10 Nintendo Switch games I want to play but are too expensive!
Games are getting expensive. This isn’t a new thing, they have been increasing in cost for years, but this generation is the first time where I have personally questioned why games have become a real expense. Particularly more so after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched at an RRP of $70/£60/€70 in 2024.
With additional need to become a member to a subscription service like PlayStation Plus or Nintendo Switch Online to get access to multiplayer, it’s quickly becoming a case that games are a luxury item and less of a thing you can buy and play everyday.
It got me thinking about this generation of games for Nintendo which, other than Tears of the Kingdom, have hovered around the £50/$60 USD mark and I realised there were a lot of games that I have put off buying for Nintendo Switch purely because they are too expensive. But what would make a game too much money for me and what are the games I would hold off buying. Here are my top 10 games that I want to play on Nintendo Switch, but I really can’t justify buying right now.
Princess Peach Showtime
Credit: Nintendo
Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 / €59.99
There are very few games that I get really excited for and desperately want to play. The last time it happened, it was when Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched. I also get obscenely excited when I find a game which has a female character lead. None more so than when I saw the reveal trailer for Princess Peach Showtime.
It’s a similar platform game to any of the Mario games, but there are more puzzle elements to it in the form of costume changes which give Peach different abilities depending on what she’s wearing. I enjoy a good Mario game, so this should be right up my alley. There was a demo for the game and I played it, but when I finished the first couple of levels really quickly and looked at the hub world, I thought the game may be pretty short.
When I doubt a game’s length, I use howlongtobeat.com to check what the average play time is as this gives a good indication based on what users put in. At 7 and a half hours long to complete the story line, Princess Peach Showtime was suddenly too expensive for me when I factored in how quickly I waltzed through the demo. Best advice from me, if there is a demo of a game always, always, ALWAYS give it a go! You never know what you are getting yourself into until you try it and where most games don’t have a demo these days, when you do find one, you should always try it to see if a game is right for you!
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Credit: Nintendo
Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 / €59.99
I absolutely adore the idea of playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land and I have done since I saw the trailer. As much as I enjoyed Super Mario Odyssey, I wanted a similar experience on all platforms games and I haven’t really found the same level of creativity and fun in any other platformer so I’ve mostly stayed away from them.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a really good option for those of you who are looking for a creative platformer which has a good variety of mechanics for you to traverse the world. The copy abilities you have in Kirby and the Forgotten Land allow you to swallow any item and transform Kirby into that item and gives you some of the functionality of that item. For example, you can swallow a car and drive around a race track. There are so many fun and unique elements in the game which make me incredibly excited to play, but it’s another pretty short game!
I watched someone play this on stream and they finished it in two or three sittings and the first thing they commented on at the end was how it felt like there was more game missing. It was just too short. It is longer than Princess Peach Showtime at 10 and a half hours, but for how short it feels, I personally don’t feel £50 justifies the experience. I will wait for a sale on this one and play it later.
Fae Farm
Credit: Fae Farm Phoenix Labs
Price: $44.99 USD / £49.99 / €59.99
Fae Farm has an interesting history with me it was recommended by someone who I knew very well and I wasn’t sure about it when I saw the trailer.
It’s a cosy farming simulator which shares all of the same features as you find in most other games in the genre: you can cook, you can farm, you can catch bugs. The twist is that you are a fairy running the farm. From what I had seen, it didn’t offer anything unique and special. As much as I liked the idea of a new farming simulator game, I wasn’t keen on the art style which is very rounded and some of the controls seemed a bit clunky, but I was curious to hear more about it and make a decision for myself on whether or not I would buy it.
For those who weren’t around during the time, there was a Nintendo Direct that came out which has since been dubbed farmaggeddon due to the number of farming simulators that were announced during that Nintendo Direct. Fae Farm was one of those games mentioned.
To make things worse for Fae Farm, it was then revealed that Fae Farm was going to come out on the same day as Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life which is another farming simulator game. All of the features in Fae Farm were also in Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. However, the final nail in the coffin for me on Fae Farm was the price. Fae Farm didn’t announce their price until much closer to the release date at £49.99 whilst Story of Seasons was priced at £34.99.
When the prices were revealed, the community was pretty annoyed with Fae Farm and it was clear that a lot of the anger was directed at the price of the game given the gameplay was exactly the same as Story of Seasons. Eventually the developers did lower the price of the base game down to £34.99, but they only did this on PC. Until the price comes down on Switch, I will not be buying Fae Farm.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet
Credit: Nintendo
Price: $14.99 USD / £13.49 / €14.99
Once Kirby and the Forgotten Land launched, it was clear to Nintendo there was still an appetite for Kirby fun. The best way to get around this? Create a Kirby game which allows for online multiplayer fun in the form of Kirby’s Dream Buffet.
It’s clear from watching the trailer that this game took heavy inspiration from Fall Guys. The idea is that you compete against four other players to become the biggest Kirby possible from eating food in a race, mini game or battle royale modes.
I love the idea of playing in an easily accessible Kirby world and the game looks like a lot of fun, but at £13, it really is too expensive to pick up in it’s current format. Particularly when you look at the game it’s clearly inspired by and realise that Fall Guys is free to play.
It also isn’t as popular so online servers are likely to be pretty quiet so you would you would be more reliant on local multiplayer with this game at the moment. It’s not a bad thing, but I think the game is too small to pay that price right now.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Credit: Sunblink, Nintendo
Price: $39.99+ USD / £35.99+ / €39.99
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is an interesting title. It’s been billed as an alternative to Animal Crossing and in a way it is, but it also really isn’t.
It’s another cosy game which has a lot of the expectations of a social simulation game. You have the cooking and crafting mechanics, you build up a town by completing quests and you befriend the characters from the Sanrio world by giving them thoughtful gifts. It’s a charming game which has a lot of similarity to Animal Crossing and is at a similar price point on Nintendo Switch.
However, the game has been out for almost two years already on Apple Arcade which is £6.99 per month, and you can play any games on their device for that. It’s so much cheaper on Apple Arcade that I honestly don’t think it’s worth paying this much for the Switch version, even if there is some of the additional content from the past two years included within the price.
Saying that though, you have plenty of hours of play time here. At about 18 and a half hours of game time, it’s not the worst in terms of value. Personally for right now though, I don’t think it’s worth the price without trying a demo or giving it a go on Apple Arcade first if you have that option available to you.
Little Kitty Big City
Credit: Double Dagger Studio
Price: $24.99 USD / £22.49 / €24.99
Have you ever wanted to run around a city and cause mischief as a cat? Well, that’s exactly what you can do in Little Kitty Big City. This charming game allows you freedom in an open world to explore the city at your leisure. You can complete quests and become friends with the residents or terrorise them to the best of your feline abilities!
I adore the concept of this game and the reveal trailers were charming in every way I want for a cosy game. However, having watched the gameplay from a few streams, I noticed that the controls of the cat was a little bit clunky and not as intuitive as other cat games I’ve found. They are not terrible, but could do with a polishing up.
It’s also a very short game at only two and a half hours long to complete the game. Those two reasons make me love the game a lot, but I would wait until it goes on sale. I’ve seen this regularly go down in price and if you do want to pick it up, I would recommend waiting until the game is about half price.
MySims Cozy Bundle
Credit: EA
Price: $39.99 USD / £34.99 / €39.99
If there is one Nintendo Wii game which I never thought I would ever see again, it was MySims and they are back in the form of MySims Cozy bundle which includes two games: the original MySims and MySims Kingdom.
In these spin-off games, you create Sims and craft furniture to rebuild the world. You build relationships with the townies and solve puzzles to help your neighbours. They are cute, cuddly games based on similar concepts, the difference is that MySims Kingdom is set within a medieval setting.
I love a good cosy game which makes me nostalgic for teenage years. However, as much as I want to play both of these games, I can’t get over that they are not remasters, nor remakes. No, these are re-releases which means they have exactly the same mechanics of the original games and as many have pointed out online, the camera controls are not in the best shape. As they haven’t really been improved on, I don’t personally think it is worth paying £35 MySims Cozy bundle. Yes, you get two games for the price of one, but I still think it’s a lot of money for content which has had very little improved about it for newer hardware and it would be better waiting until the price has gone down before you purchase these.
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
Credit: THQ Nordic
Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 / €59.99
Speaking of games I am nostalgic for and desperately want to play again, I have to talk about Disney Epic Mickey! This was the last game I had as a gift on Nintendo Wii and I loved it! Right up until the point I got stuck in a never ending cycle of death and couldn’t get out. I haven’t gone back to finish the game, but I haven’t yet.
Enter Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, a remake of the original 3D platformer which, unlike MySims Cozy bundle, has improved graphics and runs a little better than the original. You play as Mickey who has found himself in a dark and dismal world called Wasteland. It is up to you to make the world right using trusty paint and paint thinner to solve puzzles and navigate the world to find all of your friends and set Wasteland back into the colourful world it was originally known as.
I adored this game as a teenager and am desperate to get back to it, but the price tag makes me really sad! £49.99 is a lot to ask for a remaster of a game and whilst it isn’t uncommon to charge that, what makes me worry is that from what I can tell the original controls have not been fully optimised from how they were in Nintendo Wii. As much as I really, really want to play this again, I don’t want to get stuck again and find myself wishing I had never picked up the game. I will go back to this one, but not before it is heavily discounted as I love it, but I want to not regret my decision in purchasing the game again, and even more so when it was an end of life title for Nintendo Wii and it is basically that again for Nintendo Switch.
Pikmin 4
Credit: Nintendo
Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 / €59.99
Some of you are going to be mad that Pikmin is on this list and I completely understand your point! It’s a long standing Nintendo franchise and there is a lot going on in this cute and adorable world that makes me really want to love Pikmin 4, but I really can’t justify buying it at £50.
Pikmin is a puzzle game which sees you play as Captain Olimar who has crash landed his ship on earth. You as the player have to send Captain Olimar around the world to collect items to rebuild the ship. This is done with these clever creatures called Pikmin which have different abilities based on their colour. Some are strong and pack a punch when you throw them at a wall, others can walk through fire whilst others can swim. You will need to use all of your Pikmin friends to gather everything you need to get your ship back together again so you can make your way home. It’s cute, charming, and if you are into puzzle games, a great way to work your brain at the end of a long day.
However, the reason it is on this list is one which is purely a me problem. I really struggled with the first Pikmin game and still haven’t finished it. I bought Pikmin 1+2 as a bundle on Switch a while ago and I haven’t gone back to it after getting confused on how the mechanics worked when I got stuck. I like a challenge, but I don’t like it when games are too hard. Until I can get my head around Pikmin 1, I don’t think I’m personally ready to play Pikmin 4. Even more so when it’s over double the price I paid for the bundle of 1+2. I’ll try it when I know I won’t get mad with a game!
Splatoon 3
Credit: Nintendo
Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 / €59.99
This is another one which is going to put me in people’s bad books, I can see it now! But, it’s for a completely different reason to Pikmin 4!
I love the Splatoon franchise. Unlike a lot of people, I did get to play the original game on Nintendo Wii U and when I get a chance to get the console connected up again, it would have been my first choice to go back to had Nintendo not shut down the servers for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS at the same time.
Splatoon 3 is an online 3rd person shooter type game, but not really. It’s the closest type of game to explain it. In the game you have to capture turf from the opposing team by painting the ground in your team’s colour. You can splat your opponents with your paint to take them out of the game and make them respawn at their home base so you can take extra turf. The team with the most turf covered in their colour wins.
I adore Splatoon and I’ve played a lot of Splatoon 2. I am fairly good at the game and I enjoy playing with people online in this safe, cosy space. However, I have not bought Splatoon 3 despite how much I love the franchise.
The reason why I didn’t was because despite what a lot of people said, I couldn’t see any major differences between Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3. The only difference I noticed was that you could play around in the locker room between matches, and that wasn’t a good enough reason for me to fork out £50 on the next title in the series.
I also have a slight issue in how I felt with Splatoon 2 after Nintendo announced the launch of Nintendo Switch Online which made it no longer possible for me to play Splatoon 2 without paying for an online membership. As it was the only game I had which required an online connection at that point, I stopped playing Splatoon 2 and didn’t go back to it for ages. I don’t have the desire to pick up the third title in the series, but I may go back to it if it has a significant price reduction.
It is true that games are going up in value. We’ve seen evidence of that in this generation with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launching at $70 and I can see this continuing into the next generation. Reports are now suggesting that the standard pricing of Nintendo Switch 2 games will be $70 and with that will come more people like you and I who question whether we can really justifying a new game if it’s not going to meet our expectations for the price we pay whether that’s because it’s too short or the gameplay isn’t what we want for the price that we’re being charged. What I do know is that I will be more scrupulous in the games I pick in the future and I will be more reliant on game reviews to know exactly what I’m getting myself into.
What’s a game you have said is too expensive and you are happy to wait on for right now? Are any of these games in your list that you would love to play right now? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll see you in the next one.
