Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
Despite being a new entry in one of Nintendo's more prestigious franchises, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book released recently without much fanfare. The game postures itself as child friendly, which may explain why it didn't generate much buzz. For the most part Yoshi cannot die and the player cannot lose, but that's because this is less of a pure platformer and more of a puzzle-platformer. Each stage is centered around a specific creature, and in order to finish a stage Yoshi must trigger some key event by interacting with the relevant creature. At the onset, these solutions are quite straightforward, but by the end there were some challenging solutions that required the combination of different puzzle/platforming mechanics. In addition to the primary goal of each stage there are Smiley Flowers (which should be familiar to any Yoshi fan) along with an abundance of different "discoveries" which are neat and thoughtful interactions that happen between the various characters and objects in the world. While the story is rather short there is a ton of bonus content to engage with, both in the way of normal post-game levels, and the plentiful discoveries that are to be made after completing a stage. The art and design are a major highlight here - everything is animated in such a unique watercolor-esque style and the world falls in place perfectly as a result. The various interactions and puzzles are well thought out, it really feels like the considered every possible action when designing things. Although Yoshi and the Mysterious Book may appear to be a forgettable game aimed at children, it offers something wholly inventive and yet very relaxing. Definitely give this title a try if you are looking for a cute new direction for a familiar face.
Play it for the:
- Endearing storybook artwork and soundtrack
- Cute and inventive discoveries
- Relaxing puzzle-platformer gameplay
Reviewed on 2026-6-9
It was always a treat to interact with familiar creatures!
