The Potential of the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con Mouse

Nintendo officially confirmed what we already knew – the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con controllers had a mouse capability which would allow you to play some mouse-based games. What Nintendo did show off in the direct wasn’t as appealing to me – although Drag X Drive is intriguing, as was that mini-golf minigame – the potential for the mouse compatibility in games is exciting.

Throughout today’s Nintendo Direct, a number of really great titles were announced as coming to the Nintendo Switch, a few of which are best played with a mouse. Most notably, I took notice of two games in particular: Civilization 7 and Two Point Museum.

Firaxis Games, the developer of Civilization 7, have already announced that the Nintendo Switch 2 port of their strategy title will use the mouse functionality of the Joy-Con. This is fantastic news. Although the company did a spectacular job of mapping these controls to the Nintendo Switch for Civilization 6, it’s still not quite the same as playing on a computer. And honestly, my computers at home are not good enough to run a lot of these games so to have the opportunity here is not only huge for me, but huge for Nintendo and its fans.

Although not officially confirmed yet, it does appear as if mouse support could come to Two Point Museum as well. We will have to wait for official word from SEGA about this possibility, but it would be a huge addition if it was an option on Nintendo Switch. The one thing that perhaps makes me a bit skeptical of this happening is that Two Point Museum works best when using a mouse AND a keyboard, as you need various hotkeys to rotate items, etc. I think it can work with a mouse alone – cannot confirm, have never played on PC – but it might not be as intuitive. Either way, despite mapping the controls amazingly on the PlayStation 5, this is yet another experience that could benefit from a mouse!

There are way more things Nintendo can do with this mouse, including introducing a more fully fledge web browser, allowing for quicker navigation of the eShop, and more. Obviously, it will make an appearance in a variety of Nintendo games going forward, even if it’s just something you use on a menu for navigation. Either way, this is a fantastic new addition to the Nintendo Switch, and one way Nintendo is differentiating this new generation of Nintendo Switch from the last.

What about you? Are you excited for mouse capabilities on the Nintendo Switch? You can try it out yourself when the Nintendo Switch launches on June 5, 2025. Preorders open April 9, 2025 – the system will cost 629.99 in Canada, or 699.99 when purchased with a digital copy of Mario Kart World.