The recent outbreak of Covid 19 has caused many changes to how businesses operate. Many companies are having employees work from home and this is having interesting results. One such example is Jump Rope Challenge, a true free to play game with no transactions whatsoever available on the eShop until the end of September. This is a game that was made by developers from Nintendo working from home during lockdown, and is an exercise game designed to help people during lockdown.
The game does not have a lot of depth to it, but that makes sense given its origins and intentions. There is a simple premise here and it works well, namely using the Switch’s Joy Cons as a skipping rope, and jump as much as possible. There is an initial target to reach, but you can increase it if you wish for more of a challenge in your workout, and you can do this with friends as well. Jump Rope Challenge doesn’t rely on fancy visuals, and uses a minimalist style instead. You have an avatar in the form of an anthropomorphic rabbit that mimics your jumps as you do them. The game will change the background once you do 100 jumps, and while some are nice and calming, some have very annoying audio and are best avoided.
For a limited game, Jump Rope Challenge does its job well. It gets you to work out, and simulates a jump rope very accurately thanks to the HD rumble. Nintendo has been pushing fitness games for a while, with Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Fit U, as well as Ring Fit Adventure and Fitness Boxing. This game fits in well with those titles. albeit as a mini version. It does its job well and gets you to exercise and asks nothing in return. Considering how hard it is to track down a copy of Ring Fit Adventure right now, and how some may not be sold on the idea of Fitness Boxing still, Jump Rope Challenge’s completely free nature is very inviting.
Seeing as the game was created by devs working at home, as a way to stay busy, the results are surprisingly effective. I have truly enjoyed my time with the game, and the ability to change and increase goals really does help me stay engaged in the experience. While I do not like some of the backgrounds that the game uses, the on-screen experience is actually well done for the most part. You do not need a high production experience all the time, and this is a great alternative. Considering that the game is free for a few months, there is no reason whatsoever to not try it. I suggest playing it when you need bit of a workout or are feeling in need of a change of pace.
This is a well made experience and I hope it is not gone for good after September. As it stands, I highly recommend this.