Nintendo Game Trials [Free Nintendo Games, Legally!]

Nintendo Game Trials

Hi there! So you want free Nintendo games? Well good news, Nintendo are dishing out free first and third party games just like Microsoft and their "Game Pass" system! But because this is Nintendo, there's a catch. Well, two catches actually. First, the time you can play is short (usually a week), and second some of them are Japan-only and you need a Japanese Nintendo Switch Online account to access them! We can't do anything about the first thing, but we CAN help you with the second thing! Watch the video below to find out how to change your US/EU (et al) account to a Japanese one.

Important note: We have been told that changing regions can remove funds from your account (basically resets it to zero), and we don't know if the funds go back into your account if you change the region back to your original one after the Game Trials period ends. Best to try it with an empty wallet (if anyone finds out the answer to this, please let us know in the YouTube comments!)

Note 2: We made the video for the very first game, Captain Toad so every time we mention it just replace it with the most current one.

Pro tip: If you have a family Switch Online account you get to add up to nine accounts, so it's easy to make an extra Japan account and then add that as one of your "family members".

 

Complete List of Game Trials Games

2024 - 5 Titles

50 - PowerWash Simulator (Nov. 15 - 21)

English language available. 

You can read the original announcement here. 

49 - Among Us (Oct 7 - 14)

English language available.

You can read the original announcement here.

48 - Human Fall Flat (Aug 19 - 25)

English language available. 

You can read the original announcement here.

47 - Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher (Jul 29 - Aug 4)

Japan Exclusive.

You can read the original announcement here.

46 - Hollow Knight (Mar. 25 - 30)

English language available. 

You can read the original announcement here. 

2023 - 12 Titles

45 - Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery (Nov 20 - 26)

English Language Available. 

You can read the original announcement here. 

44 Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Nov 6 - 12)

English Language Available. 

You can read the original announcement here. 

43 - Eastward (Oct 9 - 15)

English Language Available. 

You can read the original announcement here. 

42 - Moonlighter (Sep 25 - Oct 1)

Japan Exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can read the original announcement here. 

41 - Spiritfarer (Aug 25 - 31)

Japan Exclusive. 

English Language Available.

You can read the original announcement here.

40 - 7 Days End with You (Jul 14 - 20)

Japan Exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

39 - Storyteller (Jul 14 - 20)

Japan Exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

38 - Give me toilet paper (Jul 14 - 20)

Japan Exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

37 - Cadence of Hyrule Crypt of the Necrodancer Feat. The Legend of Zelda (May 1 - 7)

Available Worldwide. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

36 - EA Sports FIFA 23 Nintendo Switch Legacy Edition (Mar 20 - 26)

Available Worldwide. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

35 - Katamari Damacy REROLL (Feb 13 - 19)

Available Worldwide. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

34 - Snipperclips (Jan 13 - 19)

Japan Exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

2022 - 11 Titles

33 - Coffee Talk (Nov 21 - 27)

Japan exclusive. 

English Language Available.

You can see the original announcement here. 

32 - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Oct 21 - 27)

Japan exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

31 - Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Sep 16 - 23)

Japan exclusive. 

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

30 - Fishing Spirits (Aug 8 - Aug 14, 2022)

Japan exclusive.

English Language Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

29. Doraemon: Story of Seasons (Jul 4 - Jul 10, 2022)

Japan exclusive.

English Language NOT Available.

You can see the original announcement here. 

28. Stardew Valley (Jun 13 - Jun 19, 2022)
English Language Available.

You can see the original announcement here.

27. Terraria (May 30 - Jun 6, 2022)
English Language NOT Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

26. Buddy Mission: BOND (Apr 28 - May 5, 2022)
English Language Not Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

25. Deemo (Apr 4 - 10, 2022)

Japanese exclusive.

English Language Available. 
See our Direct Feed Gameplay here. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

24. Neko Tomo (Feb 22 - 29, 2022)

Japanese exclusive.

English Language NOT Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

23. Golf Story (Jan 7 - 14, 2022)

Japanese exclusive. 

English Language Available.

You can see the original announcement here. 

2021 - 11 Titles

22. Futari de! Nyanko Daisensō (Nov 29 - Dec 5, 2021)

English Language NOT Available. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

21. The World Ends With You: Final Remix (Oct 18 - 24, 2021)

English language NOT available.

You can see the original announcement here. 

20. Daemon X Machina (Sep 13 - Sep 19, 2021)

English Language Available

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

19b. Minecraft Dungeons (Aug 9 - Aug 15, 2021)

Japan exclusive, English language available.

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here. 

See a cross-play stream with our Patrons here. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

19a. Two Point Hospital (Jul 28 - Aug 3, 2021)

UK and Europe exclusive, not Japan or US.

You can see the original official announcement here. 

18. Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan Encore (Jul 19 - 25, 2021)

Japan exclusive, Japanese only (no English)

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here. 

You can see the original announcement here. 

17b. Valkyria Chronicles (Jul 5 - 11, 2021)

Japan exclusive, Japanese only (no English). 

You can see the original announcement here. 

17a. Fuser  (Jun 29 - Jul 5, 2021)

Europe and US exclusive (not Japan).

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here.

You can see the original announcement here. 

16. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA (May 17 - 23, 2021)

Japan exclusive, Japanese only (no English). 

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here.

You can see the original announcement here. 

15b. Descenders (Apr 21 - 27, 2021)

Europe and Australia exclusive (not US or Japan).

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here.

You can see the original Nintendo UK announcement here

15a. Good Job! (Apr 19 - 25, 2021)

Japan exclusive, English language available.

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here.

You can see the original announcement in Japanese here. 

14. Unrailed (Mar 29 - Apr 4, 2021)

Japan exclusive, English language available.

See our Direct Feed Gameplay here

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here. 

13. SteamWorld Dig 2 (Mar 1 - 7, 2021)

Japan exclusive, English language available. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here. 

12. Ultimate Chicken Horse (Jan 25 - 31, 2021)

Japan exclusive, English language available.

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

2020 - 9 titles

11b. Crash Team Racing (Dec 30th 2020 - Jan 5, 2021)

This is the first case of a Game Trials game being US only (not Japan or EU)

You can read the original announcement tweet by NoA here.

11a. Overcooked 2 (Dec 7 - 13, 2020)

This one ended up being Japan exclusive, but of course the game is fully in English. 

Direct Feed Gameplay [here]

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

10. Rune Factory 4 Special (Nov 2 - 8, 2020)

As previously, NCL announced it first (and that's the version we played), but then soon after it was announced worldwide! English language available.

Direct Feed Gameplay [here]

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

9. Overwatch (Oct 13 - 20, 2020)

It was Japan only, but then a couple of days later it was announced worldwide!

Halloween Event Gameplay [here]

Game Night Event (Patreon Exclusive) [here]

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

8. Disgaea 5 (Sept 23 - 29, 2020)

Available worldwide, English language available. 

Stream: JC streamed a bit of it during Summer of Streams 2020 [here]. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

7. Obakeidoro (Aug 10 - 16, 2020)

Japan only, English language available.

Stream: We have some direct feed gameplay [here] and JC and Ty did a stream [here]. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

6. Pokken Tournament DX (Jul 27 - Aug 2, 2020)
Available in all regions!

JC plays some online with our good Patron buddy Chrys [here]! 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

5. Celeste (May 18 - May 24, 2020)
Japan only, English language available.
No gameplay videos because we'd all played it before! 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

4. ARMS (Mar 27 - Apr 5, 2020)
Japan only, English language available.
Stream: We played a whole bunch of ARMs with our Patrons during the free trial [here]. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

3. Dead Cells (Feb 24 - Mar 1, 2020)
Japan only, English language available.
Note: The free DLC is not free on the Japanese eShop (it costs 100yen), but you could download the DLC from the EU/US and play it on the Japanese Game Trials version!
Gameplay: Check out JC's gameplay taken during the trial period [here]. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

2. Fire Emblem Warriors (Jan 20 - Jan 26, 2020)
Japan only, no English.
Gameplay: Check out JC's gameplay taken during the trial period [here]. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

2019 - 2 titles

1b. Captain Toad (Aug 5, 2019 - Aug 11, 2019)
Japan only, English language available
Gameplay: JC speed-runs the whole game during the trial period [here]. 

You can see the original announcement page in Japanese here.

1a. Mario Tennis Aces (Aug 7 - Aug 13, 2019)
Available in the US and EU, but not Japan.
Gameplay: Check out JC's gameplay taken during the trial period [here].

*Work in progress*