The Nintendo Switch 2 launched with five exclusive games, with one being a surprise throwback to a 1999 Game Boy Color game. Switch 2’sSurvival Kidsshares its name with the 1999 original and is technically a part of theLost in Bluefranchise that has been dormant sinceLost in Blue: Shipwreckedreleased on the Wii in 2008. It’s certainly one of the more surprising and unique games in the Switch 2 launch lineup, but unfortunately, the newSurvival Kidsdoes little to convince that the franchise needed to make a comeback.
Survival Kidson the Switch 2 is a sanitized, even more child-friendly take on the franchise with cartoony graphics and low stakes.Playable in up to 4-player co-op online and 2-players on a single console,Survival Kidstakes recognizable survival game mechanics like crafting, cooking, resource gathering, and stamina management and builds distinct levels around them as opposed to being an open-ended experience like most games in the genre. Each stage is essentially a guided puzzle where players have to overcome various obstacles with the ultimate goal of building their raft and proceeding to the next island.
The beginning of a survival game can often be tedious as that’s when players have to spend time constructing their base of operations and gathering the resources necessary to build the basic tools they need to progress. That’s the entirety of whatSurvival Kidsconsists of. Each level puts players back at square one, requiring them to once again build their base camp, their fishing pole, and the various other tools they acquire throughout the game. It’s a repetitive process that wears out its welcome quick.
The same resources used to craft tools are also used to build bridges, climbing nets, and other objects in the environment.Survival Kidsplayers will be spending a lot of time chopping down trees and smashing rocks for their resources, with these actions having to be repeated in every single level. When players aren’t repeating these repetitive tasks, they’re dragging objects around, all the while dealing with an annoying stamina meter that makes players walk a little slower for a brief period of time before filling back up again. Players can boost their stamina by eating food, whether that be fruit they find lying around the island orfish that they manage to catch.
Fishing poles inSurvival Kidsare used for more than catching fish. They also let players drag objects up to higher ground and can be used to pull switches. As players progress through the game, they acquire new tools that are also necessary for solvingSurvival Kids' puzzles, and what’s annoying is that only one tool can be equipped at a time. Having to go back to camp to swap out tools is a drag, especially when most survival games let players carry more than one thing at a time.
Survival Kids is Simply Not a Fun Game
Oftentimes, playingSurvival Kidsfeels like a chore. Its repetitive tasks drag down the experience considerably, and sometimes it’s almost like the game is actively doing its best to keep players from having a good time. But while large swaths of the game are boring, there is still at leastsomeoccasional entertainment to be had when playingSurvival Kids. While the main objectives in any given island are simple and repetitive (build camp, fix elevator, fix raft), those that go out of their way to find the hidden treasures will get a bit more enjoyment out of the game.Survival Kids' hidden treasures are often tucked away in clever areas that require players to think outside the box if they hope to reach them and successfully return them to their camp. Thesepuzzles are a little more challengingthan the standard fare and make the game more fun.
Players are rewarded a star for each hidden treasure they manage to find inSurvival Kids, but they are also challenged to beat each stage as fast as possible for additional stars. Throw an achievement system into the mix and there are a decent number of things to do for completionists. For most people that pick up the game, the real replay value will likely come from the co-op functionality. 2-playersplit-screenworks pretty well with minimal performance hiccups, but there are times when the game lags. The second player is also unable to keep their character and is forced to customize them every new session, which is an unfortunate oversight, though the lack of a leveling system makes this more of an inconvenience than something catastrophic.
Co-op makesSurvival Kidsmore tolerable, but the game is way easier in single-player. In single-player,Survival Kidsplayers can perform actions at the same speed that normally requires two players in co-op, which makes sense from a balance perspective, but actively discourages people from playing with their friends. Unless players are walking around tied at the hip, everything in co-op takes longer than in single-player.
Everything inSurvival Kidstechnically works and the co-op support, while not implemented nearly as well as it could have been, is still appreciated. But the game is mind-numbingly boring most of the time and, at a staggering $49.99, it’s impossible to recommend it toearly Switch 2 adopters. There are far better local co-op experiences on the console at launch, and money is much better spent on those games.
