Nintendo
You may not know this but Nintendo has had a hand in many ventures before they became the gaming giant we know and love them for. Since being founded on September 23, 1889, the company has been behind playing cards, a taxi company, and even love hotels. Nintendo invested in successful toy lines starting in the 1960s. One of those toys, created in 1974, was a series of papercraft models known as the Nintendo Paper Model series. The creative spirit of that toy can be keenly felt in Nintendo’s latest product for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Labo.
Nintendo Labo is a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) toy where you essentially create your own Nintendo Switch peripherals out of cardboard. All you need is the Switch console and one of the Labo kits. Think LEGO Mindstorms but with cardboard.
So whether you’re a Nintendo fan or a parent figuring out just what the heck this thing is, here is a list of frequently asked questions covering everything from price to programming your own projects and replacing any damaged or lost parts.
Nintendo Labo Frequently Asked Questions
Where can you buy Nintendo Labo & How Much Does It Cost?
Nintendo Labo is available on Amazon, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. Nintendo’s official website includes links to where you can buy the Variety Kit and the Robot Kit.
Be aware that Nintendo Labo is pretty expensive. The Variety Kit costs $69.99 and the Robot Kit costs $79.99. That’s on top of the $299 Switch, but if you’re interested in Labo then you likely already own a Switch.
What’s Included in Each Kit?
The Variety Kit lets you build five different projects known as Toy-Con: two RC cars, a fishing rod, a house, a motorbike, and a piano.
The RC Car is powered by the vibrations of the Joy-Con controller and can be steered using the touch screen of the Switch. It can also follow a path of magnetic tape by using the IR motion camera in the right Joy-Con. Press the button on the bottom middle of the touch screen to expand the control options. You can display what the camera sees on the Switch and even see objects in the dark. If you have two sets of Joy-Con, you can create two RC cars and have two people control them using the same Switch.
The fishing rod lets you catch virtual fish on the Switch screen. Tilting the rod moves the string in the game. The rod vibrates to let you know you got a bite and then you can flick the rod upwards and reel in the fish. Fish can be put in the aquarium which is accessed via the Toy-Con Piano. You can cut out shapes in a card and slide it into the Piano during aquarium mode to shape and color your very own fish.
The house lets you interact with a virtual pet. The pet will react to how you handle the house such as bouncing around when you shake it or rolling around when you tilt it. You can also feed it treats to change its appearance. There are different buttons you can put in the side of the house to interact with it, such as a faucet handle to fill the virtual house with water or a crank to turn a mobile that puts the pet to sleep. Buttons and their placements can be combined to activate minigames. Your house can interact with your friend’s by connecting the two with a cable block. The cable block also creates two portals by connecting the cables to two different slots on the house.
The motorbike handle lets you drive a virtual motorbike on the Switch’s screen. You twist the right handle to accelerate, lean to turn the bike, press a lever to brake, press another button to beep the horn, drift by braking and turning at the same time, and even pull up on the handlebar to pop a wheelie. You can race computer-controlled players or pop balloons around an arena on a variety of pre-built tracks or on your very own custom-built tracks. Tracks are built by using the left Joy-Con and the Toy-Con mini-bike to draw a path in the air. You can also change the time of day, weather, water level, and the placement of dash items. You can use the right Joy-Con to scan an object with the IR sensor and shape the terrain based on the object.
The Toy-Con Piano can play simple songs or be used to record and save your own compositions. The 13 key piano can change octave by hitting a lever on the side. Rock the piano back and forth while playing a note for vibrato. Inserting one of the knobs into the top of the piano gives you different sounds from the keys and can even be turned to adjust them. The acoustic knob makes the left Joy-Con vibrate and putting that on an empty box on its side makes it play different notes. You can even create sounds by cutting out a waveform on a card and sliding it into the piano. After recording your own song, you can swing the left Joy-Con like a baton to change the tempo. Punching out holes in a rhythm card lets the piano play itself.
The Varitey Kit comes with the physical game cartridge, 28 cardboard sheets including extras for customization, three reflective sticker sheets, three sponge sheets, an orange string, a blue string, five grommets, two large rubber bands, six small rubber bands, and extra rubber bands.
The Robot Kit lets you control an in-game robot with your own movements. You punch with your arms and stomp with your legs and lean right and left to change direction. You can stretch your arms out to make the robot fly or crouch down to turn into a tank that can shoot lasers. Flipping down the visor lets you enter first=person mode to let you see what the robot sees. Raising your right arm and foot at the same time makes your robot grow.
The Robot Kit comes with several different game modes from leveling a city to swatting UFOs and even a two player battle mode if you have two kits. Going through levels lets you unlock new moves like the charge punch or the drill kick. You can turn different knobs on the side of the backpack while in hangar mode to customize the color of the robot and the sounds it makes.
Robo Studio mode has you placing the Switch into the backpack and lets you make different sound effects with your movements like jerking your arm forward for a record scratch like you’re a DJ.
The Robot Kit comes with 19 cardboard sheets, four cardstock sheets, one reflective sticker sheet, two orange strings, two blue strings, one large gray canvas strap, one medium gray canvas strap, two small gray canvas straps, 10 gray grommets, and two orange grommets.
How Do I Build Them?
Each Labo kit includes video instructions displayed on the Switch touch screen that move as you look though it. You can zoom in, rotate, and rewind the instructions as you build the Toy-Cons at your own pace.
Toy-Con are constructed from cardboard pieces that pop out of the sheets included with each kit as well as string, grommets, reflective stickers, and more. You can also add your own paint, stickers, tape, felt, and more. Nintendo is even selling a customization kit for $9.99 that includes two stencil sheets, two sticker sheets, and two tape rolls.
The official website advises you to mix only a little bit of water for paint to keep the colors vibrant and the cardboard sturdy. Also be sure to remove the Switch and the Joy-Con before you decorate, especially when using paint.
But that’s not all. You can make your own cardboard creations with the Toy-Con Garage.
Toy-Con Garage? What’s That?
The Toy-Con Garage appears after you spend some time exploring the Discover section of each Labo game. The mode is accessed via a manhole cover at the bottom of the screen.
Here you can program a variety of actions. You can set an output, such as a sound effect, controller vibration, and more, to be activated with an input, such as a button press, touch screen press, and more. For instance, you can make a controller vibrate whenever the IR sensor in the right Joy-Con sees a reflective marker.
Special input nodes are included in each kit and many nodes have advanced settings such as changing the tone and pitch of sound effects.
What Can I Do With Toy-Con Garage?
There’s a ton of things you can do with Toy-Con Garage. Along with a general overview video, Nintendo gave us instructions on how to build an RC tank game and a guitar with rubber band strings.
We’ll update with more cool Toy-Con projects. If you find any cool Toy-Con Garage creations, be sure to leave us a link in the comment section below.
What Happens If I Lose or Damage Parts?
According to the official website, you can purchase replacement parts for Toy-Con by heading to the Labo page on Nintendo’s online shop or by calling Nintendo Consumer Service at 1-800-255-3700.
The website advises users to store Toy-Con parts together in containers such as plastic tubs or bags. You can store the knobs and buttons of Toy-Con such as the piano inside the Toy-Con itself. They also recommend storing the cardboard sheets from the kits even if all of the parts have been popped out as they can be used as stencils to trace and cut out spare parts. Otherwise small rips and wear can be fixed using tape and glue.
What’s the Extra Sheet for?
The extra sheet included in each kit is used for customization. For example, the extra sheet in the Variety Kit contains an additional roof for the house and the Robot Kit includes a mask for the visor. The sheets also contain additional parts used with the Toy-Con Garage, such as a piece shaped like a person that attaches to the left Joy-Con and falls over when it vibrates.
How Long Does Each Toy-Con Take to Make?
The official website lists the time it takes for each of the current projects. The RC car takes about 10 minutes, the fishing rod takes 90 to 150 minutes, the house takes 120 to 180 minutes, the motorbike takes 90 to 150 minutes, the piano takes 150 to 210 minutes, and the Robot backpack takes 180 to 240 minutes. Of course, that all depends on the skill of the builder. We’ll update the article with how long it took to build each project on our own.
Who Can Play With Nintendo Labo?
Pretty much everyone! The website said that the challenge level is just right for children in grade school (6 to 10 years old) but even younger kids can enjoy Labo with the help of parents or older siblings. Really all ages should get into Labo in one way or another. Kids can also play with the Toy-Con Garage as the knowledge and skills they gain from the Toy-Con projects apply to their own projects in the garage.
How Big Are the Kits?
The Toy-Con projects are designed to collapse and have their accessories fit within them. The official website states that the Toy-Con projects from the Variety Kit can fit in a 17 by 13.5 by 12 inch box. The Robot Kit backpack is 12 by 12 by 15 inches and can hang off a wall.
Got Any Tips for Building the Toy-Con?
The website lets you know that you can crease folds in the carboard pieces before folding them and fitting them into other parts. This makes the folds sharper so that they fit better. Go over the crease using more pressure for larger or longer pieces.
Got any other questions about Nintendo Labo? Let us know in the comment section below and we may try to answer them.
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