My Nintendo gold coins are finally good for free retail games
My Nintendo members can now spend those gold coins they’ve racked up since the rewards program on something much nicer than discount coupons: full game downloads. As part of a limited-time promotion, Nintendo is offering users a handful of indie games in exchange for their Gold Points, the first time the company has thrown download codes for retail games into the giveaways mix.
A quartet of “Nindies” for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are available to choose from, which might be a disappointment to Nintendo Switch owners. Still, beggars can’t be choosers — and besides, Nintendo still hasn’t set up its Nintendo Switch rewards category.
Here’s the list of indie games that My Nintendo members can choose from, should they have enough points for them:
Runner2 (Wii U) — 90 points
Art of Balance (Wii U) — 60 points
Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo (3DS) — 60 points
Zen Pinball 3D (3DS) — 50 points
These are the priciest offerings in the Gold category by far, with the rest of the list composed of Nintendo 3DS themes and Swapdoodle DLC that cost at most 30 coins. (Other typical My Nintendo rewards include discounts on eShop purchases.) As Gold Points are the trickiest to come by — I only have 20, and I’d consider myself a fairly active My Nintendo member — these indie games may be limited to those of us who make it a point to get as much out of the service as humanly possible.
Collecting points requires playing and completing missions from Nintendo’s mobile games, as well as buying Nintendo software. That’s where the Gold Points come from, with the amount awarded varying based on how expensive the purchase was.
My Nintendo launched in fall 2015 as a replacement for Club Nintendo. The much-missed rewards program was known for its physical rewards, alongside frequent download code giveaways.
