December: it’s a month that is an important one. A month to go all overboard with decorating your home and having Christmas music blaring from your speakers. Or a month for melancholy remembering the loved ones you have lost in your life. But it’s always a month that has special meaning. For now though, lets focus on all the free time you will have enjoying your video games, and the game presents you’ll give or receive for your favourite hobby.
Time for another list of upcoming video games on the Switch. Let’s see what we have to look forward to, though I do feel the list still is somewhat bare. Maybe the developers want to surprise us over the Holidays? Moreover, not all games to be released are on here. Alternatively you will see games that the big gaming sites don’t mention. These are the games that we are taking notice of, and if given half a chance, you can expect reviews for many of them! Unless I have some personal experience with the game mentioned, the descriptions are mostly from the Nintendo website.
EarthNight – December 3
EarthNight released by Cleaversoft is a procedurally generated endless runner, the type of game were your character runs continuously and you control their jump and other moves. It takes place in a world where space dragons have destroyed the Earth and humans have had to flee to outer space.
Choose to play as Sidney or Stanly, each with different superpowers, and run the length of the dragons’ backs, collecting power-ups as you go. ChamZen felt it a great game with beautiful artwork. Read her review here.
Simulacra – December 3
You found the lost phone of a woman named Anna. In it, you see a desperate cry for help in the form of a video message. The phone behaves strangely as you dive deeper into it. You talk to her friends and they have no idea where she is. Her texts, emails and photo gallery provides fragments of information. It’s up to you to piece it together.
You have to recover lost files, piece back corrupted data, and retrace her final steps. The game has five endings, that you reach through popular phone apps, including a dating app, a social media app and a web browser. Solve the mystery and find her before it’s too late! This game is rated M in America, but 16+ in Europe.
Tools Up! – December 3
Do you like your home renovation shows on tv? Don’t fancy to take on your own home as you aren’t a DIY pro? You can now enjoy renovating a home without getting speckled in paint with Tools Up! The Knights of Unity and All in! Games are teaming up to move into your living room with this couch co-op. Tools Up! is coming to Nintendo Switch just in time for your upcoming family gathering(s) in December. You can play the game with up to four friends and race against the clock to move and renovate an apartment.
Hero Land – December 3
You’re invited to a magical resort where anyone can be a hero—except for you. You just work there! Luckily, it’s on an island where dreams come true…for a price. As a tour guide, your job is to lead “heroes” safely through the theme park’s dungeons. Customize strategies, repair weapons, and manage items to survive!
You can recruit over 20 quirky characters, including upright knights, phantom thieves, high school girls, and one casually nihilistic otter/man. Meet and defeat a colorful cast of coworkers such as monstrous mascots, cute li’l slugs, selfie-loving skeletons, and magical broccoli! Seems like a very whimsical tale!
Wizards of Brandel – December 5
The young wizard Darius loses his house after he fails to make a loan repayment, and ends up living for free in the house of a wanted sorcerer! As he meets a female swordsman who has absolutely no sense of direction, and a plant girl who shrivels up immediately if she doesn’t drink enough water, fate decrees to end up traveling together. Where will the quarrels over differing principles lead to?
Unleash continuous attacks with Limit Burst in turn-based battles and form partnerships with the Familiar Spirits! The Magic Lab lets you power up your skills and you can also enjoy setting fields, dowsing areas, and visit side-job rooms to get items at the Magical Garden! Furthermore, explore towns and secret dungeons, experience all the achievements you know and love, such as weapon strengthening, item crafting, and the arena!
You can expect a review on the site!
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two – December 5
In Tick Tock: A Tale for Two you and your friend find yourself trapped in an eerie world created by the skilful clockmaker Amalie Ravn. Your mission is to escape! But to do so you need to navigate a mysterious, sinister clockwork world filled with secrets and cryptic puzzles. To find the truth and ultimately escape this place, you must combine the information on both players’ screens.
Prepare yourselves for a narrative adventure where your communication skills are put to the test. Shout out instructions, discuss what you see, and listen. But remember: time is ticking. Play on two devices, local or remotely, all you need is a voice connection.
Smash Rush – December 5
Rush, hit and smash your way through futuristic alien crystal glass tunnels, avoiding laser beams, traps and other alien obstacles. Explore colourful dimensions in a galaxy far away. Your task is to navigate monumental alien structures, smashing all crystal panels and score bubbles while avoiding deadly obstacles, and laser beams! The procedurally generated levels ensure every run is different.
When Kishou is done running, so here is his review!
Space Pioneer – December 6
You are a bounty hunter traveling with your trusty robot sidekick. Together you discover new planets, chart incredible worlds and reveal ancient secrets. Make your way across fantastical planets from the icy tundra to the lush jungles brimming with flora and fauna.
The endless universe has countless hostile galaxies to conquer. Combined with the dynamic objectives system, the gameplay is truly infinite in Space Pioneer. Recover stolen disks, defend probes, repair crashed craft and complete missions to earn loot and unlock awesome gear and skills. Every time you play missions have new objectives, enemies and additional challenges.
Here is our review for this fast action-packed top-down shooter.
Riverbond – December 10
The Knight has imprisoned the leaders of the Eight Worlds, causing chaos, droughts and disarray. Adventure together to defeat evil and help the charming citizens of Riverbond in this action-packed journey through beautiful, hand-crafted worlds. Unlock a variety of weapons, equip new skins, and activate power-ups to hack and slash your way to glory.
Embark on a heroic journey to complete missions, battle adorable enemies, and smash everything into tiny cubes! Will you and your friends be the legendary heroes of Riverbond?
Serena wanted to be that hero, so here is her review.Â
Travel Mosaics: A Paris Tour – December 16
You know Picross right? Then picture picoss in more then one layer, and each has to fit together into a nice mosaic. Got it? That’s Travel Mosaics. You start out easy, but with many more layers it gets to be a nice challenge. The mosaics you make are based on France. Putting the coloured dots in their rightful place is very satisfying.
Here is my review for this interesting puzzler.
Farabel – December 20
Your hero is strong, victorious and lived happily ever after. The End…b…but wait…the game just started!
In this turn-based strategy game, you begin at the end of the story and have to go back in time to prevent war. And obviously, the whole gaming experience is turned upside down! After each victory comes a jump into the past, when you were not that strong. Think carefully to choose the right points to weaken and still survive.
Can you manage with less health? Or do you prefer to deal less damage? You will have to make the right (tricky) decisions to anticipate your next fights. Thankfully your units offer a wide range of special abilities that can help you.
Regions of Ruin – December 23
Regions of Ruin is a 2D side-scrolling RPG with town-building where you are introduced to an open world that progressively challenges your hero and settlement the further you delve into the vast continent.
You will discover a foreboding land ravaged by hundreds of years of hardship. Where, kingdoms have risen and fallen, settlements have been laid to waste and overrun by warring groups, and great mysteries lay hidden and waiting to be unearthed – assuming you can defeat their jealous guardians.
Paula, our town building expert, has reviewed the game here.
This completes our list of Upcoming Switch Games for December. But if a title we like is added, I’ll add it here too!