Over the last two weeks of December, we are announcing the winners of the First Annual SwitchRPG Awards. We’ll be announcing new winners every weekday, leading up to a final announcement on January 1st for RPG of the Year!

For our last day before getting to the long awaited RPG of the Year, we’re here to talk about our pick for the Best Budget RPG of 2018. Our staff and community are RPG fans through and through, whether it be for big budget masterpieces or quiet, small explorations of the genre. We absolutely adore smaller indie titles that do something unique with one of the oldest genres in video games, and we created this category to honor these achievements on the Nintendo Switch. Each of these nominees costs $15 or less on the eShop, and they are all dripping in charm, nostalgia, innovation, and enjoyment in some form or another.

The Nominees

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King

Dragon Sinker

Into the Breach

West of Loathing

And the Winner Is…

West of Loathing

The award for Best Budget RPG was, without a doubt, the most hotly contested award among the SwitchRPG staff. At one point or another in our discussions, each of the nominees was in the running to take the crown, but when the final day of debate came, we finally settled on West of Loathing, a quirky, turn-based RPG from Asymmetric. Sometimes ignored for its unusual, stick figure art style, West of Loathing nevertheless shines as one of the best turn-based RPGs on the Switch. Fueled by a wonderful sense of humor and a satisfying gameplay loop, this title strips down the traditional turn-based RPG and provides an experience that is short, sweet, and fun as hell. If you’ve got $11 to spare on the eShop, West of Loathing and its unique setting and personality are well worth the buy.

Community Pick: West of Loathing

While the SwitchRPG staff may have struggled to finalize their winner for this category, the community had other ideas. West of Loathing fans came out in force in support of their favorite budget RPG, garnering our highest community poll result with a whopping 74% of the total votes. Despite both Asymmetric and other developers nominated in this category retweeting our poll, it was the West of Loathing fans who showed up in staggering numbers for the win. Their support should stand as a testament to the quality of this quirky little title.

What are your favorite Budget RPGs to hit the Switch in 2018? Have any overlooked recommendations? Or would you like to rave about one of the nominees? Spread the love in the comments below. And come back tomorrow to kick off the New Year with our award for RPG of the Year!