IN defense of 1-2-Switch, in the right environment, it wasn’t bad.
1-2-Switch aimed to bring the party game formula to everyone, and instead of Mario Party-style strategy or Wii Sports’ hybrid of simplicity and depth, it was an often vague gesture at gameplay.
Thrust the JoyCon at one another, the game would ask.
And so you do, almost mindlessly, and then someone would be declared the winner.
It’s a terrible game for a traditional review, because buzzwords like “gamefeel” don’t really apply.
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But play it with a group of friends – maybe those less inclined to usually play games – and it’ll get some laughs out of the group.
1-2-Switch is dumb fun, and it’s the kind of dumb fun that anyone can get involved with, skill ceilings and floors tossed to the wayside in the name of a few laughs.
How can a number quantify how ridiculous someone looked during a minigame?
Everybody 1-2-Switch has much bigger production values, but the core experience is the same.
Mostly motion-controlled games involving a JoyCon, one of the first games we witnessed had players hold a controller behind their back and – without touching – bump their bottoms into one another to stay on a platform.
See? Silly.
What sets Everybody 1-2-Switch apart is that it really does mean everybody – up to 100 players can join a single game.
Like the Jackbox games, you can join Everybody 1-2-Switch with a mobile device connected to the internet.
There’ll be a QR code on the screen to scan, and then you can join the game – and up to 100 players can jump in.
There’s potential here for long-distance parties over Discord or Zoom, assuming you can wrangle a low-latency stream.
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There are another selection of games specifically for mobile devices.
For example, one player will use a JoyCon as a sword to “deflect” shuriken stars based on sound cues, while four others will let the stars fly on the mobile touch screen.
Another game has players compete to photograph something with a colour matching that display on screen.
This had groups of players running around a room, photographing paper stacks, foliage, t-shirts, and more.
It forced people to break a few social norms, and helped to break the ice even in a room full of relative strangers.
Though, another musical chairs games that asks you to sit down on the floor is bound to make millennial gamers feel their age.
Still, even with the relative lack of “gameplay,” having everyone in the room join in and have a reason to act a bit ridiculous was great fun – plus, there is a competitive angle, with players forming teams and competing for points.
Everybody 1-2-Switch isn’t likely to break sales records or get top review scores, but our preview of the demo proved that, in the right conditions, there are few better ice-breakers for a group of friends and strangers.
You’d never play this alone, but if you’re planning a few gathering this summer, Everybody 1-2-Switch might be the ideal choice.
Written by Dave Aubrey on behalf of GLHF.