iMore Verdict
Bottom line: It's a cool way to learn about Joy-Con motion and abilities, but not really something I'd recommend spending the money on.
Pros
- +
Play toward the other player, not the TV
- +
You get to be goofy with friends and loved ones
Cons
- -
Joy-Cons can be difficult to maneuver right depending on your dominant hand
- -
The games are campy and some very similar
- -
Can't play it on the Switch Lite without Joy-Cons
- -
Team Battle is just playing the game in a set order
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As someone who really loves playing games with others and having a good and simple party game you can bring anyone into, I was excited about the prospect of 1-2-Switch. It's a game that requires a minimum of 2 players, and you play to each other rather than to the screen. It seemed like a great way to really engage with people you're playing with while having a good time on the Nintendo Switch.
Although I had a good time playing it, unfortunately, it wasn't all I had hoped for. The games themselves weren't as fun as just messing around with the person I was playing with. To have played, it once offered enough entertainment for a night but didn't leave me longing to play again.
1-2-Switch: What I like
Something that usually bothers me about playing on a console with a group of people is that you don't really get to interact the same way as you do with a traditional board game. With 1-2-Switch, you and your opponent face each other instead of the screen. While looking at each other, you can mess with the other player to try to win, for example, by jumping to throw the other player off.
This is where the fun really came in for me, being goofy with my opponent. One thing this game encourages is making goofy faces at each other, doing silly poses, and just being ridiculous in general. Doing that with the right people will always make for a good time, but I'm not sure the actual game itself was the cause of enjoyment.
1-2-Switch: What I don't like
One of the first things I noticed as we started to play is that unless you have a left-handed and a right-handed player, one person will always have an advantage as using your non-dominant hand takes some getting used to. You do have to have Joy-Cons to play, so if you're trying to play on a Switch Lite, you'll have to have separate Joy-Cons connected. If that's something you want to do, you can customize your look by getting some different colors of Joy-Cons. Some of the games require you to have them attached to the Switch, some have you put on the Joy-Con Strap, and some require you to take off the strap. The constant change-up and taking the strap on and off is kind of annoying.
The games themselves came off as very cheesy. This could be a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, this may make it very good for family play with kids, but if you're looking for a game night with friends, it feels to me like it misses the mark. As I went through all the games, I found some of the game options to be very similar. There's only so much you can do to play off the motion capabilities of the Joy-Cons but hitting an imaginary ball back and forth and striking a pose is only enjoyable for a little bit.
The game has a minimum of two players, but there is a Team Battle option for more. Unfortunately, Team Battle is just playing the game as normal but in a set order and on teams. In each game that comes up, you choose a teammate to play that round, and the side that wins moves forward on the game board. I think this feature would have been better if there were games unique to Team Battle or if the way they were played was different with more people.
1-2-Switch: Should you buy
This game is definitely overpriced for what you get. If you're looking for something super simple to do with kids, maybe get this on sale. But if you want a good party game for a game night, I don't think this is the one at all.
The games in 1-2-Switch are cheesy and repetitive. This game's one advantage is the interaction you get with the people you play with and an opportunity to be silly together. There's a lot of repetition in how you play the games, and you have to take the strap on and off repeatedly.
Bottom line: Unless you're getting this for the kids, this wouldn't be my first choice in a party game. It's something that was kinda fun once, but not something you'll be longing to play again.
