Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 3rd, 2024. May the third be with you! Hm. Doesn’t quite work, does it? No Star Wars surprises this year, friends. We have several new releases to look at, but perhaps owing to the Golden Week holidays in Japan, it’s not exactly a bumper crop. Lots of bin stuff, in fact. But there are a few cool games to consider, including one that you play using a box. After looking at those, we’ll go into our usual lists of new and expiring sales. Let’s finish the week!
New Releases
Cyber Citizen Shockman 3: The Princess from Another World ($5.99)
The third and final Shockman game once again changes up the gameplay, this time offering something more along the lines of the Valis series. Walk through the levels, do a little platforming, and do a lot of slicing and dicing. This is the first time this game has been officially available in English, which is pretty cool. It even supports two players via local multiplayer. I’ll have a review of this soon, so keep your eyes open for that if you want more details.
Outbreak The Fedora Files What Lydia Knows ($19.99)
A curious release. There are two games included here, both based in the Outbreak universe. One of them is a visual novel with a choice-based structure and multiple endings, while the other is a roguelite RPG. Neither of them are very fancy dining, but if you’re invested in this universe already then you might get more out of it.
Bruce and Box ($5.20)
Bruce is in a bit of a bind. He’s lost everything, even the clothes on his back. All he has is a cardboard box, and you have to help him get home safely. So… this is a weird game. You have to play it using a box. Any box will do. You set your Joy-Con down, and raise and lower the box in front of its IR sensor as needed. Obviously this won’t work in handheld mode, but if you like games with unconventional gameplay, you won’t find anything more unusual this week.
Plantabi: Little Garden ($6.99)
Here’s a little gardening game where you grow plants and decorate your space. Complete orders from customers and expand the selection available to you. There’s even an alien buddy you can make friends with in case you want to get really weird with your garden. It doesn’t seem like a very big or complex game, but it might be fine for your needs.
The Purge Club ($19.90)
Oh, please tell me that name is referring to what I think it is referring to. Phew, looks like it isn’t. The story of this visual novel is all over the place. There’s a guy who a girl has a crush on, and maybe other girls have crushes on him too? The girl starts a club that helps other people, but then another girl who hates that girl and is also the student president decides to interfere with her? I don’t know, and the dreadful localization here sure isn’t helping. As ever, I can’t really recommend a game all about reading that hasn’t even mastered the art of word wrapping.
Spirit Swap ($19.90)
Another visual novel from the same publisher as The Purge Club. This one is a body swap story of sorts, where a young man and woman’s spirits are stuck together in the woman’s body. Can they find a way to separate? Will they both survive the process? And what will they learn along the way? It’s hard to say, because as usual, the localization is really poor here. A real shame, especially at prices like these.
Exit Slum 11 ($2.50)
Another one of this kind of game. I’m going to start moving these to the Bin Bunch soon, I think. Anyway, you keep walking forward. If you see something weird, go back. Otherwise, you keep moving ahead. A slightly fancier take on Red Light, Green Light. But only slightly.
The Bin Bunch
Pirates Golden Quest ($4.99)
Knight Sim Life ($9.99)
All Noobs Must Die – Craft, Survival, Mine ($12.99)
Amelia’s Diner ($4.99)
Bomb Cat ($6.99)
My Horse Stories ($7.99)
Baking Time ($4.99)
Smack ($9.99)
Beach Girls 2: Sports in Bikini ($11.99)
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
A fair sized list of new sales today. I’ll shout out a few. Missile Dancer 2 just recently launched and is a lot of shooting fun. Tamarak Trail is a decent enough take on the whole card-based roguelite RPG thing. Tinykin is a fun platformer and has never been cheaper. Not much in the weekend outbox, so I’ll just leave that to you.
Select New Sales
Wartales ($29.99 from $39.99 until 5/9)
Cozy Grove ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/9)
Mia and the Dragon Princess ($8.44 from $12.99 until 5/10)
Rush Rally 3 ($4.49 from $14.99 until 5/10)
Chop Goblins ($3.74 from $4.99 until 5/10)
Squirrel Stapler ($5.99 from $7.99 until 5/10)
Witch’s Potion: Water Sort Puzzle ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/16)
The Lost Ashford Ring ($10.49 from $14.99 until 5/16)
CrashOut Xtreme ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/16)
Pogo Joins the Circus ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/16)
April’s Diary ($10.49 from $14.99 until 5/16)
Super Sean 007 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/16)
Genseisuikoden Plus ($19.79 from $21.99 until 5/17)
Full of Crap ($9.75 from $13.00 until 5/17)
Kashido ($9.75 from $13.00 until 5/17)
The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna ($3.49 from $9.99 until 5/17)
Dead End City ($10.49 from $14.99 until 5/17)
Nephenthesys ($3.89 from $5.99 until 5/17)
Hell Well ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Vall laB II ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Rayland 2 ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Escape from Terror City ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/17)
Fluffy Milo ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
EchoBlade ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/17)
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/17)
Defense Master ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/22)
Speed or Death ($3.19 from $7.99 until 5/23)
Lil’ Guardsman ($15.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Kumamon Run ($2.50 from $5.00 until 5/23)
Western Slot Machine ($2.02 from $4.50 until 5/23)
Party Hard 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Tamarak Trail ($11.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Amazing Princess Sarah ($2.72 from $8.00 until 5/23)
BlackJack Waifu Tour ($2.02 from $4.50 until 5/23)
Spectrolite ($5.59 from $13.99 until 5/23)
Yaga: Roots of Evil ($2.49 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Beholgar ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Missile Dancer 2 ($11.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Hell Pie ($8.49 from $24.99 until 5/23)
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator ($15.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Dissolved: Chapter One ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Hello Engineer ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Black Skylands ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Tinykin ($12.49 from $24.99 until 5/23)
Hello Neighbor ($9.99 from $39.99 until 5/23)
Rhythm Sprout ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
FoxyLand Collection ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Super Trunko Go ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Pumpkin Jack ($7.49 from $29.99 until 5/23)
The Coma: Recut ($1.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Runbow ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Monster Boy & the Cursed Kingdom ($9.99 from $39.99 until 5/23)
Rigid Force Redux ($2.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Odd Hue Out! ($2.99 from $3.99 until 5/23)
Sales Ending This Weekend
Choo-Choo Charles ($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/4)
Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game ($39.99 until $49.99 until 5/4)
Furi: Modore Edition ($12.49 from $24.99 until 5/4)
Haven ($14.99 from $24.99 until 5/4)
She Sees Red: Interactive Movie ($2.49 from $9.99 until 5/4)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new games, more sales, more reviews, and perhaps some news. I’m doing the stay-cation thing again this year, which means I’ll be playing a lot of games and keeping some money in my pocket. It’s all we can do in times like these, I think. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!