Nintendo Labo Review Roundup: A Surprise Cardboard Hit Only Nintendo Could Pull Off
Nintendo surprised everyone last year by announcing a line of toy accessories for the Nintendo Switch that's made of cardboard, out of all things. Owners have to build them before getting to play with them, too, but what's supposed to be a tedious process turned out to be exciting and educational, instead.
The first two Nintendo Labo sets launched on Friday, April 20, and most gamers will not know what to make of them, had Nintendo not announced them earlier last year. They're basically kits of pre-cut cardboard with bits of string, reflective tape, and digital download codes for the Switch bundled in.
It turns out that making a play kit that kids will have to build themselves is a recipe for a hit, as The Verge's Andrew Webster pointed out. There's a lot to do before the kits can be playable, but it's the distinct Nintendo charm that makes the process not only go along smoothly but also makes it fun.
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Somewhere along the process of building either one of the "Toycon 01 Variety Kit" or the "Toycon 02 Robot Kit," users can begin to see exactly how each component works.
After that, there's even greater room for exploration. To encourage young tinkerers everywhere, Nintendo has also added a "garage" mode that lets users design and even program their own kits that they thought up.
The interactive instruction manual is available on the Switch, so builders can check it every so often with each step, and they are impressive. The diagrams are drawn down to the smallest detail, and there are 3D representations that can be rotated and zoomed into from every angle.
There are even tutorials on how to repair these cardboard creations in case they break, as well.
As for the games themselves, they work very well with the kids, even if they are a bit limited in scope compared to the typical action or RPG title, as IGN's Kellen Beck pointed out. The kits themselves tend to overshadow the games that come with them, especially when the player built the toycons themselves from flat cardboard to a fully responsive controller suit, fishing rod, or motorcycle controller.
While Nintendo estimates that it would take someone some two to three hours to build the house kit that's part of "Toycon 01 Variety Kit," Kotaku's Stephen Totilo did it in just one. However, he admitted that he did it with the help of one more person, but it looks like Nintendo has children firmly in mind when making the whole kit.
For now, there are no Metacritic ratings for the "game" as of this writing, but that will change in a few hours once reviewers have gone through the officially launched kits and what they can do.
Most critics and fans are now waiting for how Nintendo expands on this novel idea after the first two toycon kits, but for now, the Nintendo Labo is now available since Friday, April 20.
