Holiday Special: Ranking Every Nintendo Labo Toy-Con
Nintendo Labo is a new project by Nintendo to bring cardboard toys into kids' houses. The toys come as flat sheets of cardboard, and after some bending and folding, are made into cardboard gizmos that are powered by the Nintendo Switch.
It is... extremely fun. There is just a ton of creativity in the toy designs, they're relatively easy to build, and the design of the game and education aspects of the toys are pretty good too.
Over the course of the year, I've acquired all four Labo kits and built every toycon. The quality of the toycon does range a fair bit, so as a holiday treat, here's a ranking of every single toycon.
25) Snorkel
This one's a joke. It's for a single use in the VR Camera games, and it feels like it'll fall apart at any moment. F
24) IR Scanner
One of two tools to build your own track for the Motorbike. This is about as basic as they come. I haven't really used it for its intended function all that much. D-
23) Screen Stand
A little gadget that attaches to the Car wheel and lets you play the Vehicle Kit game off the big screen. Unfortunately, it doesn't attach to the other two Vehicle Kit toycon, so you can't change to the other two gadgets in the game. Switching between the three is a main feature of the game and required for exploration, so I don't really see the point. D-
22) Pinwheel
This is cute, but it's flimsy, and there's not much to do with it in the VR Kit, so I don't like it very much. D
21) Minibike
The second of the two motorbike track building tools. I haven't played with it much, but it's a charming-looking little device. D+
20) Spray Can
I don't use this gadget very much, but the little bits that make it more immersive are deeply adorable. C
19) Robot Tools
These work great! Stick them in various holes of the Robot and you can personalize its look. Honestly some of the better tools of the bunch. C+
18) House
A really simple box build. It's cute to look at and looks great in trailers. In practice, I find there's not actually all that much that's interesting to do with the little critter inside the house. More of a nifty little gizmo than a real toy or game, and it takes up a bit too much space. C+
17) Key
The Key is an extremely basic build that then gets inserted into the other Vehicle Kit toycon. I think in concept it's very good. It is a little bit flimsy. B-
16) RC Car
A cute little toycon that gives you a very basic idea of the Toycon functionality. Attach the Switch joycon to the sides, and their vibration will allow you to drive it like a vehicle. It doesn't work great, but the idea is very playful. B-
15) Submarine
I love the tactile nature of this gadget, how the wheels on the side make satisfying "tic-tic-tic" noises as you turn them. But it's extremely difficult to control in the game, and I find myself using the sub least of the three vehicles. B-
14) Pedal
All three of the vehicles in the Vehicle Kit must be powered by this pedal. This works totally fine. I actually think that despite its small size, it's surprisingly versatile. B
13) Wind Pedal
In concept, a lot of this build is identical to the Pedal from the Vehicle Kit. It's quite a bit larger than the Pedal, and getting air blown in your face while you leap around in VR is quite immersive. The frog jumping game it comes with just isn't all that fun for me, tho. B
12) Robot
Extremely complex build. Probably the most complex of any single toycon. However, I don't actually like the game all that much; it's a little basic. As for the toy itself, there's some nifty features, but I don't know, all the little strings makes it actually feels surprisingly flimsy for how bulky it is, and I don't like pulling it out very much. Still, points for an extremely impressive build. B
11) Elephant
This pairs with the VR Goggles to let you play games and draw art in a 3D space. I like the build, I like the idea, it's honestly really fun to play around with. I do think that the build is a little haphazard and the toy doesn't feel as good as it could. B
10) Screen Holder
This is a tiny little gadget that lets you play any of the VR games off a screen rather than having to look in VR, and I want to give Nintendo huge points for providing this as a much-needed accessibility feature. B+
9) Motorbike
It took me a little while to figure out how this actually works, but it's essentially just a racing game. It's really fun to play with, albeit a bit flimsy in some areas and maybe not all that challenging. I do love that it's compatible with Mario Kart. B+
8) Camera
Just tactile enough to feel pretty real. The provided game is honestly really fun. It feels decently easy to control, and it's fun to play with, despite how relatively easy the build is. B+
7) Plane
A very basic gadget that nevertheless has a couple of clever build features and that provides some of the most fun play in the Vehicle Kit. A-
6) Fishing Rod
This one's extremely clever in how it implements various tactile functions in the gadget. A decently fun little fishing game, too. For me it gets old sooner than I'd like, but this is quite creative, and one of the more fun actual games in the Variety Kit. A-
5) Blaster
The most complex build in the VR Kit. It looks very impressive, and the way it uses haptic feedback is pretty clever. Probably the best part of the blaster is the shooting game is the most visually impressive of the Kit. It's also just one of the neatest looking toys you can build. A
4) Bird
This is... just extremely deeply cool. First of all, the build has some odd angles that don't seem like they should be physically possible with cardboard. Second, the toy is compatible with two other toycon (the Pinwheel and the Wind Pedal) to improve the experience. Third, the wings are cleverly designed to give you a blast of air while you're playing. But best of all, this lets you play the coolest game in the VR Kit, an open-world exploration that lets you fly around an island in VR. It's easily one of the most fun experiences in a standout kit. A
3) Piano
I haven't actually played with this very much. I don't think it has much staying power as a toy. It does have a decently robust music creation suite, but it's a little too much for me to figure out.
However, it's easily my favorite *looking* toycon, it is one of the most impressive in features, and I keep it out on display constantly. For every feature except the play, this gets very high marks. A
2) Car
This balances functionality, play, and impressiveness of build in a big way. It has a huge number of features, maybe more than any other individual toycon, and it's easy to pop the lid off the thing and look at them. It's also the most versatile to play with in the Vehicle Kit open world map. (Just generally speaking, I adore the little exploration game that comes with Vehicle Kit.) This is one of the best. A+
1) VR Goggles
I'm surprised how well this works. Legitimately. I'm also surprised just how much there is to do with this gadget, both by itself and with the other gadgets in the kit. This kit feels like they put the most work into providing games for you to do, and every one of them uses the VR goggles. Plus this gadget is usable in at least four other Nintendo-published games. A+
Final Thoughts
And that's it! That's the whole set. I will say, this was a nice way to pass the time this year. I'd recommend these if you have a Switch and don't mind building a little bit.
In case you're wondering which Kit to get, here's my thoughts on the four.
Robot Kit has a very complex build and a pretty simple game. Do not start here.
Variety Kit is a nice introduction to the Labo kits, with low replay value but some neat gadgets.
Vehicle Kit has one single game and just a few larger gadgets that they've put a lot of effort into. I'm not sure how well it works as a starting point, but it's a solid set overall.
VR Kit has a gentle learning curve, some of the neatest builds of the bunch, a huge amount of replay value with the included games, and compatibility with several other Nintendo-published Switch games. It's my favorite set of the four.
Happy building!