15 Best Nintendo Switch Crime Games That’s Worth Picking Up Today

Video games are meant to be an escape from the real world. At times, we often wonder “what it’s like to be the bad guys”. Well, in video games, we can find out. Here’s a few games that’ll help you with those feelings.

#15 Red Dead Redemption

Platform: PS4 Switch – August 17, 2023
Release Date: Xbox 360 PS3 – May 18, 2010

PlayStation | Xbox | Nintendo

Are you ready to saddle up, cowboy? In the newly rereleased/bundle version of Red Dead Redemption on Nintendo Switch and PS4, you’ll have multiple adventures awaiting you.

You’ll play as former outlaw John Marston, who the government has coerced to take down his old crew if he wishes to live peacefully with his family. That won’t be an easy task as they’re spread out across the country and in Mexico.

But take them on you will! You’ll ride around, have gun fights, and do various other tasks to complete your mission. But is there such a thing as a happy ending for an outlaw like you?

#14 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition

We’re going to be honest with you here, if you pick up the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, you’re going to be taking a bit of a risk. Mainly because you might remember that at launch, this game was quite literally buggy as heck. To the extent that it was basically unplayable in some versions.

We can’t say for sure that the Switch version is better, so again, you might be taking a risk playing this. That being said, if it does work, you’ll be getting the original GTA games and reliving what helped make this series so famous and so infamous.

The choice is yours.

#13 Deadly Premonition Origins

This next one is a game that has become a classic through the most unique of means. Because most agree it’s a bad game, but it’s also a “it’s so bad it’s good” kind of game? We never understood it, but it’s now on Switch via Deadly Premonition Origins!

In the game, you play as an FBI agent who is desperate to track down an entity known as the Raincoat Killer. But as you progress through the town where everything takes place in, things get weird and wacky in ways you likely won’t expect. So get ready for a mind trip no matter what.

#12 This is the Police

This is the Police is no doubt a very unique crime game. In it, you’ll play as the Chief of Police for a city that is spiraling. There are multiple goals in the game, but there’s one that is clear above all else. You need to make 500K in 180 days, because that’s when you retire.

But how you go about getting that money will determine both your fate, and the fate of the city.

Because with politicians and mafias vying for power, you are one of the only things keeping this city on the rails. So your choices will matter and determine what kind of chief you are, and how much you care about the city you swore to protect.

#11 Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise

Behold, the sequel that no one thought would happen, and yet, it did. Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise acts actually as both a sequel and a prequel to the original game.

You’ll play as FBI Agent York once more, but this time around, a crime in the present is going to send him back to the past to try and figure out what is going on. This will lead you to a new town that you can still have unique interactions with, including being able to ride around it on a skateboard.

Because with this franchise? Why not?

#10 Serial Cleaner

As shown by many in the entertainment industry, when you make a crime, you need someone to clean it up. Serial Cleaner will have you be one such “Cleaner”. Your job is simple and yet complex. You’ll be called in to clean up a crime, and make sure that there’s nothing incriminating to tie back to your bosses.

You must get in and out without leaving any clues behind, nor trace of a crime being committed. It’s about details and speed, and you’ll need both of them to survive in this 1970s version of a crime world. What will you be by the time this story ends? Jump in and find out.

#9 Empire of Sin

Back in the 1920s, the amendment that was Prohibition gave rise to a lot of things, not the least of which were crime lords who used the public’s desire for alcohol and other prohibited things to make a literal and figurative killing. In Empire of Sin, you’re going to go back to that time, and take control of one of 14 different crime bosses. Including ones from history like Al Capone.

Your job is simple, make your criminal empire and run the competition out of business. How you go about making your money and power is up to you. But know that your enemies are everywhere, and that make more is always a goal.

#8 Monaco: Complete Edition

Who doesn’t love a good heist? In Monaco: Complete Edition, you’ll get the opportunity to pull off the best one ever if you can plan ahead and have the right team.

Assemble a team of expert thieves in order to make things work. But who will you choose? Who will you trust? You can play the game alone or with friends, ensuring that you will have to rely on one another if you go the multiplayer route.

Just remember, it’s not just about the score, it’s about how you get it, and making sure you get out alive. Think you can do that and pull off the perfect heist?

#7 Hotline Miami Collection

To say that the Hotline Miami games are brutal titles that might make you question your own sanity is a bit of an understatement. These “neon titles” that you can get are meant to be both old-school in look, but new-school in terms of violence and brutality.

The Hotline Miami Collection features the original game, as well as the sequel in Wrong Number, as well as throws in the soundtrack for both titles to help you enjoy the pack even more.

We’ll be very clear here, these games won’t be for everyone. But if you’re up for the events that will go down here, you might want to try it out.

#6 LA Noire

LA Noire was definitely one of the more unique titles that Rockstar Games ever developed, and we don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily. In the title, you’ll play as a detective who is assigned a set of grisly murders within Los Angeles. This version of LA plays very much like the Noir movies of old, but in full color.

The questions you’ll have to answer will truly be determined by your detective work. You’ll need to interview witnesses, gather clues from the crime scene and more. But the real questions will come when you start piecing things together, and realize just how corrupt the city is.

#5 Saints Row IV: Re-Elected

The Saints Row franchise is about to get a reboot with a new crew and location. But if you want to go back to the last mainline game they had, then Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is the one you want.

This time around, the Saints get political, kind of. The Boss becomes the President long enough for an alien invasion to come around and most of the population to be enslaved by the evil Zinyak.

Now, the Boss must escape a virtual world and recover all the Saints who survived, and take the fight to the alien menace. All the while, unlocking more and more superpowers along the way!

#4 Hitman 3 – Cloud Version

We’ll admit that Cloud Gaming isn’t for everyone just yet. But, if you are up for taking it on, you can get Hitman 3 – Cloud Version on the Nintendo Switch and arguably have a really fun time with it.

In the game, you’ll once again play as the legendary Agent 47. You’ll have a new set of contracts to go and enact, as well as massive places to go and set up your kills. But the question is…how will you do it? Will you go for the direct approach if possible? Will you try and get creative? What clues will you garner on your way to the target?

Enter the world of assassins and see where it leads you.

#3 Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is widely considered one of the best video games of recent years, mainly because it feels like a truly unique experience that gives people a whole lot of options on how to progress he story and its characters.

You play as a detective who is tasked with solving a case. But HOW you solve the case is up to you. You’ll have to meet and interrogate a wide variety of characters and do it in the way you choose. Will you do it just the right way to get the answers? Will you use brute force? Or try and blackmail them into submission?

Explore the world, seek out all it has to offer, and then play it again to see how you can do it differently!

#2 Payday 2

One could argue that Payday 2 is easily one of the best crime games ever done. Because it’s all about the art of getting away with crimes such as robbery. You play in a four-person crew, and go rob various banks in a variety of ways.

But it’s so much more than that, you’ll need to have the right crew, the right plan, and then execute it flawlessly else things will go wrong.

What’s more, with all the DLC for the game, you’ll get new scenarios, new people to work with, and new ways to enact your crimes. Just remember, in the end? It’s all about the Payday.

#1 Saints Row The Third – The Full Package

It’s honestly a bit poetic that we started with a GTA title, and now we end with a GTA clone. But make no mistake, Saints Row The Third – The Full Package is proof that sometimes a clone can outshine the original.

Because in this game, you’ll get to experience the street gang known as The Saints at their highest. They’ve taken over Stillwater, and now they’re heading to take over a place known as Steeleport. But doing so won’t be easy, as they’ll face a rival group known as The Syndicate, as well as the government agency known as STAG.

You’re the Boss, make things work, and make the city yours.