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Nintendo Labo
The Nintendo Labo is a series of cardboard accessories for the Switch. They are unique in that they have to be assembled first before you can play with their accompanying game. While this might seem like a chore, it´s actually quite the opposite. The whole point of the Labo is building and playing with these “kits”.
Each “kit” contains a series of games along with the materials needed for the assembly of a “Toy-Con” that can interact with the Switch in special ways. The “Toy-Cons” are made to take advantage of the different capabilities of the Switch and the Joy-Con have to offer; for example, one Toy-Con is a piano that reads the infrared sensors of the Joy-Con to determine what key is being played, another is a fishing rod that uses motion controls to detect when the player is reeling.
The Labo also comes with a “Toy-Con Garage” that allows a savvy player to create and program their own Toy-Con.
As of now, there are four kits for the Nintendo Labo:
Variety Kit:
Contains 5 Toy-Cons: Two remote-controlled cars, a fishing rod, a piano, a motorbike (which is compatible with Mario Kart 8,) and a house:
Robot Kit:
Contains a Toy-Con that can be assembled into a backpack, with a visor that allows you to control a virtual “robot” using your own body:
Vehicle Kit:
It lets you build a cardboard wheel, periscope, joystick, pedal, and a key to drive the cars, planes, and submarines that are available in this kit´s game. The wheel is also compatible with Mario Kart 8.
Virtual Reality (VR) Kit:
With this kit, you can turn your Switch into virtual reality goggles that are compatible not only with the minigames on the kit, but also to a few standalone titles as well.
In addition to “just” making goggles, you can use this kit to turn the goggles into a VR camera, a bird, an elephant (the cardboard face and trunk of an elephant, to be more exact), a pedal (to play one of the minigames) and a blaster (a cardboard bazooka type of thing). You can also use this VR kit to program your very own VR experiences and games (albeit not very complex ones) with the “VR plaza” that comes along this kit:
VR Starter+Blaster Kit:
For those interested in the VR kit, but not the other Toycons that come along with it ( the elephant, bird, camera, and pedal), this kit only has the VR goggles and the blaster:
Customization set
This set contains a variety of stencils, stickers and tapes to customize the Toy-Con you build:
Conclusion
The Labo is an interesting accessory that lets you build a new way to play with the Switch. Either if you always liked to experiment with arts and crafts, or if you want something fun to build and play with your kids, there are five different kits that can give you quite a unique experience, unlike what you'll find in "regular" gaming. I encourage you to give a shot to any of the kits that managed to catch your eyes.
I recommend the VR kit especially, as it is currently the only way that the Nintendo Switch has to experience Virtual Reality. Nintendo´s hybrid console is not compatible with any of the VR goggles and games available on the Playstation or the PC. That said, keep in mind that neither of three main compatible games (Zelda, Smash and Mario) is made with VR in mind. Playing them with the goggles can be quite disorienting.
If you want to check out other ways to enhance your experience with the Switch, click here to see all the other accessories available for the console.