Survival Kids represents a rarity in the launch lineup of the Switch 2. With the system's lineup being mostly ports of existing games and an occasional remake, it's a really big deal to have an original title launching on the new console. The series that this represents goes all the way back to the late 1990s, and while there may be a few people tempted to pick up this game based on that lineage, the series has been absent from the gaming scene long enough that this might as well be an original title for most players.

The setup for the plot is that you find a dusty old map in your attic that holds the promise of treasure. Without hesitation, you and your friends make a raft and set forth to the indicated island to find the treasure, and that's when you'll quickly discover a few things. First, the island that's marked on the map isn't an island but an expansive land mass on top of large creatures known as Whurtles. Second, each of the Whurtles holds at least one key that is needed to unlock the cave where the real treasure lies. Lastly, your raft got wrecked when you landed on one of these Whurtles. Your goal is to repair your raft and travel to each of the Whurtles until you have enough keys to unlock the treasure you're seeking.

If you played the original game on the Game Boy Color either on the original system or through the Game Boy app on the Switch, then you'll be very surprised to learn that the gameplay experience is vastly different. What you have is a somewhat simplified experience where your main goal is to discover the location of your shipwrecked raft, find all of the materials necessary to repair your raft, sail away until you find another Whurtle, and repeat the process several times over. Finding any treasure stone keys along the way initially seems like a bonus task, but it doesn't become mandatory until you get toward the final island.

When it comes to the survival elements, the focus is all about item gathering and crafting. You can chop up trees and rocks without making the necessary tools, since you conveniently have a hatchet and pickax at all times. You can concentrate solely on hitting things, since the tool switch happens for you automatically. Leaf fans and fishing rods need to be crafted, but you also don't lose them if they break because tools immediately repair themselves. Everything material you run across can be carried solo, and crafting anything is simply a matter of taking the needed materials to a box and dumping it there. The blueprints for crafting these things are automatically given whenever the game deems that you need a certain tool. This also applies to cooking; you can simply dump ingredients into a pot without figuring out recipes or discovering that a food combo is a bad idea. The only thing to worry about is that you need to open the pot shortly after the cooking is deemed done, or else you'll end up with inedible burned food.

For the most part, the game emphasizes puzzles more than in past games. Lots of these are simple puzzles, such as having to hit faraway weight switches to unlock walkways or reach elevated heights. Some puzzles will ask you to use tools, such as a fishing rod to reach faraway switches or items, and some have you finding broken apparatus pieces so you can build the key for a door or elevator. There's nothing that is considered taxing, so all of your time is spent on scavenging rather than trying to figure out how all of the puzzle pieces fit together.

While the game does a decent job when it comes to item gathering and solving rudimentary puzzles, it eases up greatly when it comes to the expected survival elements. There are no stat meters to take care of, such as hunger or thirst or temperature, so the only meter to worry about is stamina. Even then, draining the meter only slows you down a tiny bit. It doesn't take long to refill the meter naturally, and the only time a drained stamina meter is a problem is if you run out while climbing a net because you'll immediately fall down. Death is also not much of a setback, as you'll respawn relatively close to the spot you perished, and there are only a few things that can cause you to die. For a game with the word "survival" in the title, this ends up being a game where surviving isn't a challenge.

We mentioned earlier that the treasure stone keys are treated as an optional goal until you reach the game's final island, and that's because the final island is locked behind a gate that can only be opened by obtaining at least 25 stars. There are at least three stars that are dependent on how quickly you finish a stage, but unless you really put in some effort to go fast on every island, the chances of unlocking said island through speed alone are very low. However, each island has three different treasure stone keys to uncover and drag back to base, and each one counts as a star toward unlocking the final island. It's easier to get enough of these to supplement the stars gained from completing a stage, but it means that you'll need to decide early on whether to prioritize exploration over speed because there's no way to get all six stars from one island in one go. There's no warning that you need 25 stars to unlock the game's final level, and since the stages are quite lengthy, consider this to be a big hint of what to do early on. That way, you won't need to revisit the same islands multiple times to reach the end credits.

The inherent need to replay levels to reach the game's final act highlights the big flaw: a major feeling of repetition. Having to rebuild your camp and some of your tools every time you reach a new island can become tiresome. The material needed for each island never changes, so it doesn't take long before the gathering process becomes predictable. The levels aren't short, either, so being asked to replay a stage in hopes of finding something new or for the purpose of trying to beat your times can be draining. With no variable difficulty in play, don't be surprised if you cut your play sessions short to prevent burnout on the title.

When it comes to multiplayer, Survival Kids pulls out all of the stops with its options. You can play the game via split-screen mode for up to two players. You can also play online, albeit in private rooms with friends. GameShare mode is also present, and while it only works locally, it means that you can play the game with up to four players while only needing one copy of the game. One caveat to all of these multiplayer options is the frame rate. If you're playing the game solo or in split-screen mode, you'll stay at a stable 60fps at all times. Playing online nets you the same high frame rate. If you decide to do GameShare, things slow down to 30fps no matter how many people are playing. No matter the configuration, you'll discover that multiplayer can be fun, but the game doesn't tune itself to accommodate extra players. Tasks and materials needed are the same, so the presence of more players means being able to divvy up the work for the overall mission or having more people around to quickly cover more ground.

Graphically, Survival Kids looks decent enough. The world is colorful, and it is 0easy to discern every element in the world. The viewpoint doesn't give you much room to see the details on your characters, but what's there is fine, and the same can be said for the effects, which are good but don't dazzle. As for the sound, it's fairly good overall. The kids only offer up grunts, so the only voice you hear is that of the narrator. He's fine for the job and strikes a balance between being cheerful but not overly so. The sound effects are fine, and the music is good, but don't expect to remember any of it once you turn off the game.

Your enjoyment of Survival Kids is going to be heavily dependent on your appreciation of difficulty in games. If you want something breezy or you're playing alongside someone who lacks the patience for a typical survival game, then what you'll find is fine for those wanting to get some satisfaction without putting in a ton of effort. However, if you're expecting a game that builds upon the lineage of the series, prepare to be disappointed because those elements have been drastically toned down, leaving you with a very casual experience that lacks any challenge. Unless you've got young kids playing alongside you, this is a title you may want to pass on unless it is marked down.

Score: 6.0/10