Welcome to February 2024, and to the first (proper) eShop Selects of 2024. We've changed things up a bit for 2024 — alongside our picks for the best eShop game, we asked you lovely readers to choose your favourite eShop-only game of the month, but with a twist.
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. However, readers will now get to vote on the best game on the eShop that we haven't reviewed. And we'll be revealing your January 2024 winner today at the bottom of the article.
Let's not hold back, then!
Honourable mentions
Here are the games that didn't quite make the cut. We'll list second and third place here for your picks. And while we don't usually include 6/10s, we wanted to give Turnip Boy a shout here for being a fun game — even with the Switch port's issues.
Nintendo Life's honourable mentions
- Knights of the Rogue Dungeon | Review: 7/10
- Turnip Boy Robs A Bank | Review: 6/10
3. Bahnsen Knights (Switch eShop)
Created by novelist Nico Saraintaris and artist Fernando Martinez Ruppel, Bahnsen Knights is the third game in the Pixel Pulp series, and it might just be the best. Blending the Choose Your Own Adventure-books with stunning, ethereal pixel art, Bahnsen Knights is a short, if wild ride, and we scored it 9/10 in our review.
2. Hitman: Blood Money - Reprisal (Switch eShop)
Before the World of Assassination trilogy, Hitman: Blood Money was often cited as the pinnacle of the series. All of the different options and world-class stealth gameplay mechanics are intact here, even if the game certainly feels its age in some areas. We gave this one an 8/10 in our review.
1. Lil' Guardsman (Switch eShop)
A cute version of Papers, Please with the style and humour of Monkey Island? That's what Lil' Guardsman is going for, and it absolutely delivers. Blending its inspirations with an original narrative, Lil' Guardsman is a lil' gem on Switch, and that's why Nintendo Life staff have declared it the first winner of the eShop Selects votes. Don't forget to read our review, where we scored it an 8/10.
eShop Selects Reader's Choice winner (January 2024)
Squeaking out on top with 21% of the votes, you picked Arcade Archives Rainbow Islands as the Reader's Choice winner for January 2024!
Sometimes, you just can't beat the classics. And Hamster has done a consistently amazing job of rereleasing classic games on the Switch. Charming and challenging, Rainbow Islands is just as beloved today as it was in arcades over 35 years ago.
Reader's honourable mentions
- 2nd Place - The Pedestrian | 19%
- 3rd Place - Crystal Project | 14%
< Nintendo eShop Selects - December 2023
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.
Comments 21
No UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes]?! Are you serious?!
I can honestly say January was the first month in a while where I wasn’t even tempted to buy something on the eshop. I’m really hoping for an indie-forward Direct next month. There’s too much cooking and we don’t know when the feast is. Hoping Mina the Hollower, Earthblade, Penny’s Big Breakaway, and some others are visible down the bend.
Man, people really like that guardsman game. This is going to be a much tougher competition as we move into the year I think.
My partner has been enjoying Lil’ Guardsman, although her game of the month is probably Roots of Pacha. The only game I have from January is Hidden Through Time 2, which I just downloaded today. I enjoyed the first one and look forward to playing the second one with the family!
Am very happy to see Rainbow Islands there! Has sure been a long time coming. Funny that a little song caused such a headache! Am now very much looking forward to the release of Parasol Stars. It can't quite match Bubble Bobble or Rainbow Islands, but it is still fantastic.
Wishlisted Bahnsen Knights, thank you!
Not been keeping up with Nintendo as much lately since expanding to other platforms and this gem would have slipped through the cracks for me had I not clicked on this article.
I’ve never played a Hitman game! I really need to start!
Saga of the Moon Priestess (a cute Zelda-like) s my January pick, although yesterday I downloaded the demo of Crystal Project and it actually seems really cool. I wouldn't have noticed that game exists if not for reader requests but I'm glad I tried it.
So in that video where Zion, Alex and Felix were talking about select hidden eshop gems, there were a bunch of games that were not talked about and just used for the intro. Some of them looked pretty awesome but they forgot to add the names of the games that were shown on screen.
Long story short, anyone knows what was the 3d game, apparently platformer, with a character with a butterfly net?
Other than that Bahnsen Knights looks so cool and I would have never heard of it if it wasn't for you guys so thanks.
You mentioned Turnip Boy, I see it got an update a few days ago - has it improved things much?
I've never played a Hitman game, but if they make a physical version of this one, I'd be very tempted to give it a try.
Bahnsen Knights is the absolute real deal people, don't overlook this one!!!
@mlt I believe the game is called Wavetale. 😊
Could someone...someone please...please tell me........is The Pedestrian good on Switch??
Somehow MetaCritic still has zero Switch reviews...
@Vyacheslav333 It got a physical release, so wasn't eligible.
Great selection by Nintendo Life, but I love to see that the Reader's Choice is Rainbow Island (even though the honorable mentions are great as well from what I've heard), we've been waiting it for so long!
Hitman, Rainbow Islands were the ones I went for.
Hitman is still on my backlog. Bahnsen Knights is still on the busy wishlist.
I enjoyed the first Turnip Boy game but slightly put off by the below 7/10 score review & revw's content (finite games budget!) Maybe a deep discount purchase?
@dartmonkey Ah, you count only digital-only games... Understood.
@MontyCircus The Pedestrian is good on Switch. There is also a demo, so you can try it out.
@DwaynesGames
Thanks!
@DwaynesGames
Thanks a lot! It looks terrific.
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