Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
2026 video game
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Yoshi and the Mysterious Book[a] is a 2026 platform game developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch 2. The game follows Yoshi as he enters a living encyclopedia, where he seeks and interacts with peculiar creatures in the book's pages in order to solve puzzles, complete objectives, and traverse through levels. Released on May 21, 2026, the game succeeded Yoshi's Crafted World (2019) as the ninth main installment in the Yoshi series and the fifth released for a home console. It received generally positive reviews.
Takashi Tezuka
Hisashi Nogami
| Yoshi and the Mysterious Book | |
|---|---|
Cover art depicting Yoshi surrounded by illustrations of interactable creatures | |
| Developer | Good-Feel |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Director | Masahiro Yamamoto |
| Producers | Kentaro Sei Takashi Tezuka Hisashi Nogami |
| Designers | Tatsumi Watanabe Akari Ikeda Yusuke Tsuyuki |
| Programmers | Daisuke Kobayashi Satoshi Kobayashi |
| Artist | Kazumasa Yonetani |
| Writer | Keita Kawaminami |
| Composer | Kumi Tanioka |
| Series | Yoshi |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5[1] |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Release | May 21, 2026 |
| Genre | Platform |
| Mode | Single-player |
Gameplay
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a side-scrolling platform game set primarily in a living encyclopedia called "Mr. E".[2]
The premise revolves around Yoshi as he enters Mr. E's pages in order to search for and interact with various creatures. Each level, or chapter, of the game has different creatures, each with unique attributes. When Yoshi finds a creature, he can utilize its traits and abilities to solve puzzles and traverse levels. The world inside Mr. E's pages is animated in a style similar to traditional stop-motion animation, with a lower frame rate in certain character actions such as when jumping.[3]
Development
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book was developed by Good-Feel, who previously developed the Yoshi titles Woolly World (2015) and Crafted World (2019).[4] The Mysterious Book was announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation on September 12, 2025, as a part of the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (1985),[5][6] and revealed gameplay mechanics such as interacting with creatures.[7] On March 10, 2026, for the celebration of Mario Day,[8] a trailer was released detailing further gameplay features and announced the game's release date as May 21, 2026.[9][10]
Reception
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 81/100[11] |
| OpenCritic | 85% recommend[12] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 8.5/10[13] |
| GamesRadar+ | 8/10[14] |
| IGN | 6/10[15] |
| Nintendo Life | 6/10[16] |
| Video Games Chronicle | 10/10[4] |
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator website Metacritic[11] and received a "strong" approval from critics according to OpenCritic, with 85% of critics recommending the title and a top critic average of 80.[12]
Andy Robinson of Video Games Chronicle gave the game a perfect score, praising the title's discovery elements, large amount of unique and deep creatures, and accessibility.[4] Jenni Lada, writing for Siliconera, called the Mysterious Book "unusual", "experimental", and an "entirely new type of experience", which led her to give it a positive review.[17] Destructoid writer Scott Duwe was generally positive, stating that the game got better as it progressed, and praising its lack of too much handholding, but noting its length to be "short-ish".[13] Heather Wald of GamesRadar+ was positive, praising the game's naming mechanic and sense of discovery, but hoped that "[one] day[,] we see Yoshi get even more ambitious".[14]
Nintendo Life writer Ollie Reynolds' review was one of the most critical, giving it a mixed score and noting it to be repetitive.[16] IGN's Tom Marks was similarly mixed.[15]
