One of the Nintendo Switch’s marquee launch games back in 2017 was 1-2 Switch, a basic party title meant to showcase the system’s Joy-Con controllers by having players participate in simple, oftentimes silly motion-based minigames. But due to its relatively thin replay value (and the fact that a little game called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild just came out), it didn’t exactly become a runaway hit the way that Wii Sports did a few generations ago.
Nintendo is taking another crack at the formula for 2023 with Everybody 1-2 Switch, a sequel that introduces a ton of new games and features, including the ability for a whopping 100 players to participate in the action at once. I got the chance to play the game for an hour or so ahead of its launch this Friday, June 30, and based on my hands-on time so far, its combination of rapid-fire motion games and Jackbox-style group activities could make it the living room smash that the original was designed to be.
Launching June 30, Everybody 1-2 Switch features more than a dozen party games that you can play both with your Joy-Cons and your smartphone — and up to 100 players can join in on the fun.
2 distinct flavors of chaotic party fun
Everybody 1-2 Switch offers two key ways to play: Joy-Con mode, which allows up to eight players to participate in wacky motion-controlled minigames, and Smart Device mode, which lets up to 100 players (yes, you read that right) join in on a variety of active and trivia-esque games via their smartphones. You can choose how long you want your party to be (with options for 20, 40 and 60 minutes), or jump right to whichever specific minigames you like. I spent an hour playing both types of games with a my fellow media members and a few Nintendo reps, and a lot of hilarity and fun ensued.
To kick things off, we were split into two teams of four and got ready to flail around in Joy-Con mode. One game called Hip Bump challenged a member of each team to do just that — thrust their hips backward — until their on-screen character (a bunny, of course) knocked their opponents off the stage. It’s the silliest take on a fighting game I’ve seen in a while, and got some of the biggest laughs of my entire session. We also played a balloons minigame that challenged each team to fill a balloon to just the right size by pumping the Joy-Cons up and down. My team and I did a good job communicating once it was time to slow down, and we cheered and cackled as our opponents pumped a little too hard and popped their balloons.
We then moved on to Smart Device mode with a larger group of 16 or so players, each armed with a smartphone to take part in some contests that were slightly less physical but every bit as engaging and amusing. One of the coolest things about Everybody 1-2 Switch is that you can create your own quizzes, something that Nintendo weaponized against us journalists by presenting us with a rapid-fire quiz about the very event we were at — down to things like the color of the balloons in the hallway and the embargo time of the coverage you’re reading right now. Again, this got lots of laughs, especially at the expense of those who put in wrong answers.
We also played a neat game called Color Shoot, which presented a color on the screen and then challenged us to take a photo of something as close to that hue as possible. This led to some fun scavenger hunts as we scrambled across the event space, and lots of cheers and anticipation as we waited to see who ended up topping the leaderboards.
If you’ve ever played the Jackbox Party Pack series of games, you’ll be right at home with Smart Device mode. One hundred players seems kind of preposterous for a local party game, but that flexibility could come in handy at big events (say, a wedding) where someone decides to take over the festivities and project their Switch on a giant screen. I personally spent a lot of the pandemic playing Jackbox with friends over a Discord call, as one player can stream their gameplay to the screen while everyone else joins in via their phone. I could see a similar setup working well for certain games in Everybody 1-2 Switch, as YouTubers and Twitch streamers could theoretically invite their fans to join in on the fun.
Everybody 1-2 Switch also seems like a big step up from its predecessor on the presentation front. Whereas the original game relied almost entirely on goofy live-action bits — it was more about responding to audio prompts than looking at the screen — the new installment serves up a healthy mix of colorful 3D graphics and surreal videos of real people doing silly things to guide you along. And it’s all hosted by Horace, a humanoid horse in a snazzy purple suit who serves as an emcee to all of your raucous party sessions.
The takeaway
It’s always a good sign when I leave a game preview smiling, laughing and eager to play more. Everybody 1-2 Switch is shaping up to be a major improvement on its predecessor, offering a fun mix of motion-controlled contests in the vein of Nintendo Switch Sports alongside more relaxed group activities that anyone can join from their phone. This is a title that even your parents will be able to pick up, and most notably, is a lot more affordable than the original game at just $30.
As a huge Jackbox fan, I’m looking forward to having some raucous hip bump battles with my friends during party nights — and I especially can’t wait to troll them with my custom quizzes. We’ll be playing a bunch more Everybody 1-2 Switch as it releases, so stay tuned to find out how it stacks up among the best Nintendo Switch games.