What if a hand‑drawn anime and a couch co‑op puzzle game had a baby?
That’s the vibe Kepler Interactive and Tokyo newcomer Shapefarm are selling with Orbitals, a two‑player, asymmetrical co‑op adventure announced at The Game Awards. Set in a lovingly crafted retro anime galaxy, the game casts players as Maki and Omura — inseparable explorers racing to save their crumbling space station from a supernatural cosmic storm.
What Orbitals is trying to be
Orbitals looks less like a standard puzzle game and more like a playable episode of a ’70s‑to‑’90s anime. Shapefarm leaned on Studio Massket to produce bespoke, hand‑crafted cutscenes, and the reveal trailer (which includes a full Japanese dub) sells the aesthetic: moody space vistas, kinetic character animation, and that slightly grainy, analog warmth anime fans love.
Under the hood it’s built in Unreal Engine 5, and everything shown so far leans into cooperative problem solving. One player might pilot a ship through meteor fields while the other mans a turret. In another clip, one character uses a levitating beam to ferry puzzle pieces while the other times platform jumps. The key pitch is asymmetry: tools, roles, and perspectives that require real teamwork rather than two people doing the same thing.
How you'll play (and who you can play with)
Because Orbitals is exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2, the team is tailoring the experience to the hardware’s new features. The game supports:
- Local split‑screen co‑op using two pairs of Joy‑Con 2 controllers on a single Switch 2.
- Nintendo’s GameShare for sharing the game with another nearby Switch or Switch 2 player.
- Online matchmaking with built‑in GameChat and the console’s microphone for voice coordination.
That variety of connection options makes it easy to turn a single trailer moment — say, piloting through an asteroid belt — into a shared, chaotic memory with a friend.
Why the anime focus matters
This isn’t just window dressing. Shapefarm appears to be leaning on anime’s visual language and storytelling economy: small, expressive character beats, a sense of melodrama, and moments of quiet atmosphere between high‑tension puzzles. Studio Massket’s animation pedigree helps sell the idea that Orbitals isn’t an anime knockoff but a sincere translation of the medium into gameplay.
There’s also broad appeal in the dual‑dub approach; the game ships with both English and Japanese voice tracks, which suggests the devs want it to feel authentic to anime fans without shutting out a global audience.
A timely exclusive for Switch 2
Orbitals lands as third‑party support for Switch 2 continues to pick up. Nintendo’s broader release calendar and the console’s sales momentum have been a talking point this year, and titles like Orbitals help showcase what developers can do when they target the platform directly. For context on how Switch 2’s lineup is shaping up, Nintendo’s roadmap and sales outlook have been updated several times this year as the platform gains traction and third‑party commitments deepen — you can read more about Nintendo’s release schedule and momentum in recent coverage on the console’s lineup and sales forecasts here and here.
What we don’t know yet (but want to)
Kepler and Shapefarm gave us a striking trailer and a pretty clear design brief, but details like length, pricing, and online features beyond matchmaking are still under wraps. It’s also unclear how the game will scale difficulty for single players (if that’s even an option) or whether there will be post‑launch content.
For now, Orbitals’ promise is simple: a co‑op game that looks and sounds like a retro anime and is built from the ground up to make two players feel useful to each other. It’s scheduled to arrive exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2026. If you’ve been craving something that blends teamwork, style, and a little space melodrama, this one’s worth keeping an eye on.
Are you more excited about the art and animation, or the co‑op puzzle design? Either way, keep your partner close — cosmic storms are coming.