Skyler Orton
The 3DS was a revolutionary handheld for Nintendo. Nintendo’s handheld, for the first time, had a widely available marketplace that allowed many smaller creators to release games on a flagship system. This led to many incredibly creative games hitting the platform. Here are some of our favorites.
5. Dillon’s Rolling Western
While now you might know him as that one assist trophy in Smash Bros, Dillon was a little known star of a three game series on the 3DS. The game combines 3D action gameplay with strategic tower defense in a way that’s engaging and rarely seen.
The concept is simple. You are Dillon, an armadillo ranger who protects local villages from roaming monsters named Grocks. These monsters raid villages for their livestock and your job is to defeat them before they reach the village. While you can fight them hand to hand, the more complex parts of the gameplay show themselves while you start building towers to protect the villages on their own.
This starts the resource gathering and management game of finding the needed materials in mines and the battlefield. Overall the game is a classic Nintendo gamble on a smaller IP that demonstrates their skill at making weird worlds and creative characters. That alone makes it worth a try.
4. Steamworld Dig
Steamworld Dig made a bit of a splash when it hit the platform in 2013. Coming out ahead of the indie metroidvania boom, Steamworld Dig provides an incredibly engaging gameplay loop which clearly influenced more modern hits. You play as Rusty, a steam-powered robot who has inherited a mine in a small town. The main gameplay consists of travelling deeper and deeper into the mine in order to expand your operation.
There is a simple and immediately addicting loop to this game. Traverse down the mine, gather resources, survive long enough to trade those resources for tools. Every tool feels meaningful and keeps the game interesting and worth playing long after credits roll.
However, despite the wealth of fun to be had, it’s a short and sweet experience which never outstays its welcome. It’s a classic no matter where you play it but the 3DS version is a personal favorite due to the useful bottom screen features like an easy access inventory.
3. Pushmo
If there’s one thing that the 3DS had an abundance of, it was JRPGs. If there were two things though it would be JRPGs and puzzle games. Despite this, Pushmo and its sequels stand out above the pack of puzzle games making a wholly unique game. You are given a pixel art image and your character, Mallo, is able to pull out the pixels in order to climb the image.
It’s a hard game to describe, but once it clicks it really clicks making a mixture of puzzle and platforming that is equal parts satisfying and challenging. On top of that, the games include a level editor allowing you to develop your own puzzles and share them online. While it is mostly defunct now after the fall of the 3DS’ online, at its peak this feature was a fantastic community experience I don’t want to forget.
2. Guild 01&2
Maybe putting an entire suite of 7 games is cheating for this list. However, factoring in the short runtime and idea behind the series it feels appropriate. Created by Level-5, the Japanese developer behind the Professor Layton series, this collection of smaller games combines the minds of some of Japan’s most creative video game auteurs.
The first collection includes everything from goofy mini games to serious JRPGs. Weapon Shop de Omasse is a rhythm game about crafting weapons to the beat and then selling them to classic RPG heroes. On the other hand, Crimson Shroud combines high fantasy storytelling with dice rolling combat for a great pocket RPG experience. These two games demonstrate the versatility of the collection making great, unique experiences.
In addition to these standout games, it also included projects from well known video game weirdos Suda 51 and Yoot Saito (the guy who made that weird Dreamcast Seaman game). While not as notable as the first half of the collection, their ambitious creative swings can’t be missed.
The second collection took the design ethos of the project to further heights funding three new projects. The highlight of the collection, and probably the project, is charming lifestyle game Attack of the Friday Monsters. The charming narrative game explores life in a town where kaijus and heroes battle every Friday. The game’s world is the biggest draw and its simple narrative makes you feel right at home, seeing through the eyes of a child.
The other games in the second series are great too, with Bugs and Tanks (a game where a bunch of ants have to fight miniature Nazi soldiers for some reason) and The Starship Damery (a very capable first-person survival horror) are good fun and standouts from the 3DS library. Overall this whole collection probably adds up to one big game’s worth of runtime, but the variety and scope of the project make it a can’t miss on the platform.
1. Pocket Card Jockey
Every once in a while Game Freak is let out of Pokemon jail to make whatever they feel like. The results are always wonderfully unique, but none stands out as much as the 3DS’ Pocket Card Jockey. The game mixes solitaire (based off the format of the card game golf) with horse racing and management. The result is a game that is endlessly replayable and easy to pick up and play.
Playing rounds of solitaire with no mistakes or within a certain time gives your horse energy to race. On top of that, you have to direct your horse on the track, manage its stamina, and collect power ups. Other than the racing, there is a complex horse breeding system where horses inherit their parents’ strengths. This leads to the fun of any sport management game and attempting to get the best horse is endlessly addictive.
Overall this game is a highlight for what the 3DS, and a handheld console, can be. The pick up and play nature is perfect for the system, and the use of dual screens is effortless. The game received a remake for IOS and the Switch, but it’s just not the same as the timeless 3DS classic.
What are your favorite 3DS games? Have you played any of these? Let us know in the comments below.
