The Flip Grip accessory—conceived here, designed by Mike Choi, and midwifed by Fangamer—succeeded on Kickstarter far beyond anyone's expectations. Now that it's safely in just about everyone's hands (sorry about international shipping speeds, folks), the world can at last play classic arcade games, and other games, that were designed for vertical screens the way they were intended: On the go, with minimal fuss. The good news is that the flow of games that will take advantage of Flip Grip (or vice versa) hasn't slowed one bit since we Kickstartered the Flip Grip, and I have a feeling we'll continue seeing Flip Grip-friendly games throughout Switch's lifetime.
And that, friends, is why this list exists.
We'll be tracking all known Switch games that work with Flip Grip here. That includes available games and upcoming releases alike. Most of these are vintage arcade creations, but there are a few modern titles on here as well. (Lots of pinball, for example.) As new games arrive or are announced, they'll be added to this list.
It's very important to note, however, that as of April 2020 it's possible to remap the Switch's controls to a controller profile at system level. That means, technically, that every single game in the library is now Flip Grip compatible - all you need to do is create a special profile for it. This is easy to do via the Switch settings and will allow you to play the likes of the Johnny Turbo series in vertical mode the way you should have been able to in the first place.
Despite this, we'll also make note of games that seem like they should work natively with Flip Grip but don't. Feel free to reach out to their publishers to ask, "What's up with that?"
If you missed out on the Flip Grip Kickstarter, don't worry: You can still order one via Fangamer!
Arcade Archives
All Arcade Archives games are weekly standalone releases that support screen rotation. The following selections from this series originally appeared on vertical monitors and take advantage of Flip Grip's design.
- Aero Fighters 2
- Aero Fighters 3
- Alpha Mission
- Argus
- Bells & Whistles
- Bomb Jack
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong 3
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Flak Attack
- Front Line
- Heroic Episode
- Image Fight
- Lightning Fighters/Trigon
- Moon Cresta
- Omega Fighter
- Punch-Out!!
- Route-16
- Star Force
- Strikers 1945 Plus
- Terra Cresta
Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection
Konami's Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection could be a lot more extensive, but the three vertical games here DO support the Flip Grip.
- Scramble
- Typhoon
- Twinbee
Atari Flashback Collection
AtGames's Atari Flashback Collection for Switch is kind of a mess, but it does work with Flip Grip... albeit not elegantly. The game has a habit of setting the controller orientation to separate/horizontal if you return to the main menu while the Joy Cons are detached from the system. Also, only eight games out of 150 are Flip Grippable—not great, but still better than nothing. On the plus side, those eight vertical arcade titles can be set to automatically rotate to vertical mode, so you don't have to tweak them manually one by one. It's not a perfect setup, but it could be worse.
So which classic Atari arcade games are flip-friendly? Well, that's:
- Centipede
- Fire Truck
- Maze Invaders
- Millipede
- Monte Carlo
- Super Breakout
- Super Bug
- Soccer
Capcom Arcade Stadium
Select games available as part of Capcom Arcade Stadium support vertical orientation. Here's the list:
- 1941 - Counter Attack
- 1942
- 1943 - The Battle of Midway
- 1944 - The Loop Master
- 19XX - The War Against Destiny
- Commando
- Legendary Wings
- Senjo no Okamii (MERCS)
- VARTH - Operation Thunderstorm
- Vulgus
Namco Museum for Switch
All games in Namco Museum for Switch (a single anthology release) support vertical orientation. These are the only ones you'd really want to use it with, though.
- Dig Dug
- Galaga
- Galaga ’88
- Pac-Man
- Tower of Druaga
SNK 40th Anniversary
SNK 40th Anniversary is a single release that contains games from multiple platforms, but a disproportionately large number of them originated on vertical arcade cabinets.
- Alpha Mission
- Chopper I (post-launch DLC)
- Fantasy (post-launch DLC)
- Guerilla War
- Ikari Warriors
- Munch Mobile (post-launch DLC)
- Search and Rescue
- Sasuke vs Commander (post-launch DLC)
- Time Soldiers (post-launch DLC)
- TNK III
- Vanguard
- Victory Road
Standalone releases
- A Normal Lost Phone
- AngerForce: Reloaded
- Another Lost Phone
- Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story
- Barrage Fantasia
- Crimzon Clover - World EXplosion
- Danmaku Unlimited 3
- Demon's Tilt
- Downwell
- Dragon Blaze
- ESP Ra.De. Psi
- Game Tengoku CruisinMix Special
- Ghost Blade HD
- Gunbarich
- Gunbird
- Gunbird 2
- Horizon Shift '81
- Ikaruga
- Lost Phone Stories
- Missile Dancer
- Pinball Arcade
- Pinball FX3
- Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha
- Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo
- Psyvariar Delta
- Samurai Aces
- SEGA Ages: Gain Ground
- Shmup Collection
- Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire
- SkyScrappers
- Star Wars Pinball
- Strikers 1945
- Strikers 1945 II
- Switch 'n' Shoot
- Vasara Collection
- Zaccaria Pinball
Vertical Mode NOT natively supported
These games seem like they should work with Flip Grip... but they don't. Look before you leap!
- Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Heavy Barrel
- Only supports vertical play in the opposite direction. No indication of update plans.
- Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Nitro Ball
- Only supports vertical play in the opposite direction. No indication of update plans.
- Mutant Mudds (Mudd Block mode)
- Only supports vertical play in the opposite direction.
- Shikhondo
- Oddly, this newly developed vertical shooter from South Korea doesn't have support for vertical orientation of any kind.
- Stern Pinball Arcade
- Only supports vertical play in the opposite direction.
- Stray Cat Doors
- Only supports vertical play in the opposite direction.
Hey, where are they?
The following publishers have a wealth of great vertical arcade classics in their archives. Feel perfectly free to reach out to them to politely request they get with the program...
- Atari
- Capcom
- Konami
- Taito
- Tecmo
Image source: VG Museum
Update: Sept. 14, 2018: Devolver Digital has confirmed Downwell will support the correct vertical orientation for use with Flip Grip.
Update: Nov. 19, 2018: Made minor edits and updated SNK 40th Anniversary Collection info.
Update: Nov. 30, 2018: Route-16 added. Also, Flip Grips are shipping!
Update: Dec. 3, 2018: Stern Pinball Arcade and Mutant Mudds were listed as compatible in error; they do not support the correct orientation to work with Flip Grip.
Update: Dec. 12, 2018: Atari Flashback Collection selections confirmed as compatible and added to the list.
Update: Dec. 23, 2018: Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong Jr. added.
Update: Feb. 2, 2019: Arcade Archives: Bomb Jack, Arcade Archives: Moon Cresta, and Downwell added.
Update: Feb. 15, 2019: Arcade Archives: Front Line added.
Update: May 25, 2021: More ACA, Capcom and others added, along with info re: system-level mapping.