Nintendo’s new Game Builder Garage lets Switch owners code their own experiences

Today, Nintendo is launching its latest way to get Switch owners in on the action of designing and programming their own games. Building off of Nintendo Labo’s momentum, the upcoming Game Builder Garage offers a suite of tools to code games and craft unique levels with an intuitive interface geared towards first-time developers. Head below for all of the details.

Nintendo launches new Game Builder Garage for Switch

Serving as a spiritual successor to Nintendo’s first crack at letting Switch owners craft their own games, Toy-Con Garage, today’s unveiling reimagines the software as a more full-fledged gaming-making studio. Ditching reliance on the Labo cardboard accessories, Game Builder Garage carries on with a similar name to its predecessor but with plenty of improvements.

At its core, the experience is much of the same this time around with Nintendo Game Builder Garage. Leveraging the Switch’s touchscreen, you’ll be able to drag and drop various coding blocks that allow you to program in-game characters. The overall interface hasn’t changed much in terms of actual functionality, as there’s still an intuitive way to program the Switch’s Joy-Cons to move around your character, jump, and interact with the virtual world.

And speaking of that the world of Game Builder Garage, Nintendo is building in the ability to design your own levels. While there doesn’t appear to be anything quite as in-depth as you’d find in the Mario Maker series, it’s pretty neat to see a customizable world being paired with programmable gameplay.

There will be three core game modes, which are drawing inspiration from the Labo series, including games centered around playing tag, navigating a maze with motion controls, and racing in dune buggies. But it also looks like those hoping to start from scratch will also be able to create entirely unique experiences, as well. Developers using Game Builder Garage will be able to share their creations with friends, which allows for collaborating on custom games with pals for some of those more ambitious projects.

Coming to Nintendo Switch in June

Landing on Nintendo Switch, Game Builder Garage will launch on June 11 and enters with a $29.99 price tag. It looks like the title will only be available as a digital download via the eShop.

9to5Toys’ Take:

Lately, there have been reports that Nintendo would be ending its Labo series of cardboard Switch accessories, and today’s unveiling of Game Builder Garage leads me to believe that this is an announcement we’ll see any day now. The title looks to be Nintendo’s path forward when it comes to inspiring STEAM-inspired gaming, implementing on the foundations that Labo established over the years with a much more complete set of programming features.

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