Ninjala is an upcoming competitive brawler that’s aiming to become the next mutliplayer hit on the Nintendo Switch. In Ninjala, players choose from a colorful cast of characters and use an arsenal of oversized weapons to compete in battle royale-style matches and 4v4 team battles. Ninjala’s frantic, kid-friendly action looks like it could be a great fit for the Switch when it arrives.
Players who want to get a taste of Ninjala’s unique multiplayer brawler flavor can do so very soon with the game’s open beta. From April 28 to 29 developer GungHo Online Entertainment will be opening the game up to anyone who wants to try it for three short play sessions throughout the day, starting at 12pm PT. That’s not a whole lot of time to go deep with Ninjala, but it should at least give you an idea of what to expect from its full release. The full schedule of open beta times is available on the Ninjala website.
Related: Eight-player battler Ninjala shows off new power-ups, will get seasonal updates
If you miss the open beta in April, or play it and can’t wait to get your hands on the full game, you won’t have to wait long before it’s officially released. Just shy of one month after the open beta, GungHo plans to release the full game to the world. Ninajala’s official release is scheduled for May 27. When it launches, Ninjala will be a free-to-play title, and players won’t even need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play.
Announced during Nintendo’s surprise Direct Mini livestream in March, Ninjala looks like it will take cues from several other online games to create something original. As an online melee-based brawler, the closest point of comparison for Ninjala’s gameplay is probably Bleeding Edge, the recent release from Team Ninja. Aesthetically, it most closely resembles Splatoon, which was another kid-friendly multiplayer game on the Switch that’s developed its own thriving fandom.
Being free-to-play, Ninjala has one big advantage over both of those games, and it should be clear whether it’s enough to win over fans before too long.
