How to get Suika Game (watermelon) on the Switch

UPDATE: Suika Game is now out worldwide in the Nintendo eShop meaning you now no longer need to do this Japanese eShop work around.

The Suika watermelon game is a Japanese puzzle game available for the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to streamers like CDawgVA, QTCinderella and Ludwig playing the game, the cutesy puzzler - which sees players dropping and trying to match-up different sized fruits in a container - has quickly exploded in popularity in the West.

A free-to-play version is available to play on your browser, but the version that has captured everyone's attention is the one for the Switch, which has different physics, scoring systems and rules. Unfortunately, the Suika watermelon game isn't listed on eShops outside of Japan - but there is a way you can get round this to get the game up and running on your Switch.

To help you out, we've got a step-by-step guide that runs through everything you need to do to start playing the viral Suika watermelon game today.

Create a Japanese eShop account

To start with, you'll need to create a Japanese Nintendo account which lets you access the region's eShop. Doing this is fairly straightforward:

1. First, create a new Nintendo account and fill out all the required details.
2. When you get to 'country/region of residence' make sure you select Japan.
3. And that's it, you won't need to enter any address details or anything like that.

Once your Japanese account is setup you will then need to add it to your Nintendo Switch. To do this, select 'System Settings' on your Switch and then choose 'User'. Then, select 'Add User' and then 'Create New User'. You will then have to select a profile icon and log in with the Japanese Nintendo account you just created.

Getting Japanese eShop credit

Before you head on over to the Japanese eShop, you will need to buy some credit to top up your account. This is because your usual credit card won't work on the Japanese eShop. If you want to purchase credit, you have a few options. You can head to Amazon Japan and purchase an eShop digital voucher. The cheapest voucher listed is for ¥500, which is more than enough to get the Suika game.

If you have any issues purchasing through Amazon.co.jp (like we did), then you can alternatively head to Play Asia and purchase Japanese eShop credit from them. Once you order a digital voucher you will be able to view it online immediately after purchase.

Buying Suika game from the Japanese eShop

Once you've created your Japanese Nintendo account and got some Japanese eShop credit you're ready to purchase the Suika game! To start with, select the Nintendo eShop button on your Switch's main menu, and then make sure you log in with your Japanese account.

This will open up the Japanese eShop, which, unless you know a bit of Kanji and Hiragana, could look fairly daunting. To add eShop credit you simply need to select the option at the bottom of the menu:

Simply enter in the 16 character code and then press 'OK' to redeem your voucher. Once the funds have been added to your account, you just need to head to the Suika game page on the eShop to buy it.

Currently, you can find a shortcut to the Suika game listing simply by heading to the eShop chart. Alternatively, you can find the game's page by using the eShop's search function instead, which is the top option on the sidebar.

We found the easiest way to find the Suika listing, if you don't know any Japanese, is simply by typing in 'aladdin'. If you type this in, a listing for the Suika game will show up, as Aladdin X is the name of the game's developer. The game is priced at just ¥240, which is around $1.60, €1.50 or £1.30. So if you purchased one of the vouchers we mentioned before, you will have more than enough money to get the Suika game, with some change to spare to maybe get something else as well!

That's it for our guide on how to get the Suika game from the Japanese eShop. For more Nintendo Switch content, why don't you check out our Super Mario Wonder review and find out why it's a GOTY contender for 2023. Or, find out what the rumoured Switch 2 could mean for Nintendo's current console.