126 Games You Should Pick Up In The Nintendo Switch eShop Holiday Sale (Europe)
The final wave of savings has arrived just in time for the new year. These all end on 12th January, so simply scroll through the list to find everything you need. And, as you can probably tell, there’s a huge amount of new stuff on sale here.
A reminder, some have a slightly different end date and will only be on sale until 6th January. Pay attention to all those flagged with the new date in the list below so you don’t miss out!
Nintendo has officially kicked off its Switch eShop Holiday Sale in Europe, bringing beefy discounts to thousands of games until 12th January 2024.
And yes, we said “thousands“. Indeed, there are so many games currently seeing a price cut on the eShop that it can be difficult to know where to start, but that’s where we come in. Below, we’ve laid out every game in the Nintendo Holiday Sale that we’ve awarded 9/10 or higher, so you can filter through to the cream of the crop in no time.
The list may seem a little shorter than usual for now, though Nintendo has announced that more games will be added to the sale on 24th and 30th December, so keep an eye out for more discounted delights in the coming weeks.
Note. We’ve given sale prices in GBP followed by the percentage discount, but commensurate EUR savings can be found across European eShops.
If you want to pick up some credit to assist in your eShop purchases, you can head over to the Nintendo Life store or see all available options in the links below.
So, let’s dive into some of the top discounted picks, presented below in alphabetical order…
£3.77 (-40%)
A Short Hike is a fat-free experience from top to bottom – or should we say bottom to top? It’s the kind of game that makes us sigh with happiness when we recall our time with it, and even having played it through to its ostensible conclusion multiple times, we know for a fact there are still things to see and do on that mountain.
It’s something of an apotheosis – a milestone in indie games akin to Cave Story or Spelunky. The very best bits of multiple game genres, stripped of all padding and bloat, mixed perfectly into a delicious video game stew that only gets richer the more you play.
An exploration in every sense of the word, A Short Hike is cute without being twee, challenging without being obnoxious, and emotional without being cloying. A landmark game for all ages. Don’t miss this one.
£32.99 (-34%)
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the absolute pinnacle of the series and despite coming to Switch over five years after other platforms, this ‘impossible’ Switch conversion does very little to degrade the experience. Long-time franchise players and military aviation enthusiasts will be overwhelmed by the fan service at every turn, from craters on the ground to airplanes, liveries, callsigns, and emblems shouting out to previous entries.
We understand the genre is uniquely niche, but if this is your first foray into the franchise, this conversion is a perfect gateway into this rich, revered series. You get tons of content and an epic single-player campaign wrapped up in triple-A presentation that delivers the most comprehensive portable experience ever from Project Aces.
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£7.19 (-80%)
AI: The Somnium Files starts out slow but once you’ve traversed a few of its delightfully surreal Somnium dreamscapes and got to an ending or two, working your way back through your flowchart and striking out in different directions, it becomes an engaging and tense affair.
Fans of the Zero Escape games will feel right at home here, and director Kotaro Uchikoshi’s talent for putting the player into increasingly unsettling circumstances ensures everything takes flight in a very satisfying way as you work your way through the many strands of the loopy central mystery towards its various different endings.
The excellent sequel, AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative, is also on sale for £21.59 (-60%)
£9.99 (-33%)
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror masterpiece and straight-up one of the very best horror video games ever released. It’s a nerve-wracking affair – a slow, methodical game of cat and mouse against a brilliantly clever recreation of one of cinema’s most infamous killers – but if you’re up to the task you’ll find one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences in the genre; a brilliant and beautiful homage to one of the greatest Sci-Fi movies of all time. Feral Interactive has done a stellar job with this Switch port and the excellent motion controls and inclusion of all previously-released DLC only go to sweeten the deal. This is essential stuff for survival horror fans.
£33.29 (-33%)
*Sale ends 6th January
Animal Crossing: New Horizons improved upon every single facet of the series imaginable. There’s more to do, more to see, more to change, more to mould, and more to love; fans and first-time players can find themselves losing hours at a time gathering materials, creating new furniture, and making their island undeniably theirs.
Every moment is unashamedly blissful, with excellently written characters that truly feel alive and an island paradise that gives back infinitely more than you put in. Back when Animal Crossing: New Leaf hit the shelves all those years ago and created a whole new generation of fans, many people were wondering how Nintendo could possibly top it, but here we got our answer.
This is a masterpiece that’s worth buying a Switch (or two) to play.
£3.37 (-75%)
The Nintendo eShop would be a considerably more exciting and interesting place if it were packed full of games like Ape Out. It’s a refreshingly original experience that more than deserves a place in any Switch owner’s library.
Difficult, frenetic gameplay, strong art direction, and an even stronger jazz drum soundtrack make this the sort of memorable game that you’ll likely keep coming back to over and over for another few runs in arcade mode. Ape Out gets a strong recommendation to anyone looking for a distinct and unforgettable game for their Switch collection; it’s a bit of an acquired taste, but well worth your time.
£23.98 (-40%)
We genuinely can’t believe how lucky we are that the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy games exist, let alone that they’ve been lovingly polished up for the Switch. Here is some of the best writing you’ll find on the console, and it’s a steal for all three games plus extras.
A couple of bumps here and there are to be expected with such a wealth of content (three games, DLC, and extras), but they barely leave a dent on the brilliance of this well-written and beautifully illustrated trilogy.
All of the Ace Attorney games are on sale right now on the eShop, but The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is our next pick for the best on the system, and it’s £13.49 (-60%)
£27.49 (-45%)
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key ends Ryza’s three-game run on a high note, serving up a heady mix of exploration, crafting, and combat that benefits greatly from a narrative arc that’s had time to develop and grow. The new key mechanics add more depth to combat, synthesis, and exploration, the world is more seamless and diverse than ever before and the whole thing comes together to form a satisfying end for this hugely popular protagonist.
We did have some issues with small text, no English dub, and a little fussiness in how information is relayed, but overall this is Gust’s finest adventure to date and a JRPG experience that long-term fans and newcomers alike will find plenty to delight in.
£2.24 (-85%)
Axiom Verge on Switch is truly an outstanding port of an outstanding game, no more and no less. We would strongly urge those of you who missed this game on other platforms to pick it up here; this is the full Axiom Verge experience and it’s available in a format that supports both handheld and home play.
For those of you who have played it before on other platforms, it’s ultimately a question of just how much you love this game. This is the exact same, excellent game that you’ve played before, so whether or not you want to buy it again is personal choice.
Regardless of which side you fall on, Axiom Verge is a fantastic example of how to do a Metroidvania right.
The sequel, Axiom Verge 2, is also on sale for £4.85 (-70%)
£2.69 (-80%)
A slice of Viking strategic combat right out of the heart of Scandinavia’s indie development scene, Bad North was at the vanguard of a wave of smart yet intrinsically accessible real-time strategy titles.
Swedish developer Plausible Concept calls it ‘micro-strategy’ and it’s the perfect encapsulation of a minimalist approach that covers everything from unit management to the Monument Valley-style isometric art style.
With enough enemy variance to convince you you’re playing an interactive episode of the Vikings TV show, this endlessly entertaining sea of bitesize battles will teach you to fear — and love — the sound of the oncoming horde.
£11.51 (-10%)
Balatro is a roguelike for gamers who don’t like roguelikes… and then everybody else on top of that. It utterly nails what it sets out to do, providing an instantly accessible, satisfying, and addictive gameplay loop that anybody can grasp.
It’s an immensely enjoyable experience from the start, but as you get deeper in, there’s really nothing else quite like it. Utterly sublime.
£19.99 (-60%)
Blue Reflection: Second Light improves on almost every aspect of the original, with a mystery that feels more personal as the characters become closer. The relationship between the girls as they seek to discover why they were brought to this strange world is the star of the show; though the combat is fun, it is always a vehicle to get you more story rather than the driving force of the game. Second Light is a fantastic-looking anime adventure that you’ll love, so long as you can accept that combat isn’t the focus.
£17.99 (-20%)
It looks like The Witness and it plays a bit like StreetPass Garden, but Botany Manor blooms into something that’s not only entirely its own, but also something quite special.
Don’t let its cosy aesthetics fool you — Botany Manor is packed with nicely challenging, well-designed puzzles, and isn’t afraid to tackle heavy subjects, too.
£8.99 (-50%)
Braid remains a landmark equally for indie game development and puzzle platformers. The time control mechanics are mind-bendingly satisfying to play with and the puzzles are wickedly inventive. This Anniversary Edition is an exquisite expression of the original concept, with everything spruced up to perfection.
And, even on top of that, it includes interactive creators’ commentary that sets a high watermark for in-game analysis and represents a new key text for anyone interested in how games are made. In short: this package is an all-timer.
£7.99 (-50%)
The Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle illustrates perfectly why the humble side-scrolling fighter was the toast of video gaming in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Addictive, enjoyable, and – perhaps most important of all – bloody good fun when played co-operatively with friends, all of the titles in this seven-strong compendium are worth your time, and by adding robust local and multiplayer support, Capcom has done its utmost to ensure they find favour with a whole new generation of gamers.
If you’re not a fan of the genre then you may well be wondering what all the fuss is about, but for everyone else, this is a must-have download.
£8.54 (-50%)
As an adventure game, Chicory: A Colorful Tale is quite sincerely up there with the very best of the genre. There’s plenty to see and do and a full completion run will probably take you 25-30 hours. The characters and their travails are rich and likeable, the game’s sense of humour is generally inspired, and it’s all very sweet without being sugary-twee and talking down to the player. It’s also an affecting little tearjerker that will definitely strike a chord if you make art, and almost certainly will even if you don’t – so long as you’re capable of pretty basic empathy. Chicory is simple to play but impressively long and complex, with perfect controls, performance and visuals. Throw yourself into painting the world and you’ll be left with a game that’s very much your own and speaks to you directly – a beautiful marriage of mechanics, themes and visuals.
£9.44 (-65%)
It’s difficult to get across exactly why Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is so good without spoiling vast swathes of it, so we’ll keep it simple. You’ll come into the game baffled as to what the writers were thinking with some of these characters, and walk away loving each and every one of them.
There isn’t a single moment of slack throughout the whole 40-hour playtime, it has the most extensive post-game of any title in the series, and one of the best endings to any game ever made. Go in blind and we promise you’ll be in for the ride of your life.
While the whole series is on sale, this is the game we scored a 9/10. So if you’re interested, now is the time to buy the trilogy.
£11.24 (-50%)
Dead Cells is a masterclass in excellent roguelike design, mixing together nonstop intense action sequences, gorgeous vistas, and an addictive loop of unlocks and rewards into a beautiful experience that no Switch owner will want to go without.
There’s dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of content available here, and though some sense of repetition can creep in every now and then, it’s remarkable how fresh Dead Cells can stay through all those hours.
This game is a blast to play, full of visual splendour, and packed with things to do; don’t miss out on this one – it’s a must-buy.
You can also get the Return to Castlevania DLC for an excellent £4.49 (-50%)
£7.99 (-50%)
Even so many years after its 2005 debut, Devil May Cry 3 remains one of the very best action games ever made. It may have aged in places, but that turbo-charged, combo-heavy action feels as fresh today as it did back in the mid-noughties. The new Freestyle mode – which lets players swap combat styles on the fly at any point during the action – is a genuinely excellent addition to the package, and the ability to play Bloody Palace in local co-op is the cherry on top of a Switch port that should appeal to anyone interested in sampling the devilish delights of this all-time classic.
£10.79 (-70%)
Disco Elysium’s narrative and dialogue, which was already wonderfully compelling in the base game, was given a massive boost thanks to the excellent voice acting introduced for the Final Cut.
The gameplay features a host of branching paths for you to explore, and while the slow, methodical approach may turn a few people off, this is nevertheless one of the most well-told stories in any medium from the last few years.
The performance issues at the time of our review slightly took the shine off things, but even with them present, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was and is a triumph and stands as one of the best RPGs available on Switch.
£22.49 (-50%)
From its opening moments upon a prison ship bound for Fort Joy to non-stop adventures that take you across the high seas to the Reaper’s Coast, Nameless Isle, and beyond, Divinity: Original Sin 2 simply dazzles. In its seemingly endless parade of well-written characters, hilarious narration, deep and rewarding physics-based combat, and the myriad ways in which it allows you to engage and toy with its systems, this is a truly epic RPG that revels in choice more than any other that’s come before it.
It takes the old-school isometric style of Baldur’s Gate, layers it with an unparalleled level of attention to detail, and fuses it with a thoroughly modern take on meaningful player decisions, resulting in one of the greatest role-playing games available on any platform; and it’s all here, present and correct on a portable console.
