The Switch plays catch-up this week with an assortment of releases mostly comprising of belated conversions.
These include Maid of Sker, a stealthy horror adventure set in a crumbling hotel, and the toy train creation tool Tracks – Toybox Edition. We’ve chalked up opinions of both, albeit on Xbox One, and some time ago.
Maid of Sker walked away with a 7/10 in July: “Overcoming more the challenging moments can feel rewarding, but usually, there’s frustration before finally emerging victorious,†we said. It boasts impressive sound design and an intriguing setting, but some ‘old skool’ sensibilities hold it back.
Tracks garnered an 8/10 from us roughly a year ago. There’s no campaign or story – it simply involves creating and decorating wooden train sets, from toy towns to large cities. “A vivid imagination is strongly recommended, as like other construction games before it, the only way to get the most out of this package is to constantly think of new themes and layouts,†we casually warned.
Then there’s Mad Tower Tycoon (also out on Xbox and PS4 this week), which was first released on PC. Here, it’s your job to turn a 100-story tower into a money-making machine, using space as you see fit. It’s even possible to build a zoo. Steam user reviews clock in at ‘Mostly Positive’.
Scrolling brawler Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, meanwhile, is merely running a month or so behind. Apparently, it’s…good, in a 6/10 kind of way. The PS4 version’s Metacritic stands at 65%.
As for games somewhat newer, there’s the abstract Bomberman alike Ponpu (out Sunday, oddly), the first-person shooter Strike Force 2, and three new visual novels – Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition, Lovekami -Divinity Stage-, and My Aunt is a Witch. Weird and wonderful names, one and all. Expect for Strike Force 2, of course.
New Switch eShop releases
Mad Tower Tycoon – £26.99
In “Mad Tower Tycoon” you have the freedom to build a 100 story skyscraper and include the elements you want to make it succeed; restaurants, cinemas, underground garages or even a zoo. Satisfy potential visitors by choosing the best attractions for your winning plan. The classic construction gameplay challenges you to gain the coveted “six-star award” for your skyscraper. The goal is to complete construction while renting all offices, apartments and shops across a towering 100 floors.
The Alto Collection – £7.89
Join Alto and friends as they set out on the adventure of a lifetime.
Race down alpine slopes, over windswept dunes, through ancient woodlands and the long forgotten ruins of both critically acclaimed titles: Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey.
Along the way you’ll pull off daring backflips, grind over rooftops and leap over vast chasms as you journey to discover what mysteries lie beyond the horizon.
Maid of Sker – £19.99
Maid of Sker is a first-person survival horror, set in a remote hotel with a gory and macabre history from British folklore. Armed with only a defensive sound device, you’ll utilise stealth tactics to avoid death amongst a cult of sound-based AI enemies.
Set in 1898 and inspired by the haunting Welsh tale of Elisabeth Williams, this is a story of a family empire driven by torture, slavery, piracy and a supernatural mystery that suffocates the grounds of the hotel.
The Explorer of Night – £4.49
In the game you will find interesting puzzles, boss fights and cute story.
PICROSS S5 – £8.99
Brand new puzzles for you to enjoy in all four regular game modes: Picross, Mega Picross, Color Picross, and Clip Picross, plus new large puzzles in the bonus Extra content!
There are a total of 300 Picross and Mega Picross puzzles, 150 Clip Picross piece puzzles, 30 Color Picross puzzles, and 5 Extra puzzles, a grand total of 485 puzzles!
Link play data from Picross S, Picross S2, and Picross S3 to unlock the third Extra puzzle.
In Celebration Of Violence – £11.69
In Celebration of Violence is a fantasy action roguelike of exploration and murder. The methodical combat requires that you plan your attacks, dodges, blocks, and parries while considering your opponents and the environment. Death is permanent but you can improve your stats and purchase items to aid future lives. And if things get too tough then up to four local friends can grab controllers and aid the hero as player-controlled monsters, zombies, and bandits.
BFF or Die – £7.99
As time traveling aliens, you must venture to a strange planet called “Earth†in order to rescue the Orbees, a mysterious species who help you build your crucial set of gadgets. Take charge of each gadget, combine your abilities and strategize to save your friends. Use your cunning wit and camaraderie to survive, but never forget the Academy motto: “BFF or Die!â€
If you love couch co-op’s with friends and family then BFF or Die is for you! BFF or Die in 2-4 local player mode is a completely new and amusing cooperative experience. A mix of puzzles and action gameplay will make you think carefully and sometimes – panic in excitement!
Tiny World Racing – £2.69
Hit the asphalt and leave your opponents in the dust in this top-down mini racing game!
Blast your way through a variety of environments in 20 tracks across 5 different tournaments. From crumbling castles to volcanic islands, you’ll need to master all kinds of terrain to become the world’s best racer.
Play alone or take on your friends in split screen couch multiplayer – which one of you will come out on top?
Compete in Tournament Mode to win 5 gold cups or dive into a single track in Quick Race mode when you’re pressed for time.
Girabox – £2.29
This minimalist puzzler offers a unique premise for an innovative and deep gameplay: here you don’t control your character, but rather the world around it. Gravity is the only force applying motion, so you need to rotate the levels until your character reaches down to the ultimate goal. Every rotation is counted, meaning that the smaller score, the better! Be smart and compete with others for the online leaderboards podium.
The minimalist visuals, the smooth controls and the puzzles architecture are specifically designed to provide a tight and frictionless experience through all the many levels available.
Destropolis – £5.39
Destropolis is a top-down shooter game, inspired by video games classics.
It takes place in a futuristic city, filled with red, cube-like enemies. Tear them to pieces with bullets, lasers and nuclear explosions. Play alone or with friends in a local co-op mode. Destroy as many enemies as you can before they overwhelm you.
More Dark – £4.99
After the Lord of the Other World went on vacation his leadership was temporarily taken over by his sweet daughter, Evilina and chaos ensued. The prisoners of damnation have all escaped from their confinements and scattered about the kingdom, shattering the fragile peace of the devil’s dominion.
Your task is to return order to Hell, corral the escaped convicts, and cleanse each area of chaos and anarchy. Can you save Hell, or perhaps earn redemption?
Electro Ride: The Neon Racing – £9.89
Electro Ride is a Soviet Bloc Arcade Racer with neon lights. Become the fastest racer in Neon-alternative East Bloc from the Berlin Wall to Moscow. Neon lights, unique classic East Bloc cars, color-sensitive boosts strips, phisics, synthwave and beloved splitscreen. 100% adrenaline!
In an alternate Europe in which the Eastern Bloc did not fall, but transformed into a center of eternal wealth and progress – this is where fame awaits you. No ABS, no traction control, no modern electronic system. Only you and a beautiful, classic vehicle with super-powerful neon lights. Show your driving and drifting skills!
Ponpu – £14.99
As a herald of the almighty creator of the Universe – the Duck-God, battle it out with your siblings in an epic quest to save the world from destruction!
Once you’re done saving the world, engage in frantic multiplayer in a range of crazy game modes with up to 4 players.
Bombs on!
Nordlicht – £3.59
Nordlicht is an adventure game in which you accompany an unusual family on a fascinating journey to the cold North. You control the curious Aurora, Peter Parsley (her guinea pig and best friend, who refuses to leave her side), and her clever dad, Rupert. Along their way, they discover the mysterious constellations of the polar night sky, and will have to face the dangers created by mother nature and their own fears. Sometimes, you’ll use and combine items you find in the traditional point-and-click manner. Other times, you’ll have to put your dexterity and reaction time to the test as you brave icebergs, giant waves, and thunderstorms in your little sailboat. The intuitive controls, atmospheric music, and lovingly hand-drawn graphics make Nordlicht an unforgettable experience—fun for all ages.
Sky Mercenaries Redux – £11.90
An epic sky battle awaits you! Sky Mercenaries is back with a overhauled 2020 Nintendo Switch exclusive redux edition. Choose your pilot and fighter to join the ultimate 2D polarity S.H.M.U.P action !
Fight over 50 enemy types on 8 worlds in over 32 story missions and unlimited random content. Be prepared for the overpowering enemy fleet and challenging bossfights. Upgrade your fighters, drones and pilots the way you like to play them.
Get powerful and permanent visible upgrades, armor and different types of weapons. Level up your pilots and assign skill points in 3 different skill trees to unlock a variety of abilities like auto-shield, critical buffs and more.
Join the Mercenaries now!
Picklock – £6.99
Are you bored with an average, honest life?
Picklock gives you an opportunity to break in, steal and deceive your way to a luxury, yet an illegal lifestyle.
In each level, you will face a new challenge. Your targets will range from a roll of toilet paper at your neighbours’ house to exclusive art, electronics and cold, hard cash. And even though you know your stuff, you’ll have to deal with security, alarms and sealed, secret compartments.
If any of those things will stress you out, you can always go on a shopping spree, chill out at a pub or let off some steam at a gentlemen’s club.
Excited yet?
Then grab your gloves and crowbar and get ready for a tricky, robbery adventure!
Arrog – £3.59
Arrog is an enigmatic puzzle adventure game featuring hand-drawn art and set in a bizarre black-and-white world with color accents.
Lovekami -Divinity Stage- – £12.59
Next Generation Goddess Auditions!
Divine Idol chicks, go on to spread your wings!
A glamorous and splendid contest is being held, containing everything that goddess’s dreams are made of!
Laugh, grow, and even cry with the goddesses who descended from the sky and are aiming to become top level idols.
Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition – £35.99
The year is 2030. Business is as usual in the isolated research city of Rokumei–that is until several explosions suddenly go off in the nuclear research facility known as “LABO.†The city sends in “Sirius,†an elite rescue squad, to deal with the situation. But the situation only gets worse when LABO’s nuclear reactor melts down, –with members of Sirius and survivors still trapped inside. With radiation leaking everywhere and not enough anti-radiation medication to last until lockdown lifts, the survivors make more and more grim discoveries. In their struggle for survival, they learn that doubt is their greatest enemy, and trust their greatest asset.
The key to survival lies in the player’s hands with the Senses Sympathy System (SSS). Your emotions projected upon the characters, particularly your trust in them, shape the progression of the story. Only with effective use of this system and completion of both protagonists’ stories can the player piece together the truth.
QV – £11.29
In a universe, dimensions are connected to each other.
In the center of the passages lies Dimensional Core, keeping the balance between dimensions.
This balance began to collapse when the Core stopped working.
Unless someone gives a helping hand, soon the universe will follow.
The Gate doesn’t let anyone into the Dimensional Core.
But Quby, as the last descendant of Chosen Ones, can access the Gate.
To restore the balance between dimensions, Quby opens a portal to the Gate.
With Varon, the talking penguin, she must explore the long-forgotten ruins of her ancestors and find a way to reactivate the Core.
Let the journey begin!
My Aunt is a Witch – £8.99
‘My Aunt is a Witch’ is a Visual Novel full of adventures and quests in the world of magic where you have an incredible chance to become an apprentice of one of the most peculiar and charismatic witches.
The protagonist, a boy named Thomas, has a difficult life. It gets even worse when his father marries a woman who simply can’t stand her stepson. His whole life changes with a sudden trip to his aunt, whom he visited once many years ago. Now he is definitely distracted from all sad thoughts, because his aunt Alice is a real witch who has a talking cat and a bunch of magical things, and her house is not exactly the right place for little boys. But despite all the dangers, Thomas accepts the challenge and firmly decides to reach the heights of potion-making and to reveal all the secrets hidden behind the magical barrier.
Strike Force 2 – Terrorist Hunt – £16.19
One of our agents was on the mission to investigate a para militarized terrorist organization lead by a former german secret service agent. We lost his tracking signal. The last message we got was his coordinates and request for extraction.
You are a member of the Strike Force Unit. Your objective is to rescue our agent and combat the terrorist organization. Gear up with a modern arsenal of machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles and pistols and fulfill your objective.
Out of Space: Couch Edition – £8.99
You and your friends are about to move into a house in space, where you will have to deal with a deadly alien infestation and face the challenges of building a sustainable spaceship, all to make your new place feel as cozy as home!
Each match starts in a procedurally generated spaceship house that will demand your best planning and teamwork skills to become clean and comfy. You and your friends will need to generate resources, recycle trash and alien goo, buy and build new technologies, and take care of one another, if you ever want to call home the mess that you got into.
As a COUCH-FUN game, Out of Space has short matches and is easy for everyone to grab a controller and play. At the same time also as a STRATEGY game, it will require short and long-term decisions, expanding and conquering new rooms and building technology to automate tasks.
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues – £34.99
Choose a side, master your moves and embrace your destiny in an epic beat ’em up adventure inspired by the hit show. Take control of 8 playable characters with deep movesets, combos, progression, real-time character swaps, ultimate attacks, and much more! 34 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, the rivalry of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence continues. The fight is in your hands now!
Dungeon Solver – £3.59
Take all hero’s pieces to the exit of the dungeon, avoiding enemies and traps present on your way.
Tracks – Toybox Edition – £24.99
Tracks is a toy train set builder which gives you the tools to play without limits. Jump into an extensive sandbox and lay down tracks, create bridges and build worlds, then hop into the driver’s seat of your train in first person view. Play with boosters, create firework displays, compose tunes and so much more.
2URVIVE – £6.29
In 2URVIVE, the world is devastated by a virus. Your only goal is to defend yourself against hordes of Infected attacking you. Infected are too numerous and sooner or later, your time will come ! If you’re gonna die, fight till the end!
2URVIVE is a top-down zombie shooter with tactical and strategic elements. Prepare yourself before every wave. Buy weapons and ammo, set up turrets and stay alive as long as you can. Each wave becomes more dangerous than the previous one and the Infected are more and more numerous.
Next week: Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate, IMMORTALS FENYX RISING, GUNPIG: Firepower For Hire, Baila Latino, Wildfire, Absolute Drift, PHOGS!, Pretty Princess Party, Outbreak: The New Nightmare, Quiplash 2 InterLASHional: The Say Anything Party Game!, Death Tales, Cybxus Hearts, Liberated: Enhanced Edition, John Wick Hex, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, Nine Witches: Family Disruption, Steampunk Tower 2, Commandos 2 – HD Remaster, Empire of Sin, Futoshiki Math, Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise, Paw Paw Paw, and Super Space Serpent Secondary Edition.