Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for January 12th, 2021. Today we have several more new releases to check out, and on the whole it’s a bit better than what we saw yesterday. Tomorrow… well, we’ll talk about tomorrow when it gets here. We’ve got summaries of each of the new games, plus the latest incoming and outgoing sales. There is some news coming up about the Bowser’s Fury extra mode in the upcoming Super Mario 3D World port, but that information hasn’t arrived yet at the time of writing. We’ll cover it tomorrow, friends. Let’s check out what we have for now!
New Releases
S.U.M. – Slay Uncool Monsters ($5.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
All RPGs are math battles, when it comes right down to it. Slay Uncool Monsters is just a little more overt about it. Clear dungeons by battling monsters… with math! Each monster presents a sum and you need to use the numbers on the board to add, subtract, multiply, or divide your way to that sum. Make your way through the campaign mode or head into the endless mode to see how far your math skills can carry you. Those who need to brush up can try out the practice mode. It’s easy to see that this started as a mobile game, but it’s unique and enjoyable on the Switch as well.
ACT IT OUT XL! A Game of Charades ($11.99)
This is exactly what you would think it is. It’s a game of charades that you can play with up to eight players locally. There are a bunch of categories with over three thousand secret phrases to fuel the fun. It’s very well-made for what it is, so if you’re looking for a charades game, this will do the job nicely. That’s really all there is to it, so I guess we’ll call this description here.
Epitaph ($12.99)
Epitaph is pretty neat, mixing a Darkest Dungeon style battle system with a Final Fantasy ATB-ish real-time component. You pick a team of three Reapers from thirteen and engage in fast-paced yet tactical battles against enemies. You can play against another player in local multiplayer, and that is the best way to play. There is a single player mode, but it’s not nearly as interesting as it is focused on solving combat puzzles. There’s a lot of content, with more than 150 puzzles to solve, but it’s just not as enjoyable as taking on another human player. An online mode would have been very, very welcome here. If you have someone to play with, it’s fantastic. Otherwise, it’s a harder sell.
Dead Ground ($9.99)
Tired of tower defense? Tired of zombies? Tired of mediocre games? Dead Ground gives you all three in one convenient package! Even though it is a wave-based tower defense game (with randomized elements that allow them to deploy the ‘roguelike’ term for marketing purposes), this is one of those games where it really falls to your avatar and how well you can stay on top of things. And how well you can stay on top of things depends largely on how lucky you get with weapon spawns. I don’t know, I can kind of see what the developer was going for here but it just doesn’t work.
Virtual Battle ($7.69)
This is a four-player action game that can be played in local splitscreen. No online, unfortunately. There are four different worlds to battle in. You can play by yourself, with some missions to clear and a focus on achieving high scores as you go. It does seem that the focus of the game is the multiplayer mode, though. I wouldn’t expect too much from it, but I’m sure with the game being priced under eight bucks you don’t need me to tell you that. This comes from SAT-BOX, who did all of those Desktop sports games and the Voxel series, and I’d imagine you can expect a similar level of quality out of this.
Mahjong Adventure ($7.99)
Well, it’s a mahjong solitaire game. Also sometimes known under the title Shanghai. You’ve seen it before, you’ve probably played it before, and you probably don’t need another one. But if you do, this one seems fine. Nothing too wild, but fine. Production values seem alright for what it is. There isn’t really much to distinguish it from the next mahjong solitaire game, so there isn’t a whole lot more to say about it.
Espacio Cosmic Light-Seeker ($3.49)
No matter how much I read up on this game, I can’t quite figure out what it is. That’s probably a good thing? It seems to be an adventure game of sorts, with lots of weird characters and interesting interactions. But beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. I suppose it’s only a few bucks if you want to find out, though.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
There isn’t much of note in the list of today’s new sales. A few good games, but probably games you’ve seen on sale before and passed on. If I had to pick some highlights, I’d go with the Smash TV-like Galaxy Champions TV, the challenging Wizard of Legend, and the unique Carto. The outbox is a little more interesting. The latest Arcade Archives sale is winding up, and as usual there’s no telling if or when those games will be discounted again in the future. There are some other great games in the list, but I expect most of them to be back on sale again in a couple of months at most. Have a look anyway, of course.
Select New Games on Sale
Dustoff Z ($7.79 from $11.99 until 1/17)
Spinny’s Journey ($11.99 from $14.99 until 1/18)
Fall Gummies ($1.99 from $7.99 until 1/19)
Aegis Defenders ($4.99 from $19.99 until 1/21)
Wizard of Legend ($6.39 from $15.99 until 1/21)
Carto ($15.99 from $19.99 until 1/22)
Legend of Numbers ($2.09 from $2.99 until 1/23)
Galaxy Champions TV ($1.99 from $6.99 until 1/25)
One Line Cooking ($3.49 from $6.99 until 1/25)
Mana Spark ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/26)
Blazing Beaks ($1.99 from $14.99 until 1/26)
HyperParasite ($2.49 from $17.99 until 1/26)
Tharsis ($3.59 from $11.99 until 1/26)
Dex ($5.99 from $19.99 until 1/26)
Warlocks 2: God Slayers ($1.99 from $17.99 until 1/26)
Figment ($3.79 from $19.99 until 1/31)
Air Bound: Jump ‘n’ Run ($4.49 from $5.99 until 1/31)
Baila Latino ($8.99 from $9.99 until 1/31)
Top Gun Air Combat ($7.49 from $9.99 until 1/31)
Rise: Race the Future ($10.71 from $16.49 until 2/1)
Bubble Cats Rescue ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/1)
Super Mega Space Blaster ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/1)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 13th
ACA NEOGEO Aero Fighters 2 ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
ACA NEOGEO Fatal Fury 3 ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
ACA NEOGEO Last Resort ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
ACA NEOGEO Metal Slug X ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
ACA NEOGEO Robo Army ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Aery: Broken Memories ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Arcade Archives Crazy Climber ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Arcade Archives Moon Cresta ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Arcade Archives Ninja-Kid ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Arcade Archives Ninja-Kid II ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Arcade Archives Terra Force ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Black Paradox ($4.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Blacksea Odyssey ($2.59 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Bleed Complete Bundle ($4.19 from $27.99 until 1/13)
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch ($7.49 from $29.99 until 1/13)
Catch ‘Em Goldfish Scooping ($1.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Couch Co-Op Bundle Vol. 2 ($6.89 from $45.99 until 1/13)
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled ($19.99 from $39.99 until 1/13)
Crash Team Racing NO Edition ($29.99 from $59.99 until 1/13)
Demon Pit ($2.49 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Destiny’s Princess ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Elliot ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Enchanting Mahjong Match ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/13)
Escape Trick: 35 Enigmas ($9.99 from $19.99 until 1/13)
Fall of Light: Darkest ($2.99 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Feather ($4.89 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Flashback ($1.99 from $19.99 until 1/13)
forma.8 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Frost ($2.59 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Funghi Explosion ($9.99 from $19.99 until 1/13)
Gabbuchi ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Gakuen Club ($12.49 from $24.99 until 1/13)
Glass Masquerade Pack ($3.29 from $21.99 until 1/13)
Golem Gates ($6.24 from $24.99 until 1/13)
Horror Bundle Vol. 1 ($4.56 from $30.49 until 1/13)
Hyper Sentinel ($1.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
Indie Darling Bundle Vol. 3 ($7.56 from $50.49 until 1/13)
INK & HackyZack Bundle ($2.24 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Kauil’s Treasure ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Letter Quest Remastered ($2.99 from $11.99 until 1/13)
Max Reloaded II ($2.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Monster Slayers ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/13)
My Secret Pets! ($10.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Mystery of Woolley Mountain ($1.99 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Nefarious ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Nightshade ($28.79 from $47.99 until 1/13)
Odallus: The Dark Call ($2.99 from $11.99 until 1/13)
Omega Labyrinth Life ($27.59 from $59.99 until 1/13)
Oniken: Unstoppable ($2.49 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Pixel Art Bundle Vol. 1 ($5.69 from $37.99 until 1/13)
Pub Encounter ($8.49 from $16.99 until 1/13)
Reverse Crawl ($3.24 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Risk of Rain 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 1/13)
Roombo: First Blood ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/13)
Screenchat: Unplugged ($2.46 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Secrets of Me ($10.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Silk ($3.89 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Skelly Selest ($2.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Slain: Back From Hell ($4.99 from $19.99 until 1/13)
Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Snakeybus ($5.99 from $11.99 until 1/13)
Spirit Arena ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Straimium Immortaly ($3.59 from $11.99 until 1/13)
Super Blood Hockey ($4.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
The Amazing Shinsengumi ($5.99 from $11.99 until 1/13)
The Charming Empire ($12.49 from $24.99 until 1/13)
The Last Dead End ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
The Number Puzzle ($2.49 from $4.99 until 1/13)
They Bleed Pixels ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
UnExplored ($4.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
Valfaris Full Metal Mode ($11.24 from $24.99 until 1/13)
Verlet Swing ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/13)
XenoRaptor ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/13)
That’s all for today, friends. Tomorrow we’ve got at least seven games on the schedule, and at least five of them look pretty rough. Well, we’ll have summaries of them anyway. There will also be some news, mostly that Mario business and the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate event. Naturally, the new and outgoing sales will be covered as well. I hope you all have a great Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
