We’re well into the lull between Xmas and the New Year, and this week’s Switch eShop line-up reflects this.
A bunch of games of dubious quality launched on Christmas Day, most of which have hefty discounts. A few manage to stand out from the crowd though. Space Papers: Planet’s Border appears to be a cartoony, sci-fi, take on Papers, Please only with more elements such as luggage x-raying.
The free to download Pinball M puts a horror twist on the winning Pinball FX formula, meanwhile, with tables based on The Thing, Dead by Daylight, Chucky, and erm, Duke Nukem. We’ve spent some time with the Xbox One version and came away impressed. Then lastly there’s Trash Punk, a top-down shooter where the apocalypse meets punk rock rebellion, starring an opossum. Awesome.
The eShop listings page has Pocket Bravery – a ‘90s fighter homage – down for Dec 31st, but we have an inkling this is just a default placeholder date. A demo is available if you want to give it a whirl though.
[Update] Another dozen games “magically” appeared shortly after posting this round-up. Again, they’re of dubious quality. Starship Showdown: Galactic Grand Prix – a futuristic racer – and word game Molecano appear to be the best of the bunch.
New Switch eShop releases
Space Papers: Planet’s Border – £7.20
Become the best police officer of the intergalactic patrol, watch over the planet’s border and protect the galaxy. Analyze papers from all types of aliens and check their luggage!
Parasites are the main galactic threat and will do anything for universal domination. How good are you at identifying them? Remember that the goal is to keep the galactic airport’s security and find criminal parasites to arrest them!
Your main objective is to check the traveler’s passports and discover dangerous objects they can use, like bananas… THAT’S RIGHT, BANANAS!! Our lives depend on checking the aliens’ papers, X-rays and luggage! The more enemies you find on the planet’s border, the more money you’ll get to upgrade your equipment.
The new horror-inspired pinball platform for fearless players. Prove your skills on the most sinister, gory, and badass tables ever brought to life.
“Trash Punk” is where anarchy reigns, and you’re the opossum punk rocking the apocalypse! This isn’t just a shooter; it’s a top-down, adrenaline-pumping riot set in a world gone delightfully mad.
Armed with everything from gnarly firearms to wicked melee weapons, get ready to bash and blast through hordes of mutated oddities. Melee isn’t just for show – smash your way to ammo as you carve a path through chaos. At every twisted turn, make tough calls: grab a new weapon, an upgrade, or some much-needed healing.
The game’s world is a wild mashup of punk rock rebellion and post-apocalyptic mayhem, where every rampage is a unique blend of chaos, with procedurally generated levels ensuring no two runs are alike. With a soundtrack dominated by heavy riffs, each level is a mosh pit of danger and excitement.
Grab your weapons and start the rebellion. How far can you go?
Poly Shooting Simulator – £7.99
Dive into the immersive world of Poly Shooting Simulator, a thrilling 3D experience that blends the nostalgia of low-poly graphics with heart-pounding action! Your mission is simple: traverse the expansive open-world map, strategically navigating through a vibrant landscape, and engage in intense shootouts to climb the leaderboard and establish your dominance.
Welcome to glamorous “Fashion World,” where style meets puzzle in a dazzling arcade adventure!
If you’ve got a flair for fashion and a passion for puzzles, “Fashion World” is your runway to shine. Transform into a chic stylist aiming to capture the most fabulous outfits and become a celebrated fashion photographer.
Slide into a world of tabletop football, crafted for the Nintendo Switch experience. Whether you’re waiting for your teams next match or chilling at home, the thrill of the foosball table is just a Joy-Con slide away.
A new type of soothing puzzle game where you guide cats to their dens (warp holes) by manipulating a Joy-Con™ cat wand. When you guide the cats with the designated patterns into the holes in the correct order, a combo occurs. Successful combos extend the time limit. Once the game starts, carefully observe the patterns of the cats and plan your route to the dens. Sometimes, you have to solve the mysteries placed on the stage for the dens to appear. Users who participated in the crowdfunding can see their own cats’ photos and names featured as card items in the game. Lead the special cats that appear on the stage to the dens in large numbers to complete your card collection.
Welcome to the captivating and dangerous world of violence and darkness. Take on the role of a Hunter, Warrior or Warlock, choose your gender, grab your weapons, then swap and match gems to win the battle!
Traverse through impoverished towns, vast oceans, dark mines, dense forests, and other undiscovered places. Fight a variety of enemies from tame rats and boars to giant orcs and trolls. Earn loot from your travels and deck your hero with legendary weapons and armor!
Escape From The Island – £8.99
After a terrible shipwreck, Percy finds himself stranded on a mysterious island teeming with hostile creatures. Still devastated by his situation and tormented by fragmented memories, he must undertake various tasks to ensure his survival and search for a way to escape from this dangerous island, which is infested by a mysterious infection that affects him every moment. To increase his despair in this adventure, Percy loses his vitality every minute until he finds the cure. Try to survive this perilous adventure of Percy in both the story mode and the survival mode.
Unpogable is a 2D platformer all about precise platforming!
You’ll not only use one pogo stick to navigate through each level, but two! It’s not as easy as it sounds. Unpogable will challenge all your platforming and pogo skills.
The huge campaign level will teach you all the necessary skills you need to succeed! It starts easy and gets more difficult the further you get, just like life. Falling can mean a huge loss of progress, so be careful!
It’s a simple game where you draw your favorite shapes on the screen and aim for the goal.
There are various floors and gimmicks on the stage, and the characters are not only chicks, but also sparrows, penguins, etc.
There are so many characters with different sizes and characteristics that it’s fun to watch!
It’s fun to roll! It’s a game.
Molecano is an all-new word puzzle game from the creator of Dadish! Help Molene the mole explore volcanoes using words as a bridge. String words together so Molene can cross safely and collect all the delicious food strewn across the lava loaded levels.
Sherlock Holmes – The Hunt for Moriarty – £17.99
In this action-packed platformer, the famous detective Sherlock Holmes pursues his criminal adversary Professor Moriarty, who has managed to pull off a spectacular diamond heist with his accomplices. The wild chase leads through chic and dingy corners of London, the Baskerville manor house in Dartmoor and the catacombs in Paris. Finally, Sherlock meets his final opponent Moriarty at the famous Reichenbach Falls.
Embrace the sizzle of the grill as your new symphony in “Kebab Bar Tycoon”. With 60 diverse levels serving as your playground, you’ll orchestrate a ballet of skewers, veggies, and spices, crafting the perfect kebab.
Get ready for an exciting and refreshing adventure!
In this thrilling game, you will be in charge of manipulating immune cells and medical nanomachines to fight off invading pathogens and save unknown creatures from deadly diseases.
Prepare for epic battles against hordes of enemies and wipe them out using various attack skills accompanied by fun cartoon-like onomatopoeic words.
Choose from a variety of immune cells and nanomachines, each with unique equipment and abilities that allow for an infinite number of play styles.
In Wood Guy, you play as a wooden puppet, exploring a world of handicrafts.
With only your arms to move, climb (and fly?), you will face many challenges across more than 300 levels and bosses. Make good use of the weapons and shields you find along the way and hit those targets! Remember that gravity and physics are just a barrier that mean almost nothing to a living wooden toy trying to escape!
Play alone to reach the end or ask a friend to join you and help. Also enjoy the Versus game mode where you can fight against up to 3 friends locally in a small arena to see who’s the best puppet.
Starship Showdown: Galactic Grand Prix – £8.89
Get ready for the ultimate space challenge in “Starship Showdown: Galactic Grand Prix”! Compete in exciting turn-based ship races with up to 5 players in local mode. Choose your favorite driver and immerse yourself in a stellar tournament or venture into free mode, where the only rival is yourself. Whether alone or with friends and family, it’s time to accelerate to the speed of light and achieve victory!
Next week: Arcade Game Zone, City Bus Driver Simulator, The spy who shot me, Shivering Stone, and Bulldozer Tycoon: Construction Simulator.