Spring is about to...spring. But do you know what else is waiting for us? Nintendo Life eShop Selects and the new Readers Choice winner for February 2024.
As always, staff and contributors at Nintendo Life decide on the top three by an internal vote, all from eShop games we've reviewed on the site that were released that month. And then, for the Reader's Choice, you lovely lot have been voting for your favourite eShop game that we've missed out on. You'll see your top three at the bottom of the article.
Anyway, February was a busy month, wasn't it? A Partner Showcase, shadow-drops — it's been a lot to juggle. Let's see what gems we can get on the eShop this month.
Honourable mentions
As always, below is a list of games that didn't quite get enough votes from the Nintendo Life staff and writers to make the top three. These all got at least an 8/10 from us, and even from this shortlist, you can see just how strong a month we've had on the eShop.
Nintendo Life's honourable mentions
- Alisa Developer's Cut | Review: 9/10
- Inkulinati | Review: 8/10
- Penny's Big Breakaway | Review: 8/10
- Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons | Review: 8/10
- qomp2 | Review: 9/10
- Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster | Review: 9/10
- Tomb Raider I-III Remastered | Review: 8/10
3. Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! (Switch eShop)
Oh look! It's Game Freak's best game, finally on the Switch. We're not talking about Pokémon, but Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!, a remake of one of our favourite 3DS games here at Nintendo Life. C'mon, if you've been reading the site, you know we're mad for this one. Solitaire and horse racing make for a dream combination and even if you don't love the gameplay, the hilarious writing and charming visuals will still win you over. We called Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! the "prize pony" in our review and awarded it a 9/10.
2. Pentiment (Switch eShop)
Obsidian's medieval murder mystery Pentiment was called a "hidden gem" back on the Xbox and PC when it was released in 2022. Now it's on Switch (and PS5), and on the little hybrid console, it's never felt more at home. Blending RPG elements with point-and-click gameplay, Pentiment is a real labour of love that celebrates typefaces, font, the Medieval, and just darn good storytelling. It earned a 10/10 for us on Switch and we're glad we waited to try this one out.
1. Balatro (Switch eShop)
Well, well, well... we heard you, readers, and you were absolutely right. Balatro is fantastic.
Balatro was originally one of the options on our Reader's Choice vote, but so many of you chimed in to shout about this brilliant roguelite deckbuilder that we folded and checked it out for ourselves. Breaking poker with tarot cards, planet cards, and special jokers is satisfyingly addictive. It pipped the Obsidian murder mystery by just one vote in our staff poll, but it's clear from your votes and its victory in the eShop Selects vote that Balatro is a must-play and plays a winning hand.
In our review, we awarded it a worthy 10/10. Yes, our second 'Outstanding' score in a single week! Blimey.
eShop Selects Reader's Choice Winner (February 2024)
WINNER: Golfinite
With late review arrivals Balatro and Penny's Big Breakaway running away with the reader poll in first and second place with a very nice 69% of the vote, we're scootching on down the list to the next candidate for this month's Reader's Choice winner: Mario Golf-alike Golfinite.
We're massive fans of the original GBC Mario Golf, and this top-down ball-whacker (ouch) certainly looks the part — we're pleased to hear it plays the part, too. It'll be booking a tee time on our wishlist.
Reader's honourable mention
< Nintendo eShop Selects - January 2024
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
About Alana Hagues
Alana has been with Nintendo Life since 2022, and while RPGs are her first love, Nintendo is a close second. She enjoys nothing more than overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. She also wishes she was a Sega air pirate.
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Comments 20
I have Alisa in my sights, waiting for a sale... and a smaller backlog
Tons of great stuff this month, with every game in the Top 3 being ones I plan on grabbing as soon as possible. Special mention especially has to go to Pocket Card Jockey; I still need to play the demo (hence why I haven't bought the game proper yet) but the minute I do? I know for a fact it'll easily be in the running for my GOTY alongside stuff like Apollo Justice XD
Haven't played any of them myself yet, but based on my preferences my favorite will most likely be Penny's Big Breakaway although it's a close one because man did we get so many great games last month!
But…how can we play Balatro if it’s not available? 😭
Concerning lack of explosions here. Cards, horse racing, and reading. Sounds like when my parents dumped us at my grandparents house when I was like 9. No thannnnnnnnnnks.
Edit: oh right, (ahem) this is sarcasm.
Shiren the wanderer should be #1
@mattiasboden Shiren the Wanderer should be $20.
@LikelySatan it's a bit expensive yes, but will probably be on sale shortly enough. For me however it was totally worth it, haven't had this much fun since elden ring and armored core, in a turn based intense kind of way, so many hours of gameplay 😅 very polished gameplay. But yeah, not a game for everybody.
Balatro is a true and deserving winner. It’s not just the best eshop game this month, but the best eshop game in a couple years
Very stacked month, but...of the games I did pick up, I only just started Penny's Big Breakaway yesterday (on Steam), got Pocket Card Jockey yesterday, and have yet to start qomp2. So I can't really vote in good faith. I may get Balatro and Pentiment in the future, though Inkulinati also intrigues me.
I'm yet to buy any of these because I've been working on my backlog, but I suspect Penny's Big Breakaway will be my number 1 because it just looks like tons of fun. Piczel Cross and qomp2 are definitely games I will pick up eventually as well. As for Balatro, it doesn't sound super appealing even after reading the review, but if there is ever a demo or game trial I will definitely try it out to see what the hype is about.
I picked up Pocket Card Jockey and Balatro based on what I heard here, and they’re both fantastic games. Who knew card games could be such a blast! But looking at them side by side, it's clear that PCJ, while super-fun, shoots itself in the foot with a pretty severe lack of polish. There are so many clumsy bits and pieces that add up and detract from the experience. I can only imagine what kind of game it could have been had the developers put as much care and attention as clearly went into Balatro.
I'll vouch for Balatro, best Deck game since Spire IMO... Balatro is so utterly addictive, I can't put it down. I'm a poker player also, so this game is ticking every box for me - but it is definitely very accessible for those who haven't player poker before, and/or have limited experience.
I really hope the rating issue gets ironed out ASAP so the game can get back to the eShop... hopefully the publicity of being pulled (temporarily) will gain it some notoriety and boost sales upon its return!
Best (new release) game I've played 2024 so far, deserves to be part of the conversation alongside Prince of Persia, Helldivers, Rebirth etc
Balatro where have you been all my life? This game is worthy of the hype. Just awesome.
Really good month. Actually the best for some time in a way. Downloaded or wishlisted 8 of the 10 mentioned (most downloaded). The ones not downloaded yet are largely "ASAP" DLs.
Yeah I can't put down Balatro. and, on a weekend that I'd been planning on buying and playing Pocket Card Jockey for weeks! 😳
Is Balatro back up yet?
Why does that say Tomb Raider (GBC)? Did they re release a game boy color tomb raider game?
golfnite now 80% off... don't really time for it, but for 2 euros i coudn't resist
Tomb Raider for GBC?
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