Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 2nd, 2021. My time was tight today, friends. I spent four hours or so in the hospital getting my ticker thoroughly checked after a bit of a scare yesterday. Luckily, all seems well. That does mean I had little time for today’s article and I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to do it at all. Seems like fortune was in my favor in more ways than one today, as I had just enough time to squeeze in the new releases and sales for you all. Let’s get to it!
New Releases
Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All! ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Holy smokes, that looks gorgeous. This is a side-scrolling beat-em-up based on the famous comic, starring (as usual) Asterix the Gaul and his large friend Obelix. You can choose which of the two you want to play, or bring in a friend for local multiplayer for the ultimate team. In addition to the rather standard beat-em-up gameplay, there are also a number of minigames to try. The presentation is by far the most special thing about this game, bringing the comic to life with impressive fidelity. The gameplay is a bit more ordinary, but it’s fine. Fans of Asterix will probably have a blast with this.
Archvale ($14.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
If you need another one of those top-down, loot-and-craft, bullet-hell action-RPG things, here you go. As an added bonus, it’s a really good one. You play as a hero that needs to battle through the dreaded Undying to find out the truth behind the mythic arch to Archvale. There’s a great deal of character customization, allowing you to make the build you prefer. That said, builds will only take you so far. You need good reflexes to handle the hectic combat, and good gear to give you any advantage you can scrape together. You’ll get a lot of that gear by crafting together bits and bobs from the environment and fallen enemies. The bits of adventure-style exploration blend nicely with the intense combat to create a rather lovely game.
Ghost Sync ($14.99)
Ah, I had a ghost sink once. Thing kept spraying me with water every time I got near it unless I sang Billy Joel tunes. If I did that, it was cooperative. Wait, Ghost Sync? Well, now I feel silly. As you can probably tell from the screenshot, this is another RPG from the united forces of EXE-Create and Kemco. This time the story follows a magical girl who hunts evil beasts. She meets a dog possessed by the soul of a human boy, and they end up on a grand adventure together. As magical girls and possessed dogs do, I suppose. It more or less plays the way most of the games from this developer do, so there aren’t any surprises here in that sense. That’s okay, Kemco. We love you just the way you are.
Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani ($49.99)
This is an otome visual novel about an agent in a secret government organization dedicated to monitoring powerful beings who can travel between realms. She has the special ability to see things others can’t, which makes her well-suited for this work. In a strange turn of events, all of the aforementioned powerful beings she’s assigned to are hunky dudes. Hunky monster dudes. Some of them very dangerous. All of them highly smoochable. You know what to do.
MONOBOT ($12.99)
Monobot is a puzzle-platformer starring a little robot in a big, dark, hostile world. Use your upgradeable robotic arm to get around, and be careful to stay out of the way of the killer robots that stalk about. There are some interesting gimmicks to keep things fresh as you make your way through the game’s seven chapters, and communication logs to collect that tell the background story. There are multiple endings to discover based on how you go about things, too. Reviews of this were decent on other platforms, and I suspect it will find some additional fans with this Switch version.
Castle on the Coast ($14.99)
It’s a 3D collectathon platformer starring a rather nimble giraffe. Explore the titular Castle on the Coast using your parkour prowess, running along walls, spinning, diving, and more. A second player can join in via local multiplayer as a sidekick character, a flying squirrel named Swirlz. This is a tough genre to get right, but I’ll at least say that I like how colorful and weird it looks.
Miracle Snack Shop ($19.99)
Part visual novel, part management sim, Miracle Snack Shop sees you trying to turn around a failing business to little success. One day, a portal opens up in your attic and a out walks Philia, a queen from another world. She wants some shaved ice, and you’re just the guy to make it for her. There are some very light sim elements here that involve collecting recipes, leveling up your skills, and choosing your marketing. By and large the visual novel elements dominate, and those follow a conventional path of having you make choices that lead to one of multiple endings.
The Kids We Were ($15.99)
If you’re like me, you have a lot of nostalgia for the days when you were a child in 1980s Japan. Okay, my nostalgia for that era is second-hand, but it’s a neat time period anyway. Anyway, this is an adventure game set in 1980s Japan where you play as a kid named Minato who is about to have the summer adventure of his life. He ends up time traveling to the past, to the day his parents met. Wow, where do they come up with this stuff? This new Switch version of the game includes a bonus episode set after the events of the original story found in the mobile game.
Jigsaw Fun: Wonderful Nature ($14.99)
Mindscape has more jigsaw puzzles for you to solve. One hundred new ones, to be specific. They’re based on nature this time, with famous sights like Mt. Fuji, Niagara Falls, Pebble Beach, and… Aurora Borealis? At this time of the week? At this time of the year? Localized entirely within Nintendo’s own eShop? Can… can I see it? Yes! In four different puzzle sizes and with up to three of my friends in local multiplayer! How about that?
World Quiz ($9.99)
This is a quiz game with more than five thousand questions spread across twenty-four categories. It shows you a picture and you have to spell out what it is using the letters. There are three levels of difficulty, though I reckon once you know what a thing is that’s the ball game.
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire – Green ($5.99)
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire – Blue ($5.99)
Not content to simply release one mediocre horny game a week, eastasiasoft has decided to go for the Pokemon model and sell two different versions of basically the same game. All you need to ask yourself is if you want animal girls or normal girls. Big spenders can grab both. Gameplay-wise this is just about identical to the original Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire. Well, you know what you’re getting here. You’re either into it, or you’re not.
Football Battle ($2.99)
Are you ready for some soccer action? How about some weird soccer action? You can probably guess by the picture, but this is one of those games where they stick big heads on a shoe and call it a day. The gameplay doesn’t differ substantially from other head-on-a-shoe games we’ve seen on Switch, so don’t expect much in that regard. Up to four players can play via local multiplayer if you can find three more people you are comfortable subjecting this to. But hey, there are lots of cosmetics to collect and use to customize your head-on-a-shoe. Maybe that’s enough for a few bucks.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Not a lot of super-exciting stuff in today’s list, with most of it related to some seasonal promotions going on. Take a look through anyway and see what jumps out at you. In the outbox, it’s your last chance to get in on the pre-order discounts for the Danganronpa games. They’re not the best versions of the games, but they’re solid enough renditions of a very high-quality trilogy. Plus that other thing, if you want it. Well, that’s all I’ve got, but don’t just take my word on it. I typed them all out for a good reason, after all. Though I suppose that typing also constitutes taking “my word"? Tough calls to make all around.
Select New Games on Sale
Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia ($4.99 from $12.99 until 12/8)
Battle of Kings ($5.99 from $9.99 until 12/8)
Om Nom: Run ($3.99 from $4.99 until 12/13)
Inferno 2 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
STAB STAB STAB! ($3.99 from $9.99 until 12/15)
Immortal Planet ($5.99 from $14.99 until 12/15)
Rainswept ($2.49 from $9.99 until 12/15)
The Bug Butcher ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/15)
Steamburg ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Dimension Drive ($1.99 from $12.99 until 12/15)
Lumini ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/15)
Die for Valhalla! ($4.79 from $11.99 until 12/15)
Lost Wing ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/15)
Batu Ta Batu ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Thea: The Awakening ($7.19 from $17.99 until 12/15)
Back to Bed ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Tracks: Toybox Edition ($10.19 from $29.99 until 12/15)
Dead by Daylight ($14.99 from $29.99 until 12/15)
BFF or Die ($4.99 from $7.99 until 12/15)
Tetsumo Party ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Luckslinger ($6.49 from $9.99 until 12/15)
Castle of Pixel Skulls ($3.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Hextones ($2.39 from $2.99 until 12/15)
Wingspan ($13.39 from $19.99 until 12/15)
In My Shadow ($9.60 from $12.00 until 12/16)
The Unexpected Quest ($8.25 from $15.00 until 12/16)
Unrailed! ($4.99 from $19.99 until 12/21)
Red Crow Mysteries: Legion ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/21)
Country Tales ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
Brightstone Mysteries: PH ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
Farm Mystery ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
AER Memories of Old ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/21)
The Long Journey Home ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/21)
Silence ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/21)
Julie’s Sweets ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
State of Mind ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/21)
Emily Archer & Curse of Tutankhamun ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
Shift Happens ($1.99 from $14.99 until 12/21)
Faircroft’s Antiques: THoGK CE ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
The Seven Chambers ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
Crossroad Crash ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/21)
The Mysterious Case of Jekyll & Hyde ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/21)
Golf Club Wasteland ($7.49 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Unit 4 ($1.99 from $14.99 until 12/22)
The Hong Kong Massacre ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/22)
Urban Trial Tricky ($1.99 from $14.99 until 12/22)
Urban Trial Playground ($1.99 from $14.99 until 12/22)
Adverse ($2.03 from $5.99 until 12/22)
Timothy & the Mysterious Forest ($3.99 from $7.99 until 12/22)
Dex ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/22)
Beautiful Desolation ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/22)
Fort Triumph ($11.99 from $19.99 until 12/22)
Death’s Hangover ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/22)
Welcome to Primrose Lake ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/22)
Escape Doodland ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Utopia 9: A Volatile Vacation ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
BIT.TRIP Series, Assorted ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/22)
Deadlings ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/22)
Zombie Blast Crew ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Tharsis ($2.99 from $11.99 until 12/22)
Wreckin’ Ball Adventure ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/22)
Tools Up! ($2.99 from $19.99 until 12/22)
Coffee Crisis ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Super Hero Fight Club: Reloaded ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Wondershot ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Rimelands: Hammer of Thor ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
CHOP ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Space Cows ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/22)
Barbarous: Tavern of Emyr ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/22)
Akuto: Showdown ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/22)
Red Wings: Aces of the Sky ($1.99 from $19.99 until 12/22)
Tiny Lands ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/22)
BRAWL ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Metamorphosis ($7.49 from $24.99 until 12/22)
Arcane Arts Academy ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/22)
Door Kickers ($3.99 from $11.99 until 12/22)
#RaceDieRun ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Love Colors ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/22)
Good Night, Knight ($4.79 from $11.99 until 12/22)
One Strike ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/22)
It Came From Space & Ate Brains ($1.99 from $14.99 until 12/22)
Little Racer ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Koloro ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Epistory: Typing Chronicles ($5.99 from $14.99 until 12/22)
Mini Trains ($1.99 from $5.99 until 12/22)
Geki Yaba Runner AE ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/22)
HyperParasite ($1.99 from $17.99 until 12/22)
Gravity Rider Zero ($1.99 from $6.99 until 12/22)
DungeonTop ($3.99 from $13.99 until 12/22)
Badland: GotY Edition ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/22)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, December 3rd
6180 the moon ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Animal Up! ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Animated Jigsaws: Japanese Scenery ($2.49 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Basketball Pinball ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Bishoujo Battle Mahjong Solitaire ($4.19 from $5.99 until 12/3)
Brawl Chess ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Chess Minimal ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
City Bus Driving Simulator ($4.79 from $11.99 until 12/3)
City Driving Simulator 2 ($5.99 from $11.99 until 12/3)
Cloudbase Prime ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
CMS ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/3)
Coast Guard: Beach Rescue Team ($4.79 from $11.99 until 12/3)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair AE ($13.49 from $14.99 until 12/3)
Danganronpa 3: Killing Harmony AE ($26.99 from $29.99 until 12/3)
Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp ($17.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc AE ($13.49 from $14.99 until 12/3)
Date Night Bowling ($8.49 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Detective Driver: Miami Files ($4.79 from $11.99 until 12/3)
Dragon Pinball ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Dustoff Heli Rescue 2 ($2.00 from 48.00 until 12/3)
Enchanted in the Moonlight ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
Farmquest ($8.49 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Fury Unleashed ($7.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
Futoshiki Math ($1.99 from $6.99 until 12/3)
Gas Station: Highway Services ($4.79 from $11.99 until 12/3)
Gradiently ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Green Game: TimeSwapper ($2.00 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Gynoug ($5.59 from $6.99 until 12/3)
Haustoria ($1.99 from $12.99 until 12/3)
Her Love in the Force ($17.49 from $24.99 until 12/3)
Hitori Logic ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Infectra ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Kakurasu World ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Kakuro Magic ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Kissed by the Baddest Bidder ($12.49 from $24.99 until 12/3)
Kropki 8 ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Lines XL ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Love Letter from Thief X ($12.49 from $24.99 until 12/3)
Many Faces ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Midnight Evil ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Mundaun ($13.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
My Forged Wedding ($12.49 from $24.99 until 12/3)
Null Drifter ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Our Two Bedroom Story ($12.49 from $24.99 until 12/3)
Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Paradox Error ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Plumber Puzzles ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Poker Pretty Girls Battle Texas Holdem ($4.79 from $5.99 until 12/3)
Robozarro ($2.44 from $6.99 until 12/3)
Rock ‘N Racing Bundle: OR & GP ($3.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
Scandal in the Spotlight ($17.49 from $24.99 until 12/3)
Shark Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Shikaku Shapes ($1.99 from $6.99 until 12/3)
Shopping Mall Parking Lot ($5.99 from $11.99 until 12/3)
Skatemasta Tcheco ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Slither Loop ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Solitaire Klondike Minimal ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Solitaire Spider Minimal ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Speedway Racing ($2.49 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Sports & Adventure Pinball ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/3)
Squeakers ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Star-Crossed Myth ($14.99 from $29.99 until 12/3)
Stonefly ($13.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
Sudoky ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/3)
Suguru Nature ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
They Came From the Sky ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Titans Pinball ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/3)
Vaccine ($2.49 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Vampire: The Masquerade CoNY ($5.99 from $19.99 until 12/3)
Vampire: The Masquerade SoNY ($6.49 from $12.99 until 12/3)
Venus: Improbable Dream ($7.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Warplanes WW1 Sky Aces ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/3)
Word Forward ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/3)
Wordify ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/3)
That’s all for today, friends. I’ll be back tomorrow with the rest of the new releases for the week, and there are quite a number. Big Brain Academy, Danganronpa, and many more. It should be a fun list, and unless something goes very ca-ca I shouldn’t be spending any time at the hospital tomorrow. I expect there will also be a number of sales, so we’ll have those in the usual handy list as well. I hope you all have a great Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
