5 Best Switch Games to Have on Your Radar in August 2018

Salt and Sanctuary (Aug. 2)

Best Switch Games in August 2018

Salt and Sanctuary was a bit of a surprise hit when it first launched back in 2016. The game featured this dark and quirky-looking 2D art style, and also had some action RPG elements that drew inspiration from the Souls series. To put things simply, Salt acts as this game’s version of souls and experience, while sanctuaries are bonfires that you can rest and level up at. As you might have expected already, if your character dies, you have one chance to go back to your grave site to pick up your lost salt. Die again, and it’s gone forever.

The game sets itself apart from other Souls-like games with the 2D plane. It doesn’t come with a map, which means you’ll constantly need to be mapping the areas out in your head, and remembering which places you can’t get to yet, and then coming back when you’re strong enough or have the ability to go through it. The level design in Salt and Sanctuary could be a little tighter, but it still features that looping design that fans loved from the Souls games. Salt and Sanctuary also boasts a rather extensive skill tree to customize your build with, along with other cool challenge run features (salt level 1 playthrough, anyone?) that offer great replay value.

Overcooked 2 (Aug. 7)

Best Switch Games in August 2018

Despite its performance issues, Overcooked is one of the best co-op and multiplayer games you can get on the Switch right now. However, all of that might change when Overcooked 2 finally releases in August.

If you thought the kitchens we got in the first game were wacky enough, the sequel takes things to a whole other level. The premise of Overcooked 2 is simple. For every stage, you learn a new food recipe, and your job is to create that dish and serve it to your customers quickly to maximize your tips earned. The orders will have some variations to them, and you’ll need to keep track of them and make sure you’re not serving the wrong thing. Matters get even more intense when you have three other players helping you out, and everyone has to divide kitchen responsibilities to be more efficient. However, most of the kitchens come with gimmicks that will throw you off from time to time, so you need to develop a cooking strategy while also being able to adapt to how the kitchen changes throughout the stage.

Overcooked 2 is one of those games that will seriously test your friendships and relationships. You should probably get it.

Dead Cells (Aug. 7)

Best Switch Games in August 2018

Dead Cells has been on Steam Early Access for a while now, but even during that early development phase, we really enjoyed what we played of it. The game is a roguelite, where the levels are procedurally generated, and there are also light Metroidvania elements where you have to explore a level fully and find ways to get past an area you couldn’t get to before. What’s most impressive about the game is that it also features good weapon variety and other RPG mechanics to help your character level up and develop a build that’s unique to you.

The game does suffer a little from the lacking enemy variety, but the tight combat controls more than make up for that, and it’s always satisfying to unleash crazy combos on a particularly tough boss. Dead Cells also features a pretty, 2D pixel art style that lends the game a sort of roguish charm, and it’ll be a good fit for the Switch library, alongside the already popular Enter the Gungeon and Wizard of Legend.

Little Dragons Cafe (Aug. 24)

Best Switch Games in August 2018

The Switch is a great console for when you just want to lounge on your couch and play a relaxing game while watching Netflix. Little Dragons Cafe is the perfect game for that. We got to play it at E3 this year, and I was definitely pleasantly surprised by how fun and charming it was.

The game kicks off with you choosing to play as either a male or female character. After your mother falls ill, you get an egg which quickly hatches into a baby dragon. Your job is to take care of the cafe that your mother was running, while also making use of the dragon to explore the island and gather resources for cooking. As the dragon grows, you’ll be able to explore more of the island and even engage in light combat encounters (though you can’t exactly ‘die’ and lose in this game), for more valuable stuff.

Cooking in Little Dragons Cafe occurs in the form of a quick-time event mini-game, which determines the quality of your dishes. Over time, you’ll be able to hire people to help you out at the restaurant so you can focus on exploring, but you’ll still need to come back every now and then to make sure your employees are doing their jobs properly. Little Dragons Cafe looks like a very relaxed title that you can just pick up and play at your own pace, which makes it a fantastic addition to your Switch library.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Aug. 28)

Best Switch Games in August 2018

This is the biggest game release for the Switch in August, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s Monster Hunter, what more do you need?

Monster Hunter Generations was originally released for the 3DS three years ago, and it’s getting ported to Nintendo’s shiny new console this month, making it the very first Monster Hunter game we’ll be getting for the system. While it might not be as pretty as Monster Hunter: World, which released earlier this year, it still features all of the classic MonHun systems that you can sink hundreds of hours into.

For starters, it’s got online multiplayer, so you can still go on quests and hunts with friends, and bully monsters for their body parts. It’s also got insanely deep crafting systems, where you can create better gear and weapons for yourself by hunting tougher beasts. This is a game you can easily get lost in because of how dangerously compelling the grinding loop is, but hey, that’s the main appeal of Monster Hunter after all.