The Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2022

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 31, 2022

Which Nintendo Switch games impressed professional reviewers the most during the past year? We rank the best-reviewed Switch games released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion. (All scores listed here are from December 29, 2022.)

4 of 14 photo by Galactic Cafe

87 The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

(#10) It's not often that we get to include a game whose reviews are incorporated into the game itself, but that's the case with this new version of an existentialist adventure set in an office where all workers other than your character, the titular Stanley, have suddenly vanished. Over a decade ago, a mysterious indie game called The Stanley Parable —itself a stand-alone version of a Half-Life 2 mod created by a 22-year-old gamer-turned-developer in 2011—quickly became a hit with gamers and critics alike. This year brought a revised version of the game that not only updates the visuals to modern standards—and brings Stanley to consoles for the first time—but also expands the game with new content, new endings, and a bucket.

“I know that it’s weird to rave about a game without actually saying what it’s about, or what happens in it, or what you do. But as I said, the joy of The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is simply playing it, and watching as everything unfolds…and unfolds again…and then folds up and starts anew. It takes you in all kinds of unexpected directions with every playthrough, and you absolutely need to play it to fully understand what makes it great.” —Gaming Age

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