Nintendo Labo turns Switch console into interactive toys 'like cardboard Lego'

Nintendo's ingenious upcoming release for its Switch console uses augmented reality to make working cars, pianos and full-body robot suits - teaching coding and engineering principles through play

Nintendo has introduced a new product for its Switch games console: Nintendo Labo, an innovative augmented-reality game that turns cardboard models into fully functioning toys.

Inside the Nintendo Labo box are 25 sheets of thick, brown, branded cardboard, and a little cartridge that pops into a Nintendo Switch console. Following Lego-like instructions on the Switch screen, you punch out the cardboard pieces and assemble them into contraptions of varying complexity. The first project, which takes maybe 15 minutes, is a simple little bug-like radio-controlled car; slot the Joy-Con controllers into its cardboard sides, pull up the controls on the Switch's screen, and the vibrations send it juddering across a flat surface with surprising speed.