Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour taught me things I didn’t know about the console, but it’s a novelty that you shouldn’t have to pay for

The conversation around interactive-visit-come-video-game Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, rather unfortunately, has not been about the game itself. Rather, many players have (rightly so) lamented the fact that this is a paid download rather than a pack-in experience - similar to the likes of Wii Sports or even Astro’s Playroom on PlayStation 5.

That being said, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour remains one of the top downloads on the Switch 2 eShop - at least here in the UK - so folks are certainly buying it. The question is, then, is it worth the $9.99 / £7.99 you’ll end up paying for it? Well, yes and no.

There are positives to take away from the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour experience. If you’re a hardware head like me, Welcome Tour presents information about the Switch 2 system in bite-sized chunks of trivia. There are even info booths and quizzes to undertake that highlight specific features, such as HD Rumble and mouse controls. I’m also a fan of the tech demos and minigame challenges that let you try out said features in a practical fashion.

Realistically, though, it’s an experience that only lasts a handful of hours, and rather annoyingly, it could be a more expensive game than its modest price tag lets on. That’s because some of the demos and minigames outright require things like a 4K TV or the Switch 2 Camera.

If you’re shooting for 100% completion, then Welcome Tour assumes you’ve gone all-in on the Switch 2 ecosystem as a whole. This is why I strongly feel the game should have come pre-installed onto your Switch 2 console; having to pay for a game that you might not even get to experience everything in - depending on the hardware you own - is extremely disappointing.

Ins and outs

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is presented as a giant exhibition for the new console. You’ll start by picking your avatar’s appearance simply by plucking them from a queue to the venue; you’re either an extremely tiny human, or the exhibition and its various sections are monolithic in size. I’ll let you decide which is more likely there.

If your objective in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is simply to plough through all the areas, then that’s easy enough. You’ll begin on the left Joy-Con 2 controller, and you’re tasked with finding and checking all the components there. That includes things like the analog stick, directional buttons, and magnetic connector.

Once you’ve seen it all, you can unlock the gate to the next area, where you’ll repeat that process. It’s fun at first, but even though it’s a short experience overall, there will be instances where you’ll find yourself pixel hunting while uncovering all the gizmos needed to unlock the next area. That means a lot of running around this isometric exhibition, which can be quite a chore.

Up for a challenge

To sidestep some of the tedium said exploration can bring, I do encourage you to take things at a measured pace in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. Thankfully, there are some distractions to be had in the form of quizzes, minigames, and tech demos.

Quizzes are the most straightforward of the bunch. There are various booths dotted about the exhibits, and talking to the person there will load in some information displays you can read to learn more about various aspects of the Switch 2 ecosystem.

Minigames are a bit more bespoke. Each area will have at least one or two, and most are fun little diversions. You’ll be tasked with a great many things with these, again having something to do with the Switch 2’s capabilities. Examples include using the Joy-Con 2’s mouse to pilot a UFO avoiding spiked balls, and a task where you have to guess the framerate of a ball bouncing across a screen.

Finally, there’s the tech demos. These don’t offer much of a challenge and instead showcase various aspects of the Switch 2’s tech. An early example has you shaking the Joy-Con 2 like maracas to demonstrate HD Rumble, while another showcases the handheld’s HDR capabilities, where you can let off fireworks and compare the differences between HDR and SDR color gamuts.

Completing quizzes, minigames, and tech demos will award you with medals, and collecting enough of these will unlock more content, including harder versions of minigame challenges. Some of these were surprisingly tough, too, so you may have your hands full if you’re a completionist.

Though the completionist route is kind of where Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour can potentially fall apart. The game flat out assumes the player has access to a 4K display and accessories like the Switch 2 Camera, as, believe it or not, there are challenges and tech demos related to such items.

Again, this would be slightly less foul were Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour a free inclusion with the console. But as it stands, I would avoid purchasing it even at its modest price if you don’t have a contemporary gaming setup, as you simply won’t be able to enjoy all the content on offer.

Should you play Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

Frustratingly, there is absolutely nothing in the way of options for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, let alone for accessibility. At the information kiosk in the game’s first area, you can talk to a non-player-character (NPC) there to invert camera controls, and that’s literally it. Nothing for audio, visuals, or alternative control schemes.

How I reviewed Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

I played Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour for five hours on the Switch 2 system. As the game has strict requirements for which control schemes to use at any given time, I was limited to using the Joy-Con 2 controllers for things like HD Rumble, mouse controls, and more. As for display, I swapped between my LG CX OLED TV and played on the Switch 2 handheld when the game required it.