

It was also a delightful homage to one of the biggest franchises in gaming history. Though it was mocked before release for being a phoned-in crossover, Kingdom Battle turned out to be a savvy grid-based strategy game in the vein of XCOM…except, instead of extraterrestrial threats, you had warp pipes and bright colours. First released in 2017, the game is a joint production with Ubisoft, and marries Nintendo’s biggest mascots (Mario and friends) with Ubisoft’s smallest (a bunch of mostly toothless rabbits). If you haven’t played Kingdom Battle yet, you’re missing out on one of the best tactical games for Nintendo’s hybrid console.


It’s available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers through July 12, Nintendo announced this week. As its sequel looms, the crossover tactics hit Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is currently free on Nintendo Switch.
