Subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online? Never got round to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope? Aren’t you lucky, because it’s free to play this week

If you’re currently subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online, and you’ve been meaning to check out Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, this week is the perfect time to do so.

I often forget about Nintendo’s Game Trials, but every now and then one comes along and makes me think “oh neat, that’s quite convenient actually!” That’s what happened just today in fact, as Nintendo shared earlier that this week’s free Game Trial is for the Ubisoft developed Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. If you weren’t aware of Nintendo’s Game Trials, it’s a pretty simple system: they let you download the full game, free of charge (as long as you’re subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online, so it’s more of a bonus), with the only limit being that it’s only free for a certain period of time. In the case of Mario + Rabbids, that period of time is from today, July 8, until the end of this week, July 14.

To be clear, it’s not just a demo – this is the whole game that you’re downloading, meaning if you’ve got enough time this week, you’ll be able to play the entirety of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, back to front, without paying a single penny extra than you normally would for paying online. It’s actually pretty feasible too, when it comes to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope at least, as according to How Long To Beat, it only runs at just over 20 hours. You might have a bit more trouble if you’re something of a completionist, but for the person with not a huge amount of time on their hands, it’s worth giving a go.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is coming up to a couple of years old now, and serves as a sequel to the very well received 2017 title Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. The sequel was pretty equally well received, with our Tom even giving it 4/5 stars, so this free week certainly seems worth it.