The 25 Best Nintendo Switch Adventure Games

Adventure games can be filled with action along the lines of big fights and having to defend yourself. There are plenty of those kinds of options on the list, but A Short Hike is a little more happy-go-lucky. You go on a walk and along the way, plus you can stop to do things like go fishing or swimming. You can also interact with other people on their journey. A Short Hike provides a pretty chill experience for those looking to build out a playlist of the best Nintendo Switch adventure games.

Hack-and-slash adventure games have been a staple of gaming for a long time now and in a short time, the Bayonetta series has become a fan favorite of the genre. It’s a game where combat is fun, trying to string together long, creative combinations of attack. The game is compared to the Devil May Cry series a lot so if you like that, give this a try.

Developed and published by Square Enix, Dragon Quest XI is admittedly generally regarded as a role-playing game, but you’d be wrong to say it wasn’t an adventure and wouldn’t appeal to fans of that genre. The game sees players exploring worlds and killing monsters, which is something everyone loves.

In Firewatch, you take on the role of Henry, a fire lookout who communicates with the world via a walkie-talkie. Despite that, you’d be amazed at how immersive the game is and how much you care about the characters. Firewatch is one of those quintessential adventure games that lives by its engaging story and curious mystery, which is why it's prime for this collection of the best Nintendo Switch adventure games.

Hollow Knight isn’t just any old "Metroidvania" game - it’s the one credited with resurging the entire genre after it decreased in popularity a little over the past two decades. The game does a good job of introducing players to the genre and keeping it true enough that hardcore fans of it will still enjoy it.

In Immortals Fenyx Rising (formerly known as "Gods and Monsters"), you play Fenyx, a mortal who must rescue their brother and to do so must defeat Typhon. The game is packed with a lot, including funny moments and tricky puzzles that will have you hooked for hours.

If you were a fan of Limbo, which is the Playdead-developed game released in 2010, then INSIDE is a must-try. It’s an eerie offering that doesn’t hold your hand through the adventure and forces you in with its atmosphere. You play as a boy in a strange environment that you need to figure your way through.

Released in March of 2022, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is true to the series in that it’s not the most difficult game in the world, but it’s a fun adventure to go on. This is as good as any Kirby game to jump into to test drive something from the series, seeing as though it’s the first main series entry in full 3D.

L.A. Noire is made by Rockstar Games and while it doesn’t get the same attention as Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, it’s well worth playing. The game puts you in the 1940s as a detective who must solve crimes in… you guessed it, Los Angeles. The game does somewhat feel like a time capsule for the time it was released, but if you can get past some of the outdated graphics, you’ll enjoy this.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a more than worthy addition to the franchise and in many ways, saved it. The game focuses on horror, but nothing that most people won’t be able to deal with, even if reluctantly just like the titular character. It’s a great game for the whole family to play.

Metroid Dread is a fan favorite because it combines what fans loved about the older entries in the series with the best features of the newer entries. The game sees you control Samus Aran who must investigate a strange transmission on ZDR.

When Mae Borowski went off to college, her friends and family changed and now that she’s back, reconnecting is difficult. Her hometown is filled with unexpected changes too. This game entails working a job while controlling her to explore the cause for the changes and you do so in a 2D adventure.

Released in the mid-2000s, ŌKAMI HD is a game that feels a lot like the Zelda series and Genshin Impact and is arguably one of the better action-adventure games with that feel. It is set in classical Japan and tells the story of Amaterasu saving it from darkness, combining Japanese folklore and mythology to do so.

If exploration, collecting items, and having to unlock areas to explore them is your kind of grind, give Ori and the Will of the Wisps a try. It’s the sequel to Blind Forest and adds some great open-world mechanics and side missions to it, making it a great improvement on an already great game.

You might not think of these kinds of whodunnit games as adventure per se, but Overboard! has a lot of replayability, despite rounds lasting about half an hour on average. This means that figuring out the best way to get away with murder is an adventure in itself.

Arceus is heralded as one of the best Pokémon entries in years, revitalizing the series for casual and hardcore fans. The game does away with the old, in many ways archaic formula of old Pokémon games and instead, your overall goal is to complete your Pokédex.

With that being said, that doesn’t mean there’s no want to play the original style Pokémon games. Sword and Shield were the first Pokémon games on the Nintendo Switch and while their ranking in the main series is up for debate for many, it’s a great game to dive into if you want to experience the classic feel.

The Super Mario franchise has offered fans some great games over the years, so for Super Mario Odyssey to be called one of, if not the best of the franchise, is high praise. It’s an ambitious 3D entry that bats it out of the park regarding the quality of the worlds and gameplay.

Terraria does it all and it does it all in a great way. In a procedurally generated 2D world, you can explore, craft, build, paint, fight, and a whole lot more in one of the better sandbox games of all time.

Although you might not hear as much about Skyrim these days as when it came out, thanks to some great ports, the game lives on. It redefined open-world adventure games and is held to this day as one of the most epic, immersive games ever.

When you clicked on this list, you knew Breath of the Wild would make it. It’s arguably not only the best Zelda game of all time, but the best game on the Switch overall. The vast open world feels full of life and is begging you to inspect every corner of it. If you’ve ever enjoyed one of Link’s past adventures, playing this game is a no-brainer.

Breath of the Wild freshened the series up in many ways. But if you want a dose of the classic Zelda feel, what better game to try out than the prequel to the entire series? Skyward Sword HD is the version of the game with many of people’s problems from the original version removed and that makes it great for a playthrough.

It’s still amazing that a vast game like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was ported onto Nintendo Switch, not to mention the fact that we got two DLC packages too. Of course, you’re still going to get better performance from a console or PC, but this version of the game is better than good enough. It was the game of the year for many and makes other great open-world adventures seem small in comparison.

Two doctors have the ability to give terminally ill patients a new life by altering their memories, but when they meet Johnny, they make an extra effort to go into his past, solving clues so that they can give him the perfect memories. It’s not a light-hearted story as the design style would suggest and is gripping from start to finish with great execution of a wonderful concept.

What Remains of Edith Finch requires the player to investigate the Finch family’s house due to their strange deaths where only one member from each generation is kept alive. You go around the house triggering memories and flashbacks, with each one coming to you in a unique visual style.