Meccha Chameleon Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
I don’t really like the term “friendslop,” because it implies low-quality effort churned out for a quick buck, but unfortunately, it’s the name of the genre that’s managed to stick for games like PEAK, Content Warning, Big Walk, and now Meccha Chameleon. The latter surprise-dropped on Nintendo Switch 2 following the announcement in the most recent Nintendo Direct, bringing its multiplayer game of hide-and-seek to a wider audience. What’s It Like? Grab your paintbrushes, find your hiding spot, and ready or not, here I come as we review Meccha Chameleon for Nintendo Switch 2.
For those who aren’t on social media, or haven’t seen the hundreds of viral clips going around, Meccha Chameleon is a very interesting take on hide and seek. The difference? If you are a Hider, you’ll have some time to paint your character and choose a pose to blend in with the background in order to increase your chances of not being caught. If you get found, you join the Seekers, armed with a paint shotgun with limited rounds, and join the hunt to find the remaining Hiders. While it may sound basic enough, this gameplay formula has led to one of the more unique and deviously fun games I’ve had the joy of playing in quite some time. While the game is indeed multiplayer-only, there were plenty of servers available during my playtest period in North America, but not too many in Oceania. While the prospect of playing on higher-ping servers is usually about as fun as watching paint dry, the nature of Meccha Chameleon meant that I wasn’t really at a disadvantage when playing online. This isn’t a twitch shooter where a few milliseconds can make the difference between life and death, so even when playing further away from home, I was still able to enjoy myself without feeling like my connection was going to be my downfall.
Where the game really shined for me, however, was purchasing copies for my wife and two children and playing local multiplayer as a fun reward for getting their chores done. There’s something so much fun about being the Seeker, hearing the kids start giggling as they see you approaching, and finally finding them to an uproar of laughter. Meccha Chameleon is one of those games where the gameplay is elevated by the company you keep, and thanks to the Switch 2 microphone, voice chat in online games can make you feel like you’re all in the same room together.
The controls did take some getting used to while using the Joy-Con or Pro Controller, with a rather complex setup for selecting colours, changing brush sizes and actually painting. After some warming up, however, and finding out how to use the colour dropper, which saves an incredible amount of time, I was soon hiding and painting like one of the best of them. I did wonder if there would have to be a bit of artistry and skill involved in hiding, but there were plenty of opportunities for me to hide and paint with more basic styles before eventually trying to add more detail to my character to help it blend in even further with the background. The colour dropper, in particular, is the secret to success, allowing you to match colours with ease, especially when, by default, you only have around a minute to do your best work.
The variety in the environments you’re playing around in also helps keep things fresh, with a variety of locales like mansions, streets, toy stores, sewers, and even petting zoos that keep everything fresh and force you to adapt with each round. Rather than simply throwing you into a collection of empty rooms, the maps are packed with objects, colours and little hiding spots that give you plenty of options for where to disappear. As I became more familiar with the maps, I found myself thinking less about simply finding somewhere to hide and more about finding somewhere that I knew would make a Seeker’s job that much harder.
What I really loved about the game is that it was equally as fun to be a Hider as it was to be a Seeker. There were a few frustrating rounds where I couldn’t find a single person, but it was still a good time thanks to the game’s rapid-fire rounds. There are also several other game modes available, which do a good job of mixing things up without straying too far from the core idea. Normal mode is your traditional game of hide and seek, while Increasing Seekers slowly turns the tables as more players are brought into the hunt. Another mode throws another wrinkle into proceedings by letting all players hide and paint before taking it in turns for the server to find each other, making everyone both hider and seeker, and giving you another way to play with the game’s core mechanics. None of these modes completely reinvent Meccha Chameleon, but they provide enough variety to stop the game from feeling like you’re playing exactly the same round over and over again.
There’s just something inherently funny about both sides of the game, whether you’re desperately trying to find the perfect place to hide or watching a Seeker walk straight past you without a clue. Between the short rounds and the anticipation waiting for something hilarious to happen, Meccha Chameleon provides almost non-stop laughs, making it perfect for when you have a few spare minutes to jump into a few rounds between playing other games, or when everyone just has a little time to kill and wants something fun to do together.
Meccha Chameleon has a bright and colourful visual style that suits the game’s sense of humour really well, with each of its environments filled with plenty of objects, decorations and different colours for you to eventually hide amongst. There is nothing particularly realistic about the way the characters look, but I don’t think that’s what the developers were going for. The environments are the most important part of the game’s visuals because they are effectively your playground, and as I spent more time with each map, I found myself paying attention to the smallest details in a way I probably wouldn’t in another game. A wall isn’t just a wall when you’re playing Meccha Chameleon, because you are immediately thinking about whether you can paint yourself to match it, while a pile of objects in the corner might suddenly become the perfect place to disappear. The more familiar I became with the maps, the more I started recognising potential hiding spots almost immediately. The game remains clear whether you’re playing on the TV or in handheld mode, and I never found myself struggling to make out the environments or my surroundings, which is super important because when you’re searching for another player, sometimes the difference between finding them and completely missing them comes down to a tiny discrepancy like an awkward shape or a colour that doesn’t quite match everything around it.
Performance is thankfully pretty straightforward with Meccha Chameleon, as the game targets a smooth 60fps for the most part and I didn’t encounter any issues that got in the way of actually playing. I did have a couple of small network hitches, mainly while sitting in the pre-game lobby, but they were negligible and never carried over into the matches themselves, so there wasn’t a point where I felt like my connection was affecting the outcome of a round.
For my artists looking into accessibility, there aren’t any specific accessibility options available in Meccha Chameleon, as always, I recommend further research into finding out if Meccha Chameleon suits your accessibility needs. At just under $8 AUD, Meccha Chameleon offers exceptional value for money, particularly if you’re looking for something to play with friends or family. As mentioned earlier, we purchased four copies at its current launch sale price, and the total cost was still less than a single movie ticket, while the game has already provided us with hours of laughs and fun. It’s a fantastic price point for what you get here.
Meccha Chameleon was a pleasant surprise, not only because I wasn’t expecting it to appear on Nintendo Switch 2, but because I came away from it having some of the most joyous and hilarious gaming sessions I’ve had in quite some time. The concept is incredibly clever; the gameplay is simple enough that anyone can pick it up, but has enough depth in the painting and hiding mechanics to keep you experimenting. I’m still not entirely sold on calling games like this “friendslop”, especially since Meccha Chameleon doesn’t feel like something that has been thrown together to chase a few viral clips and make a quick buck. There is a very clever idea at the heart of this game, and it’s been polished into something that is remarkably easy to enjoy, whether you’re playing online with strangers or sitting in the same room with your family and trying to work out where everyone has hidden themselves. It’s clever, it’s hilarious, it’s incredibly well-priced, and most importantly, it’s just an absolute joy to play.
So What’s it Like? Meccha Chameleon is like going to a paint-and-sip night, then deciding to play hide-and-seek at the same time.
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