The Nintendo Labo Variety Kit gives you the tools you need to create plenty of awesome cardboard gadgets, including a fishing rod and a piano, but players have managed to make even more impressive toys using extra cardboard and the Toy-Con Garage software. Nintendo held a contest to find a few of the best custom creations, and they have us feeling inadequate by comparison.
The Nintendo Labo Creators Contest split its entries up into several categories, with some being purely aesthetic while others focused on the function of the creation. The “best decorated Toy-Con” category’s three winners included a piano designed to look like the Master Sword’s resting place in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Toy-Con House modified to resemble a treehouse, and the Toy-Con RC Car modified to look like a dinosaur. Our favorite has to be the treehouse, which even comes with a tire swing and little squirrel.
The “best Toy-Con Mod using Toy-Con Garage” category had very impressive winners, including a working analog clock with an alarm, a “Fix It” game, and a unique spin on “Simon Says.” The latter game was created by a boy named Vander, whose Super Mario Bros. Pinball entry was among our personal favorites.
The last category was “best original invention using Toy-Con Garage,” and it’s here where things got wonderfully weird. The three winners were “Labo Tea Time,” which made use of the Toy-Con controllers to simulate pouring water. It got bonus points for including “Boolong” tea.
Other winners in the category were “Solar-Powered Cardboard Accordion,” which used light to create a fully functional instrument, as well as the the “Don’t Break the Line!” game, which even featured candy as a prize for winners and a coin slot to begin playing — perhaps creator Ape can monetize this one and charge his classmates a fee, though we suggest he put a candy other than Smarties inside.
More Nintendo Labo custom creations are sure to come in the future, and we can’t wait to see what the community makes. Who knew cardboard and a few game accessories could lead to such wild gadgets?
The second Nintendo Labo Creators Contest kicks off Thursday, July 19. One grand prize winner in the two categories will receive a collectible cardboard-like Switch system, jacket, and framed and signed award certificate.
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