Console launches don’t come around too often, and with Survival Kids, Konami and developer Unity are one of the few brand new experiences on offer to Nintendo Switch 2 owners on day one. A vibrant, colourful reimagining of a late 90s Game Boy Colour title, Survival Kids feels very at home on a Nintendo system, especially one that encourages social play more than ever before. But how does a partnership like this begin, especially for Unity’s first fully in-house developed game?
“We had met at Gamescom (Konami and Unity), and it kind of turned out that we had a lot of shared values, and a lot of shared some goals and ideals, and we kind of sat down and started discussing what Konami IP we could resurrect; what would be relevant, and how do you resurrect it?” Rich Jones, Creative Director at KONAMI Europe, told me at a recent preview event.
He explains that development first started back in 2022, and then it was created to be platform agnostic. As for why it became a Switch 2 exclusive, that was a “shared decision”, says Jones, and although the team didn’t know what the console was called, or exactly when it was coming, it all sort of aligned with what Unity was thinking, or expecting.
A mixture of platforming and puzzling, this is a game playable alone, sure, but it’s improved by playing with additional teammates in up to 4-player co-op. The “survival” name shouldn’t put you off, either, as this is a streamlined experience. If you want to, for example, craft something that requires 4 wood, anyone on the team can drop that wood into the crafting box at any time, and it will be available for all players on the team.
This is very much a collaborative effort, and it feels as though Unity knows that, incorporating Game Share, Game Chat, split screen, and online multiplayer across the title. “Once you learn more about the platform you can optimize towards it”, explained Andy Dennison, Studio Head & Producer at Unity, “We added features like Game Share. So yeah, it’s kind of fortuitous that we made it happen”.
Being a Unity developed title, as well, the team aren’t just thinking of the creativity reasons for making a game. “We’re actually able to also validate that Unity works on the Switch 2 and supports new features like Game Share, but that it does high frame-rates and has great stability.”
I got to play three different levels in a variety of configurations. Online multiplayer allowed four of us to just go about our business, solving puzzles to progress through (seemingly) larger and larger islands, which make up the levels of Survival Kids. You’ll start off with rudimentary learning: here’s how you chop trees down; then turn them into logs. Here’s a rock to get boulders. Here’s your base camp; this is how you cook. On that note, cooking the various fruits you find is vital as you’ll soon be crafting nets that let you scale rock-faces, but you’ll have a Breath of the Wild-like stealth meter that is increased by having a meal.
So much of Survival Kids is contextual. It wants you to ping your friends and let them know you need help. If you’re holding food, the ping will change to a food icon, and so on. It’s fast, feels good in the hands, and always feels like you’re moving towards the objectives, even if one of you decides to go treasure hunting for secrets.
Before too long the puzzles start involving moving platforms that, despite being told by the on-hand development team are all “solvable solo”, do leave you scratching your head as to how. That said, I played a level solo and things do adjust accordingly. You can stand chopping a tree down but with co-op if someone joins you it speeds the process up. These actions are adjusted for solo play, and even two player co-op. Each level has a par time, and I tried to smash one, but failed alone. Survival Kids feels better together, that’s for sure.
A delightful physics engine underpins all the fun you’ll be having. If you drop a log into a stream it will float along, and this even plays into puzzles. Lateral thinking is rewarded, and one section that had my team stumped in split-screen co-op was resolved by realising we could use a newly crafted fishing rod to not just pull switches, but also pull up a log from a lower ledge and solve a puzzle. In these moments, where Survival Kids excels, it reminded me of the feeling you get from those incredibly clever games like Portal, where you solved it with a bit of outside of the box thinking.
From fishing rods that get you access to switches, to umbrellas that add a smooth sailing distance to an otherwise perilous jump, it’s going to be interesting to see what other tricks Unity has up its sleeve as levels progress. There’s nothing particularly tricky so far I’ve seen aside needing to use your brain a bit, and this feels like a very accessible experience for all ages, with nothing too taxing on the controller required.
“Accessibility has always been on top of our agenda, allowing people of all skill levels to get in and understand what they have to do, and understand the system”, explained Jones, “But then there still be a challenge of the puzzles and working together. So, you know, you’re trying to make it as smooth to get people in and allow them to start having fun right from the get go.“
Survival Kids feels like a natural fit for the console, and in some ways caused me to think back all those years to Snipperclips on Switch launch day. This is something a bit different, but no less clever, with a lovingly crafted aesthetic, physics engine underneath, and replayability that encourages you to experiment, explore, and team up with friends.
There are sprinklings of the likes of Overcooked in here thanks to the par times and collectibles, though it’s a lot less panic inducing than that title. Whether you’re throwing bombs to open up routes, building bridges, or just doing the grunt work and slowly lugging your base camp to the next location, there’s something for everyone here. I’ll be playing this on launch, anyway, and I’m excited to see what else is hiding later into the level progression, and just how frustrated my friends will get at one another as they play.
Survival Kids is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5th.
