Can Nintendo Labo Turn Your Child Into a Master?
All the parents were there: today is Saturday. It is raining, snowing, or nuclear winter and for some reason your child is unable to play outside. Then the junior hits you with the plaintive lament of the old child, “I’m bored .”
I usually answer something like this: “If you think you’re bored right now, just wait until you have a job. Go watch TV. But with Nintendo Labo for Switch, I now have a better option.
This video game / interactive toy / construction set is a boredom killer. As with the best rainy day projects, it’s easy and fun to get started, but slowly it finds its amazing complexity. Your child may even learn a thing or two about technology and computers along the way.
Seventy dollar cardboard box?
When Nintendo introduced Labo a few months ago, I was skeptical. I’ve loved Nintendo since the NES, but like many video game fans, I thought, “Do I have to pay $ 70 for a box of cardboard and rubber bands so I can make my own toys? What am I? Factory worker? Caveman?
I was very wrong. Yes, in the most literal sense, Labo is a cardboard box that costs $ 70, but like the intricate toys you create from it, it’s more than just the sum of its parts.
Although Labo uses and requires a Nintendo Switch, this is not a video game. This product aims to blur the line between toys and games. You build cardboard structures called Toy Cons, such as a cardboard house or fishing rod, and then use them as controllers for certain mini-games. But the carton assembly is just the entry-level Labo. Its deeper stages provide endless possibilities for play and learning.
It’s educational, but unlike many “good for you” products, Labo is actually fun. This is a toy that needs to be taken apart and examined. It rewards curiosity and exploration, and the deeper your child goes, the more he or she will find. Pretty awesome for a cardboard box.
Assembly: Building Level
There are currently two complete Labo Kits released: theNintendo Labo Variety Kit and the Nintendo Labo Robot Kit . The first is a collection of mini-games with accompanying mini-projects. The second option is more ambitious: wearable cardboard robot controller – backpack, visor, arm and leg controllers – that you use in robot games. But you have to build before playing.
My wife, son, and I put all the projects together over the course of a week or so, and while at first glance they seem rather complicated, in reality it is not difficult at all. It took us an hour (give or take) to build the smaller gizmos, and it took the robot three or four hours to work together. I am happy to report that there have been a few disappointed screams during this time.
The pieces of cardboard connect with a nice click and everything works as advertised. No tools are required and even the most complex mechanics should be able to follow simple interactive instructions. You can rewind, repeat and change the camera angles as you like.
Dex has even done a couple of solo projects, and he’s only ten. Under the supervision of their parents, the younger ones will also have fun “helping”, even if they are just coloring cardboard or sticking stickers.
The resulting toys are surprisingly durable. I was ready with hot glue and tape to reinforce the flaps or tears, but it wasn’t necessary. So far, everything holds up, even with fairly heavy use. However, they are made of paper and must be handled with care.
By creating the Toy Con, the curious child will have ample time to figure out what ingenious mechanisms make them work. The projects actively use a camera built into one of the Joy Con Switch controllers. For example, the robot’s backpack has cardboard blocks tied to ropes that attach to your arms and legs. Move your limbs and the blocks go up and down. The Joy Con’s camera reads the height of the blocks and sends the information to your Switch, which detects when you step or strike. The blocks are even weighted to provide feedback for the ‘Mech pilot in your living room.
Play: Games
It’s a little unfair to compare Labo demos to finished games. They are all well thought out, but no one is going to spend as much time fishing Labo as they do Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . However, the game is only one aspect of the Labo game.
The Robot Kit comes closest to a full Labo game, and it’s undoubtedly fun. Every kid wants to destroy the virtual city, and it is especially enjoyable to use real punches and kicks to level buildings. Dex loved it and wanted to show it to his friends. His one-sentence review: “That would be a great party game!”
Other robot recruitment games include challenge levels over time, customization options, and even a two player robot game if you have a friend with the same set.
The robot is cool, but most of the time we spent with the Variety Kit. It contains five small projects ranging from a vibration-controlled remote control car that can be folded in minutes to a working music keyboard. Each of the mini-games here is fun in its own way, from an adorable virtual pet game in a cardboard house to a simple but fun fishing simulator with a working rod. But the games themselves aren’t nearly as interesting as figuring out how they work by making them and re-disassembling them.
Discover: The Deeper Levels of Labo
Every Labo project starts out simple, but you can always go deeper by checking out its Discovery Mode, where you will learn exactly how it works and how to access its hidden features.
For example, the keyboard is the most time consuming assembly in the Variety Kit, and the end result sounded disappointing at first: a one octave keyboard with piano sound, cat noises, and a few other voices. A hilarious novelty, but nothing that will change a child’s life … Until you enter Discover mode and unleash the true potential of your creation.
It turns out that the cardboard switch you built in on the side alters the octave of the keyboard, giving you a range of five octaves. If you shake the keyboard, you control the vibrato. You can play the keyboard “acoustically” using only the vibration of the controllers and the resonance of the cabinet, and then experiment by placing the controller on larger or smaller boxes.
This strange rectangle that you almost threw away is actually a drum machine controller that you can “program” by punching holes. Then you can press the “record” button you put together and overdub up to eight separate tracks on top of the cardboard beat.
Perhaps most surprising for a musical nerd like me, you can cut out a shape on a piece of cardboard or paper, paste it into your keyboard, and the Switch converts the shape to a waveform, allowing you to change the tone of the instrument by cutting out different shapes.
As more features and options become available, you realize you didn’t just create a paper piano. You’ve created a fully functional working cardboard synthesizer with a sequencer and drum machine. Just what the aspiring Quincy Jones needs in your life.
Coding: The last boss of Labo
After you’ve created all the projects, played all the games and marveled at how everything works, Labo will amaze you with its latest level: The Toy-Con Garage.
The garage allows you to program and create your own minus toys. An easy-to-understand interface combines input from a Switch or Joy-Con controller with on-screen events so your child can create their own games or interactive toys. You can also use elements from projects you have already created by adding functionality or combining projects, such as using a fishing rod to play music.
The lab is only recently available, but videos of kids sharing incredible creations are already popping up on YouTube. People create cardboard cans for sorting coins, target shooting games and more.Here are some examples .
If your child is creative or an engineer, they will enjoy creating new toys, but they will also learn the basics of programming. The possibilities are endless and your little ones will be kept busy even after a rainy day.