Moments of 2018: Labo makes magic from cardboard
A box full of cardboard doesn't seem brilliant- not for £50, anyway. You could spend a fraction of that elsewhere and come away with enough cardboard to build a fortress. But Nintendo Labo is brilliant - deceptively so - and most people don't know the half of it.
The magic starts with the box itself. When you open it up, it's packed with stuff: game case, paraphernalia like little ropes and stickers, and a thick stack of unblemished, neatly colour-coded cardboard templates smelling of wholesomeness and begging to have their shapes popped from them. There's so much it's actually a bit daunting, especially if you're young, or with a young one.
But Labo isn't like Lego where you leaf through an inanimate booklet you'll inexplicably lose anyway. Labo comes to life on your telly or Switch screen in a jaunty and easily understandable way. It does nice little Nintendo things like telling you to take a break, or spoons on a bit of encouragement to keep you going towards the end, and it's not intrusive - you could have it on in the background quite happily. Crucially, it makes simple what can be quite complex. You'll be folding a piece over and over and over, enjoying the serene crease and crumple of the cardboard - all while completely unaware how it will become the thing you're making - and then you'll look back down and you've done it.
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