The Nintendo Switch launched over seven years ago and remains a hit, selling over 140 million units in the process.
It’s an ancient piece of hardware by technology standards, but still one of the most popular. Games won’t look as good on the Switch as they will on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X; it’ll be a pretty big gap, in fact.
But chances are that if you have a Nintendo Switch, then you know some other people with Switch consoles, and that alone makes it one of the strongest pieces of gaming hardware you can own. Plus, it’s the only modern system with Nintendo’s own gems.
Equipped with a popular system and the right free-to-play games, you can get countless hours of fun out of your Nintendo Switch despite its now-advanced age, and some of the best games are even cross-platform.
Here are our favorite free games on Nintendo Switch right now.
(Editor’s note: All of the games on this list are traditional “Web2” games with no crypto elements.)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Fall Guys almost feels like a Nintendo game—but it’s not. This knockout royale-style game is full of bright colors, soft edges, and chunky, fun characters, and all of it is simple shapes. The game can chug a bit on Switch at times, but the light nature of the game means that unless you’re really competitive, it’s still a fun time.
Fallout Shelter
Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter is a bit of an oddity on this list as a two-dimensional side-scrolling game, but it’s no less addictive.
You’ll take the role of Vault Overseer (like Kyle MacLachlan in Prime Video’s “Fallout” TV series!) with the task of growing and optimizing your vault. You’ll send your vault dwellers out into the wasteland to accomplish quests and find survivors, while you add and move rooms and give other dwellers tasks—all going towards making a successful vault.
I put far too much time into this game on mobile and didn’t spend a cent, so you can dive in without worrying about overspending.
Fortnite
You can play Fortnite almost anywhere, and the Switch is no exception. Because the hardware is old, there are some limitations—many player skins won’t load, for example—but it’s there and playable if you can tolerate the frame drops. Better yet, it has crossplay with other platforms, so you can play with your friends no matter where they are.
Pokémon Quest
While the Nintendo Switch offers massive games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey, sometimes we’re looking for a much smaller commitment—something we can play on the way to work, or while we’re waiting for an appointment.
Pokémon Quest has you sending teams of Pokémon out on expeditions to conquer four levels on Kanto. You won’t be battling in real time, though. Instead, you’re tasked with coming up with the right team for the right task, making it more of a puzzle game than an action experience. Throughout, you’ll be leveling and evolving Pokémon, attracting new ones to your team, and pitting them against other Pokémon.
Pokémon Unite
Multiplayer online battle arena games—also known as MOBAs—are a massively popular part of online gaming, with games like League of Legends and Dota 2 pulling millions of players daily. If you’ve been curious about MOBAs but are looking for something a little lighter and less committed, then you might want to look at Pokémon Unite.
This MOBA pairs you with four other players for a 5v5 MOBA-style game. One of the big differences, though, is that games are limited to just ten minutes. The aforementioned Dota and League tend to average around 40 minutes per game. In other words, you can get the whole MOBA experience in a quarter of the time—perfect for a handheld.
Rocket League
Rocket League is great on every platform it’s on, but the short games make it especially good for Switch, where you might be playing while you’re waiting or just looking for a lighter experience. If you haven’t come across Rocket League before, then the pitch is pretty simple: soccer (or football if you prefer), but with flying cars.
If you want to start getting into battle passes and such, there are all kinds of cosmetics and licensed cars to buy or unlock. But even if you just play with the base car and wheels and the free unlocks, you’re still going to have a killer time.
Warframe
If you want to be a futuristic cyber ninja and get deep into game lore, then Warframe has you covered. Like many other games, Warframe is on just about every platform and features crossplay and cross-progression, meaning that your progress on one system carries to any others where you sign in with the same account. There are tons of gear to unlock, stories to explore, and things to do.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
