Switch 2’s mouse control is a neat trick, but it’s also a real pain – literally

The Nintendo Switch 2 is more of an upgrade than a bold move forward. Everything that was on the original Switch has been improved, from the screen to the processor to the JoyCons, which now magnetically attach with a satisfying thunk (see our Switch 2 unboxing). But there’s little that’s really new – except for the mouse controls.

By turning the JoyCons on their side and placing them on a surface, they instantly become mice. It feels like magic when you first try it, reminiscent of the Switch’s original magic trick of suddenly appearing on your TV when you slot it neatly into its dock. But how well do the Switch 2 mouse controls work?

On the right JoyCon, the R and ZR buttons immediately flip to being left and right mouse buttons, and the L and LR buttons function the same way on the left JoyCon, meaning you can use the mouse left-handed if you desire.

The mouse controls are also impressively responsive, and seem to work on a wide range of surfaces: the optical sensor doesn’t have any trouble picking up movement whether it’s on a table or on a trouser leg. There’s also a little attachment with a wrist loop for each JoyCon that helps to provide a bit more stability in mouse mode by giving each controller a wider surface to rest on, although they work without it, too – they’re just a bit more wobbly.

But even though it works, I’m not convinced mouse control is a winner.

Only a small number of Switch 2 games are compatible with mouse control at launch, and I tried two of them: Civilization VII and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Civilization VII, with its PC origins, is surely the best candidate for being improved through mouse controls, and initially it seemed promising. It feels natural to use the left JoyCon’s analogue stick to move the map around, just like using the WASD keys on a PC, while the analogue stick on the right JoyCon lets you zoom in and out when it’s in mouse mode, just like the scroll wheel on an actual mouse.

But the trouble is, it’s just not very comfortable to use the JoyCon like a mouse for any length of time. With its thin profile, the side-on JoyCon is about as far from ergonomic as you can get. It feels unnatural to hold, fiddly, with no obvious place to rest your thumb and fingers.

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I tried numerous ways of holding it, and the only way that was even remotely comfortable involved resting my palm on a flat surface and extending my forefinger over the top so it just about reached the curved R button. But even then I still developed wrist ache after just a few minutes, and my fingers felt unnaturally high up. The thought of playing like this for hours is untenable.

Civilization VII also seemed to stop recognising the mouse buttons on occasion. So even though I was able to move the pointer like a mouse, when I clicked R, it would bring up a menu – like it does in joypad mode – instead of acting like a left mouse click. This was infuriating, as you can imagine, although it seems to be something peculiar to that game, since the mouse functions on Kunitsu-Gami worked perfectly.

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Kunitsu-Gami is a completely different kettle of fish, because here the mouse controls only come into play very occasionally. For most of the game, you’re battling demons emerging from a torii gate using regular controls, but pressing in on the left analogue stick brings up command mode, and it’s here where mouse controls come in handy.

By flipping to mouse mode, you can precisely position the various villagers that make up your army – and potentially much more quickly than by using the analogue stick. And because you’re only using mouse mode for a few seconds at a time, there’s little chance to develop wrist ache.

This feels better to use than in Civilization VII – yet it also feels a bit superfluous. Will anyone really spend their time playing this game with two detached JoyCons, one held in each hand, just so they can activate mouse mode on occasion? I doubt it when it feels so much more comfortable to play with the JoyCons attached to the Switch, or clipped together on their little ergonomic grip.

The upshot is that even though the mouse function of the Switch 2 works surprisingly well in terms of its accuracy, I find it hard to believe that anyone will make use of it except in short bursts, because it’s just so damn uncomfortable. (And frankly painful – my wrist still aches from my launch day mouse experimentations.)

And if it’s only useful in short bursts, then what use is it, really?

For more on today's Switch 2 launch, see our first impressions of the Switch 2 GameCube games.

If you're wondering how to get hold of the device, check out our guide to Nintendo Switch 2 orders, and see pricing on other consoles below.