Nintendo's Newest Mobile Game Looks Like a Chaotic Modern Twist on Face Raiders and WarioWare
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Nintendo and Intelligent Systems are launching Pictonico!, a quirky new mobile game that uses your phone camera to put real photos of friends and family into chaotic WarioWare-style minigames.
Nintendo has a habit of dropping delightfully strange titles when nobody is looking, and their latest project continues that tradition. Announced quietly via mobile channels, a brand new game called Pictonico! brings the fast-paced, unhinged energy of WarioWare straight to your smartphone. Developed by Intelligent Systems, the studio behind the legendary microgame franchise, the title leans hard into absurdist humor and local social play. You are tasked with licking virtual lollipops, summoning genies, and fighting off zombies, all while interacting with a very specific set of assets. The game uses your phone camera to capture real photos of your friends and family, warping those faces directly into the gameplay.
If that concept sounds familiar, you are not alone in having heavy 3DS flashbacks. The internet has already drawn immediate comparisons to Face Raiders and Tomodachi Life, channeling that exact brand of quirky, low-stakes handheld chaos that defined an era of Nintendo hardware. The core mechanic involves snapping a picture and stretching those faces across minigames in a manner that feels heavily inspired by the classic Super Mario 64 title screen. It is the kind of game built entirely around group chats, living room hangouts, and streaming content where creators can pull hilarious reactions out of their chat or friends in real time.
Privacy concerns are usually the first thing players bring up when a mobile game asks for camera access, but Nintendo has explicitly stated that your photos will not be saved or used for anything outside of the app. Pictonico! is scheduled to launch on May 28 as a free-to-start release, giving curious players a chance to try out a handful of minigames through an upcoming demo before spending any money. Pre-registrations are already open. As mobile releases go, it is a refreshingly weird swing from a company that occasionally still remembers how to be playfully bizarre. Original reporting can be found on Polygon [.
Tags: Nintendo, Mobile Gaming, WarioWare, Intelligent Systems, Pictonico!
Original article: Polygon