We’ve played Nintendo’s bizarre bargain bin party game Everybody’s 1-2-Switch!

A fresh first-party Nintendo Switch exclusive arrives in just a couple of days, though you’d be forgiven for being unaware. Announced only at the start of this month – and at the time, without so much as a trailer or a screenshot – the sudden unveiling and seemingly quick turnaround for Everybody 1-2 Switch! raised eyebrows. Stranger still, Nintendo chose to make no mention of it at all in last week’s Nintendo Direct.

All of this only added fuel to the fire of persistent pre-announcement rumours that the game, a follow-up to Switch launch title 1-2 Switch!, had been floating around Nintendo HQ for a while and, frankly, was not very good. Leaks of this kind from behind Nintendo’s doors are rare, but the nature of the game’s announcement, its bargain bin £25 price point, and its imminent release have all done nothing to contradict that narrative, when compared to other games given more of a spotlight. So how is it, really?

Well, it’s alright. I was given a two-hour hands-on session in London last week with a gaggle of other games media, to try out some of the title’s multiplayer party mini-games as a group. The pitch we were given was good, actually: that this was designed for social gatherings where you may not be with people who feel natural holding a game controller, or for when you have more people who want to play than you have controllers themselves. Goodness knows, extra Joy-Con are not cheap, especially to pick up when they may only be used when friends or family are visiting.

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