The 15 best games for your Nintendo Switch

In under a year, Nintendo Switch has become the new home to indie games. Stuff like "Golf Story" and, now, "Battle Chef Brigade," stand out as highlights among an excellent selection of smaller, less expensive, often more interesting stuff.

"Battle Chef Brigade" merges match-three gameplay (think "Bejeweled" or "Candy Crush") with side-scrolling battles (think NES- and SNES-era beat-'em-ups), and throws in a very silly story to boot.

The "Jackbox Party Pack" — any and all entries in the series — is 100% worth your money. 

These are killer party games that turn your Switch into an entertainment device that involves whole groups of people. If you've ever played the delightful, silly, irreverent "You Don't Know Jack," you're already aware of the kind of game I'm talking about. 

It's a trivia game that's been a hit for decades across dozens of different devices, from PC to (now) the Switch, but it's support by a slew of excellent games like "Fibbage" and "Drawful." The packs of games take simple board game concepts and turn them into more guided, often more fun experiences.

2011's "L.A. Noire" was a gritty detective game set in 1940s Los Angeles that focused more on solving crimes than on shooting bad guys — a major departure for Rockstar Games, the folks behind the "Grand Theft Auto" and "Red Dead Redemption" franchises.

In 2017, it got a big re-release (with some updates) — though you can play the game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, another solid choice is the Nintendo Switch.

"L.A. Noire" is unlike most games, both in its style and its gameplay. Though you're able to careen around an open-world, 1940s Los Angeles in a car, the vast majority of the game is focused on detective work: investigating crime scenes, speaking with witnesses, and deciphering suspects. It's a thoughtful, unique game that offers something completely different than everything else on the Switch.

Check out our preview of "L.A. Noire" on the Nintendo Switch right here.

"Golf Story" takes the whimsical delight of old-school role-playing games and spins it into an endearing, charming game that's focused on — yes, of course — golfing. 

Don't worry: "Golf Story" is far from a simulation-style golf game. It's focused on storytelling and world exploration, like so many RPGs before it, with relatively simplistic golfing as a means to an end. If you've ever played an NES or SNES golfing game, you'll be familiar with the kind of gameplay in "Golf Story." And even if you haven't, it's a cinch to pick up.

Take a break from exploring Hyrule and check out "Golf Story." You won't regret it!

The "Binding of Isaac" games are an homage to an era of gaming that's long passed.

You play as young Isaac, who's dealing with some pretty serious personal demons that manifest in the form of actual demons. The long and short is that it's a top-down shooting game, but that's really underselling the level of depth in this game. If you haven't already played it on one of the many other platforms it's on, scooping it on the Switch is a solid choice.

Similar to "Snipperclips," the futuristic arcade-style racing game "Fast RMX" provides a much-needed alternative to "Zelda." On a console otherwise bereft of high-speed racing games, "Fast RMX" stands out as a great racer that evokes nostalgia for the days of "F-Zero" on the SNES, "Wipeout" on the original PlayStation, and even some light touches of "Mario Kart" thrown in for good measure. It's also a stark graphical showcase for the notably tiny Switch console.

Aside from having a goofy name, "Snipperclips" is a charming two-player game that utilizes the Nintendo Switch gamepad — the "Joy-Con" — in a smart way.

Each player gets one Joy-Con, and you use them as miniature gamepads (held sideways) to control one of two aggressively-silly characters on screen. You can "cut" each of the two characters into various shapes, which can then be used to solve whatever puzzle is in front of you. I've found it to be the perfect foil to the hours-long single-player experience in "Breath of the Wild" — quick bursts of fun co-op gameplay as compared to lengthy play sessions, alone, in "Breath of the Wild."

Nintendo used to be known for games like "Metroid" and "Castlevania" — games that offered deeply challenging experiences, often in sci-fi or fantasy realms.

Games like "Axiom Verge" are helping to restore that status. 

Like the franchises mentioned above, "Axiom Verge" features a large 2D world that's unlocked through exploration. It's got the 16-bit graphics to match the games it pays homage to, yet it evolves many of the concepts that made its predecessors so great. 

Like so much of the world's greatest art, "Axiom Verge" feels out of place in time. 

Some of the best indie gems of the past 10 years have pulled beloved franchises from the past, like "Metroid" and "Castlevania," into a gloriously updated modernity. 

"Cave Story+" is a perfect example of this second wave of classic game design, taking the side-scrolling puzzle worlds of classic game franchises and updating them with modern advances like save points, complex animation, and procedurally-generated worlds — games where the levels are new every time because they're created by algorithms on-the-fly.

It's smaller, more personal games like "Cave Story+" that round out the Switch's strong blockbuster line-up — it's the perfect game to play in the Switch's handheld, portable mode.

Think of "Minecraft" as virtual LEGO.

It's a system for fitting pieces together to create something — sometimes amazing somethings — from nothing. "Minecraft" provides endless building blocks and a blank canvas. It's up to you to create something incredible, or silly, or referential, or whatever, using the tools it provides. The tools are blessedly user-friendly, as are the systems for employing those tools.

If you're interested in a more guided experience, that's in there also. But the real joy of "Minecraft," for me, is in discovery and creation. Playing "Minecraft" can be an almost meditative experience, which makes it perfect for a console like the Switch that you can take with you.

Read more about "Minecraft" right here.

Perhaps you remember "DOOM" from its 2016 release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC? Or maybe you remember the original "DOOM" from the '90s?

Even if you've never played any games in the "DOOM" franchise, the latest entry is an insanely fast, clever, genuinely funny first-person shooter that puts a premium on gameplay above all else. 

It's also a surprisingly violent and bloody game for the Nintendo Switch — a welcome aberration from the usual kid-friendly affair, aimed squarely at the many adults who are buying Switch consoles for themselves. Mario is a blast, no doubt, but so is ripping through thousands of demons.

Read our review of "DOOM" right here.

Whether you've been playing "Mario Kart" games for years or you've never touched one, "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" is a tremendous delight.

It's the definitive "Mario Kart" experience, with a ridiculous number of courses and playable characters. Best of all, the Switch becomes a portable "Mario Kart" machine if you take the console in portable mode — each Joy-Con becomes a gamepad, and the Switch is the screen. Being able to casually challenge a friend to "Mario Kart" by simply having the Switch with you is pretty incredible.

Crucially, "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" is a perfect game to play alone or with friends. The vast majority of the time I've spent with the game has been sitting next to my wife, playing together online against the world. Since the game came out in late April, it's been a constant in my apartment.

Read our review of "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" right here.

Nintendo really set the tone of the tremendous first year of the Nintendo Switch with "Breath of the Wild" in March.

More than a great new entry in a classic franchise, "Breath of the Wild" moves forward the entire video game medium. Through meticulous game design that demanded more from players, Nintendo once again demonstrated its uncanny ability to redefine foundational aspects of gaming.

It's the kind of game that changes player expectations — what they expect of themselves and what they expect from games. It's also an excellent game to dig into while traveling over the holidays.

Read our review of "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" right here.

"Super Mario Odyssey" is an open-world, nonlinear "Super Mario" game — along the lines of "Super Mario 64" and "Super Mario Sunshine". But if you're thinking "Grand Theft Auto," that's not entirely accurate.

Instead of one huge world, "Super Mario Odyssey" is segmented into "Kingdoms" that range in size from tiny to massive. There's no timer; your only limitation is survival. The goal in "Odyssey" is to collect Moons — the game's stand-in for Stars — across over a dozen open worlds.

The pure joy of playing "Odyssey" is hard to convey. It's the best Mario game in years, and easily one of the best Mario games ever made. It may also be the best game of this year — it's certainly the best game on the Nintendo Switch, which is really saying something.

Read our review of "Super Mario Odyssey" right here.