18 of the Best Touch Screen Games on Nintendo Switch (January 2020)

With the system’s unique capabilities, there are a lot of unique touch screen games on Nintendo Switch. There are a lot of touch screen games on Nintendo Switch, but a lot of them aren’t ideal to be played without regular controls. However, there are others that are either made solely with touch screen controls in mind or just work a lot better. So, here are 18 of the best touch screen games on Nintendo Switch.

Disclaimer: This list of the best touch screen games on Nintendo Switch has recently been updated in January 2020. This list is also in alphabetical order as we acknowledge that individual players have their own personal preference, therefore it would be unfair to rank them against each other.

The Banner Saga Trilogy

Developed By Stoic
Published By Gearbox Publishing
Genre RPG / Strategy
Rating T
Players 1

The Banner Saga games are strategy RPGs based in Nordic mythology. Overcome the oncoming hordes of dredge and bask in the games’ gorgeous art style. These games pack a lot of content into them and every minute can be played using touch screen controls. You can buy the physical copy that comes with all three titles, or you can download each game individually right now!

Burly Men at Sea

Developed By Brain & Brain / Seaven Studio
Published By Plug In Digital
Genre Adventure / Puzzle
Rating E10+
Players 1

The award winning Burly Men at Sea is best described as a choose your own adventure interactive picture book. Three bearded men find a map in a bottle at sea which leads them on journeys of discovery and wonder inspired by Norwegian folklore. Make new decisions and proceed down different paths to reveal more strange mystical tales. Each play through takes approximately 30 minutes, the perfect amount of time for a bus ride or bedtime story. The gameplay mechanics are simple, requiring you to simply move from left to right and interact with characters and objects. The dialogue is charming and witty and often puts a smile on the players face.

Darkest Dungeon

Developed By Red Hook Studios
Published By Red Hook Studios
Genre RPG / Strategy / Adventure
Rating T
Players 1

Darkest Dungeon is an incredibly in depth RPG that not only pits you against monsters, but against psychological trauma. The art style is crisp and melancholic, with a fantastic art style that has its very own style. With 16 playable characters, each with their own abilities and styles. With over 60 hours of gameplay, all of which can be completed with just the touch screen, that’s a lot of gameplay without any need for Joy-Cons or controllers.

Ding Dong XL

Developed By Nickervision Studios
Published By Nickervision Studios
Genre Action / Arcade
Rating E
Players 1

Ding Dong XL is a simplistic arcade game that has you shooting a ball from one side to the other. It may not sound like much, but the concept relies on its addictive simplicity instead of attempting to complicate things. It just depends on whether the core of the game is worth the buck.

If you’d like to learn more about Ding Dong XL, click here to read our review.

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training

Developed By Nintendo
Published By Nintendo
Genre Puzzle / Education
Rating E
Players 1 – 2

Dr Kawashima has returned with brand new braining training challenges on the Nintendo Switch. Test your self-control, short-term memory and processing speed in order to determine your brain age, compete against friends in some brand new multiplayer modes or relax with some Sudoku and the Dr Mario styled Germ Buster. As old as this series may be, the Nintendo Switch iteration may give this new iteration a whole new lease on life.

If you’d like to learn more about Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, click here to read our review.

Fallout Shelter

Developed By Bethesda Game Studios
Published By Bethesda Softworks
Genre Simulation / RPG / Strategy
Rating T
Players 1

Fans had been clambering for Fallout on the Switch and they got their wish… sort of. Fallout Shelter allows you to build and maintain your very own vault. Craft your own items, send dwellers to the surface and make sure you have citizens with a wide range of skills on order to thrive and survive. Fallout Shelter was initially developed for mobile devices, so the game is perfectly optimised for touch screen controls. Build a better life… underground.

Gorogoa

Developed By Buried Signal
Published By Annapurna Interactive
Genre Adventure / Puzzle
Rating E
Players 1

Gorogoa is an artistic puzzle game that is laid out on a square with four images. The player must delve deeper into each image to find connections with each other. Guide the young boy across various religious and spiritual themes in a 20th century European setting. Play the entire game in handheld mode, using the touch screen to maneuver through beautiful images that will leave your mouth wide open in amazement.

If you’d like to learn more about Gorogoa, why not check out our Quick review.

Hook

Developed By Rainbow Train
Published By Rainbow Train
Rating E
Players 1

Hook is a very simple puzzle game that requires you to retract all of the lines to complete a level. However, this is easier said than done. The lines must be retracted in specific orders as one line’s path may be blocked by another. The game starts off easy, but quickly becomes a head-scratching brain-twister as the levels become more complex.

If you’d like to learn more about Hook, click here to read our review.

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Mars Power Industries

Developed By 7A Games
Published By SONKA
Genre Strategy / Puzzle
Rating E
Players 1

Mars Power Industries is described as a feel good resource management game. Humans are beginning to colonise on Mars and your job is to set up power plants in order to bring power and resources to thrive and survive. With calm and minimalist music to lay on top, Mars Power Industries may well be the perfect way to relax after a long day on the ol’ mine.

If you’d like to learn more about Mars Power Industries, click here to read our review.

OXENFREE

Developed By Night School
Published By Night School
Genre Adventure
Rating T
Players 1

This mind-twisting adventure can be played entirely in handheld mode. Set on an old abandoned military island, a group of teenagers spend a night to get away from their troubles. However as the night progresses, ghosts of the island’s past begin to terrorise the group, possessing their bodies and forcing them to face their fears. Each decision that you make can alter the outcome of the story and the relationships with the characters. OXENFREE is an award-winning game that simply must be played by anyone who loves a good scary story.

Pokémon Quest

Published By Nintendo
Genre Strategy / Adventure
Rating E
Players 1

The Pokémon Company have been embracing the mobile market and with the switch itself having a touch screen, it was inevitable that they’d release some of them on the hybrid console. Pokémon Quest is a free to play game that features all of your favourite Pokémon in block form.

Shadow Bug

Developed By Muro Studios
Published By Muro Studios
Genre Platformer / Action / Adventure / Puzzle
Rating E10+
Players 1

Shadow Bug is a high intensity puzzle platformer with gorgeous canvas backgrounds and smooth fast-paced action. You can move the character slowly left and right, however you move much quicker and launch from the ground by touching the screen on an enemy, propelling you towards them. This makes for some fascinating gameplay mechanics and frantic boss fights. You can also use the gyro in the Joy-Cons, but the touch screen is admittedly much more precise.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI

Developed By Firaxis Games / Aspyr Media
Published By 2K Games
Genre Strategy
Rating E10+
Players 1 – 4

Sir Meier’s Civilization VI is a game where you can build your own empire and conquer your enemies, and on the Nintendo Switch, you can do it all in the palm of your hands. The game was originally developed for PC, so the touch screen recreates the mouse cursor. The Nintendo Switch version also includes all additional scenario packs, so that’s a lot of Civilization!

Steamworld Heist: Ultimate Edition

Developed By Image & Form
Published By Image & Form
Genre Action / Strategy / RPG
Rating E10+
Players 1

With the success of Image and Form’s Steamworld Dis series, Steamworld Heist has been criminally overlooked. This iteration of the steampunk robot-inhabited universe has you playing as a band of robot space pirates, going from one ship to the other and battling it out in 2D turn-based shooting combat. Steamworld Heist takes precision-perfect aiming with the ability to ricochet your bullets in order to pull off some tricky maneuvers. The Ultimate edition on Nintendo Switch also comes with ‘The Outsider’ campaign and many more weapons and upgrades for you to unleash some havoc on your enemies.

Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido

Developed By Nintendo
Published By Nintendo
Genre Puzzle / Action
Rating E
Players 1 – 2

Sushi Striker may not have received the success that Nintendo were hoping for, but the game is actually a well-crafted touch screen adventure that is brimming with a lot more content than you would expect. With fully voice acted anime cutscenes and approximately 25 hours worth of gameplay. Sushi Striker simultaneously released alongside the 3DS version leading us to speculate that Nintendo brought it over to the Switch as they were worried about how a new IP would do on the 3DS in 2018. But the touch screen nature of the game truly shows off the Switch’s screen capabilities with fast-paced match-up puzzle action.

Thimbleweed Park

Developed By Terrible Toybox
Published By Terrible Toybox
Genre Adventure / Puzzle
Rating T
Players 1

From the creators of the phenomenon Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick have made another masterpiece with Thimbleweed Park. This game takes place in a town of the same name and is set in neo-noir 1987. Play as five characters, all trying to uncover mysteries of murder and terror. With serious themes coupled alongside witty humour, this indie title will bring out a range of emotions as it encapsulates the magical storytelling from Gilbert and Winnick.

VOEZ

Published By Flyhigh Works
Genre Music
Rating T
Players 1

VOEZ is a rhythm-based music game that simply requires you to touch notes that fall from above in time with the music. The plot is based around six high school students in a band who slowly reach international fame. With over 100 songs to play through, VOEZ is a sure thing for anyone wanting a touch screen rhythm game on Switch.

The World Ends with You: Final Remix

Developed By Square Enix
Published By Nintendo
Genre RPG
Rating T
Players 1 – 2

In this classic DS RPG, play as Neku in the busy heart of Tokyo and complete daily missions in the Reapers’ Game. The original version focussed a lot around touch screen controls and while the Switch version was criticised for its poor motion controls in docked mode, the best way to play this version of this game is with the touch screen, which is what we’re looking for here, right?

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