Is The Nintendo Switch's Wacky Cardboard Gaming Platform 'Labo' Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
When Nintendo revealed "Labo" to the world in January with this wonderful first-look trailer, it didn't take long for the amazement to wear off and for real questions to bubble up. How sturdy can a bunch of accessories made from cardboard be? Why should I put my $300 Nintendo Switch in a shell made from, well, thick paper? Are the games available even that neat, or should I just dig out "Wii Tennis?" How does the DIY "Toy-Con Garage" stuff work?
Well, both initial "Labo" kits are finally out and reviewers have had all week to play around with their cardboard creations. Is it worth checking out the Variety Kit ($69.99 for 5 small projects) or the Robot Kit ($79.99 for 1 large project)? Here's what the reviews say:
Aside From The Game Card And Some Accessories, You Really Are Just Working With Cardboard
I opened up the cardboard box, and found… more cardboard. Twenty-eight sheets of it in the Variety kit, 19 in the Robot pack. Plus a little bag of stickers, colored string, plastic grommets and rings, rubber bands and straps. And a physical game card: Both Toy-Con kits come with a Switch card, rather than a download code, which stores the program and games you can try with each.
[CNET]
Most gadgets today are sealed boxes. When a kid plays a game on a tablet, they don't have much indication of how it all works. Usually, the thought doesn't even cross their mind. It's all just a magical world hidden inside a rectangle made of metal and glass. Labo, on the other hand, encourages users not only to build their own accessories but also to understand how they function. It's the antithesis of the Apple philosophy.
The Models Can Take Hours To Build, So Set Aside Some Time And Keep Your Switch Charged
Each model takes between half an hour to two hours to build, but you don't have to stop once the instructions are complete. Customizing the models with tape, pens, stickers and whatever other craft supplies you have to hand is a huge part of the fun that exists independently from the software.
[Kotaku]
If you're planning to tackle a Toy-Con like [the piano] all in one sitting, you'll definitely want to block off a significant amount of time. But I'd suggest assembling it in phases — it's much more enjoyable that way, and you're likely to do a neater job and be more careful than you would when trying to finish it all at once.
[TIME]
Unfortunately, the Switch is wobbly and fell down more than a few times, and ran out of battery in the middle of two projects. Hopefully Nintendo will make a Switch with more than 3-5 hours of battery life someday.
[Wired]
Nintendo's Interactive Instructions Are Fantastic
The Switch serves as an interactive instruction manual where you can tap through step-by-step instructions. The real object in your hands is represented on the screen in astonishing detail, and you can pan around and zoom in on the digital version to check it out from every angle. This attention to minutiae is important because most of the Toy-Con kits are very precise creations that need to be put together in a very particular way.
The sometimes snarky, often amusing instructions, feel like a part of the experience, not just a prerequisite before the real game starts. I don't remember Lego instructions ever telling me to choose "whichever [shortstrap] speaks to you in your soul," encouraging me to take breaks after finishing sections, or making up rhymes like "Dum diddly dum dade! Not long 'til the arms are made!" to keep me engaged.
[Wired]
Each Model Leverages Multiple Neat Joy-Con Tricks
It's a combination of the Joy-Con motion controls and HD Rumble, the IR sensor and these stickers which allows all of the parts to communicate and interact, affecting what's happening on the Nintendo Switch screen.
Anyone with experience in model-making will appreciate how well-conceived the kits are; it's even better than Ikea.
[Kotaku]
The games themselves are perhaps the least interesting part of Labo. That's not to say they're bad; they're just not as imaginative as the rest of the process. For the most part, they're somewhat simple arcade-style experiences. What's amazing is how seamlessly they all work.
Most Reviewers Were Impressed With How Well The Models Hold Up After Construction
In our time with Labo, the cardboard felt impressively durable and it was comfortable to hold. Repeatedly aggressively shouldering on the backpack of the Robot Kit didn't seem to have any kind of impact and we even took these things on the London underground during rush hour and they looked better than we did by the end of the experience.
The cardboard itself is also sturdier and tougher than it looks. In fact, it took me a little while to just go for it and fold along the crease lines the way Nintendo demonstrates in its video, because I was worried about tearing or ripping it, which was never an issue.
[TIME]
Labo could make Type A sorts worried about improperly tearing, bending or ruining the slightly delicate pieces. Nintendo's included software, on a physical game card, has tips to repair broken construction projects, but no clear advice on how to buy a replacement piece.
[CNET]
Polygon reports that Nintendo just started offering replacement parts for "Labo" online… but you could also trace out replacements from any old cardboard.
The Piano Toy Is The Neatest Part Of The Variety Kit
Each piano key is marked with a sticker that becomes visible to the Joy-Con's IR motion camera whenever that key is pressed, telling the Switch which note it should play. You can insert different pegs into the piano that prompt it to trigger different sound effects when the instrument is played. One such peg, for example, turns each musical note into a cat's meow.
[TIME]
A studio mode even lets you put together simple compositions: you set the tempo by waving the Joy-Con like a conductor, play a tune on the keys, even use a punch-card to map out a drum rhythm and insert it into the top of the piano. The punch-card drum beat blew my mind and illustrated something unexpected: every time you think you've reached the limit of a model and its software, Labo goes ever so slightly further.
[Kotaku]
The Robot Kit Is Cool, But Maybe A Little Dorky For Adults
As a 30-something adult man, I felt a tad embarrassed wearing this corrugated getup, even alone in my apartment, but I also had a ton of fun. It's not virtual reality, but feels more immersive than some VR games I've played thanks to its responsive controls.
[Wired]
You can even duck down and transform the robot into a tank, or spread your arms and make the robot take flight. Of course, all of this will undoubtedly make you look, well, like you're wearing a bunch of cardboard.
[Yahoo]
People Will Come Up With All Sorts Of Neat DIY 'Labo' Thanks To The 'Discover' Tools And The 'Toy-Con Garage'
The Discover section has unpatronizing but child-friendly explanations of everything from how the Joy-Cons work to what an accelerometer does to basic programming: a curious kid could go as deep into this as their curiosity took them.
[Kotaku]
The Garage was a little too abstract for my son to get right away, and the text and interface are hard to read on the small Switch screen. But he loved learning about it, and I bet he'd catch on fast (he already uses Scratch, and this isn't far off from that). The possibilities are massive, if communities create groups to share tips on new ideas.
[CNET]
The Verge made an in-depth video demonstrating the "Toy-Con Garage" that captures how freeing (and daunting) creating with it can be:
TL;DR
Nintendo has stuffed an incredible amount of playful software into its Labo Kits, and goes out of its way to encourage creativity by letting you customize and experiment. With enough creativity, kids and adults can get way more than $80 worth of fun out of either Labo.
[Wired]