The Nintendo Switch’s eShop is home to a host of great games and perks, but one of the best is its gold points system.

This program acts as a cashback system that gives you gold points for any purchase you make in the eShop. These points, in turn, can be used as a discount in the eShop with one point being worth one penny and 100 points being worth one dollar.

For any digital purchase you make, you can earn 5% of that amount back in the form of gold points. This means if you buy a game for $30 in the eShop, you can earn back 150 gold points.

These points stay attached to your account and you can use them on purchases you make in the eShop. These can be beneficial to those who buy a lot of indie titles as you can get quite a bit off if you save them up.

While many know these points come from digital purchases, players can also earn them from their physical purchases.

Gold Points From Physical Purchases

There are a few catches when it comes to redeeming gold points from your physical games.

The first is the payout is significantly lower than digital purchases. Nintendo will award you 1% of the digital eShop price, not the physical price, rather than the standard 5%. This means for a $30 physical game, you can only get 30 gold points back.

Another important catch is there is a simple process you must follow in order to redeem these points. You also must redeem them within a year of the physical game’s release or else you will lose out.

Lastly, as part of the redeeming process, you must have the game cartridge in your Nintendo Switch. It’s not enough to simply have the software on your system. The cartridge must be in the system when you go to redeem.

How To Redeem Gold Points From Physical Nintendo Switch Games

The following steps can help you to redeem points from your physical games. Remember, you can only do this process once per game cartridge.

1. Insert the game cartridge into your Nintendo Switch
2. Highlight the game on the Switch’s HOME menu and then press either + or –
3. This will open the software options. Scroll to the bottom and select “My Nintendo Rewards Program”
4. Once selected, choose “Earn Gold Points (Game Card version only)”
5. The system will check the game and then ask you which account you want to apply the points to upon redeeming
6. The system will show you how much you have redeemed

You can head over to the eShop to ensure your points redeemed properly.

Final Thoughts

While this reward isn’t much, it can add up. If you watch the Nintendo eShop, games, especially indie titles, regularly go on sale for under $10 and these points can further a discount.

Another great way to use them is on more expensive titles such as Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, furthering any discounts that may come from sales.

What makes this even better is you can earn more points at the full 5% rate for any purchases you make with these points.

Gaming can be an expensive hobby so finding any way to save can allow more to benefit from this medium regardless of their budget. If you continue building your digital library, be sure to take time to maximize your storage space or even upgrade your memory card.

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