I’ve been staring out at my overgrown yard lately, and I see a small, fluffy critter sitting in the tall grass. A squirrel? No, but we have them too. Do you have a rabbit? No, but we have those, too. It stays high. It’s a pig. I’ve never had one of those before. I watch it. What should I know about his lifestyle?
This is what it feels like to play Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Nintendo’s latest exclusive Switch 2. Mario’s horse dinosaur/sidekick appears from time to time in different independent adventures, sometimes in the form of papercraft, sometimes in the form of rope, sometimes in puzzles, sometimes on platforms. After playing for a week, I found a strange charm in this one. The latest in a line of fun games made by Nintendo in 2026, the following Pokemon Pokopia again Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.
Like most Nintendo games, the $60 price tag feels pretty high for what this is. But the more I played, the more I learned to like what I was hearing. I think it’s because I like strange creatures, mystery and the unknown. I loved imaginary beings as a child, like The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges, or the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, and as an adult, strange art books like the Codex Seraphinianus, full of impossible life forms.
The idea in this game of Yoshi is that he falls into a talking book, which serves as a repository of places where unknown creatures live. It’s like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but Nintendo style. Each puzzle-like level has you learn about a certain creature, figure out what it does, and find your objective and complete it.
The purpose is a mystery. It could be making a big pink thing out of a bubbling pool, or gathering little kids like a surfboard in a place like a surfboard riding on waves or… I can’t tell you anymore. Not knowing something.
What is this critic?
Super Mario Bros. Wonder it also experienced unexpected whimsy, introducing new creatures with unknown abilities and Wonder Seeds that turned the levels upside down. The problem with whimsy is that, once it’s together, the whimsy won’t come back the next time. Uncovering the wonders in each level feels limited, though more challenges appear over time and the creatures cross the pollinator’s mind to other habitats. There’s a big story involving the villainous Descendant Bowser Jr., but again, I won’t say any more.
I think younger kids would love this game, but the complexity of solving the puzzles in each level might also frustrate them. I like it, but I found some challenges difficult or unclear, even with the unlockable hits you can buy with the tokens you collect in each level. You can also collect flowers, extra little things that are good like many Nintendo games.
The side scrolling levels are all well contained, not that big. You can return to them later and solve the fragments, exit, unlock the findings written down in the mysterious talking book inside. The hand-drawn art style and the almost static style of character animation are beautiful. I began to enjoy reading the book, looking at the many letters written there over time. Like Pokemon, you have to collect (or watch) them all.
What is this critic? (You will find out.)
You won’t die in this game, or get hurt, which is really comforting to me. Also, it’s comfortable. A game of discovery. I love that each level is its own set of objectives and gameplay, bringing ideas familiar to other Nintendo games in ways you wouldn’t immediately guess. Frogs that blow bubbles that let you jump high in the air, parasol birds, and… OK, actually, I won’t say more. And, by the way, this is a single-player adventure.
Definitely ranks below Super Mario Wonder (which has its own Change 2 multiplayer expansion recently) for me, but it’s well worth it if you’re into a fun set of platform puzzles and lots of Yoshi. You jump and shoot eggs as you would expect, making this feel like a throwback to reality. I really don’t want it to end, which is an indication that it has won me over.
It made me think about that pig in my yard in a new way. The world is strange and full of mystery, and this game has a generous touch of that spirit of curiosity, too.
