Nintendo Labo: a parent's guide

Nintendo's ingenious combination of video game and construction kit is one of the most interesting family games around. Should you buy it for your kids?

Released in April, Nintendo Labo was one of the more unusual games of this year - or any year. The box contains cardboard sheets, rubber bands and string along with a game cartridge, inviting players to build ingenious little cardboard models that, when combined with the Nintendo Switch console and its controllers, become working interactive toys. It's rather like cardboard Lego, presented in a way that gently introduces the basics of engineering.

Labo is not as playground-popular as Minecraft or Fortnite, but it's a rare video game that provides educational value as well as fun, and does so without forcing it down kids' throats.