The Best Nintendo Switch Games To Give This Christmas
Mario Christmas gifts
The most wonderful time of the year is just around the corner, and in a little over a month people all around the world will be sitting down to open presents with their family or exchanging gifts with their friends. One of the most popular hobbies on the planet right now is gaming, and it seems like just about everyone has a Nintendo Switch at this point — so giving the gift of a Nintendo Switch game is a great idea.
We’ve put together our list of the best Nintendo Switch games to give this Christmas, some of which are among the best Nintendo Switch games of all time. Any one of these would be a great gift, and with Black Friday coming up, it might be time to keep an eye out for deals on these.
Nintendo
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the newest game on this list, and it’s easily one of the best games of 2023, and one of the best games on the Switch in general. It’s a wonderful (ha) 2D platformer that can be played solo, with friends and family on the couch, or online with friends or strangers. It’s one of the most inventive games in years, and a huge step forward for the 2D Mario series — something that would be a fantastic gift for anyone of any age.
Nintendo
Metroid Dread is a game that took more than a decade to get out the door, having been in development for the Nintendo DS before being shelved and ultimately revived by Spanish developer MercurySteam. It’s also quite easily the best game in the 2D Metroid series, bringing the tense horror from past games and dialing it up to 11. It plays beautifully, it looks even better, and it’s just the right length to keep you entertained and engaged through to New Years.
Nintendo
What would a holiday season with family be without board games? And if you’re going to play board games, why not go the digital route? Mario Party Superstars is a “greatest hits” game made up of boards and minigames from the series’ roots. It’s got some absolute classics in there, like Bumper Balls, Sneak ‘n’ Snore, and Trace Race, and its boards and minigames can even be played online with friends and family if they can’t make it to Christmas lunch.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the best games of 2023, and possibly one of the best games of all time. Everybody deserves to play this masterpiece, even if they haven’t played Breath of the Wild first — although they probably should. Any Zelda fan would be delighted to receive Tears of the Kingdom as a gift, and it will certainly keep them entertained for dozens of hours, if not much longer.
Square Enix
Is anyone in your life a big fan of old-school Final Fantasy games? Sure, you could give them the pretty decent Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster – if you can get your hands on it – but there’s another option: Octopath Traveler 2. This excellent game is a throwback to all the things that made classic Final Fantasy games like FF6 great, but with a new story, an incredible battle system, and some of the best boss fights and music in any RPG. And don’t let the name fool you, either, much like Final Fantasy you don’t have to have played previous games to enjoy this one.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is coming up on two years old now, but it’s still one of the best Pokemon games on the Switch. Scarlet and Violet are great, too, but Legends: Arceus really turns the series on its head and does some incredible, new, and interesting things, with the introduction of more action elements. This one might not be the best for young kids – Sword and Shield is probably a better starting point – but for teen or adult Pokemon fans or anyone who hasn’t really dipped their toes into Pokemon before, Legends: Arceus is a fantastic experience that doesn’t rely too hard on prior knowledge of the series.
GLHF / Nintendo
Maybe you don’t know specifically what someone wants, but you still want to get them a Nintendo Switch game. Taking a chance with one of the above might work out, but you may also end up with a Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge situation. That’s where eShop gift cards come in. eShop cards apply a certain amount of credit to the recipient’s account – they typically come in $10, $20, $35, and $50 denominations – and can be used to buy anything on the Nintendo Switch eShop. That includes all of the games mentioned above, but also a bunch of other first- and third-party games, games that aren’t in stock physically anymore, and a host of fantastic indie games that can’t be bought physically. It’s the perfect gift for any Switch owner — and great for kids too, since they’ll be able to buy stuff without linking a credit card.
Solve the daily Crossword
