1-2-Switch was the first Nintendo Switch game to use the console’s HD Rumble feature.
1-2-Switch launched on March 3, 2017, alongside the Nintendo Switch. Its minigames were designed to demonstrate the capabilities of the Joy-Con controllers, including motion control, infrared sensing, and HD Rumble. The haptic effect lets players feel varied vibrations that can suggest movement or separate objects inside a virtual container.
The game’s well-known examples include a minigame in which players estimate the number of balls inside a Joy-Con by feeling its vibrations. Other activities focus on quick reactions, motion, or facing another player rather than looking continuously at the television.
HD Rumble is a feature of the Joy-Con controllers, not a special function provided by the Switch dock. Later games such as ARMS, Super Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also used the technology, but 1-2-Switch was the launch-era title built most directly around showcasing it. The name is sometimes written as 1-2-Switch, with numerals rather than the words “One Two Switch.”