**Update: It's a bit slow on the game release front, but we've refreshed the list with a couple new additions, removed some old ones, and updated a few release dates.**
The Nintendo Switch is exploding in popularity, selling nearly 3 million systems worldwide in its first month on store shelves - which is probably why it's so hard to find one right now. Nintendo's got first-party titles locked down with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 2, but what about everything coming later this year? This list will help you keep track of upcoming games, their confirmed release date (if one exists), and why you should be paying attention.
Namco Museum
Release date: July 28, 2017
Genre: Arcade
Why is it so interesting? Namco is no stranger to releasing its old games on new platforms - hell, there were five separate volumes of Namco Museum games on the original PlayStation. Now, Namco brings Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug and more to Nintendo Switch, along with a few extra goodies. Some additions are things you'd expect, like quicksave restore points and global high score rankings, but other additions - like special challenges and the ability to turn your Switch vertically to play with original arcade screen ratios - are all new to this set. Even better, hook up two Nintendo Switch's and play an updated version of the experimental GameCube multiplayer game, Pac-Man Vs.
Sonic Mania
Release date: August 15, 2017
Genre: Platformer
Why it's so interesting? We go through this song and dance every time. New Sonic game gets announced, it looks great, we get our hopes up, we play it, it sucks, we despair, and the cycle begins anew. That optimism may actually be warranted this time around, as the team behind the new game - including Christian Whitehead, the programmer who got Sonic CD to feel right with mobile touch controls - has clearly spent their entire lives obsessing over how to recapture the 16-bit side-scrolling era of Sonic on modern platforms. Based on the demos I've played, they might actually pull it off, too.
Minecraft: Story Mode: The Complete Adventure
Release date: August 22, 2017
Genre: Adventure
Why it's so interesting? It's Minecraft, but different. Telltale has a history of crafting taut stories around a handful of colorful, realized characters within various licensed properties. Somehow the studio did the same for Minecraft, a game that has no story or characters. This version will include all five episodes from the first season, along with the additional three Adventure Pass episodes released last year.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
Release date: August 29, 2017
Genre: Strategy
Why is it so interesting? This shouldn't work. The Rabbids haven't been relevant in years, Mario has a laser gun, and the Super Mario series hasn't had a lot of experience in the strategy arena. But with Ubisoft's E3 unveiling of Mario + Rabbids, I'm actually a lot more excited for it than I ever thought I'd be. It's like a cartoony take on XCOM, complete with cover mechanics and special combos, only you run around a colorful world with a bunch of obnoxious bunnies and a magical Roomba. I know. It's weird, but it works.
Redout
Release date: August 29, 2017
Genre: Racing
Why is it so interesting? Nintendo may not be interested in making F-Zero games any more, but between Fast RMX and now Redout, Nintendo may not even need it anymore. Redout's got all the trappings you'd expect from a futuristic racer - cool hover cars, impossible tracks, and blistering speed - but all of it is taken into overdrive thanks to the use of Unreal 4 and the Nintendo Switch's hardware. F-Zero may be forgotten by Nintendo, but for fans looking for the next best thing, Redout will more than take care of you.
Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition
Release date: August 2017
Genre: Metroidvania
Axiom Verge is at once a love letter to exploratory platformers like Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as well as a step forward for the whole genre. Set on a distant alien world, you lead scientist Trace through a series of grotesque locales, looking for a way back home (preferably with your humanity intact). It's a game that constantly upheaves your expectations, offering a bevy of unexpected power-ups to completely change up how you play. Its arrival on Nintendo Switch also brings with it a physical release called the Multiverse Edition, which includes a documentary detailing the lone developer's five-year-long journey to create his masterpiece.
Golf Story
Release date: Summer 2017
Genre: Sports RPG
Why is it so interesting? Nintendo and Camelot's Game Boy Color take on golfing was a revelation, even for people who hate golf. Mario Golf GBC combined RPG-lite character upgrades and progression with a simple and intuitive arcadey version of golf - and it happened exactly once. Sidebar Games has clearly taken this to heart, and is making its own full-on golfing adventure, complete with eight unique environments, side-quests, and even a story. I don't even like golf and I can't wait to play this.
Ultimate Chicken Horse
Release date: Party
Genre: Summer 2017
Why is it so interesting? Ultimate Chicken Horse is as silly as its name suggests. Gather up to four people and run through a series of platforming gauntlets filled with a deadly array of sawblades, spikes, enemies, and other obstacles. The catch: you actually get to design the levels. Each player takes turns placing these obstacles in such a way that they'll catch your opponents while letting you sail past them, then all four players simultaneously attempt to complete the level. It's simple, it's stupid, and the multiplayer fun of this once PC-exclusive feels right at home on Nintendo's console.
Dandara
Release date: Summer 2017
Genre: Platformer
Why is it so interesting? Don't listen to the haters - pixel art is great, especially when it looks as good as it does in Dandara. Here, you'll move through its strange, inventive world by bouncing off of the walls and ceiling, taking out foes with charged blasts and generally trying to navigate a world where up is relative. While it's coming to other platforms, Dandara is specifically designed to take advantage of the Switch and its touch-screen, allowing for unique control methods outside of its standard Joy-Con input.
Stardew Valley
Release date: Summer 2017
Genre: Farming Sim
Why is it so interesting? Stardew Valley is the result of one developer's four year quest to combine everything he liked about Harvest Moon games - the farming, the time management, the romancing, the exploration, the secrets - and fuse them into one game and put it on PC. The reason why it's become as successful as it is, though, isn't just because it's derivative: It's because Stardew Valley improves and expands on a lot of the concepts Harvest Moon introduced while simultaneously forging its own identity. The Switch port will even feature the console debut of an all-new multiplayer mode!
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