Everybody 1-2-Switch: We Played It So You Don’t Have To

Oh, the joy of party games. During the initial launch of the Nintendo Switch, we were able to choose from a whopping 10 games, and while Breath of the Wild was the obvious winner, a game showcased the new Joycon controllers in a great way. 1-2-Switch wasn’t a system seller or a barn burner by any means, but it was a great way to showcase the power of these new handheld controllers. Eating a sandwich while looking like an absolute buffoon was never as much fun as it was here.

I actually got some pretty decent mileage out of 1-2-Switch, bringing it to family functions to show off what the Nintendo Switch was capable of. I’ll never forget watching my father-in-law strut his stuff while playing the Runway game that was included in this compilation. Well, in the Lord’s year of 2023, it seems that Nintendo is trying to make fetch happen by releasing the sequel that nobody ever asked for, so let’s dive into Everybody 1-2-Switch and see if it fixed any of the mistakes its big brother made.

What Is Everybody 1-2-Switch?

Everybody 1-2-Switch is a direct sequel to one of the strangest mini-game compilations I’ve ever seen. However, it commits a few cardinal sins along the way, making this, somehow, an even worse value than its overpriced original. The first thing that I can bring to light is the fact that you cannot pick a game, and everything is randomized. When I first got my Switch back on launch day, my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I spent plenty of time playing different games on 1-2-Switch and found a few favorites.

Treasure Chest was a great way for us to get competitive without going crazy, Sandwich was a fun way to show off the tech of the Joycon, and the number of times we played Draw to figure out who was picking what we wanted for dinner was almost too much to count. Everybody 1-2-Switch does away with the weirdness and quirkiness of the original in favor of Horace. Horace, if you couldn’t guess, is the new Horse Mask-clad spokesperson for this collection, and I’ll let you in on a secret: Horace blows.

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It feels like Nintendo should have neigh-ver given him the go a–hay-ed. It’s beyond cringe, and while I do love me some good ole’ fashioned cringe in a video game or media, this just feels uncomfortably bad. The Horse mask phase died out when Vine did, so please remove him or at least give us the option to skip cutscenes.

Maybe after you play through the games a few times, you’ll have the option to skip over Horace giving you instructions like you’re the newest member of the Dora the Explorer squad, as it feels like they’re waiting awkwardly in silence for you to scream that you know where the map is. It’s a horrifyingly slow experience, and will easily drain the fun out of any part.

Jackbox, You Are Not

The big draw this time around is the introduction of games that take advantage of your mobile device, allowing you to play with up to 100 people at a time. This could be a fun way for Twitch Streamers or Content Creators to interact with their fans, but it’s going to be hard to find anyone that actually wants to touch half of the games that are included in this portion.

You’ve got games like Statues, which is essentially a digital version of Red Light, Green Light (love Squid Games), Bingo, and so many more exciting options. That sounds like a hoot, right? Well, when you consider that you can get games like the Jackbox Party for around the same cost, the novelty wears off just a little bit faster. Why would you want to play something that looks like it came straight out of Ryan’s World when you could play something with a bit more spice and personality to it?

What Kind Of Games Are On Display Here?

Inside this package, you’ll get a chance to jump into one of the following games:

• Auction
• Balloons
• Bingo
• Color Shoot
• Hip Bumb
• Ice Cream Parlor
• Joy-Con Hide & Seek
• Jump Rope
• Kitchen Timer
• Musical Chairs
• Ninjas
• Quiz Show
• Relay Race
• Samurai Sword Fight
• Squats
• Statues
• UFOs

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But, this is where the cracks begin to show, as the whole package feels sterilized. Gone are the weird and wacky ways you could interact with your Joycons, replaced with microgames that would make Wario cry. Let’s take Kitchen Timer, for example. The goal of the game is to flip food at the perfect time. So, after a lengthy introduction, you’re told that you need to wait 9 seconds to flip a steak to ensure it’s cooked perfectly. A timer counts down, and the numbers disappear, so you have to trust your gut and flip it at the right time, with the closest time winning.

It’s… as miserable and boring as it sounds. Between each round, you’re forced to sit through another 30 seconds of speech that you can’t skip over, and you’ll find your eyes dropping before they finally get through their dialogue. I had my wife help me out through my initial bit of playtesting, and we played the following three games.

• Balloons
  • Pumping up a balloon with your Joycons, how fun
• Kitchen Timer
  • As described above, lift your Joycon up when the timer is ready
• UFOs
  • Interpretive dance to bring Aliens your way, which is still better than Greyhill Incident

But, what about the other games in the package? To be fair and honest with you; we didn’t play them. After we played through this initial set of games, we reattached our JoyCons to the Switch and jumped into something different. We just straight up didn’t have fun, but it could be a good time if you’ve got a big group of folks together and warned them that it takes a few minutes to get cooking.

Final Thoughts on Everybody 1-2-Switch

To be blunt, there is really no target audience for Everybody 1-2-Switch. While it may be a good time during a large get-together, there are already so many other party games available on the Nintendo Switch that outshine this in every possible way. Sure, it may be good for a laugh or two, but there are so many better options available on the market.

Rumors began swirling about the cancelation of a 1-2-Switch sequel because, well, playtesters hated it. It was originally shown with no fanfare, and it’s easy to see why. It’s easily one of the worst projects that Nintendo has put out in quite some time and makes the original 1-2-Switch look like a masterpiece next to it. Even if you’re planning on playing this with your audience on a Twitch stream or something, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

While this isn’t technically a review, if I had to put a score on this one, it would be:

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