Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn’t exactly a “cozy game,” but it’s what you might call “cozy adjacent.” There’s platforming and action and even a little combat, but much like your Tomodachi Life or your Animal Crossing, it’s really more about the simple joy of discovery.
In this title, you control the titular Yoshi (available in all the designer colors) as he journeys inside the pages of a mysterious talking book. Mr. Encyclopedia, Mr. E to his friends, contains many fantastical chapters devoted to myriad biomes, each packed with diverse wildlife.
The catch? He doesn’t really remember anything about them. This is why it falls to Yoshi to enter his magical pages to figure out what’s what. Simply choose a chapter and watch as the sepia-toned illustrations within come to life with fascinating flora and fauna.
As Yoshi flutter-jumps his way through each habitat, he’ll meet any number of strange creatures and test their mettle in a manner most befitting our beloved dinosaur. It’s easy to experience a little option paralysis in those first few encounters, but as the game progressed, I slowly realized all I needed to do to succeed was work my way through Yoshi’s standard repertoire.
In no time at all, I’d compiled a mental checklist for when I came upon a new organism:
- What does it taste like?
- Can it ride on Yoshi’s back or, conversely, can he ride on its back?
- How does it react when moving fast?
- How does it react while falling?
- Does it change if Yoshi gives it food?
- What happens if you ground-pound the absolute hell out of it?
This core regimen quickly gave way to endless permutations and even some unique environmental innovations. If there was water, mud, or honey available, we’d dunk into it… in the name of science! The same could be said for seeing how one creature would interact with another denizen of the surrounding forest, hillside, cave, or waterway.
At the most basic level, that is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book; you go to a new place, see an intriguing thing, and try to figure out what makes it tick. For each discovery, Yoshi is rewarded with Stars, with a major discovery (some larger, meta-mystery tied to solving a problem or uncovering creature behavior) providing both stars and the opportunity to name the subject of your research.
Mr. E’s happy to assist if you don’t feel like getting into imaginary taxonomy, but coming up with goofy names for bizarre characters was arguably my favorite part of the game.
A Glubbit?! Nah, son, that’s a Bubble Bud! They live in the pond next to the Crazee Dayz… er, I mean the Petal Petes and southeast of those troublesome Booty Bees.
While there are potentially dozens of entries to be discovered for any given subject, you don’t need to find them all. If you’re feeling particularly stumped, you can spend some of the gold Tokens collected during exploration to unlock hints.
In addition to Stars and Tokens, you’ll also want to keep an eye out for Yoshi’s traditional Smiley Flowers hidden throughout the environment. These can be used to invent Exploration Tools—things like item radars, bio-scanners, and Yoshi speedometers—that can be overlaid on the game screen to customize the interface to your liking.
Occasionally, Yoshi will also find Bowser Jr. and Kamek in Mr. E’s pages. Like you, they too are on the lookout for legendary creatures, though surely with more selfish ends in mind. Inevitably, this gruesome twosome will find themselves having antagonized the wrong varmint, which sets up the game’s infrequent but always satisfying boss fights. Yet even these are opportunities to learn and discover more of the fantastic beasts contained within Mr. E’s pages.
Unknown or familiar, aggressive or gentle, each new encounter is a masterclass in immersive game design, and each new finding rewards the player with wonder and fun. Whether your thing is David Attenborough documentaries, Wild Kratts, or the late, great Crocodile Hunter, you’ll likely pick up what Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is putting down with its naturalist-inspired take on the classic puzzle-platformer.
If you’re looking for the perfect title to add a dash of excitement to your Nintendo Switch 2 library, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book fits the bill. It’s a high-concept, low-pressure adventure that looks, sounds, and plays beautifully, which makes it the perfect transitional title to take us from the lazy days of cozy game spring to the more action-heavy nights of the upcoming Splatoon Raiders summer!
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2. It arrives this Thursday, May 21, with an MSRP of $59.99 digital and $69.99 for the retail version.
Review materials provided by Nintendo of America. This post contains affiliate links. You have to call the Shy Guys Shy Guys; it’s the law!
