Star Ghost is a great example of a simple idea executed well. It’s very easy to pick up and play and does feel very rewarding. As a portable-only game, you can probably add a little onto the score, but as a console experience, it just doesn’t have enough to keep you occupied for too long. It’s a good game, it’s just not anything you absolutely have to own.

Rime is one of those games that has all the potential to be one of the all-time greats, but falls short at the last hurdle. Choppy framerate and poor visuals in handheld mode hold it back from being a day one recommendation, but it's also an adventure that, one day - despite the flaws - you'll be glad to take.

Dual Brains Vol 2: Reflex offers frantic puzzling and competitive online-leaderboard-based action. There are only six activities, mind you – so chances are that once you’ve mounted an assault on the leaderboard, you won’t be sticking with the game for long afterwards.

Mythic Ocean is a fun little adventure with a strong narrative and memorable characters, but it ends before it has a chance to really leave an impact on you.

If you’ve already played this on Wii U you’ll know what’s to come, and there won’t be the laughs to the extent there’d be if you’re a newbie. It’s certainly worth experiencing, but try and get those controls nailed down ASAP or you’re in for a frustrating time.

Nintendo Switch players looking to get their cowboy fix will find some enjoyment in Western 1849 Reloaded, just don't be surprised if the sun goes down on these thrills after a few hours.

Back in 1995 emulates elements of classic survival-horror from the 90s, but what it provides is as much a reflection on them as it is a recreation. A short but insightful look into the past.

LEGO The Incredibles doesn't do anything new as far as LEGO games are concerned, but the Disney magic seeps through. These games work for their sense of adventure and their comedy, but they should have less focus on the grinding for bricks.

Poi: Explorer Edition is a nice, budget 3D platformer that is perfect for younger Nintendo Switch owners. The challenges in the game can become rather repetitive, but if you are looking for a colourful platformer that is inoffensive and fun, then you can't go too wrong with Poi!

By putting you on the shoes of a blind woman, Perception creates a unique survival horror experience, with heavy focus on narrative. It does a good job of playing with your… well… perception of the darkness and your surroundings.

Hiragana Pixel Party is a simple rhythm game that sets out to teach you how to read and pronounce Japanese characters. It could benefit from some more variety in gameplay, but if you fancy something that you can potentially benefit from, the challenge and the educational value could keep you engaged through its many missions.

Pathway flexes plenty of stats amongst its RPG elements, but the turn-based combat can become quite repetitive. The presentation is gorgeous however, and there’s plenty of adventuring on offer if it’s the sort of ride you’re looking for.

GRIP: Combat Racing boasts exciting gameplay that is sadly held back by technical issues. It's worth a look into for fans of racers, but other folk may want to wait until a price drop.

A-Train: All Aboard! Tourism is just about as complex as management sims get, full of menus, variables, budgeting and countless other aspects that genre fanatics love. It’s far too complicated for your average player, though.

Tetra’s Escape offers fun pick up and play puzzling. It’s not a mind-blowing experience, granted, but it certainly has a place in your eShop collection.

Akane is an alright experience – it handles well, and nailing a good run is always satisfying. But it is very repetitive. The lure of an increased strength boss probably isn’t enough to hold the attention for much longer.

Implosion is a hack 'n' slash action game that looks - from a distance - much better than it actually is. Once you start playing however, you'll find a fairly average (if not downright mediocre) title with some great looking graphics. There's simply nothing unique or enticing about this one aside from its shiny appearance, so you're probably best to look elsewhere if you're looking for something that engages you in any meaningful way.

Rough around the edges, Madorica Real Estate does well in managing to still be unique enough to be memorable. It’s not puzzling perfection, but it’s certainly fun to work out.

Arietta of Spirits buckles under the weight of its own premise. Telling such a detailed story in such a small game means no idea quite gets its due, and the moments of greatness are too fleeting to make a real impact.

If you're looking to entertain a kid who's into Minecraft, get onto Portal Knights, because it offers a lot of the same. It's better for youngsters who have a lot of time on their hands, of course - adults will have a tough time getting a satisfactory experience when playing in short bursts. At £24.99 on the eShop, it's overpriced - hopefully the pricing isn't too silly by the time the physical release arrives.

The Crysis Remastered Trilogy is a solid set of shooters with a lot of fun action and an amazing soundtrack. On Switch, the performance unfortunately holds them back from reaching their full potential.

Shovel Knight Showdown offers a decent multiplayer fighting game experience. Fans of the series will probably fall in love with this alternative way to play with Shovel Knight, but the old-school style and heavy platforming hurt its general appeal.

Plantera Deluxe is a 2D side scrolling clicker that will put you on an addictive chilling loop of gardening. Better played as a handheld experience, it may keep you entertained for some time, as long as you keep caring for the carrot on a stick.

Reminiscence in the Night tells an interesting story that often makes you feel too exposed to want to return and try to unlock one more of its multiple endings. However, there’s something about it that keeps you coming back to repeat the short narrative experience.

Neighbours back From Hell simulates well the mindless torturing of other members of your community. Please, remember that it is a game based on humour and not an instruction manual, no matter how much you hate Maurice and his perfect lawn.

Whip! Whip! is easy enough to finish in two hours, but the gameplay is pretty good. A pleasant surprise - arcade fans will enjoy it.

Ultra-stylised visuals and creatively crafted combat are the reasons to dive into the world of Shibuya. The quirky cast, muddled music and lengthy visual novel-esque text sequences? Not so much. I liked it, but I didn’t love it.

Reed Remastered is one of the many hardcore platformers out there giving you slick controls to get through ‘hard-as-nails’ levels. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t have that many stages, and you’ll get to the end before it really sticks with you.

Metal Unit offers quick combat and a multitude of cool weapons, but beyond that it fails to leave much of an impact. It’s fun to play, but you’ll forget the storyline as soon as you turn the game off.

Fall in love again or for the first time, make some new friends or don’t, in Later Daters. A fresh perspective on a genre dominated by a more youthful perspective. If visual novels are your cup of tea, and you want a new experience within the genre, then pick this one up.

Pawarumi is an enjoyable enough shoot-em-up, but performs poorly on the Switch. Its repetitive artwork, backing audio and narrative sequences make it gripping to play until beaten, at which point, it lacks any replay value.

What’s in a name? A lot of enticing words, it seems. Super Mega Space Blaster Special Turbo offers a chance to chase those high-scores in space, if you can find a game mode to suit your play style.

Shadow Bug offers a memorable USP but is awkward to handle at times, and extremely so when you’re not using the detached Joy-Con control method. Bear with it, though, and there’s some clever platforming here to enjoy.

10tons' spelling RPG-lite is good fun in short bursts, but the grind will grate after a while. While I wouldn't recommend Spellspire to the majority of Nintendo Switch owners, if you are a fan of mental puzzle games then you will find something to enjoy here.

The main issue of FLATLAND Vol.1 is that it’s a hardcore platformer that doesn’t really bring anything new to the board. It does offer competent gameplay and interesting visuals, but it feels like an experience that you’ve already had before.

One of the craziest ideas for a plotline ever is matched by a pretty enjoyable game. And it's really cheap on the eShop, which can only be a bonus.

There’s some clever puzzling in Starman, but at under ten levels it’s a little light on content. The less said about the controls, the better.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet brings forth a much-needed evolution for the series. The core gameplay has been refined and rejuvenated to please fans new and old, however, its performance betrays it, preventing these games from reaching their full potential.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet brings forth a much-needed evolution for the series. The core gameplay has been refined and rejuvenated to please fans new and old, however, its performance betrays it, preventing these games from reaching their full potential.

I'd recommend Monsters Overboard if you're a fan of Hotel Transylvania, and therefore the devs have done their job with the movie tie-in. It's no-where near as good as Pikmin, but the characters are here, the voice acting is done well, and the gameplay genuinely fits the theme and is pleasant enough to hold me over until Olimar's return.

Hotline Miami Collection is certainly moreish, but suffers from irritating controls and a level of difficulty which crosses the border into the unfair. It’s for the sadists, that’s for sure.

A whimsical and light-hearted tale that’s also fairly light on gameplay, Once Upon a Jester is an enjoyable three-hour romp, with colourful silliness for children and irreverent humour for parents to keep both engaged as they play together.

Slow-paced, full of grinding and quite ugly, this Harvest Moon isn't for everyone. If you enjoy the genre you'll get something, but others won't have the patience.

Gather a group of four, and Bonkies will provide many hours of block-stacking fun. However, even the most meditative music can only keep a solo-bonkie sane for so long when the game caters primarily for a local multiplayer audience.

Overall, Wavetale is a beautiful example of what a good story can do to a game, regardless of its mechanics. It’s a simple premise, but a good one, however, it’s hard to justify the cost against what you receive.

Aspire: Ina’s Tale is easy on the eyes and ears, but a little harder on the hands. A short and sweet little puzzle platformer, while it doesn’t present a challenge, the art and soundtrack are worth sticking around for.

Generous enough to offer all 20 of its challenges from the outset, DroneRidge is a test of reflexes through a distinctive landscape. There’s little original content in this short diversion, but it’s worth it for the rainbows.

L.A. Noire isn’t quite an action blockbuster, but more of a serialised crime caper. The slow approach and moments of intrigue are welcome, and ends on an incredibly memorable note. DLC fills out the experience for Phelps fans.

DEX delights and disappoints in ways that it feels only DEX can. The neo-noir, dystopian open world grabs your attention from the get-go, yet its grip loosens as the marvellous makes way for the mundane. What a shame.

Bouncy Bullets is a fun game for short burst play, but one which could do with more accuracy in its controls, particularly when jumping. It does have good replay value, however.

Castle of Heart is a fun console exclusive platformer that harks back to classics such as Castlevania and Ghosts 'n Goblins. It's a tad bland and repetitive, but it's worth checking out if you fancy testing your patience with a sword in hand.

Joggernauts is a colourful adventure which will require a great deal of patience at times, but stick with it and you'll find a fun and accessible experience which you can enjoy with a group of friends. An ideal party game!

G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout aims to rekindle the campy military antics of the celebrated American toyline. The result is a shooter that’s serviceable, yet wholly unsurprising in its execution. You can go at it alone, but it’s more fun gunning enemies with a friend.

Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition does fulfill the promise of bringing back the experience of an old-school cRPG. As a result, though, it also comes with a convoluted combat that can get in the way of the game’s main appeal: its expansive fictional universe.

NO THING is a great value game with some cool visuals, and it has challenging, entrancing gameplay that will give you that classic sense of achievement when you finish a level. Unfortunately, the sense of achievement for me was 'thank god I don't have to play that ever again'.

Modern Tales: Age of Invention is the sort of point-and-click adventure we have become accustomed to on the Switch eShop. However, there’s very little new or different here, and as a result, this one struggles to stand out.

Whilst not an essential purchase, 12 Orbits is great with a group of friends or family for shorter bursts of fun!

Zaccaria Pinball offers a ton of breadth, but despite its free entry point, trying to amass a complete collection of everything that's on offer is going to be really expensive stuff, and we can't justify recommending that.

Julie’s Sweets is good fun, if a little pricey. A non-intuitive control scheme stops it from acquiring a higher score, though.

Swim Out is a well crafted, relaxing puzzle game. What it lacks in innovation it makes up for in polish, the puzzles are well designed and the game never overstays it's welcome. Switch owners looking to scratch that puzzle itch would do well to go for a few lengths with Swim Out.

Dokuro is a good puzzler, but not a spectacular one. It has some good ideas, but we’d have liked to see more. It is fun, though, it must be said.

Pulstario is a simple yet addictive game in which you pilot a ship as it collects souls scattered across 11 levels. While the game may be short, additional modes will have players hooked for long after the final scene.

Brotherhood United‘s target audience is unclear – purists have better alternatives available and newbies probably won’t be sold on the genre by the flaws on show. Still, this is a decent enough game for a couple of hours at most.

Her Majesty’s SPIFFING provides a short jaunt into space. The gameplay is a shallow enactment of the genre, played out as a prolonged joke, but at its core, this is a game that places Britain in the spotlight and has a right old laugh.

Save the Ninja Clan is a great title for fans of hardcore platforming, with three different worlds, boss battles and the option to alter the game speed to suit your playing needs you should be able to find the right balance. Just be aware the difficulty curve is very steep and can cause frustration right from the outset!

Freedom Planet isn't shy about its influences, but what new spins it does add to the tried-and-tested formula is enough to keep it interesting - providing you haven't already played it.

Red’s Kingdom is a pleasant surprise – clever puzzling under the disguise of some very cutesy visuals. There’s a lot of gameplay here – so short bursts is the recommended play option.

I Am The Hero starts off well enough, but quickly the sheen wears thin and you’re left with a by the numbers beat ‘em up that is let down by its inability to balance difficulty with technical performance.

Please, Don’t Touch Anything won’t feel like anything you’ve played before, and is great at encouraging trial and error. The puzzling isn’t perfect and there are only a few endings which will take more than five minutes to figure out, but it’s good fun nonetheless.

Oh My Godheads: Party Edition is a massively enjoyable game that, unfortunately, doesn't quite manage to hold your attention for extended play sessions. Various game modes are available, yet only the Capture the Flag-inspired mode is worth any considerable amount of time.

While it would have been nice to see both Dustoff games in this package, there are loads of levels here to keep you going. Chances are you've not played much like it, so it's definitely an eShop title to try.

Islanders provides players with a sense of calm that no other strategy game can. It’s designed to help you feel relaxed while still giving you the challenge that comes with a strategic puzzle title.

Kitaria Fables does a lot of things well, and a few things a little less well. It’s cute and colourful, and the adventuring is absorbing, but the farming falls a little flat.

Vesta is an intriguing puzzle game that absolutely won't set the world on fire, but if you're after a quirky experience with some clear inspiration from Zelda, you can't go wrong here.

Lamplight City manages to breathe a little bit of new life into a tired genre, enough to keep it interesting, engaging, and surprising over multiple playthroughs.

Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse is a decent adventure title that fans of the series will no doubt appreciate. It looks gorgeous, but clunky, long winded gameplay design holds it back from greatness.

PuPaiPo Space Deluxe may be short and lacking in depth, but the main game plays as well as you could hope for. Additional modes will reward fans who return for more. This is classic arcade shooty action done well enough.

Hang the Kings is a puzzle game that proves that chess’ rules can be tweaked into infinite possibilities. It delivers another package of bite-sized puzzles for those who want more from games like Knight Swap, Unlock the King, or Zen Chess.

Detective Gallo is a charming and beautifully drawn comic point and click, but it's the controls which stop it from scoring higher. It relies too heavily on dragging a cursor back and forth, and there's a fair bit of in-game backtracking too.

The Trail: Frontier Challenge wants to be a chilled out stroll through the country and to an extent it succeeds, unfortunately lacking game mechanics mean that things never amount to anything more than a walk in the woods.

Digimon Survive is a graphically pleasing visual novel with a very light sprinkling of TRPG gameplay. The characters are a bit static, the gameplay can be quite slow and a bit too easy, but the mons are cute and the story can be engaging at times.

Curious Expedition 2 tells a story full of adventure and intrigue that sustains the game through its short campaign. The repetitive nature of the gameplay soon becomes stale however, offering little reason to extend your expedition beyond the main story.

With interesting ideas and a unique atmosphere, Ashwalkers is a survival game where your choices really matter. Sadly, it comes with some serious interface problems that seriously hurt the experience.

A modern-day musical Pong.

Although it boasts a gorgeous world, a surreal story, and some unique character designs, Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition ultimately fails to capture the freedom, urgency, and sense of exploration offered by other Metroidvania titles.

Pumped BMX Pro can be an enjoyable experience given its pick-up and play nature and instant restarts. But the difficulty of the challenge soon ramps up seemingly to stand in for a lack of other ideas.

Iris.Fall paints a foreboding challenge, guiding Iris and her shadow (with the aid of a cat) through a neat puzzle environment that ultimately may lack the incentive to revisit. But the journey is an intriguing one.

Rough around the edges, Guts and Glory needs more work on improving its controls. It does provide for some sick, macabre fun though.

It's minimalist, but it is challenging. Qbik is a game that requires a lot of thought. If you dread games where your brainpower is fully engaged, it won't be for you, but otherwise there's no harm in giving this a go.

Blood will be Spilled attempts to make some slight tweaks to the 2D strategy formula first laid down by 2015’s SteamWorld Heist, but lack of polish and elements from other genres slightly muddle this (still fun) take on the concept.

World Conqueror X offers a lot of content for its modest eShop price, and history fans will enjoy playing out a story which sticks as close to real-life as possible. It's not the most welcoming gameplay system, though, so novices may want to look elsewhere.

Phantaruk is the cheaper, but better, little brother of Hollow. It’s very affordable, so there’s no reason not to have it in your collection.

Super Money Ball: Banana Blitz HD feels at odds with both its former self and the new hardware it is running on. It lacks the functions, features and creativity to bring this Sega series back to where it belongs — in the hearts of many a gamer.

Energy Balance offers simple yet challenging puzzling. Whether you'll enjoy it or not depends wholly on if you get any satisfaction from solving tough mathematical challenges - if that's your bag, then at £2.99, why haven't you got it already?

World of Final Fantasy, while a spin-off, still offers a deep Final Fantasy experience. You need a lot of patience for grinding, however, to follow along with the story.

King Lucas is a recreation of a very particular type of adventure platformer from the olden days. Although it’s unpolished and some gameplay aspects are awkward, the expanding map is a fun gimmick, and there’s a decent challenge here.

Mundaun didn’t quite grip me the way I would have liked, however it’s clear to see why it has for so many. There’s an appreciation that stems from bold new efforts, and I recommend seeing if it’s for you.

Boasting a wonderful story that is sadly betrayed by repetitive gameplay and an unfair system in which dying means a huge loss of progress, RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore is only recommended if you’re serious about your dungeon crawling experiences.