Possibly the best Nintendo game of 2025 will be released for the Switch 2 in July

Nintendo’s new console is fresh on the market and is filling the game repertoire with some really big titles in July.

Normally, I’m not really into monkeys. While all the visitors to the zoo are always shouting Oh, how cute! or Oh, how funny!, I stand there bored. They probably just remind me too much of … well, myself.

However, there is one monkey that I have really taken to my heart: Donkey Kong! Nintendo’s in-house banana expert is finally getting his own 3D adventure again on June 17, 2025 after a whopping 26 years of drought. Donkey Kong Bananza has what it takes to become the biggest Switch 2 hit of the year.

But apart from that, July 2025 will also see the release of some very exciting games for the Switch 2 that are often not in the spotlight. That’s why I’m now presenting my 5 personal recommendations for July 2025!

Quick navigation:

• The best Switch 2 games for July 2025
• All Switch 2 games that will be released in July 2025
• All new Switch 2 games in 2025

The best Switch 2 games for July 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuvXFXcczOw

• Release: July 17, 2025
• Developer: Nintendo
• Genre: 3D Jump&Run

What’s it all about? The monkey Donkey Kong loves bananas more than anything. That’s why he travels the world in search of the particularly tasty banandium. On his journey, however, he is suddenly sucked into the interior of the planet, where he meets an enigmatic and very talkative stone that accompanies him from then on. Together, they decide to travel to the deepest point of the underground, as all wishes are supposedly granted there.

The gameplay of Donkey Kong Bananza is the star of the game, rather than the story. In terms of gameplay, Bananza is strongly reminiscent of Nintendo’s hit Super Mario Odyssey from the very first second, and having had the chance to play it ourselves, we can confirm this. The game could easily be called Mario Odyssey 2 if it weren’t for the monkey as the star of the show.

The list of ingredients reads great: large, almost completely destructible environments, countless secrets and collectibles, a fantastic soundtrack and lots of creative gameplay ideas. There’s a good chance that we’re in for a big Switch 2 hit in 2025.

Islanders: New Shores

• Release: July 10, 2025
• Developer: The Station
• Genre: Building game

What’s it all about? Even on the Nintendo Switch 2, you don’t have to do without your beloved building games. My favorites of the genre are always the titles that simply let me settle in peace, without warfare and other fuss.

I am therefore all the more excited about Islanders: New Shores, the successor to the 2019 Steam favorite, which has a whopping 94 percent positive user reviews to date. New Shores also focuses on the creative, peaceful construction of my city. The warm-colored visuals are really relaxing and just the thing to wind down after a long day at work.

Tip: You can already download a free demo from the Nintendo eShop.

Shadow Labyrinth

• Release: July 18, 2025
• Developer: Bandai Namco
• Genre: Action/Metroidvania

What’s it all about? As Swordsman No. 8, we wake up on a mysterious planet and have to make sure we get out of this mess in one piece. The highlight of Shadow Labyrinth is that Pac-Man is at your side as a talkative companion!

No, you haven’t made a mistake: Pac-Man, the legendary yellow omnivore from the 1980s, is back. In the course of the action-packed Metroidvania, you will therefore play classic Pac-Man levels again and again, which have of course been enhanced with all kinds of modern twists.

This is so weird, I’m in the mood – you too?

Tales of the Shire

• Release: July 29, 2025
• Developer: Weta Workshop
• Genre: Life simulation

What’s it all about? Middle-earth is such a wonderful place, but mostly we Tolkien fans only get to see the gloomy stretches of land. Dark mines, rotten forests, the ashy plains of Mordor – it’s not nice, I wouldn’t want to live here!

Thank goodness for Tales of the Shire! Because the cozy game lets me play a hobbit in the Shire. Expand and decorate your own cave? Check! Chatting with the neighbors about the latest bag harvest? Check! Eating your fill and smoking a pipe all day long? Check!

I think I’m not the only one already planning to move to Wasserau or Froschmorstetten.

No Sleep for Kaname Date

• Release: July 25, 2025
• Developer: Spike Chunsoft
• Genre: Adventure

What’s it all about? The full title of this highly unusual game is No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – it rolls off the tongue really smoothly, doesn’t it?

The gameplay is just as weird as the name. As a (for some reason scantily clad) lady called Iris, you wake up on a UFO from which you must somehow escape to save your life. It’s a good thing Iris can count on the help of the psyncer Kaname Date! His left eye can detect clues and delve into the dreams of suspects to help Iris.

Do you only understand the station? No wonder, this game will probably only appeal to you if you’re generally into Japanese game design. Like me, because I’m already tingling at the thought of escaping the supposed alien abduction with Iris!

So you can look forward to some exciting new games for your Switch 2 in the coming weeks. But if you haven’t found anything suitable for you in our personal recommendations, don’t despair. Because on page 2 of this article, we now provide you with a complete and up-to-date overview of all games that will be released for the Switch 2 in 2025.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been available since June 2025 and should accompany us and many of you through the coming months and years. What about new games? We have all announced Switch 2 games in 2025 packed into a handy overview – always up to date!

All Switch 2 games that will be released in June 2025

• Mario Kart World – June 5
• Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour – June 5
• Street Fighter 6 – June 5
• Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster – June 5
• Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition – June 5
• Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut – June 5
• Fortnite – June 5
• Split Fiction – June 5
• Fast Fusion – June 5
• Hogwarts Legacy – June 5
• Hitman World of Assassination – Signature Edition – June 5
• Sonic X Shadow Generations – June 5
• Deltarune – June 5

• Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars – June 5
• Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S – June 5
• Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer – June 5
• Survival Kids – June 5
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess – June 5
• Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition – June 5
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – June 5
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – June 5
• Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 – 5 June
• Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma – June 5
• Fantasy Life i: The Time Thief – June 5
• No Man’s Sky – June 5
• Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army – June 19

All Switch 2 games that will be released in July 2025

• No Heroes Here 2 – July 1
• Hogtie – July 10
• Islanders: New Shores – July 10
• Patapon 1+2 Replay – July 11th
• Bendy and the Dark Revival – July 11
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, July 11
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition – July 15
• The Wandering Village – July 17th
• Donkey Kong Bananza – July 17

• Shadow Labyrinth – July 18
• Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV – July 24th
• No Sleep for Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files – July 25th
• Wild Hearts – July 25th
• Tales of the Shire – July 29

All Switch 2 games that will be released in August 2025

• Drag x Drive – August 14
• Madden NFL 26 – August 14
• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road – August 21
• Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – August 27th
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land Switch 2 Edition – August 28

All Switch 2 games that will be released in September 2025

• Star Wars Outlaws – September 4
• Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion – September 5
• Borderlands 4 – September 12th
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles – September 30