What do you do on the 1st of December? Put up the Christmas tree? Open the first door of your Advent Calendar? Or have a browse at the most recent eShop Selects? Of course, it’s the latter!
We’re looking back at November before we hit the holidays, and while those in North America may be recovering from overindulgence at Thanksgiving, we hope everyone can find something they want to play over the festive period. As always, this list of games is voted for by Nintendo Life staff and contributors — they pick their top three from the eShop games we’ve reviewed, and you’ll see the results below.
For October’s Readers’ Choice, there was a pretty even spread of votes across a handful of games, but the tactical RPG Wildermyth emerged victorious! The game blends XCOM-style combat with procedural storytelling and has been out on Steam for three years, but the Switch version looks pretty darn good.
What do you do on the 1st of December? Put up the Christmas tree? Open the first door of your Advent Calendar? Or have a browse at the most recent eShop Selects? Of course, it's the latter!
We're looking back at November before we hit the holidays, and while those in North America may be recovering from overindulgence at Thanksgiving, we hope everyone can find something they want to play over the festive period. As always, this list of games is voted for by Nintendo Life staff and contributors — they pick their top three from the eShop games we've reviewed, and you'll see the results below.
For October's Readers' Choice, there was a pretty even spread of votes across a handful of games, but the tactical RPG Wildermyth emerged victorious! The game blends XCOM-style combat with procedural storytelling and has been out on Steam for three years, but the Switch version looks pretty darn good.
Comfy? Let's have a look at November on the eShop, then.
Honourable mentions
November wasn't quite as packed as October, but it's been yet another quality month on the eShop. If you're resisting the Black Friday sales and just want something brand new, you can't go wrong with any of these...
However, here are our top three...
Publisher: Red Candle Games / Developer: Red Candle Games
What's this? A tie for third place two months in a row!?
Yes, remarkably the votes for both Nine Sols and the following game were even Stevens, so they both get the bronze. This might present as cute with its kitty key art, but it's a mature Metroidvania with a focus on challenging combat and fantastic presentation.
It was celebrated when it launched on PC earlier this year, and we were pleased to finally get to grips with it on Switch, bestowing a none-too-shabby 8/10 in our review.
Publisher: Tezcatek / Developer: Tezcatek
Sneaking in under the veil of a Carpathian night — and arriving fashionable late for Halloween, this loving throwback to classic Castlevania took us by surprise and crept into the top three.
The headlining actor might not have much of a 'starring' role, but the game itself delivers some top-notch, high-stakes (geddit?), 8-bit-style vampire hunting that we thoroughly enjoyed.
We awarded Carpathian Night Starring Bela Lugosi an 8/10 in our review.
Publisher: Chucklefish / Developer: Robust Games
Sneaking in at the end of the year and derailing our GOTY lists is a point-and-click adventure which funnels vintage LucasArts-style comedy and sass into an Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit.
Its title alone makes it worthy of investigation, but Loco Motive's gorgeous pixel art and pitch-perfect humour make it a runaway success and more than worthy of the 8/10 we awarded it. If it weren't for a few pesky bugs, it may have scored better! Let's hope Patchville is the next stop.
Publisher: Digital Eclipse / Developer: Digital Eclipse
Despite not including every single significant entry in this hallowed series, Tetris Forever does a great job of putting a bow on a story familiar to many video game fans at this point.
The inclusion of Tetris Battle Gaiden and a facsimile of the original Electronika 60 version make it essential for block-falling puzzle enthusiasts, and Digital Eclipse continues its excellent Gold Master Series, using an interactive timeline to remind us all of the unlikely events surrounding the race for the rights to this series.
All of which makes it a worthy November '24 eShop Selects winner. If you want to find out more, check out our 8/10 review.
< Nintendo eShop Selects - October 2024
eShop Selects Reader's Choice Vote (November 2024)
Now it's your turn to tell us what eShop games we've missed in November! We've been juggling Mario & Luigi, Switch 2 rumours, the DS' anniversary, and Black Friday deals, so something is bound to have slipped through the cracks.
One note, we'll actually be retiring the monthly Reader's Choice part of eShop Selects from 2025. We already curate a bi-annual list of Games We Missed, so you'll still get a chance to tell us about the games we didn't get a chance to try out elsewhere.
Another note, we are working on reviews for Life is Strange: Double Exposure (which got a shadow drop mid-month) and Spirit Mancer. Otherwise, anything we missed is game. Plus don't forget to vote on our top 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 three points, second choice gets two points, and third choice gets one point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
- See Also