Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Fold-'Em-Up
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: NA: April 20th, 2017 / EU: April 27th, 2017
Price: Variety Kit: $69.99 / £59.99 - Robot Kit: $79.99 / £69.99
What is Nintendo Labo?
Nintendo Labo is the latest "WTF?" peripheral-based product from Nintendo - only this time, instead of simply buying a Balance Board, Wii Zapper, or other piece of plastic garbage destined for your basement shelf, you make the accessories yourself out of cardboard. These peripherals are dubbed
Toy-Con, and they all work in tandem with the Joy-Con and Switch console to create unique experiences designed for all ages.
Serving as the flagship Labo set at launch, the Variety Kit includes 5 different projects designed to show off just how creative you can get with cardboard: two RC cars, a fishing rod, a house, a motorbike, and a piano. Build time for each of the included projects is estimated from just 10 minutes (for the RC cars) to around 3 hours (for the piano).
The simplest of the included projects, this RC "car" is actually more like a little bug. You stick a Joy-Con on both sides and use the Switch screen to make them rumble, which causes the car to move. The right Joy-Con's IR camera allows you to see what the car sees on the Switch screen, and can even be used to make the car self-drive by placing reflective tape in front of it. Material is included to create two cars (both of which require their own set of Joy-Con), and extra parts are provided should you want to deck out your bots for racing, battling, or pure fashion.
For this project, the Switch console is placed in a holster connected to the fishing rod by a string. The left Joy-Con goes into the side of the fishing rod, while the right one is placed in the bottom. The hook is displayed on-screen, and turning the reel will cause the virtual line to descend. There are a variety of fish to catch with increasing difficulty as you venture into deeper waters, and you can even use smaller fish as bait to lure in bigger ones. All of your catches can be viewed in an aquarium mode. If you build the Toy-Con Piano, you can even use its waveform reader to create custom fish designs.
If you ever wanted a virtual pet for your Switch, the Toy-Con House is for you. The console goes inside the house, and the right Joy-Con slots into the chimney. You can mess with a strange creature in a variety of ways by inserting various block into holes on the bottom and sides of the house. For example, sticking the key block into the side will cause a faucet to appear and flood the house, while the button block will change the time of day. Inserting multiple blocks at once will change the room's layout and let you play mini-games like riding a mine cart, playing jump rope, and going bowling.
In this first-person biking sim, the console is placed within a pair of handlebars with a Joy-Con on each side. It controls like you'd expect - twist the accelerator to drive, and tilt to steer. Mario Kart junkies will glad to know that you can drift to boost, and even pop a wheelie like it's MKWii. 9 courses are included across 3 Grand Prix, but wait - there's more! Inserting the right Joy-Con into the included scanner gun will let you create terrain based on objects placed in front of the IR camera, and putting the left Joy-Con into a minibike will let you design your own tracks by simply moving it around in the air.
Slide the console into this project and put the right Joy-Con into the back, and voila: your very own piano. Press the keys, wiggle the piano itself, and insert various knobs to create a variety of sounds. Acoustic Mode causes the sounds to be played solely through the left Joy-Con's vibrations. The Recording Studio lets you adjust envelope, reverb, octave, and cut out your own paper waveforms to create unique sounds. You can also record tracks and play them over each other to make fully fleshed out songs that can even be conducted by waving the left Joy-Con.
Clocking in at an estimated 3-4 hour build time, the Robot Kit is the most complicated build available at launch and is comprised of four main parts: a backpack that holds the right Joy-Con, a visor that holds the left Joy-Con, and sets of shoes and arms attached to the backpack by strings. To control the robot, simply stomp your feet to walk, tilt your body to turn, and punch to… well, punch. You can also spread your arms to enter Flight Mode and crouch to enter Tank Mode. Lowering the visor will change the view from third to first person, and assuming a special pose will engage Gigantic Mode.
In Robot Mode, you can turn yourself loose on a city and destroy buildings, cars, and UFOs to rack up a high score. Challenge Mode lets you take on various VR missions to unlock new moves for your robot, such as Charge Punch and Drill Kick. The Hangar has you insert the included cardboard screws into the backpack to customize the color of your robot. Robo-Studio allows you to create assorted noises by putting the Switch console into your backpack and moving around. (If you're as smooth as the kid in the promo video, you can even bust out some funky dance moves.) Lastly, you can duke it out with a friend in VS Mode's arena combat, should you manage to get two Robot Kits together in the same room.
Toy-Con Garage
Included with every kit is a special feature called "Toy-Con Garage". In this mode, you can actually build and program your own Toy-Con creations while learning a little bit about coding along the way. If you've been wondering "what's so creative about following some step-by-step instructions and playing a premade game?", then I highly recommend watching these short Toy-Con Garage videos to see what the other side of Labo is all about - it's a lot deeper than you'd think.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why would I pay $70/$80 for cardboard?
A: You're not paying for just cardboard. Both kits include a Switch game cart as well as the cardboard and other materials, so you could consider Labo a typically priced $60 game with $10/$20 peripherals. Of course, whether you think the software is worth $60 is subjective.
Q: Why does the Robot Kit cost more than the Variety Kit?
A: Nintendo's gotta make back those Project Giant Robot development costs somehow.
Q: Aren't these just minigame collections?
A: Obviously none of the Toy-Con games are going to give BotW or Super Mario Odyssey a run for their money, but as evidenced by the videos and descriptions above, they are all a lot more involved than they appear at first glance.
Q: Will the Robot Kit backpack fit an adult? Asking for a friend.
A: The backpack's straps and strings are adjustable, so it should fit most people.
Q: Is the cardboard durable?
A: According to Nintendo: "Nintendo Labo Toy-Con creations should last a long time when used and treated properly. If your creations do need repairs, you can often make them with common household materials like tape and glue." In addition, Nintendo will start offering official replacement materials at
store.nintendo.com on launch day.
Have more questions? Check out Nintendo's own Labo FAQ here:
https://labo.nintendo.com/faq/
