I was genuinely happy to see Yoshi and the Mysterious Book during the September 2025 Nintendo Direct. You may recall that only a few months before the Direct, I had expressed my desire to see a new game starring everyone’s favourite green dinosaur land on the Nintendo Switch 2. And while I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, getting something is better than nothing.
I became more intrigued with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book as I saw a little more about it, because it seemed like it was going to combine a unique discovery aspect to the core Yoshi’s Island gameplay that made the games so fun. However, what I got was something I wasn’t expecting but fell in love with pretty quickly. It’s a game that’s ALL about discovery, and that’s exactly what makes it so fun.
As was detailed during the Direct and subsequent overview videos, the story of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book kicks off when a living book crashes onto Yoshi’s Island, after the mischievous Bowser Jr. jumped inside in search of a magnificent and mysterious creature The Yoshi gang finds the book, who calls himself Mr. Encyclopedia and asks for their help, since he can’t actually see what’s going on inside his pages.
“Yoshi and the Mysterious Book does a great job of re-contextualizing the concept of challenge.”
The Yoshis set off on a journey of discovery as Mr. E’s pages are filled with little creatures that he doesn’t seem to recognize, and it’s up to the Yoshis to use their natural charm and general likeability to learn about each critter, and fill each page with information It’s such a distinctly different kind of story because, even for a Yoshi game, there’s no real sense of conflict or trouble. Nothing’s been stolen, no one really needs to be rescued; instead, it’s an incredibly cozy kind of story that prioritizes the sense of adventure that comes from learning.
Even when Bowser Jr. and Kamek do get involved, there’s always a sense that they’re just annoyed by Yoshi’s presence. It’s underpinned by a childlike sense of humour—Bowser Jr. is always kind of a bratty kid, and Kamek is his put-upon caretaker. When I reviewed Yoshi’s Crafted World, I had said I wanted something a bit different, and I honestly didn’t realize how much of a difference giving the game a sweeter, more laid-back vibe would make.
And this sentiment crosses over into the gameplay for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book as well. The game doesn’t really have challenges in the “traditional” sense. Levels aren’t platforming challenges or filled with obstacles or enemies for the Yoshis to overcome. Yoshi doesn’t have health, and there are no penalties for taking damage or falling in pits. Instead, each level is focused on learning about a specific creature.
“Yoshi and the Mysterious Book combines a multitude of elements for an art style that is incredibly charming and distinctive.”
Every way Yoshi interacts with a creature, from gobbling them up to giving them a ride, to how they affect the environment, gets a little note made within the level. When players make the “big discovery,” which is essentially the objective of the level, they’re prompted to end their exploration. Each discovery rewards players with a Star, which is used for unlocking new “Chapters” within Mr.E’s pages, and you would be SHOCKED just how much there is to discover.
After almost every level, after tallying up every discovery, the game would show me one thing I had missed, prompting me to go back and learn more. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book does a great job of re-contextualizing the concept of challenge—prompting players to not only consider the aspects of the level that are obvious, but to experiment and seek out new determinations. Once you know that every level has an abundance of things to find out, you start approaching each new one in as creative a way as possible.
It’s something I really like about Yoshi and the Mysterious Book because I feel like kids (and some adults) aren’t really taught that learning and the pursuit of knowledge and understanding is, and should be an adventure unto itself. Speaking for myself, growing up, going to school and learning was always made to feel like a chore—something that needed to be done, lest you face a punishment.
Here, the idea of learning about each new creature, how they interact with Yoshi and what ways they can be utilized is treated with a grand sense of fun and wonder that makes you want to continue seeing what more you can learn about them. You start to see certain creatures pop up in chapters about others, and discovering the interesting ways they interact with each other becomes just an added layer to the fun.
And something I really appreciate in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is how much focus is being put on the weird and wonderful creatures that are native to Yoshi’s Island. One of the best features of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was its cast of eclectic enemies, however recent entries in the Yoshi series have focused more on Shy Guys more than anything else. I’m just glad they’re being given a spotlight for a new generation and being presented in a fun and silly way that really allows players to engage with them.
In a way, it kind of reminds me of Astro Bot, insofar as every level is its own little contained experience with its own unique set of rules and challenges. There’s just so much variety on offer in this game, and no two levels feel the same. It’s a free-form experience that gives the players a lot of options—from which levels they want to play, to which colour Yoshi they want to be, even to naming every creature (even established ones like Shy Guys or Blarggs).
“Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a different kind of Yoshi game, but it was one that fully captivated me.”
Visually, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book combines a multitude of elements for an art style that is incredibly charming and distinctive. Outside of Mr. E’s pages, the game maintains a more traditional 3D aesthetic that immediately separates the “real” from the fantastic. Within each level, Yoshi and each new creature have a coloured pencil aesthetic, while backgrounds and foregrounds are given a kind of watercolour-painted look.
Levels are usually bright and bursting with colour, and there’s an incredible amount of little details within each new area. While the game runs at 60fps, characters are given a reduced frame rate, making them feel more hand-drawn within the pages of the book. And there’s just so much visual variety to the game that each new level feels distinct and unique.
If there’s one complaint I have with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, it’s in the audio department. While I love the use of a lot of familiar Yoshi sounds from Yoshi’s Story, I really wish this game had a more expansive soundtrack. Much like Yoshi’s Crafted World, the game has one distinct theme that it uses over and over in every level. To its credit, it does a better job at remixing that theme so it feels more dynamic, but I really wish we could go back to the soundtrack of Yoshi’s Woolly World.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a different kind of Yoshi game, but it was one that fully captivated me. Its laid back atmosphere makes it really easy to get into, and its prioritization of discovery gives it a unique sense of challenge. While it may be too much of a departure from what Yoshi games are meant to be, I’ll always take unique and interesting over “just another one,” any day.
