Yoshi and the Mysterious Book Is Now Up for Preorder With Nintendo’s New Pricing Model

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch on May 21. It has hand-drawn storybook-style graphics and levels filled with unique creatures with interesting abilities Yoshi can discover by interacting with them. It’s available now at ceratin retailers (see it at Amazon). Read on to see where it’s available, how much it costs in physical vs. digital format, and what to expect from the game.

Where to Preorder

Any Preorder Bonuses?

Nope. At the time of this writing, no retailer is offering any kind of bonus for preordering the game. If that changes, I’ll put that information here.

Is It a Game-Key Card?

It is not a Game-Key card. Unlike some Switch 2 games, physical copies of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book contain the game’s data on the cartridge. That may help explain the $10 surcharge for physical copies.

Nintendo Pricing: Physical vs. Digital

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that Nintendo is charging $59.99 for digital copies of Yoshi and $69.99 for physical copies. Regarding this difference, Nintendo issued a statement saying the following:

“Beginning in May 2026, and starting with preorders for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, new Nintendo published digital titles exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 will have an MSRP that is different from physical versions.”

So, at least for first-party Switch 2 games, it looks like we can expect to pay $10 less for digital copies going forward.

What Is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book?

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the latest installment in the colorful puzzle-platformer series starring everyone’s favorite little green dinosaur. Yoshi games are typically aimed at younger gamers and offer less challenge than other Nintendo series, like Mario. They also tend to have a unique art style that makes them stand out. It looks like Yoshi and the Mysterious Book checks all those boxes.

So what is the game about? Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a talking encyclopedia named Mr. E falls from the sky and lands on the island where the Yoshis live. The reference book is filled with entries describing strange creatures. The pages also contain portals to worlds that these creatures inhabit, and Yoshi can enter these worlds to learn about them.

In the latest trailer, Yoshi studies a creature with a hoop-shaped mouth. The creature blows bubbles Yoshi can hop into to float upwards. Yoshi can carry the creatures on his back, making it blow lots of bubbles that let Yoshi reach higher platforms, where he finds things like gold collectibles, flowers, and apples. He can also feed it different kinds of food, which changes the bubbles in various ways. Each discovery about the creature gets added to the encyclopedia entry. These details earn you stars, which open new pages in the encyclopedia that contain new biomes, like Wildwoods, Mountain Top, and Seaside.

More Preorder Guides

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.