The Best Switch Games for Girls

Switch games for girls;  where to begin

So you don’t play video games yourself, but your little girl is enjoying her time on the family’s Nintendo Switch? Finding a game as a present can be a chore when you have no experience yourself. And I can just see why giving her eShop credit isn’t the way you want to go. It simply isn’t the same as giving a “real” game in a game case with nice box art on it.

Don’t worry, we have you covered with our Best Switch Games for Girls list!

Below is a list of games that she might enjoy and that are all available in stores, not just as a digital download. They have all been tried and tested by one of our team of writers, and come recommended! 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Let’s be clear: there is no game more entertaining, creative, social and just plain cute and sweet, than Animal Crossing (can you tell I’m a fan). So New Horizons is a sure choice if you want to go for many, many hours of gameplay. Retreat to an undiscovered island and live with the animals that all have their quirky and special personality. Decorate your house, and catch bugs and fish. Dig for fossils and be creative when it comes to making patterns on the clothes your character wears.

There are no goals, play as you see fit and take your sweet time. Nintendo is sure to keep you entertained by introducing events and festivals, like having to search for eggs when Easter approaches and many, many more. 

Here’s Ash’s review for Animal Crossing New Horizons!

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

The remake of the classic GBA game Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town. In this game, you’ve returned after many years to restore your late grandfather’s farm to its former glory. Care for crops, livestock, and more as your very own story of seasons unfolds.

Mineral Town is full of friendly faces. Head into town, give gifts and learn all about your neighbours as you befriend them. Mineral Town is home to several eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. Get to know the boy or girl of your dreams, and you might be able to date them, get married, and even start a family!

Want to know more? My review is here!

Pokémon Let’s Go (Eevee or Pikachu)

Let’s Go Pikachu or Let’s Go Eevee: both are the same games with some different Pokémon to collect. The games are based on Pokémon Yellow from the past. You journey through the Kanto region as a rookie Pokémon Trainer, and catch, battle and form friendships with many Pokémon along the way! What’s extra special is that this game connects with Pokémon Go on mobile. 

Although this game still has enough to do for die-hard Pokémon fans, it’s particularly good for newcomers to the series. No need anymore to battle the same wild Pokémon over and over again to get experience or go to the nearest pokécenter to access your Pokémon. They are always there with you! 

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles

An island that is beautifully detailed and colorful, but plagued by a mysterious dark purple fog known as the Murk, which is causing distress to the island’s residents and is effectively polluting the environment. No surprise then that it’s your mission to gather sprites. They are the only ones that are capable of dispelling the Murk. Gathering sprites isn’t all you have to do, this game simply is heaven for gamers who love side-questing. Every area you find on Gemea has several side quests to fulfil.

Yonder is the kind of casual game the Switch could use more of in its library. In this game, there are no enemies or monsters to fight. There is some farming and tending to animals, but not in the hands-on way of Harvest Moon games. The game is about exploring, farming for materials, fishing and crafting and mostly collecting. Just for the fun of it, and to help the fellow inhabitants of this beautiful land. Even though there are main quests to further the story of activating the Cloud Catcher and ridding Gemea of the murk, the storyline isn’t what it’s about.

I wrote a review for the game, which you can find here. 

Go Vacation

Go Vacation is a mini-game collection and holiday simulator. It was originally developed and published by Bandai Namco for the Wii in 2011. But it was also released on the Nintendo Switch last Summer, right in time to jump back into the tropical fun. The game takes place on Kawawii Island, which has four resorts: Marine, Snow, City and Mountain. In these resorts, you’ll find a mini-game collection.

Aside from playing the mini-games, you can also take pictures, photograph animals, collect presents that are dropped from planes and walk around with your dog. You can play with up to three other players locally in split screen, but the game is also very enjoyable to play alone.

Paige wrote a review for the game that you can find here. 

Harvest Moon: Light of Hope

A good farming simulation game to keep you busy for long hours of gameplay! You go on a voyage to begin your new life, but unfortunately, the weather has different plans. Your ship is hit by a storm and goes down. You drift into a small harbour town, now in shambles from the storm, where a young doctor named Jeanne saves your life.

The town has been deserted, and it will be up to you to help rebuild the town and save the lighthouse…Hard work ahead (well, virtually! ) growing crops, tending livestock, and gathering materials for repairs. You will be able to make new friends, start a family, revive the lighthouse, and save the town. 

A good farming simulation game. 

Bee Simulator

The hive awakens as the sun’s first rays warm the horizon. It’s time to test your wings, receive orders from the Queen and begin your first mission. And that’s just the start of your adventures. Humans want to cut down the tree that holds your hive, so your fate and that of the whole swarm rests on your tiny shoulders!

In this game, you can see the world through the eyes of a bee! Explore a world inspired by Central Park where you can take part in bee races, collect pollen from rare flowers and defy dangerous wasps.

You can play the game alone in story mode protecting your family of bees. Can you save the hive from the threat of human beings? You can also play in exploration mode to discover a world inspired by Central Park in New York. But if you want to have fun in the game with friends and family, you can play in split-screen mode.

Our review of the game is here. A word of caution though: if you are prone to seasickness you might experience some problems flying! 

Super Mario Party

The Mario Party series is the longest-running mini-game series to date, with the latest instalment being Super Mario Party on the Nintendo Switch. In Super Mario Party, up to four players take turns rolling the dice and individually race across a board; seeking to obtain stars to try and win. There are also five gems to collect from the different game modes, with the main mode ‘Mario Party’ being the board game that fans of the series have come to enjoy. 

In between a round of everyone’s turn a mini-game is played. The mini-games are the best way to earn coins which you need to buy the stars. Whoever has the most stars (or coins if it comes to it), at the end of all the turns; wins. Various spaces do different things, such as give or take your coins, trigger a bomb countdown, or take you to another side of the map.

If you enjoy board games and are looking for a party game to play with family and friends, then this would be perfect. 
Paige wrote a review for the game that you can find here. 

Just Dance 2018 or 2019

The Just Dance series is great entertainment for home parties. It’s also a fun way to get moving if you’re a couch potato. The games in the Just Dance series are rhythm games. You dance to famous pop songs, attempting to mirror the dancer onscreen. The controller in your hand has a motion sensor that detects if you’re copying the dancer correctly and on time.

Sure, you could choose to just move your hands and you can score full points by merely lounging on the couch. But where’s the fun in that? The fun is in moving your whole body, even if you’re awful at it. Triple the fun when you’re doing it with friends!

Dancing fun with family and friends. 
Pikodoodle made a review of Just Dance 2018, you can find it here. 

Overcooked

In Overcooked you and your friends take on the role of chefs in a kitchen. You have to prepare meals by preparing ingredients, cook them, serve them and clean up too. And meanwhile, you are working against a time limit to complete as many dishes as possible. And you can’t just make what you want, no, you have to do it in a certain order.

This also means that working together with friends makes the work easier, and you can earn more coins. You’ll also get bonuses for speed, while orders that are improperly served do not earn any points but only waste time. Of course, the goal is to collect as many coins as possible within the time limit.

This family game can get hectic but is always fun. 
Paige made a review of Overcooked 2, you can find it here. 

Little Dragons Café

The story begins with a twin brother and sister learning to cook and manage a small café under their mother’s tutelage. All was peaceful and routine until one morning when the twins discover that their mother has fallen into a deep sleep and won’t wake up. Suddenly, a strange old man appears to inform them that they must raise a dragon in order to save her life. Working together with three quirky café employees, the two siblings must figure out how to wrangle a dragon and manage the family business while finding a way to save their mother.

Little Dragons Café can’t be compared to Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, Yonder or any of the fan favourites. You can’t farm, you can’t design patterns or even decorate a house. There is no dating and no marriage either. But then that’s not what the developers were going for. There is a strong emphasis on exploration like in Yonder but there’s a clear goal too: to find out what each character’s personal story is and help him or her reach their goals.

A good simulation game. 
I wrote a review for the game, which you can find here. 

Crayola Scoot

Crayola Scoot is a skating game, but instead of skates, you use scooters. Grinding on rails, performing flips and spins and such. And meanwhile, you leave a trail of coloured paint, much like in Splatoon. In the game, you get to do challenges using the paint. You travel to three different skate parks and complete challenges and games there, while occasionally competing with your scooting rivals to increase your scooting notoriety.

You can also customize your character and scooter with unlockable clothing and decorating stuff you’ll get as you progress.

A good family racer, Paige made a review for the game which you will find here. 

Mario Tennis Aces

Yep, I did ask at the bottom of this article if there are any physical available games that we missed: one of our readers reached out. Livi wrote that her daughter loves it so much and she said she might even consider playing tennis in real life! So, let’s add Mario Tennis! 

Unleash an arsenal of shots and strategies in all-out tennis battles with friends, family, and fan-favourite Mushroom Kingdom characters. Whether you play locally, online or using simple motion controls, intense rallies await. You can play with four players simultaneously if you have enough joy-cons for that. Plus, the tennis rackets you can buy online to put the joy-con in make it even more realistic. In Adventure mode, experience a new flavour of tennis gameplay, with a variety of missions, boss battles and more.

A good family game! 

bayala – the Game

You might have to go through a bit more trouble to lay your hands on this game, but if your child is a fan of Schleich toys and especially of the Elven folk of Bayala, this is a sure success. 

In the beginning in Bayala, there was a magical link between the Elves and the Dragons that was so strong, that the Elves even guarded the dragon’s eggs. Until the evil Shadow Queen Ophira stole the eggs. This was the beginning of a worrying time because when the dragons disappear, the power of magic might vanish, too. Surah and her friends set off on an adventure-packed journey through forests, into caves and across Bayala’s Dragon Mountains. She faces off against the evil Shadow Queen Ophira, to save Bayala from certain doom, and bring back the magic!

Join Surah on her journey to bring the dragon egg back to where it belongs in this delightful adventure, based on the movie. 

I made a review for the game which you find here. 

Minecraft

Really, you must have lived locked away from civilisation as we know it when you’ve never heard of Minecraft. I mean, even my 86-year-old mother knows about it, and she’s not even into gaming! Minecraft is basically a collection of 3D blocks, and everything from stone to leaf and water is represented by these blocks. The game can be played in several modes. The survival mode, is where you are challenged to build everything you need not to starve and not be beaten by enemies.

Creative mode is the opposite of survival mode: you have an infinite amount of all blocks and items available. No worries about hunger or health and you’ll even be able to fly. Especially younger kids might really enjoy this type of gameplay, where you can make whatever you like. And let me tell you, players made some amazing creations!

Adventure mode is a sort of cross-over between survival and creative mode, and it’s often used to allow other players to visit your creations, or for creating adventure maps. Other players won’t be able to break down your blocks.

I’d say there’s a mode for everyone, depending on whether you want to be challenged to survive in the wild with aggressive enemies and only the resources you can mine yourself, or if you want to create something without worrying about the materials needed. That’s the beauty of the game, you can play in a pink world without a care, or you can create your own challenges and make it as tough as you want.

Dragon Quest Builders 2

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the much-awaited sequel to the first game. It might look a little daunting at first, as there is some fighting in the game. But, as one of the readers remarked, it’s an improved version of Minecraft. In this game, you follow a storyline on the one hand (action RPG) and allow your creativity to flow on the other hand (simulation/ sandbox environment).

Because crafting is such a big part of this game, you can really let those creative juices flow. You meet interesting characters, have fun conversations with them and build up the various islands together with them. And on your home island, you can build the way you see fit. And even keep animals! 

My review of the game is here. 

My Friend Peppa Pig

Have a fun-filled adventure by becoming Peppa Pig’s new friend! Create and dress your character, ring Peppa’s doorbell, and begin a story that’s all up to you. Peppa suggests activities everywhere you go. Help Daddy Pig find his glasses, follow the animal tracks in the Forest, splash in muddy puddles, and much more! It’s just like being in an episode of a TV show, where all your favourite characters are excited to meet you. From the Beach to the Museum and even Potato City, every playtime is a new experience with your friend Peppa Pig.

My review for My Friend Peppa Pig is here. 

Pretty Princess Party

Learn to be a Princess and decorate the castle any way you wish. Begin by creating a Princess character with endless choices of dresses, shoes, accessories, and hairstyles. Then train to be a Princess by playing six different fun mini-games, including cake decorating, Horse racing, and dancing.

Restore the castle to its former glory and win the prize! Successfully completing the games will unlock new outfit choices and allow you to access hundreds of unique items to decorate your castle’s 20 rooms. Once the rooms are decorated, you can take commemorative photos to show off your Royal style! Even after completing the entire magical story, you can take on new challenge objectives to update rooms and photographs.

I reviewed Pretty Princess Party here. 

My Fantastic Ranch

Train dragons and unicorns in your fantastic ranch. Take care of them and build relationships between them and students through riding lessons. In addition, you’ll build the perfect ranch to raise the magical creatures and become the best trainer with the most famous ranch in the enchanted kingdom.

Build the facilities you need to take care of your unicorns and dragons. Take care of their everyday well-being and ensure they have an environment where they can thrive. My Fantastic Ranch is an easy-to-play game with a unique design. It is perfect as an introduction to management simulation games and for being immersed in a fantasy world filled with the most adorable creatures.

Our My Fantastic Ranch review can be found here. 

Did we miss any?

If there are any physical games you think we should add to our Best Switch Games for Girls list; please let our readers know in the comments below!