Screenshot by Siliconera
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Astro’s Playroom on the PS5 set something of a standard for console “tech demo” launch games and showpieces. It educated while also acting as a genuinely pleasant and compelling platformer. Especially since it ended up being a free pack-in for the system. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is the equivalent for Nintendo’s newest console generation and, while it is education and enlightening, it is nowhere near as enjoyable. Especially since it comes with a $9.99 price tag.
The setup for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is one of the things I genuinely appreciate about this application. It’s set up in the same way as the sort of console experiences for this system ahead of launch. You pick an avatar for yourself out of a line of pre-generated folks waiting to get into a Nintendo Exhibit. Once your time comes, you head out onto a show floor organized on top of a giant Switch 2 and its peripherals. So the experience begins on Joy-Con 2 (L) Area, with more opening up as you collect stamps and unlock new difficulty levels for the minigame tech demos or additional locations. You can also chat with other attendees. The concept is sound, the design is great, and I love the style.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is broken down into two types of experiences. One involves short quizzes taken after reading an article describing either an element of the console or its one of its peripherals’ design. The other involves an interactive display of some feature tied to the device. So in Joy-Con 2 (L) Area, you can take quizzes about the construction of the controller, play Dodge the Spiked Balls: Survival Mode, and play Find the Strongest Rumble: Along a Line. The quizzes there cover things like the new rumble feature, while the activities show off the mouse-based elements of the new controller and HD Rumble 2. Once you do enough there to earn its stamps, you unlock Area B, which is Nintendo Switch 2 Console Area.
The execution of everything is fine too. There’s a fast travel option that comes up after you reach Area B. The UI is clear, so it is easy to see how many stamps you collected. Since the minigames are all essentially tech demos, there are ample explanations and they’re usually quite educational. The quality isn’t something I’d call into question.
I’m just not a big fan of how Nintendo handled the content presented here. The information for the quiz sections is fascinating. I did feel like I understood the console, controllers, dock, and camera much better after going through them. They aren’t challenging either, so long as you pay attention. But while they’re novel, I would probably never gone through them if I didn’t need some easy stamps. They weren’t so interesting that I consider them required reading.
Likewise, the minigames present in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour are nowhere near as joyful and fun as Astro’s Playroom. I think I might have had more fun with 1-2-Switch. I know I liked Nintendo Land better. None of the minigames here are memorable, and they all feel like tech demos manned by overly enthusiastic staff trying to manufacture a “good time” while nudging you along like, “Hey, see how this works here? Try this! Neat, right? Right?” Some are incredibly bland, like HDR Fireworks designed to show the difference between brightness in SDR and HDR. At worst, I felt like I did the thing and at least got a stamp out of it. At best, I thought the educational element of it ended up being worthwhile. Especially in Super Mario Bros 4K, which helped show how many pixels the original Super Mario Bros 1-1 level took up, the way HD Rumble 2 mimics sensations in Maracas Physics, and appreciated how Open the GL/GR Locks got me used to using the new buttons on the Switch 2 Pro Controller.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour works fine. It’s totally functional and educational. It just isn’t fun in the same way games like Nintendo Land and Astro’s Playroom are. Considering this is a premium product that costs real money, I feel like there needed to be more to it in order to make it worthwhile. If it was even $4.99, rather than $9.99, I might consider recommending it for the insights and experiences that can sometimes be fascinating. As-is, you’ll probably pick out the more novel elements and upgrades to the new system while playing better games like Mario Kart World.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is available for the Switch 2.
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Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is an interactive exhibit of sorts that offers an inside look at the features and tech that power your gaming experiences. Look, touch, and feel your way through the different exhibits. Switch version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour works fine. It’s totally functional and educational. It just isn’t much fun.
Published: Jun 10, 2025 09:00 am