing Stardew Valley for a single-player.
My daughter and I just started playing Yoshi's Crafted World which is just the right amount of 2-player coop.
(I also hated Splatoon)
posted by nkknkk at 5:04 AM on May 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

(oh, also, spring for proper hand-held controllers. My old hands can't deal with the teeny switch controllers!)
posted by nkknkk at 5:04 AM on May 20, 2019

Nthing Gris, I absolutely loved that game! It's so gorgeous!

I'm not a very experienced gamer, although I'm trying to get more into games. Zelda Breath of the Wild is what I'm playing at the moment. I joke with my kids that I'll probably be playing it forever, because I'm pretty bad at it! It is beautiful for exploration, and I try to keep the combat to a minimum.
posted by Samarium at 12:59 PM on May 20, 2019

Yoshi's Crafted World doesn't have a steep difficulty curve (until the last four unlockable levels) and is delightful and whimsical.
posted by tacodave at 5:27 PM on May 20, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I've marked a few replies as Best, but need to make a second pass through to re-review. Regardless this whole thread has been helpful in getting me started.
posted by jazon at 8:54 PM on May 20, 2019

I recently played Oxenfree on the Switch. It's an adventure game, described as a thriller. You play a teenage girl named Alex who opens a "rift" with her friends. It's a nice game for someone who doesn't describe themselves as a gamer.
posted by Laura in Canada at 7:28 AM on May 21, 2019

It's not really a puzzle game in exactly the same way Myst was, but if you're interested in narrative-driven games, Night in the Woods might be worth checking out.
posted by lousywiththespirit at 2:51 PM on May 23, 2019

oh also, along the lines of getting more comfortable controllers than what comes with the switch (and because some games will require that you use both of the included controllers as one controller - looking at you, lego games), you can get non-wireless controllers that are much cheaper than the wireless. We procrastinated on buying additional controllers because we didn't want to lay out another $60+...and then finally went to the store and saw the cheaper ones with cords! (proof that we just don't keep up with anything....)
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:55 AM on May 25, 2019