Shortly after I bought my Nintendo Switch, I caught wind of the trend of ultra cheap games on the eShop (shout-out to our very own Russ Lyman for making a video on these which was one of the things that initially got me into them). Since then, I've been adding about ten bucks to my account every few months and checking the eShop weekly to see what games are on sale for under one US dollar. I have many games on my Switch now. Make no mistake, many of them are not very good, but the low risk and potentially high reward have yielded some diamonds in the rough that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Here are a few of them. 



One Person Story - This 100 level action puzzler starts off easily enough. A bouncing ball of light climbs the screen and it is your job to manipulate obstacles by pressing the A button to allow the ball to get through. All the while, 'inspirational' messages with a loose connection to the action going on in the puzzles are read by a pleasant female voice. This and the symphonic music will make you want to keep progressing through the levels, but the game gets pretty difficult quickly. However, it's the kind of difficult where if you quit the game after being stuck on a level and then come back a few hours later, you will likely beat that level on your first try and then the next five in a row. I enjoyed chipping away at the levels until I beat this game.   

 

Paratopic - Here we have a bit of an odd game that has generated a lot of buzz as of late for the unique experience it provides. Paratopic is an experimental first person adventure game in which there are no save points. There is a disclaimer to this effect when the game starts and sleep mode notwithstanding, the game is designed to be played in one sitting and my first and so far only run through took about forty five minutes. One of the game's unique features is the visual style. The graphics very specifically look like a PS1 game. The game consists of walking-simulator exploration, dialogue trees, a little bit of driving, and other mechanics I won't spoil. The player is shifted from situation to situation somewhat abruptly, but this keeps the game going at a good pace as you wonder what will happen next and try to piece together what is going on. I'm hoping to understand the game a little better on my next playthrough, which is egged on by a mysterious set of achievements shown at the end of game, out of which I only got about half on my first playthrough.   

 

Ubermosh: Omega & Swarm Riders - I'm lumping these two games together because the experiences they deliver are very similar to each other. They are both time attack horde based twin stick shooters, and they both have a loud visual and audio cyber-punk style. Ubermosh: Omega falls into the more traditional twin stick shooter category where a character you choose at the beginning moves around a small arena on foot fending off hordes of enemies and in my case, getting overwhelmed and dying very quickly. In this game the clock counts down and I have not been able to beat the first level with any of the characters, though I still think it is a lot of fun to play for a few minutes at a time. The same goes for Swarm Riders, which actually counts time up, and your high score is how long you survived. The difference here is you are controlling a motorcycle rider and mowing down a swarm that is chasing you. My best time is around one minute and yet I keep coming back to try to improve on that. For both of the games, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface because I cannot get very far, but I feel comfortable recommending them at any price under one US dollar. Fans of twin stick shooters or fans of the cyber-punk aesthetic should check them both out.

 

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