Yoshi and the Mysterious Book review

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a storybook platformer built on pure curiosity, and one of the most rewarding games on Nintendo Switch 2.

The Nintendo Switch 2’s first year has been so generously stocked with first and second-party releases that it was inevitable something would slip through the cracks. For me, that something was Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. Caught between Pokémon Pokopia, Star Fox and anticipation for Splatoon Raiders, I only recently found time to peel back its pages.

Only to find nothing at all.

To start with, at least, the Mysterious Book is an empty one, and one whose author, through discovery and experimentation, turns out to be you. But before we begin that tale, let’s spend a moment considering the game’s other author.

Good-Feel has spent nearly two decades quietly going about its business to become one of Nintendo’s most trusted development partners and the studio the company consistently turns to for this kind of gentle but spirited work. From Wario Land: Shake It! and Kirby’s Epic Yarn to Yoshi’s Woolly World and Yoshi’s Crafted World, Good-Feel’s output has a distinct hand, backed by a growing understanding of what makes Nintendo’s characters, and especially Yoshi, tick.

These are not games that typically trouble GOTY lists, but they are reliably good and always find inventive ways of pushing these characters into unexplored territory. It’s worth bearing Good-Feel’s track record in mind going into Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, because it reframes what might otherwise look like another slight, minor-key release. On paper, and in those early trailers, the game looked like a very pretty but – to use an overused term – cosy diversion at best. Happily, the reality is far more interesting.

The structure is simple. Each chapter unfolds within the pages of the Mysterious Book, whose personified host, the professorial Mr. E, introduces a new creature before stepping aside. From there, it’s simply a matter of experimentation and seeing what happens. Yoshi can attempt to eat the creature, jump on it, throw an egg, ground-pound nearby, or carry it with the new Tail Flick move. Every reaction, whether it’s a bloom, burp, or transformation, contributes to a checklist of discoveries specific to that creature, with each completed discovery earning a Star. Collect enough Stars and the next chapter of the book creaks open.

Traversal utilises Yoshi’s familiar move set, so this is notionally also a platformer, but there’s no health bar, no fail state, and no clock. You cannot lose, but the absence of that threat isn’t a lack of ambition on Good-Feel’s part. Every reason to rush or second-guess yourself is removed, and what’s left is pure, unhurried curiosity.

Each foray also hides a scattering of flowers, revealed through specific actions or by cleverly using a creature’s abilities against the environment. It’s a familiar Mario and Yoshi tradition, rewarding repeat visits and a willingness to snoop around.

The game this reminds me of most is Scribblenauts on Nintendo DS, and I mean the innovative original, not the increasingly threadbare sequels. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book taps into that same pleasure of poking at a corner of the world and having it poke back with an answer you didn’t expect. It builds on that impulse, filling every interaction with secrets and surprises.

That sense of playful investigation puts it in conversation with a clutch of games built on assembling a picture from fragments. The first examples that come to mind are Return of the Obra Dinn and The Case of the Golden Idol, alongside a hundred private dicks in between. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book scratches a similar itch, minus the murder.

Its truer cousins, though, are found in the wider family of games built around observation – Botany Manor, New Pokémon Snap, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus – where the emphasis is on cataloguing and filling in the blanks rather than solving a crime. Call it a “look ’em up,” if you’ll permit the coinage.

The pleasure of completing each of the book’s 12 chapters is enhanced by some truly beautiful art direction. It’s a delicious collision of juddery, stop-motion-style animation and pencil-and-paper illustration. The result recalls one of my favourite books as a child: a delicately illustrated edition of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. I treasured that book for its drawings of wildlife hiding away in the nooks and crannies of the undergrowth, and I can draw a straight line from those pages to this game. Only here, the sketches are alive with detail and intrigue.

My one real note of friction with this blissful playpen is the appearance of Kamek and Bowser Jr., the game’s nominal antagonists. Yoshi’s simple, timeless design feels perfectly at home in this storybook world, but their quirky Mushroom Kingdom trappings sit at odds with the homespun creatures you’re otherwise cataloguing. It’s hardly ruinous, though. As the adventure grows in scale and scope, the pair bring plenty of humour, and their story ultimately lands with a heartwarming payoff.

Every Yoshi release is measured against Yoshi’s Island, a game still regarded as the franchise’s high-water mark 31 years after its release. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book has no interest in unseating that classic. Instead, it takes the same spirit of discovery and imagination and refracts it through a new lens, much like the magnifying glass you use to peer into Mr. E’s pages. The result is more of a companion piece than a successor, but one that carves out its own place as a genuinely different type of platformer.

Good-Feel really does have a good feel for this character, and for creating warm, imaginative adventures with broad age appeal. I’m glad I didn’t leave this particular story on the shelf, because the studio has crafted something truly lovely.

Game: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
Developer: Good-Feel
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: May 21, 2026