Tildes, I need your advice. Looking for Nintendo Switch 1 and NS2 games.
Hello everyone,
Gamers’ I need your advice. Due to a serious family illness, my nieces and nephews age 4 to 15 will be spending a lot of time at my home for the foreseeable future.
I also have a college age kid, who is home occasionally and will play a few sports games and fighting games. He is head of the Fighting Game club at his universities club.
I am looking to entertain the kids as we move towards winter and also keep my house in one piece.
I purchased a NS2 w/ Mario Kart World, Minecraft, Shinobi, SFVI, NBA 2k26, Star Wars Outlaws and BoTW.
I am going to purchase a few more Switch 2 titles and a few Switch 1 games. (Hopefully on a B2G1) sale. I do not need to purchase all at once. Likely, I’ll buy 1 or 2 a month. Or hope for a b2g1 sale.
I am LOOKING FOR RECOMMENDATIONS from everyone.
I already preordered Dragon Quest 1&2HD2D and Mario Galaxy 2.
Games I am considering.
Luigi mansion 3
Sonic racing Cross World
Persona 3 reload
Super Mario Bros U Deluxe (you can play as Peach?)
Mortal Kombat Collection
Madden or EA FC
Metroid Prime 4 ( I don’t know what to make of this game. Is it Metroid BoTW?)
Bomberman R
Paper Mario Thousand year door
Links awakening or echoes of wisdom?
I am looking to have some variety so there is something for everyone.
These kids already have a Switch 1 w/ mario kart 8D, smash, Mario 3d World, Minecraft and a bunch of Kirby games.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
Side note: My kids had a Wii U when they were young and i am somewhat familiar with those games.
You have plenty, if anything I'd see what they express interest in. IMO it's more fun getting something you want from a store than picking something off a shelf at home :)
I understand. But as kids do, the young ones want “everything”. So, it is easier if I pick stuff for my home, and have a variety for all these different ages.
Honestly, if you all have games to STAY AWAY FROM as well, i will take those recommendations. Thanks.
I also like having the library, because it takes the children’s minds off of what their parent is going thru.
Edit: my wife was anti the Switch 2 at first, but now she agreed. So i watched the Nintendo Direct and saw the games coming.
But i am more interested in the games out this year, hoping I won’t need to pay attention in 2026 to Nintnedo.
Well a couple that come to mind:
I have Switch 2 and DK Bananza is an awesome game for everyone
Katamari Damacy! :D
A cult classic Japanese puzzle game where you have to roll a magical sticky ball around cluttered environments, gradually rolling up larger and larger objects from pencils and thumbtacks all the way up to skyscrapers and mountains.
The original is a timeless classic -- the simplified blocky graphics and oddly surreal, fever-dream vibe have aged really well, and the core tactile gameplay remains unique, intuitive, and fun. Plus it's got one of the greatest, most joyful soundtracks of all time. It's one of very few video games in the permanent collection of the MoMA (along with other design masterpieces like Tetris, Portal, and SimCity 2000) and it absolutely deserves it.
For the Switch, there are three titles available:
Katamari Damacy Reroll ($30): an HD port of the original
We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie (currently on sale for $7.50): a similar port of the sequel (which had even more creative challenges) plus extra content
Once Upon a Katamari ($40): a brand-new entry in the series, coming next month
It's probably my favorite game of all time, a thing of beauty to play, watch, or listen. Highly recommended.
My daughter (10) has really enjoyed Stardew Valley. It's very mellow and does have local (2 player slit screen) multiplayer. Though there are some more grown up things, like dating and getting married, it's very tame and the more suggestive dialogue is pretty subtle/double entendre and likely to fly over the kids' heads.
Another one she really loves is the Untitled Goose Game. You play the goose, and you are given a set of objectives to achieve by manipulating the environment. But you get to be an asshole goose. It's pretty tame and cathartic.
Untitled Goose Game is great. Stardew Valley is pretty addictive to me but is also a phenomenal game. These are great recs. 👌
My younger two (now 9 and 13) really enjoyed Untitled Goose Game together on the PC with local coop. I'd assume you can do the same on the Switch with each person taking a Joy-con. (Yep, a bit of Googling suggests that's exactly it.) What's funnier than an asshole goose? Two of them!
I didn't know you could do Co-op! I played it during Covid and it was probably the perfect amount of light puzzle solving and goofy humor.
First, you seem like a very thoughtful aunt or uncle and I hope everything turns out ok. Your nieces/nephews sound lucky to have you.
Second:
Doesn't look like anyone has mentioned Nintendo Sports for the Switch, so I'll throw that out as a recommendation. I've really enjoyed playing the games with a few friends, and despite not living up to Wii Sports, I think is still a great game and good value. The controls might be a bit hard to pick up for the 4 year old, but the 15 year old shouldn't have any trouble.
You can play up to 4 people locally and don't need the online play to enjoy everything (though online is the only way to earn more outfits and cosmetics unfortunately).
Luigi's Mansion 3 might be good for the younger, but it's essentially a vacuuming simulator so your mileage may vary. I did play the whole thing and remember getting stumped at a couple parts.
Links Awakening is a great remake and thoroughly challenging.
The little one might love Echos of Wisdom. It's very cute and I don't think every particularly overwhelming. I'm about half through and it definitely feels more geared to a young audience.
Super Mario All Stars might be a good contender. You get 3 great classic games. The controls are a little weird, but I think Super Mario Sunshine is the best and it's worth picking up just for that alone.
So is Luigi mansion 2 or 3 better? I always thought those games were aimed at the 10 year old to 15 year old audience? Or approximately. About he same as the Splatoon audience.
I've only played 3 myself, but I'd recommend that one over 2. Luigi's Mansion 2 is a port of a 3DS game, while 3 was designed very specifically with the Switch in mind and is just a fantastic showcase of the Switch's capabilities. It remains the only game I know off the top of my head that made use of the joycons' ability to produce sound. Also, it has multiplayer, though I never played that.
I've only played 3 so can't say which is better. I played it during Covid and didnt have a lot going on at the time. Not sure it's a game I'd reach for again but definitely aimed towards probably a pre-teen audience.
I have Splatoon and played it a few times. I think you need online play to make it worth it, however Ive had a lot of fun every time I've picked it up for a couple hours. I think that one has much broader age appeal. Definitely worth considering.
My youngest picked Luigi's Mansion 3 for Christmas last year. He was 8.5 at the time, enjoyed it, and was able to beat it on his own.
This is helpful! TY
My kids really like fire emblem three houses. It did take me playing it in front of them but both eventually got very hooked on it and have done multiple play through over the years. They play on easy / causal so they can get OP and play though the story. They early high school and late middle school ages, but have played it for a while. Maybe just that I was always so hyped up to play but they have taken the ball and run with the game for years so it had something appealing to both of them, may be worth a shot.
I will give this piece of advice: Persona 3 Reload might not be the best option if you're dealing with multiple kids. I've admittedly only played Persona 5 and I love it, but it's A) single-player, and B) takes up a LOT of time. Like... I put in 100+ hours into P5 and still have yet to beat it. So basically, may not be a good choice for a shared console in this scenario.
Besides that, to my knowledge Persona 3 deals with some heavy themes, which may not be a good idea given why they'll be spending so much time at your house.
MAJOR Persona 3 spoilers about the ending
The game has major themes of death and accepting the inevitability, and ends with the protagonist sacrificing himself to save everyone. To my knowledge it's not a depressing game, but it has a pretty heavy exploration of those themes which... May not resonate well with the kids right now. Probably be safer to skip it just to be safe.
Thank you!
I reckon P3R would only interest the older one(s). Link's Awakening was great but short, I anticipate all of them would enjoy that. Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion are classics.
Mario Party is fun for the whole family. Jamboree is the newest entry that has the most mini-games, but I haven't played it. I'd recommend All-Stars over the 2018 Super Mario Party.
I'd recommend Pokemon Legends Arceus over the upcoming Z-A for kiddos. Arceus has various settings across different nature biomes. Z-A is in a city. I quite enjoyed the Legends formula, but I'll be skipping Z-A because of the setting.
I quite liked Dragon Quest 11 and the Xenoblade Chronicles for JRPGs, but I also anticipate only the older one(s) would be into those.
If you're looking for S2 games this year, there aren't many. My friend is smitten with that Donkey Kong game though.
Any of the Pikmin series. 1 & 2 are harder games, 3 or 4 are easier games.
If you're going to be buying multiple games, consider checking if they're Game Voucher eligible (most of the first party ones are). If you have a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, you can buy them in pairs for $100. Since a lot of the Switch games are $60+, buying vouchers and redeeming them will save you about $10 each. (Note: I found out the hard way that your Online subscription must be active to both buy and redeem vouchers. But once you've redeemed one for a game, the game is yours.)
Elsewhere, you'd mentioned you'd be interested in games to stay away from. Let me put Animal Crossing on there. I'd originally thought it would be fun to get for my family back during covid. Once I saw that you get one island per Switch (shared across all accounts on it), and only one person can be the island representative and get those perks, I noped the f... out. Unfortunately, my teen bought it for himself and his siblings with his own credit card. And yes, all the drama that I anticipated ensued. Tears were shed as he steamrolled over his siblings, including restarting the island once or twice without checking with the others.
I have both the Links Awakening remake and Echoes of Wisdom for our Switch. I enjoyed both. Links Awakening is classic overhead Zelda with some 3D polish. Echoes of Wisdom is a bit different from the usual Zelda formula in that it focuses more on the exploration and puzzle solving and less on the action. You need to explore every nook and cranny to find echoes, which you can then use as parts of solutions to the puzzles or to rock/paper/scissors tough enemies.
Ty, this is helpful. I wasn’t aware of that regarding AC.
Here are some games I've had fun playing with my nephew or watching my nephew play. He is now 11 but we've been playing video games together since he was about 5.
Minecraft is probably the one we have played most over the years and still play together occasionally.
Pokemon Snap doesn't get played much anymore, but when my nephew was younger and still into Pokemon he loved it.
Coloring Book was one he enjoyed when he was really little.
Katamari Damaci REROLL, which was also suggested by @Jordan117, and I can wholeheartedly second.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has a bunch of fun sports minigames that we still play against each other occasionally.
Monster Jam Steel Titans. My nephew was (and still is) obsessed with monster trucks, so he played this one a lot. Not so much anymore though, since he's moved on to more realistic racing games.
Moving Out and Moving Out 2 are really fun coop games.
Overcooked 2 is a much more challenging coop game, but can also be pretty fun... although it can also be incredibly frustrating too, so be warned. ;)
Pocket Mini Golf is cheap, simple and harmless fun.
Trials Rising is a motorcycle trials game, which is a bit more mature, and difficult, but it's my nephews current favorite Switch game.
+1
With this game you will either get a iron bonded group of kids or a tornado of children arguing against each other.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is also a good way to get them to comminicate with each other. One player is a bomb diffuser and has a switch while another player (or a team of other players) gives them vocal instructions based on a actual paper manual that you have to print at home.
Noticing that you mention Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, but not Super Mario Wonder. Shouting out Winder for being a delight, multi-player, and you can definitely play as Peach (or Daisy!).
Didn’t I see wonder is getting a switch 2 version next year?
You mentioned they have a lot of Kirby games, so they probably already have Kirby and the Forgotten Land. If not I think that’s a great game for two people to play regardless if there’s a gap in skill.
I haven’t seen anyone mention Castle Crashers or Towerfall. They are older but really fun multiplayer games.
You have a lot of great advice here but I'm adding a few more for the 4 year old. They may get frustrated with the difficulty of some of the games unless they're already used to playing. Here are a few easier/foolproof options for really young kids:
Yoshi's Crafted World: so easy in Mellow Mode two rocks can play it.
Kirby Star Allies ideally in coop, in case you don't already have it.
Paw Patrol
Bluey
I assume they're too young to read so they'll need some help getting started, but the controls on these games are pretty straightforward once they get the hang of it.
I also recommend the following games for groups where even the really young kids can participate (with some help):
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Super Mario Party
Mario Tennis Aces (you can swing the controller to play)
I do feel kids around that age do better with simple tablet games so if you see they're not getting the hang of it, get your hands on a cheap and/or second hand android tablet and set it up with a few games. I can give you some specific suggestions if you go down that route (especially if you want to avoid obnoxious ads).
One word of caution though is for really small kids, some do get to the point where they've had too much screen time and get antsy, so consider having some non-screen activities on hand, like board games, marble run, colouring books, etc.
Edit: not sure why but the links are messing up. The first link takes you to the second one for some reason, and the rest follow that logic.
Ty
I appreciate everyone’s feedback.
I think what would be best is to also wait and see what game genres they are gravitating towards. Especially since your plan is to gradually build up the library, also spend some time to figure out what types of games they are gravitating towards. Depending on the situation, could you also ask their parents what their favourite games are? Having their favourite game might be more important than having a variety of new games
Sorry to hear that your family is going through a difficult time. Hopefully these games can offer some distraction for your group.
Pizza Possum : Play as a criminal opposum whose mission is to break into the Corgi King's castle and swipe his royal pizza. Scramble around town, gobbling up as much food as you can and dodging the patrolling guard dogs. Hectic and funny, especially in co-op
Little Kitty Big City : an indoor cat accidentally winds up far from home and must navigate a busy city neighbourhood to return. Very cute style, more laid back pace.
RailBound : A cute puzzle game, in this one you set train tracks on a grid to build paths for the trains. The train conductors are cartoon dogs, which I consider an important feature. One of them has a mustache
Honorable mentions: Portal & Portal 2, Crypt Custodian, Monster Sanctuary, A Short Hike, Alba Wildlife Adventure