When it comes to platformers of just about any kind you can imagine, the Switch and Switch 2 more than have you covered. While there’s no question that Nintendo’s own premier franchises sit comfortably at the top of the heap, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been a number of well-made and often refreshingly unique indie titles to help fill in the blanks as well. Oddly enough though, I’ve seen the overall tendency in this genre shift more in the direction of providing challenges over easy accessibility these days. Sure, there are still games you could argue will be playable by just about anyone, but where at one time you could roughly assume that about most platformers being released, especially on Nintendo systems, the genre has seemed to skew towards trying to keep pace with the people who grew up with these sorts of titles, and who have a thirst for something a little tougher than average.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’d say that whatever its faults may be, Escape From Monday feels like a 3D platformer focused on that older-school tendency towards all-ages accessibility. By no means does that indicate there being a lack of any challenge at all, but for the most part I’d argue just about anyone would be capable of completing the core game with a little work, even if they’ve missed out on plenty of better hidden spots, timed challenges, and assorted collectibles. While your dive and rolling jump are essential skills for completionists, the majority of the time the main path doesn’t tend to demand that degree of technique, and you’re able to stumble along with more standard jumps just fine. I’ll admit that the fact the camera sometimes allows you full 3D control while other times being locked can be irritating in spots, but it’s also rare that it creates serious issues.

All that said, in terms of the license I’d say it’s a mixed bag. Sure, Garfield’s love for lasagna and less healthy food are on-brand, but I’ll admit that the voice acting in particular troubled me. While there have been some different people who’ve voiced him over the years in different forms, and some were better than others, for some reason his voice in this game just seems weird to me. The voice work for Jon isn’t far behind either, and while my concern is always on core gameplay more than presentation, I’ll admit that I actually would have preferred no voice work at all over what was included. That just may be me though. The good news though, is that for younger or less picky gamers who may struggle with the average modern platformer, this manages to get the job done. It won’t be at the top of any genre lists most likely, but you can absolutely do quite a lot worse in the eShop.