Pinc yourselves — May is over, the big Summer of Gaming is here, and it’s eShop Selects time again. Time flies!
To say May has been crazy is a bit of an understatement. Nintendo may have had two big(ish) releases with Endless Ocean Luminous and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but have you seen the indies this month? We’re practically drowning. But as always, we have a job to do — our staff and contributors vote for their top three eShop games from the list of games we’ve reviewed, and we give you the winners (and the best that didn’t quite make the top)
But we can’t move onto May without congratulating the Reader’s Choice winner for April 2024 – stitch.! The adorable sewing game was announced during a surprise Indie World and is utterly charming.
Right, it’s time to check out just how stacked your backlog is, then.
Honourable mentions
This is maybe our biggest-ever eShop Selects month — 13 eShop-exclusive games scored at least a 7/10 , making for a bumper vote. But there were some very clear favourites. Here are the gems that didn’t quite make our top-three.
Nintendo Life’s honourable mentions
It’s Braid. What else can we say? One of the defining indie titles of the 2000s, Braid, Anniversary Edition gives the beautiful puzzle-platformer a new lease of life, with refreshed graphics and music and a fantastic suite of commentary tracks that dive deep into the game’s themes, art, development, and just about everything.
We gave this remaster of Braid a 9/10, proving it’s stood the test of time easily.
It might not have been our best-reviewing game of the month, but no one can say no to a little kitty in the big city, it seems. Little Kitty, Big City is a short, extremely-charming adventure that’s bursting full of personality. Even if you don’t love cats, it’s hard to resist this little mischief-maker as it explores the big city. Plus, silly hats. C’mon, there’s nothing better than silly hats, right?
We scored it a 7/10 here at Nintendo Life, but for many of our writers here, a cat has more than nine lives.
We’ll be honest here — it wasn’t even close. Animal Well ran away with the votes, with every single staff member who took part voting for it, and with all but two voting for it in first place. Blimey. Why? Well, it’s absolutely fantastic.
Animal Well is weird and wonderful in so many different ways: a puzzle-box version of a Metroidvania that never holds your hand but never feels impossible. It encourages exploration without any dialogue, satiating any budding adventurer’s curiosity. And the secrets go oh so deep. It’s an NL 10/10, pure and simple. Brilliant, brilliant stuff from Billy Basso.
< Nintendo eShop Selects – April 2024
eShop Selects Reader’s Choice Vote (May 2024)
Once again, we want you lovely readers to tell us about a game we might have missed this month. Yes, it’s possible, given how absolutely stacked May has been! 1000xRESIST has blown many away with its storytelling. Umbraclaw proves kitty cats are ruling the roost right now. Duck Detective is on the case. Viral sensation Bread & Fred tumbled down the mountain. Those are just four titles we missed, so there are plenty more, but why don’t you tell us what your favourite game is.
And, of course, you can also vote for your favourite out of our picks.
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.
Pinc yourselves — May is over, the big Summer of Gaming is here, and it’s eShop Selects time again. Time flies!
To say May has been crazy is a bit of an understatement. Nintendo may have had two big(ish) releases with Endless Ocean Luminous and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but have you seen the indies this month? We’re practically drowning. But as always, we have a job to do — our staff and contributors vote for their top three eShop games from the list of games we’ve reviewed, and we give you the winners (and the best that didn’t quite make the top)
But we can’t move onto May without congratulating the Reader’s Choice winner for April 2024 – stitch.! The adorable sewing game was announced during a surprise Indie World and is utterly charming.
Right, it’s time to check out just how stacked your backlog is, then.
Honourable mentions
This is maybe our biggest-ever eShop Selects month — 13 eShop-exclusive games scored at least a 7/10 , making for a bumper vote. But there were some very clear favourites. Here are the gems that didn’t quite make our top-three.
Nintendo Life’s honourable mentions
It’s Braid. What else can we say? One of the defining indie titles of the 2000s, Braid, Anniversary Edition gives the beautiful puzzle-platformer a new lease of life, with refreshed graphics and music and a fantastic suite of commentary tracks that dive deep into the game’s themes, art, development, and just about everything.
We gave this remaster of Braid a 9/10, proving it’s stood the test of time easily.
It might not have been our best-reviewing game of the month, but no one can say no to a little kitty in the big city, it seems. Little Kitty, Big City is a short, extremely-charming adventure that’s bursting full of personality. Even if you don’t love cats, it’s hard to resist this little mischief-maker as it explores the big city. Plus, silly hats. C’mon, there’s nothing better than silly hats, right?
We scored it a 7/10 here at Nintendo Life, but for many of our writers here, a cat has more than nine lives.
We’ll be honest here — it wasn’t even close. Animal Well ran away with the votes, with every single staff member who took part voting for it, and with all but two voting for it in first place. Blimey. Why? Well, it’s absolutely fantastic.
Animal Well is weird and wonderful in so many different ways: a puzzle-box version of a Metroidvania that never holds your hand but never feels impossible. It encourages exploration without any dialogue, satiating any budding adventurer’s curiosity. And the secrets go oh so deep. It’s an NL 10/10, pure and simple. Brilliant, brilliant stuff from Billy Basso.
< Nintendo eShop Selects – April 2024
eShop Selects Reader’s Choice Vote (May 2024)
Once again, we want you lovely readers to tell us about a game we might have missed this month. Yes, it’s possible, given how absolutely stacked May has been! 1000xRESIST has blown many away with its storytelling. Umbraclaw proves kitty cats are ruling the roost right now. Duck Detective is on the case. Viral sensation Bread & Fred tumbled down the mountain. Those are just four titles we missed, so there are plenty more, but why don’t you tell us what your favourite game is.
And, of course, you can also vote for your favourite out of our picks.
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.
