- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Date: May 21, 2026
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May 20, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book stands out as one of the most relaxing and visually captivating titles from this early stage of the Nintendo Switch 2's lifecycle. It is an experience packed with a remarkable variety of ideas and clever little challenges provided by the magical world of Mr. E. Although it lacks some of the depth and challenge that Nintendo fans are used to finding in the company's platformers, its superb level design, mechanical variety, and artistic quality make it well worth checking ou, perhaps you'll even find in it the blueprint for the future of Yoshi's core gameplay.
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May 20, 2026At its best, the game feels like stepping into a living picture book where curiosity is constantly rewarded and every new creature adds another small piece to a larger, playful ecosystem. That sense of wonder carries a lot of weight and makes the experience genuinely enjoyable in short, focused sessions. However, once the initial novelty settles, the repetition and simplicity of its structure become harder to ignore, especially for players looking for more mechanical or narrative depth. It’s a game that succeeds more in moment-to-moment discovery than in long-term retention, resulting in an experience that’s easy to appreciate, but not always easy to stay fully invested in.
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May 19, 2026For my part, I feel that it lacks a little extra. I've had a lot of fun, but the game doesn't quite create the same magic as many other Nintendo games. It's a good game, which offers a lot of good entertainment, but sometimes seems a little directionless.
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May 19, 2026How much mileage you get out of those extra stages, and in fact out of the entire game, relies largely on your level of curiosity. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is fundamentally a game about poking and prodding at the world and seeing what happens. It won’t test your precision platforming skills, but it serves as a gentle introduction for novices, and an experiment for even experienced gamers to see an audacious, expanded idea of what a platformer can be.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn't really my sort of game, but I can see - and appreciate - what Nintendo is trying to do here: namely, to create a game for younger players in which virtually all barriers have been removed. The gameplay has its ups and downs; it's a game that encourages play and exploration, but the non-existent difficulty level will likely divide opinion.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will appeal to players who enjoy exploration and an experimental approach to gameplay, as well as those seeking a relaxing experience. Although I personally prefer a slightly greater challenge and more motivation to achieve 100% completion, I certainly don’t regret the dozen or so pleasant hours I spent playing the game.
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May 19, 2026If you go in with the right expectations, you'll have a good time relaxing and hitting a few levels every now and then.
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May 19, 2026There are plenty of moments that charm and delight through Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. It's not always the most obvious game to play, emphasising experimentation over platforming fundamentals, but the collection of weird and wonderful new creatures it contains invite exploration in a way that should delight inquisitive young minds.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book gives us an amazing world aesthetic full of adventure and exploration with various unique ideas. However, this genre of games is not for everyone. I truly wish this game were a more conventional platformer because the Switch 2 at this point in its life cycle, is in dire need of better games.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is undoubtedly one of Nintendo's most intriguing experiences in years. It's incredibly charming and relaxing, piques your curiosity, and the short levels are unexpectedly dynamic puzzles, but it suffers from a fragmented structure and a lack of a sense of progression or reward.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is an undeniable delight, with adorable storybook creatures that are amusing to learn about in your first, surprise-filled encounters with them. But while there’s impressive variety on display, it comes at the cost of depth. Nearly all of its best ideas are left to wilt on the vine – especially one clever mechanic that could have supported an entire game on its own, but instead arrives far too late and then disappointingly disappears. Its open-ended levels certainly had me smiling, but only on my initial run through them, and the long list of potential Discoveries offers too few moments to take what you’ve learned and think creatively to solve a problem. That’s a significant weakness for a game that’s all about experimentation. The result is the most charming video game bubble wrap you’ll ever pop, and not much more.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a good game. But that’s all it is. It’s far from bad, but also fails to dedicate itself enough to its otherwise spectacular aesthetic, while its core gameplay ideas never reach their full potential either. Unlike the books that were read to me as a child until I could no longer keep my eyes open, I doubt I’ll be forming any lasting memories about this platforming adventure.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn't a bad game. There's a lot of fun to be had in discovering the many creatures hidden within Mr. E's pages, though it also suffers from a repetitive structure that doesn't evolve or provide any sense of meaningful challenge. Visually, it also lacks the punch that Woolly World and Crafted World offered, and it frankly looks pretty bad in handheld mode…If you've got young children who are eager to see more from Yoshi after catching him in the Mario Galaxy Movie, then this will provide a few hours' worth of fun while getting them used to basic platforming tropes. Otherwise, I'd probably recommend a Switch Online subscription to check out Yoshi's Island for the SNES.
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May 19, 2026Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a game that screams exploration, manipulation, and discovery. A revolution capable of doing for 2D platformers and adventures what Breath of the Wild did for open worlds. It is, in short, the Nintendo Switch 2 gem you didn't know you needed. [Recommended]
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May 19, 2026My instinct is to say that I hope to see these ideas fully realized in a more traditional Yoshi game, but I’m not sure if that would be the right solution. Turn Yoshi and the Mysterious Book into a proper platformer where you need to use creatures’ powers to solve your way through levels, and you basically have a Kirby game. What makes this unique is how contained it is, even if that’s what holds it back too. It’s as if you’ve been tossed into the whimsical playtesting lab Nintendo uses to poke and prod at every creature it designs for a new game — more of an extension of Super Mario Maker’s creative freedom than Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s meticulously designed platforming. If anything, a sequel could stand to drop the level-based structure entirely in favor of a true sandbox full of critters to be experimented on. The idea never fully hatches, but I can appreciate the playful concept it’s flutter-jumping towards with great effort. It doesn’t capture that timeless joy of experiencing World 1-1 for the first time, but it at least helps you understand how Nintendo engineers those magical moments.
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May 19, 2026Like the original Yoshi’s Island on the SNES, it’s a game that takes the traditional Super Mario formula as its starting point, but reimagines it into something that ultimately feels completely different. Even in a genre that has been around for decades, Nintendo somehow keeps finding ways to surprise.