The launch lineup of games for Nintendo's newest console aren't the most exciting in terms of puzzly offerings. But the Switch 2 boasts almost perfect backwards compatibility, meaning that any of these time-tested classics are available if you're planning on picking one up soon.
Although some thinky-adjacent titles like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Civilization VII are being shown off in the marketing, nothing truly head-scratching has accompanied the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. While we will surely see many new puzzle games make their way to the platform in the years to come, for now the best bet is going to be relying on the deep catalogue of thinky games that are available on the original Switch, which should all work just as well on the new system.
Here are some recommendations for interesting titles to play on your new Switch 2 (or just your plain old Switch, if you're looking for a good reason to break it out) curated by the thinky games team with some personal additions of my own. If you'd rather just sift through everything on your own, you can sort by platform on our database to browse a huge number of Switch games.
A Monster's Expedition — Lots of genre classics and games we'd consider essential puzzling are available on Switch. The log-rolling, open-ended, discovery-centric A Monster's Expedition is perhaps the biggest and best known Draknek title, but most of the others are here too: the train-route drawing Cosmic Express, the molecule-assembler Sokobond and the snowball-roller A Good Snowman is Hard to Build to name a few.
Patrick's Parabox — What would happen if you could push boxes inside of themselves? This and many other mind-expanding spatial questions are tackled in Patrick's Parabox, one of the best puzzle games in years, and surprisingly one I'd gladly recommend even to beginner solvers.
Baba Is You — Keeping up the thread of bona fide classics, Baba continues to blow the minds of every gamer that encounters it. The game that lets you change the very rules of the world as part of the puzzle-solving process feels very at home in the playful environment of Nintendo.
Animal Well — While not as old as some of these others, Animal Well is undoubtedly equal in the praise and love it's received. A super cryptic and eerie dive into the dark, this metroidvania built around letting you discover things for yourself is one of those "just how deep do the layers go" kinds of experiences.
Mario vs Donkey Kong — How about some Switch exclusive games? Mario vs Donkey Kong takes the famous Italian plumber's platforming in a much more puzzle-focused direction than normal: use all sort of contraptions, switches, and keys to find your way through each level.
Snipperclips — This is a personal favorite of mine from back when I first got a Switch. I think this game really shines with 2 people playing co-op, using each other's bodies to cut and shape yourselves into the right tools to get through various interactive tasks.
Picross S series — Picross S9 is the latest installment in a long-running franchise of nonogram (aka picross) logic-puzzle games on the Switch. Each entry contains hundreds of picture puzzles to slowly uncover, and there's even one version that collects tons of puzzles previously released on 3DS.
BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! — The BoxBoy series has had several entries now, and I first got acquainted with it on 3DS, where I was pleasantly surprised by how tricky some of the logical dilemmas were. Make your way through platforming levels by extruding blocky shapes from your body, sometimes using them as platforms and sometimes retracting them to carry you across gaps. This may very well be one of the best "hidden gem" series when it comes to Nintendo-exclusive puzzle games.
Portal & Portal 2 — It always feels redundant to bring up Portal to an audience of thinky gamers, but you never know. Maybe someone just got a Switch 2 as their first gaming device ever, or maybe it's been many years and you'd like to re-experience one of the most popular puzzle games of all time. Portal 2 in particular has a co-op mode that would be great on the couch together.
The Talos Principle — The Talos sequel has not yet made its way to a Nintendo console, but you can play the original that instantly became a favorite in the world of first-person puzzle games with its mix of robot-philosophy, impressive 3D environments and laser beam mechanics.
Outer Wilds — I think Outer Wilds might hold the honor of "game I've most frequently heard people refer to as their favorite videogame of all time." I don't think it's hard to understand why: a game that's more than the sum of its parts, a narrative joined with gorgeous atmosphere and music, all wrapped in a planet-hopping time-loop mystery for you to slowly untangle, it's quite a unique and special adventure.
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Return of the Obra Dinn — A merchant sailing vessel returns after five years lost at sea, but all the crew looks to be dead or lost. What exactly happened here? That's for you to find out as you pick apart the grim scenes and deduce what strange events occurred on the Obra Dinn's last voyage. Lucas Pope's award-winning detective game is as lovely a mystery now as it's every been.
The Case of the Golden Idol & Rise of the Golden Idol — Speaking of great detective games, the Golden Idol series are some of our favorites in recent memory. Make your way through a treasure trove of various cases and mystery narratives, investigating illustrated scenes to gather evidence you can then use in attempting to piece together the literal story of how everything went down.
Slay the Spire — For another hall-of-fame thinky game that doesn't involve pushing boxes around, how about the progenitor of the modern wave of roguelike-deckbuilder indie games. Slay the Spire brought the now-famous cardplay from the table to our screens, and videogames have never been the same since. A perfect fit for something you can take on the go and really sink some time into.
Can of Wormholes — I don't know if this last group has any cohesive theme, but there are a few more odds and ends I wanted to throw out there. And "odd" is probably the perfect word for Can of Wormholes. There are snake-style puzzles, trying to crawl your worms into worm-shaped holes, but there is also so much more strangeness in between. Beware: this one is a real challenge.
Storyteller — Having almost nothing in common with Wormholes, Storyteller is the roughly 10-year effort of a solo developer to make a puzzle game about weaving story elements together and finding out what unique outcomes you can produce. This is a personal favorite of mine, a game of lovely little surprises, and I think it's a wonderful title to show to someone who might not be thrilled with the usual puzzle-game fare.
Snakebird Complete — Definitely on the list of modern classic puzzle games, Snakebird has a nice "complete" package available on Switch which includes both the first game and the sequel/prequel Primer. The original game of fruit-eating-snakes and gravity proved to be way more challenging than the cutesy graphics suggested, resulting in a follow-up that's intended to provide a smoother, more gradual ramp into the really tough puzzles.
Bonfire Peaks — Box puzzles... but in 3 dimensions. Bonfire Peaks isn't the only game to explore this realm, but it's one of my favorites. Burning your belongings has never been so satisfying. The 2nd and 3rd parts of the DLC Lost Memories were just released very recently.
This isn't even close to being an exclusive list, as there are way more good thinky games available on Switch than I have time to describe. The tile-placement boardgame Dorfromantik, the language-archaeology game Heaven's Vault, the sprawling-conveyor-belt automation of Factorio, the popular recent deckbuilder Monster Train 2... the list really does go on and on. I hope this highlight reel helped you pick something out or remember an old favorite, and to find more Switch games, our database is the perfect place.
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