In addition to its great AAA games, Nintendo Switch also has plenty of cheaper options. Here are some great Nintendo Switch games under $20.
The Nintendo Switch has plenty of amazing AAA games you can pick up in stores at full price, but if you’re looking to save a little cash, the console has also become one of the best places to find affordable titles. From racing games to platformers and even full-on role-playing adventures, there is something available for practically every thrifty player, and with cross-platform play enabled on some of the games, you can even play with your pals on Xbox One. Here are the best Nintendo Switch games under $20.
Sega’s Sonic Team hasn’t had much luck with the blue hedgehog in recent years, delivering duds like Sonic Lost World and the recent Sonic Forces. But super-fan Christian Whitehead wasn’t looking to create a modern take on the franchise with Sonic Mania. Instead, he looked to the classic Genesis games for inspiration, creating a fast platformer that pays tribute to the original games’ stages while also introducing plenty of its own ideas. Letting players control Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles and using a 16-bit art style, Sonic Mania will remind you just how fantastic and influential the series was in its heyday, and how much potential it still has when it returns to its roots.
Typically, sports and racing video games don’t cross over, regardless of their combined category at The Game Awards. The skills to play a sport like soccer or basketball are far different than the ones necessary to control a rocket-powered automobile, but Psyonix managed to meld the two into the worldwide phenomenon that is Rocket League. Essentially soccer with small cars substituting for players, the game has managed to attract a considerable competitive scene, with the top players capable of ridiculous acrobatics as they attempt to knock the ball into their opponents’ net. On the Switch, you’ll be able to play the game anywhere you go, and with Xbox One cross-play the game has a sizable community to compete against.
The “Metroidvania” genre has a long history on Nintendo consoles, and there are few developers who have mastered it as much as Image & Form. SteamWorld Dig 2 builds on the addictive mining adventures of the original game, filled with secrets to discover and enemies to defeat. With upgrades available for your gear, a hookshot straight out of Zelda for exploring larger areas, and tight, polished platforming, you can easily play it until the battery on your Switch dies, but that’s when you can dock your system and use the Joy-Con controller to continue the action. Its bright and unique take on the Old West offers a nice change of pace from the science-fiction and fantasy typically seen in the genre, and there are plenty of surprises in store.
Aside from Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles 2, there aren’t too many role-playing games available on the Switch right now, and Battle Chef Brigade fills that void in a very unique way. Part cooking game, you must create delicious dishes using a “match three” system similar to series like Bejeweled or Candy crush, but before you can cook, you must hunt. In this segment, Battle Chef Brigade is an old-school 2D action-role-playing game, with storybook-like backgrounds and sharp animations. There are two playable chefs, Mina and Thrash, both of whom are voice acted, and the game even includes “puzzle rush” and “break the dish” modes if you want to compete against your friends on the leaderboards.
The Harvest Moon series had been in a downward slump for years when first-time developer Eric Barone decided it was time to inject new life into the farming genre. Stardew Valley is much more than a basic Harvest Moon knockoff, however. With a cast of memorable characters and a charming story, it’s a world just as immersive as anything created by BioWare or Bethesda, and the game continues to be updated with additional farming features. Once you’re done improving your town and choosing a marriage partner, you can even explore dangerous dungeons to battle monsters and find hidden treasure.
We live in an era of yearly sports titles with incremental changes to rosters, a few additional features or modes, and a new coat of paint. Golf Story thumbs its nose at these trends, with a game that is part golf and part role-playing adventure. Similar to Mario Tennis on the Game Boy Color, the game is supported by a unique cast of characters to meet, and your golfing isn’t limited to the course. Nearly every location you visit will have a challenge to complete, such as launching a drive into a hard-to-reach area, and the eight different environments are wildly different from each other. It might not offer the most realistic form of golf, but it is the most enjoyable.
The first Resident Evil Revelations game began its life as a 3DS exclusive, but it clearly had console ambitions. The full-length horror game used a camera perspective and control scheme similar to Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, but with an emphasis on atmosphere over action. Its sequel is often more impressive, with its prison-island setting and multiple playable protagonists offering an experience that feels like a television show – originally released episodically, there are “endings” and cliffhangers with each chapter, and the game adds in plenty of dumb humor that fans of the original few Resident Evil titles will remember. The return of fan-favorite characters Barry Burton and Claire Redfield is just icing on the cake.
Growing up is tough, and it’s made even harder when there’s a time-shifting supernatural entity looming over your head. In Oxenfree, a group of teenagers vacation to a secluded island, hoping to enjoy themselves before they’re forced to return to everyday life. Instead, they watch each other die, relive traumatic events of the past, and attempt to solve the mystery surrounding the island’s true nature. There isn’t much “action” to speak of in Oxenfree, as the game’s main mechanic is a simple dialogue-choice system, but it allows you to make subtle changes to characters’ personalities based on how you want them to be used in the story. Short and straightforward, it’s the perfect game to take with you on the go.
Whether you’re in front of your TV or out and about, the Nintendo Switch is the perfect console for cooperative play, and no game demonstrates this better than Snipperclips – Cut it out, together. The puzzle game tasks two players with cutting pieces out of their own bodies in order to fit a particular shape or complete a task.
