10 free Nintendo Switch games you need to try

The Nintendo Switch is an excellent gaming platform. You can play it on your TV or on the go and there are many great games for it. We’re sure you’ve heard some of the big guns, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Octopath Traveler 2, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. They are all great games, but can cost a pretty penny. It’s nice to augment your existing collection with some free games.

Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent free games for the Nintendo Switch.

1 Apex Legends

Sci-fi squad-based shooter

Apex Legends is a sci-fi squad-based shooter. The main game mode is a battle royale where you drop in with two teammates and try to be the last team standing at the end. There are other game modes you can play as well, which makes this a fairly varied shooter. It plays well when the Switch is both handheld and on a TV, but a TV feels a bit more comfortable.

Each player has their choice of character. There’s a base roster that you unlock as you progress, along with seasonal characters that you can unlock as part of the game’s battle pass. There are in-app purchases in the form of cosmetics and the aforementioned battle pass, but otherwise, you can play this for free all the time.

2 Fall Guys

Party game with a winner per round

Fall Guys is a party game where you play online against other players. The game comprises a variety of mini-games where you must qualify for the next round. You’ve likely seen gameplay footage of the Tip Toe mini-game on TikTok or YouTube where players try to avoid falling down to the next level of tiles. At the end, a winner is crowned, and you start a new round.

We like this one because it doesn’t take itself seriously. Plus, rounds don’t take a super long time to play, so you can play this on your couch in a few minutes when you have the time. Plus, it’s a great game for kids if you have those.

3 Fortnite

Battle royale shooter

Fortnite is one of the most popular free games in the world, and it’s available on the Switch. Fortnite is best known for its battle royale mode, where 100 players parachute onto a map and duke it out until only one person remains. It’s different from most other battle royale shooters thanks to its building element, where you can gather resources and build structures to protect yourself.

However, Fortnite is reinventing itself as a gaming platform similar to Roblox. There are a variety of game modes now, so players can keep themselves entertained when they get bored with the main game modes. At the time of this writing, the featured game mode was a rhythm game mode with popular songs similar to Guitar Hero. It’s a whole collection of things to do in a single game.

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4 Guardian Tales

Top-down action RPG

Guardian Tales has experienced a successful life on mobile platforms, and it’s also a great free Nintendo Switch game. It’s an RPG where you explore the game world, defeat bad guys, find rare loot, sovle puzzles, and progress through the game’s story. The top-down action RPG gameplay is easy to wrap your head around, and it doesn’t take long to learn how the game works.

In addition to the PvE stuff, there is also a PvP element where you can assemble a party of your characters and battle it out with opponents online in real-time. For social features, there are guilds that you can join with your friends and play the co-op game mode. It’s an overall enjoyable experience, especially if you like RPGs.

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5 Overwatch 2

Sci-fi online multiplayer FPS game

Overwatch 2 is the latest game in the franchise and although it hasn’t struck the same chord the first game did, it’s still a decent game overall. It’s a sci-fi online multiplayer FPS game where you team up with other players and battle with the opposing team. It takes a more traditional approach, so you get things like team deathmatch instead of big battle royales.

There are over a dozen game modes and types, including control, escort, deathmatch, and elimination, along with some less serious variants like low gravity mode. That gives players a ton to do. Since the microtransactions are strictly for cosmetic purposes, you can’t buy your way to a win in this game, which is nice to see.

6 Pokémon Quest and Pokémon Unite

Action-adventure game and online multiplayer

Pokémon features two free games and both made our list. The first, Pokémon Quest, is an action-adventure game where you explore Tumblecube Island in search of loot. Players also establish a base camp with various upgrades available to your camp and Pokémon. It’s a fairly chill experience overall, but it’s a lot simpler than standard Pokémon games.

Pokémon Unite is an online multiplayer game where teams of five match up to see who can score the most points. It has similar gameplay mechanics to a MOBA. Players battle it out for 10 minutes and then the team with the highest score at the end wins. You’ll start with a weaker Pokémon and then level it up as the game progresses to help you score more points.

7 Rocket League

Competitive arcade game

Rocket League is a competitive arcade game that is a mix between soccer and bumper cars. You play either solo or with a team and the goal is to use your car to knock a soccer ball into the goal. Players can pull all kinds of crazy maneuvers to score goals or knock their opponents off the ball to gain control. The fun part of the game is executing those moves, but failing to do so gives your opponents a huge advantage.

The charm of Rocket League is its simplicity. You go in, play rounds, and then quit when you’re ready. The arcade nature means it’s perfectly okay to pick this up and play it for short periods while still having the option to play for longer sessions if you want to. Plus, the various customizations are fun to collect.

8 Sky: Children of Light

A light MMO

Sky: Children of Light is arguably the most relaxing game on the list. It’s an action-adventure game where you traverse the game world in search of its many secrets. There are seven realms to play through, each with its own puzzles and challenges. There are also in-game events, like concerts and other things, to keep players engaged.

The neat part is that it’s essentially a light MMO, and you’ll see other players doing their thing while you’re doing yours. You can interact with players at your leisure, play with them, and just hang out in general using the game’s communication tools. It’s honestly adorable.

9 Super Kirby Clash

Multiplayer action game

Super Kirby Clash is a multiplayer action game. You team up with up to three other players to take on boss fights. Bosses are various enemies found throughout the various Kirby games, so fans of the franchise will see some familiar faces. Additionally, players will craft weapons, obtain armor, and nab items to help along the journey.

The game boasts over 100 quests, but they’re all mostly the same thing, which is big boss fights. In that, the game doesn’t score points for variety. However, it’s a quick, chill arcade game that you can pick up and put down whenever you need to. Plus, Kirby is awesome.

10 Warframe

Sci-fi adventure game

Warframe is a sci-fi adventure game that often gets compared to Destiny 2. In this one, you’ll unlock Warframes that you then use to explore the game world, battle opponents, and progress through the story. It’s been around for ages, so there is a metric ton of content for players to get through. Switch players can also play with Xbox, PC, and PlayStation players with the cross-play feature.

As stated, the game is massive, and there is so much to do that it’ll keep you busy for a long time. There is premium currency, but you can earn it in-game. With a little patience, you can get to high-level endgame in Warframe without spending a dime. It’s a PG-13 type of game, so it’s not great for younger kids, but it’s still one of the best free Switch games.

Honorable mentions

If the above games just aren’t doing it for you, we have a few more quick recommendations that you can try.

1. Dauntless – Dauntless is an action-adventure game with cross-play and co-op modes. It was developed by former Riot Games, BioWare, Blizzard, and Capcom developers.
2. Elder Scrolls: Blades – A dungeon crawler and city-builder where you, well, explore dungeons and rebuild a city. It includes cross-play with other platforms, so you can play with friends.
3. Fallout Shelter – A base building sim themed in the style of Bethesda’s Fallout series. Build a vault, keep your dwellers happy and healthy, and gather materials from the Wasteland.
4. Island Saver – An action-adventure FPS game where you fight monsters and clean up garbage from a group of islands.
5. LEGO Fortnite – A survival and base-builder game that combines elements of Fortnite with the timeless enjoyment of LEGOs.