Yet another month has been and gone and what a month it has been on the indie scene. An impressive number of great indies launched on Switch throughout April and, as such, it's time to boot up the old Nintendo Life eShop Selects machine!
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo's digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could so easily be missed in the Switch's ever-growing library.
So, let's get started! Here are the best Switch eShop games of April 2019!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out.
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice | Review: 9/10
- AngerForce: Reloaded | Review: 9/10
- Picross S3 | Review: 8/10
- SEGA AGES Virtua Racing | Review: 8/10
- Cytus α | Review: 8/10
- BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! | Review: 8/10
- Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions | Review: 8/10
- Reigns: Game of Thrones | Review: 8/10
- Out There: Ω The Alliance | Review: 8/10
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy | Review: 8/10
- Hob: The Definitive Edition | Review: 8/10
- Mechstermination Force | Review: 8/10
3. Katana ZERO (Switch eShop)
Taking third place this month is Katana ZERO. We awarded the game a mighty 9/10 in our review, praising the '80s inspired action title for its "tough, hair-raising action sequences, gripping narrative, and impeccable sense of style". An all killer, no filler experience on Switch, we'd recommend you go ahead and download this one immediately.
2. SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech (Switch eShop)
Narrowly edging its way to second place this month is SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, a brand new take on Image & Form's fan-favourite SteamWorld series. We gave this one an 8/10 in our review, saying that while it doesn't quite live up to the lofty heights of SteamWorld Dig 2, the presentation is slick, the dialogue’s witty and the gameplay is wonderfully addictive. If you want more of SteamWorld, this is absolutely worth your time.
1. Cuphead (Switch eShop)
Taking top spot, though, and sitting proudly as our favourite eShop game of April, is Cuphead. In all honesty, we never expected to see this one arrive on Switch, but here we are with it firmly downloaded onto our consoles and we couldn't be more pleased. Another 9/10 whopper, we said this one is "the same visually jaw-dropping, aurally delightful, knuckle-whiteningly difficult game" that first arrived on Xbox. A must-have.
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What was your favourite eShop game last month? (182 votes)
- Cuphead
- SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech
- Katana ZERO
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
- AngerForce: Reloaded0.6%
- Picross S3
- SEGA AGES Virtua Racing
- Cytus α0.6%
- BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!
- Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions0%
- Reigns: Game of Thrones0%
- Out There: Ω The Alliance0%
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
- Hob: The Definitive Edition
- Mechstermination Force
- Something else (comment below)
Please login to vote in this poll.
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 primarily as a digital 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 25
Agree with these picks, although I've not actually got any
Cuphead of course.
Cuphead is a must have indeed..but firmly holding off on the prospect of double dipping until I know if and when the physical version will be released with the aforementioned extra goodies inside the box. Likely an artbook of some sort, but still, that'd be worth waiting for in my eyes. Fingers crossed.
Cuphead is a hoot. I mean, I kind of suck at it, but it's so pretty
There’s been so many eshop games released the past month that I want but I can’t keep up😅 Eventually I’ll pick up Hellblade, Cuphead, Katana Zero, Boxboy, and Hob. The new Steamworld game looks nice too but I’m hesitant on it because I’ve never tried a card type game.
Nothing for last month.
Portal Knights is still my number one Nintendo Switch eshop game (with physical cartridge)
I want must of the games on the list. But I only bought Anger Force. I am on a shmup kick right now.
Eshop is the place to be until Mario Maker 2 comes out. Not much for me to look forward to retail until that.
But I’ve been jumping between Ace Attorney, FF9, and Boxboy Which has been fun to mix up so I don’t get bored of one in particular.
Got a bunch of games this month, Cuphead being one of them. My wallet is destroyed but I'm pretty sure May is gonna make me pour some money into the shop again....
Definitely SteamWorld Quest for me, such an excellent game. Katana ZERO would be second and Cuphead after that. Ace Attorney Trilogy is 10/10 and the best of the bunch but I don't consider it an eShop game as I have the physical release (and I haven't actually played it on the Switch). I haven't played Hellblade yet, trying to hold off until it's on sale.
I haven’t played any of these games yet, because I’ve been too busy playing old Final Fantasy games on my Switch.
Katana Zero far exceeds every other game on the list. It's an absolute masterpiece that does everything right - story, visuals, gameplay, everything. Can't recommend it enough!
I'll pass since I haven't bought or played Cuphead yet, and my real top fave of the month - Nelke, potentially tied with FFXII but I haven't started the latter just yet either - probably wouldn't qualify as a retail title. A harder difference to keep track of when you buy everything on eShop in the first place.
I haven't been able to play anything other than Dragon's Dogma on the Switch. I do have Katana Zero and Steamworld Quest next in line though.
Bit strange that two 8/10 games beat two 9/10 games.
1. Cuphead
2. Mechstermination Force
Hob for me. All those put off by the downgraded visuals in handheld mode needed worry anymore as it's been addressed in the latest update.
No love for MK11??
Living in Australia, I’m really gutted Katana Zero has been refused classification so far. Im so grateful we got Cuphead. No matter how hard it kicks my ass, the 1930’s immersion is outstanding!
Cant wait for Castle Crashers!!!
@2legit2quit No, because that game released physically.
Wow I can't believe Hell Is Other Demons didn't get an honourable mention! What an unbelievable game!
This was an exceptional month for the eShop, I’m still playing catch up!
@Sulleymonster I agree, Hob was great! And since I played the whole thing docked, I never even knew about the handheld issues.
At first, I was uncertain what to do--but that mystery is part of the game. And then I was compelled to find every hiding place, almost every collectable. Hob is my indie game of the month.
I have so much to play that I no longer buy digital-only releases right away. I'd rather just pick them up on sale a few months later
tany metal for this month
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