Nintendo.

A collection of activities for the Nintendo Switch, in the Wii Sports vein. Bought because I thought Alleson would like slot car racing but the sleeper hit was air hockey.

Slot car racing: Only has the three tracks, some kind of track builder would have been a nice addition. They're featuring the mosaic mode feature here, but I'll never have more than one switch.

Air hockey: By far the best digital implementation of this game I've seen, and that's playing with a thumbstick and button rather than motion or touch controls. The sound effects are just right, and the physics seem perfect too - it has that same balance of sometimes surprising behaviors where the puck will occasionally lose more speed than you expect, or it'll juuuust slip into the goal. Also this game is better without a timer. I'd actually love to read a devlog about this, I bet there's a fascinating amount of research behind getting the feel just right.

Darts: We had a lot of fun with this too. I wasn't familiar with the “double out” rule but it worked out okay. It begs comparison to WarioWare Smooth Moves which is the digital darts game I'd previously played quite a bit. For some reason that one felt a little better - having the IR sensor instead of just depending on the motion controls helped the motion feel a little more anchored to the board. But both games seem like they've got enough technique to be interesting for a while.

Speed: I was surprised by how well this adapted to digital play, and in turn surprised that I'd never played a digital version before. I think it's a bit more interesting analog since you have the actual card manipulation to contend with, but this was a good brief diversion and I could see us returning to it.

War: Precisely what it sounds like. The thin veneer of choice presented in this variant doesn't add much, but the winning change is using only half a deck of cards so it goes faster.

Takoyaki: We'd never played this before, and it's fun! It's a little like Shut The Box with cards. Most of the game is still perfectly random, like War, but (a) there's a fun “exploding” element to revealing the cards in your playfield, and (b) there actually is a tiny bit of strategy in placing the wildcards that depends on remembering what's already been turned. This feels like a fun base mechanic for a slightly more complex game.

Pig's Tail: Another card game new to us. It also seems fairly random, but with the ability to play out of your hand it's a little more like Nim.

Bowling: We had a tough time on our first go at this because we were sitting on the couch, and it seems like it demands full motion. Didn't immediately seem as full-featured as Wii Sports but it's nice to have it around again.

Toy Boxing: Eh, was fine.