10 Near-Perfect Nintendo Switch Games Nobody Played

Published Nov 14, 2026, 11:34 AM EST Hidden gems that deserve a second chance Image: Nintendo Sign in to your Polygon.com account When a system has a library as diverse as the Nintendo Switch, some great games are bound to go unrecognized. There are thousands of physical titles available, and thousands more that never got more than a simple digital release. Not every game is for everyone, though. Many players choose to ignore the digital marketplace altogether because it has become so cluttered. We sometimes overlook even physical releases, now that there are so many of them. That means there are plenty of hidden gems to discover, especially when it comes to the stuff you won’t find on any other console. With that in mind, here are 10 near-perfect Switch games nobody played. 1 Part Time UFO Image: HAL Laboratry Released: October 2020 Developed by HAL Laboratory, better known for Kirby’s Dream Land and the many Kirby titles to follow, Part Time UFO made its debut on mobile devices before coming to Switch with additional features and modes. The goal is to use a cute UFO with a claw machine attached to take on “jobs,” such as moving cows to a farmer’s truck or lifting bones to craft a dinosaur skeleton in a museum. It’s a simple but engaging puzzle game, with complex enough physics to keep things interesting. On Switch, you can also bring a friend along for the adventure, and attempt more challenging versions of the jobs you already know. It’s no longer available for purchase on iOS or Android, making the Switch version your best option by default. 2 Astral Chain Platinum Games/Nintendo Released: August 2019 PlatinumGames has a devoted following, thanks to past triumphs like Bayonetta and NieR: Automata. However, its efforts outside established franchises have tended to be met with a shrug from the masses, even when they’re very good. Astral Chain introduced a police special task force battling monsters in a futuristic city, which meant plenty of the nail-biting action for which the studio is known. Compared to modest hits in Platinum’s past, Astral Chain did very well for itself by finding a healthy audience of more than a million players. Having Nintendo itself as a publisher likely helped. When compared to the latest Mario and Zelda games, however, Astral Chain came up short. Many millions of players now own a Nintendo Switch and still haven’t played it, but they definitely should. 3 Demon Throttle Image: Doinksoft/Special Reserve Games Released: July 2022 Doinksoft is a relatively new studio that made its debut with 2019’s charming Gato Roboto. One of its next big releases (after a ‘bootleg’ game collection), Demon Throttle, launched exclusively on Nintendo Switch. Its publisher chose to go a unique route and made the game available only as a physical cartridge. You still can’t find it in the Nintendo eShop, either as a standalone title or as part of The Doinksoft Collection (which also was physical-only), making it a genuine collector’s item that a lot of players still don’t know about. As for the game itself, it’s a scrolling shooter in the vein of Pocky & Rocky, with old-school visuals and audio to drag you back to a simpler time when every mall had an arcade and every school had that one kid who collected weird Nintendo games. Free sign-up Get Polygon’s Wishlister newsletter A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play. No buying, no commitment — just saving for later. Sign up free Free. Unsubscribe anytime. 4 Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Image: Brace Yourself Games/Nintendo Released: June 2019 Crypt of the NecroDancer, from Brace Yourself Games, was an indie darling that appeared on most relevant platforms of the era. Cadence of Hyrule honed in on the Nintendo Switch. It featured Zelda characters and provided a rhythmic, old-school experience that felt surprisingly faithful to Hyrule as presented in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Playing the new crossover title feels a bit odd at first, because you might simply want to control the hero directly. That doesn’t quite work. Instead, you must move in time to the beat. It’s surprisingly delightful, and only rarely awkward once you get the hang of things. As oddities go, it’s one you’d do well not to miss, and maybe even the best Zelda spinoff ever made. 5 Shinsekai: Into the Depths Image: Capcom Released: March 2020 Capcom originally released Shinsekai: Into the Depths as an Apple Arcade title, but someone at the company later decided to port it to Switch, where the game delighted the players who gave it a chance with thrilling underwater exploration. Players must monitor their oxygen reserves while navigating the labyrinthine ruins of past civilizations, also relying on assistance from a robot who isn’t all that helpful. Satisfying Metroidvania design and beautiful environments will keep you coming back, even if the game’s mobile roots do show from time to time. Learn to ignore them and you should do just fine. 6 Good Job! Image: Paladin Studios/Nintendo Released: March 2020 Nintendo published a few unusual titles from indie development partners over the course of the Switch’s lifetime. One of them, Good Job!, came from now-defunct Dutch developer Paladin Studios as a surprise release. The game depicts an office environment and turns progression through mundane professional dynamics into a series of puzzles. Players must find creative (and frequently destructive) ways to clear the same obstacles, which encourages replay. There’s also a multiplayer mode for anyone who wants to bring a friend along to add to the chaos. Despite the cute visuals and some humorous satire poking fun at nepotism, the design provides a stiff challenge to keep everyone coming back for more. 7 Vitamin Connection Image: WayForward Released: January 2020 Vitamin Connection comes from WayForward, the development team responsible for a variety of hits and revivals over the years, including Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. In Vitamin Connection, players control Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl (do you see what they did there?) on a journey to destroy icky pathogens. The game includes six colorful worlds to explore, as well as asymmetric multiplayer. While one player holds a JoyCon vertically to move and shoot, the other person holds one sideways to rotate and aim. Endearing visuals and music add to the charm, making for a must-play experience that highlights the Switch hardware’s true potential. 8 The Stretchers Image: Tarsier Studios/Nintendo Released: November 2019 For you and one lucky friend, The Stretchers is a terrific way to enjoy the lighter side of being ill enough that paramedics have to haul you somewhere for treatment. It might not sound like an obvious premise for a video game, but Tarsier Studios (known elsewhere for the darker Little Nightmares) put together a fun, physics-based puzzle game that really comes into its own when you play it with someone else. The pleasant visuals and unconventional challenges will put a smile on your face and keep it there, even if the brief campaign leaves you wishing there were more. PolygonInteractive Five Slots Gaming•Quizzes•Nintendo Polygon QuizWhich NintendoFranchise Are You?8 Questions • 5 FranchisesNintendo makes several completely different promises about what a game is for. One is about moving beautifully, one is about being lost, one is about being alone, one is about having nothing to do, and one is about having an easy time. Eight questions about how you like to play will say which promise is yours.On The Shelf Mario Zelda Metroid Animal Crossing Kirby Press Start Question 01TWO FREE HOURS 01A free evening turns up. What do you want from it?Not which game. What the two hours should feel like. ASomething that feels great to control. I would be happy just moving around in it.BTo go somewhere I have never been and get properly lost there.CTo be alone with something quiet and a little bit lonely.DTo potter. No goal, no list, just tidying up and talking to people.ESomething easy and charming that I cannot really lose. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 02 of 0812% Cleared Question 02WHERE YOU PLAY 02Be honest about where and how you play.Everybody has one spot and one posture. AOn the couch, sitting forward, leaning into it.BBig screen, lights off, nowhere else to be all night.CHeadphones on, late, with the lights down and the door shut.DIn bed, handheld, twenty minutes before sleep.EAnywhere, with somebody next to me who has never played it. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 03 of 0825% Cleared Question 03NO DIRECTIONS 03The game stops telling you where to go. How does that feel?Some people call this freedom and some people call it a bug. AFine, as long as moving around is fun on its own.BLike the best part. I will find it myself, thank you.CGood. I want a map I filled in, not one I was handed.DI do not mind. There was nothing I was supposed to be doing.EI would rather it just pointed. I am not here to be puzzled. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 04 of 0838% Cleared Question 04WHO ELSE IS THERE 04Who is in the room while you play?This one separates everybody. ASomeone watching and commenting on every mistake I make.BOne person who has played it and has agreed to tell me nothing.CNobody. That is the entire point.DSomebody pottering nearby, both of us half paying attention.EA friend on the second controller who has never held one before. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 05 of 0850% Cleared Question 05THE MUSIC 05What do you want the soundtrack to do?Nobody ever says they do not care. AStay stuck in my head for the next twenty years.BMake a place feel like a real place.CMostly stay out of the way, and then unsettle me once.DChange with the hour and the season and barely be noticed.EBe relentlessly, almost unreasonably cheerful. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 06 of 0862% Cleared Question 06GETTING SOMEWHERE 06What makes you feel like you made progress?Progress means five different things to five different people. ADoing a hard thing cleanly on the ninth try.BComing over a hill and seeing something I was not expecting.COpening a door I have walked past six times already.DThe place looking a little more like mine than it did yesterday.EFinishing the whole thing, happily, in one afternoon. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 07 of 0875% Cleared Question 07STUCK 07You have been stuck for a while now. What do you do?The honest answer, not the one you would tell people. ATry it again. It is me, not the game, and I will get it.BGo somewhere else entirely and come back once I have thought about it.CGo back through everything I have already seen, looking for what I missed.DPut it down. It will keep. Nothing in there is going anywhere.ELook it up immediately and enjoy the rest of my evening. ← BackPick one, then Next Next Question World 08 of 0888% Cleared Question 08TELLING A FRIEND 08You are recommending it to someone. What do you say?This is the one that decides it. AJust play it. It feels incredible and I cannot explain it better than that.BDo not look anything up. Please. I am serious.CPlay it on your own, at night, with headphones.DIt is not about anything. That is the whole point of it.EIt is four hours long and you will smile the entire time. ← BackPick one, then Next Load My Result Cartridge LoadedYou Are This is not about which games you own. It is about what you want a free evening to feel like, and your answers keep landing in the same place. NES / US 1985MarioPrecision / Momentum / JoyYou are here for how it feels in your hands. You could be given an empty room with good physics and come out happy. The jumping is the game, the story is a courtesy, and you will do the hard bit nine times to do it cleanly once.Why That Is You Mario is the series that treats movement itself as the reward, which is why people replay the first level of a Mario game for fun. You sit forward on the couch. Somebody is watching and commenting on every mistake and you would not have it any other way. When you are stuck you assume it is you rather than the game, and you are usually right, and you get it eventually. Recommending it, you cannot explain why it feels good. You just tell people to play it, which is the most Mario sentence there is. PrecisionReplays ItFeels Great NES / US 1987ZeldaDiscovery / Patience / A Big MapYou want to be lost somewhere worth being lost in. Being told where to go ruins it for you. You want a hill, a thing you were not expecting on the other side of it, and nobody in your ear about any of it.Why That Is You Zelda is built on the moment you go somewhere you were not sent, and everything else in the design exists to protect that moment. Big screen, lights off, nowhere else to be. This is an evening you clear space for rather than fit in. Stuck, you go somewhere else entirely and come back when you have thought about it, which is how the games expect to be played. Your one instruction when you recommend it is do not look anything up, and you mean it more than you mean most things. ExploresNo SpoilersTakes Its Time NES / US 1987MetroidSolitude / Atmosphere / MasteryYou would rather be alone in there. You want atmosphere, a shut door and a map you filled in yourself. Not lonely as a complaint. Lonely as the appeal.Why That Is You Metroid is the Nintendo series that is about isolation on purpose, and it is the one that trusts you to work things out with no company at all. Headphones on, late, lights down, door shut. Anyone else in the room changes what the game is. What you want from progress is opening a door you have walked past six times, which is the entire design of the series in one sentence. Stuck, you go back through everything you have already seen looking for what you missed, and that is not frustration. That is the game. SolitaryFills The MapAtmosphere First GameCube / US 2002Animal CrossingRoutine / Calm / No Fail StateYou do not want anything to be asked of you. Twenty minutes, in bed, before sleep, with nothing at stake and nothing overdue. You are not avoiding a challenge. You have simply had enough of being graded.Why That Is You Animal Crossing removed the fail state and found an audience that had been waiting for exactly that without knowing it. You want the place to look slightly more like yours than it did yesterday, and that is a complete definition of progress. Stuck is not a state you get into, because you put it down and it keeps, and nothing in there is going anywhere. Asked to sell it to somebody, you say it is not about anything, and you are not apologizing when you say it. DailyNo Fail StateLow Stakes Game Boy / US 1992KirbyEase / Charm / Low StakesYou are allowed to have an easy time. Four hours, no friction, a smile the whole way through. You look things up without a flicker of guilt and you are having more fun than the people who do not.Why That Is You Kirby is the Nintendo series that is openly, deliberately generous, and being generous is a design choice rather than a shortcut. You play with somebody on the second controller who has never held one, and watching them get it is most of the fun. You look things up immediately when you are stuck and then enjoy the rest of your evening, which is a genuinely healthy relationship with a hobby. What you tell people is that it is four hours and they will smile the whole time, and that is a real recommendation. GenerousPlays With OthersNo Guilt Closest Matches 1• • •0% 2• • •0% 3• • •0% Swap CartridgeCopied A Polygon InteractivePolygonMore quizzes at polygon.com 9 Fast RMX Image: Shin'en Multimedia Released: March 2017 The Fast series dates back to the Wii, with a debut title on Nintendo’s WiiWare service. The games are essentially Shin’en Multimedia’s take on F-Zero or Wipeout, bringing more than enough speed to live up to the series name. Fast RMX was one of three indie titles to launch alongside the Switch. It includes all the courses and DLC from Fast Racing Neo for Wii U, along with several new courses for the Switch version. Computer-controlled opponents are aggressive, though rubber banding difficulty can take some of the joy out of a first-rate performance on the tracks. The game did well enough to justify another new installment on Switch 2, Fast Fusion, but it deserved better still. If you haven’t updated to Nintendo’s latest hardware and you’re feeling the need for speed, it could be just the ticket. 10 Golf Story Sidebar Games Released: September 2017 Golf Story from SideBar Games was one of the earliest Switch success stories. It sounds like it should be a straightforward sports game about hitting the links, and it is that, but there’s so much more to it. Using mechanics that might remind you of a 16-bit RPG or action-adventure game, it tells the story of a golfer who has one final chance to fulfill his dreams. He does so by completing a variety of golf courses and meeting friends and enemies along the way. If you’re hoping for a golf sim, you’ll want to look elsewhere. But if you remember past greats like Mario Golf on Game Boy Color, which featured RPG elements that clearly inspired Golf Story, you’re in for a treat.