1-2-Switch

1-2-Switch is a party game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch, which was released worldwide on March 3, 2017. The game extensively uses the system's Joy-Con controllers, with players facing each other performing various minigames. By 2018, it sold over two million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling games on the platform.

Video 1-2-Switch

Gameplay

1-2-Switch is a party game in which players do not usually rely on what is happening on a screen, but rather make use of audio cues and the functionality of the Switch's Joy-Con controllers to play in several different games. It features 28 different minigames, most of which involve two players, who each use one of the Joy-Con controllers and are often encouraged to look at each other during gameplay. Aside from tutorial videos for each game, players mostly rely solely on audio cues and feedback from the Joy-Con's rumble feature to indicate how well they are playing each game.

Minigames

• Air Guitar: Players must use their Joy-Con controller as if to strum an air guitar to the beat of rock music.
• Baby: A single-player game where players must rock a crying baby to sleep and put it down gently without awaking it.
• Ball Count: Using the Joy-Con's HD Rumble feature, players must guess how many balls are rolling around inside a box. They tilt the controller while it is in the palm of their hand. They can hide their guess, preventing their opponent from choosing the same number to automatically end the game in a tie.
• Baseball: One player chooses between two pitching choices, and the other attempts to get players to home base.
• Beach Flag: Players jog on the spot in order to be the first to reach a flag. The controller vibrates when they are at the flag's location, and they raise the controller to lift it up.
• Boxing Gym: Players follow instructions on how to throw a punch, with the quickest player to perform the most accurate punch receiving a point.
• Copy Dance: Each player takes turns making three dance poses, which the other player must copy in time to the music. Players are scored based on accuracy, energy, timing and poses.
• Dance Off: Both players must freestyle dance to the same beat, judged on rhythm and performance. The music has brief periods of stopping, as the dancers must hold their position.
• Eating Contest: A single-player game which makes use of the right Joy-Con controller's IR motion camera. Players hold the controller a short distance from their mouth and make biting motions to try and eat as many virtual sandwiches as they can within the time limit.
• Fake Draw: An alternate version of Quick Draw featuring alternate music, a night theme, and words such as "fly" and "file" said before "fire", to trick the players into firing early and being disqualified.
• Gorilla: Players pound their chest in a given rhythm, then pound their chest as fast as they can.
• Joy-Con Rotation: Players place the Joy-Con controllers on a surface and take it in turns to carefully lift and rotate the controller without shaking too much. The HD rumble and audio alert the player if they are about to fail a turn, with the player given 5 cues before they fail. The winner is whoever rotates their controller the most over three turns.
• Milk: Players must use gestures and specific button presses in order to milk a virtual cow, with the aim to milk more jugs than their opponent.
• Plate Spin: Players must use their Joy-Con controllers to keep an imaginary plate stable, having to spin them if balance is lost.
• Quick Draw: Resembling a Western fast draw, both players must point their controllers downwards and, upon receiving the order to fire, must aim their controller and fire before their opponent.
• Runway: Players listen to musical cues to strut down a runway and make dynamic poses.
• Safe Crack: Players must race to open up a safe by twisting the Joy-Con controllers to turn a dial, paying attention to bumps from the controller.
• Samurai Training: One player makes an overhead sword swinging motion while the other player must clap their controller, as if they were catching a sword with their bare hands. Players take it in turns until one player fails to catch their opponent's sword.
• Shave: Players use the Joy-Con controllers as electric razors, racing to be the first to completely shave their virtual beards.
• Signal Flags: Players listen to cues from a female and male announcer. The players must follow the instructions from the female voice while doing the opposite of the male's voice.
• Sneaky Dice: Based on Liar's dice, players use their Joy-Con controllers as a cup and dice. Players can shake the controllers around to shuffle the dice, and they can re-roll up to 3 times. When the cups are lifted, the player with the highest number on their dice wins. However, as the number on a player's dice can only be detected by the opposing player through vibration, players may attempt to bluff their opponent, tricking them into shaking their cup and ending up with a lower number.
• Soda Shake: Players shake up a single Joy-Con controller representing a bottle of soda and pass it around, aiming to not be the one holding it when the cork inevitably pops.
• Sword Fight: Players use the Joy-Con controllers as swords, holding down the trigger buttons to guard and releasing it and swinging the controller to attack. Players can guard against a vertical strike by swinging horizontally, and vice versa.
• Table Tennis: A table tennis game in which players must listen to rhythmic audio cues to hit back a ping pong ball. Players can perform lobs and smashes to alter the flow and try to throw off their opponent.
• Telephone: Players place their Joy-Con controllers on a surface and must be the first to pick theirs up when the phone rings. Sometimes, they are given a specific ring to listen for.
• Treasure Chest: Players rotate the Joy-Con to unravel chains surrounding a treasure chest.
• Wizard: Players use the Joy-Con controllers as makeshift wands, using gestures and counters to push back a clashing beam of magic. The game is started by waving the Joy-Con in circular motions above the player's head, and then thrusting to move the energy closer to their opponent. Thrusting immediately after the opponent results in a counter, which moves the energy further than a normal thrust.
• Zen: Players hold a given pose with the Joy-Con sitting in their hands, attempting to stay as still as possible.

Maps 1-2-Switch

Development

After Nintendo announced the game at the Nintendo Switch event in January 2017, Nintendo showed off six of the minigames to the public. The game was also unveiled to show off Nintendo's Joy-Con capabilities, through the HD Rumble and IR Motion Camera features.

As a way to promote the milking minigame and the Nintendo Switch, several representatives of Nintendo of America took part in a cow milking competition at a dairy farm in Woodstock, Vermont.

Reception

Pre-release

Upon the release of its initial trailer, several commentators compared the game to the WarioWare series. Ben Skipper of the International Business Times made note of the game's sexual innuendos.

Nintendo's decision to release the game separately from the system was criticized by several commentators, arguing that the game would be better off as a pack-in game, similarly to Wii Sports, although Nintendo stated that they opted to allow consumers to select a game to purchase rather than bundling one and increase the Switch's price so as to not disinterest consumers and compromise the console's sales. Cory Arnold of Destructoid criticized the lack of a true single-player mode, and went as far as to say that the minigames were worse than what was included in Wii Sports, arguing that they lacked any sort of progression.

Release

1-2-Switch received "mixed" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. American animal rights organization PETA was critical of the milking minigame, accusing Nintendo of "sugarcoating" the act.

By April 2017, Nintendo reported that 1-2-Switch had shipped nearly a million copies worldwide. By March 2018, that number had risen to over two million.

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website