''Jump Rope Challenge'' is a fitness video game developed and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

. In the game, the player is encouraged to "jump a

skipping rope A skipping rope (or jump rope) is a tool used in a sport involving rhythmic jumping over a rope swung underfoot and overhead. The activity, practiced both recreationally and competitively, encompasses disciplines such as freestyle routines—f ...

", by performing motions using the

Joy-Con Joy-Con are the primary game controllers for the Nintendo Switch, a hybrid video game console. A set of Joy-Con consists of two individual units, each containing an analog stick and an array of buttons. They can be used while attached to the mai ...

controllers, every day a prespecified number of times. The game was developed by a small team to keep active at home during the

stay-at-home order A stay-at-home order, safer-at-home order, movement control order – also referred to by loose use of the terms quarantine, isolation, or lockdown – is an order from a government authority that restricts movements of a population as a mass qu ...

s of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was released for free on the Switch's

Nintendo eShop The is a digital distribution service for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2, and formerly available via the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the Nintendo eShop served ...

in June 2020. It was originally intended to be removed from the eShop three months subsequent to release, but Nintendo later announced that the game would remain available until further notice.

Gameplay

In ''Jump Rope Challenge'', the player uses

controllers in a

basic Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

motion in conjunction with jumping up and down to emulate jumping a skipping rope. The in-game screen displays an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

rabbit character skipping alongside the player, as well as counting the number of jumps the player does. Initially, the game sets the player the task of reaching at least 100 jumps every day, although this goal can be manually increased. The player's total jumps for each day are recorded in a timeline, allowing the player to see how much they have progressed. ''Jump Rope Challenge'' can also be played in

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

with 2 players, each player holding one Joy-Con.

Development and release

During the

developers were to work from home due to

s. Because of the orders, some developers were not able to exercise as much as they would before the pandemic. ''Jump Rope Challenge'' was developed by a small team of developers working at home to be able to keep active in their houses during the pandemic. ''Jump Rope Challenge'' was released over

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...

on the Nintendo eShop on June 16, 2020, after a surprise announcement from Nintendo on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. The game was released as a free download, and was intended to only be available for a limited time, as Nintendo planned to remove it from the eShop on September 30, 2020. However, on the day, the company announced they would keep it on the store until further notice. Nintendo stated that over 200 million jumps had been performed in the game three days after release, and 2.5 billion after three months. A free update to the game, released on July 1, 2020, adds the ability to double-under as well as new backgrounds and costumes for the rabbit to wear based on

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

Luigi Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...

Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' game as Princess Toadstool. She is the Queen regnant, princess regnant and hea ...

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...

, and

Wario is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise that was designed as an Archenemy, archnemesis to Mario. Wario first appeared as the main antagonist and final Boss (video games), boss in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mar ...

from ''

Super Mario (also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...

'', Link from ''

The Legend of Zelda is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...

'',

Samus Aran is the protagonist of the video game series ''Metroid'' by Nintendo. She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano (video game designer), Makoto Kano and introduced in the first ''Metroid (video game), Metroid'' (1986) for th ...

from ''

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic M ...

'',

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from ''

Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...

'', the Inklings from ''

Splatoon is a third-person shooter video game franchise created by Hisashi Nogami and Shintaro Sato and developed and owned by Nintendo. Set in the far future on a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Earth that has been repopulat ...

'', and the Arcade Bunny from ''

Nintendo Badge Arcade ''Nintendo Badge Arcade'', known in Japanese as , was a freemium application developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS, allowing players to customize the 3DS home menu with badges. The game launched in Japan in December 2014, and worldwide in Nov ...

''.

Reception

The game was reviewed positively by Ollie Reynolds of ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'', saying that using the Joy-Con as a skipping rope felt authentic, while also praising the game's visuals and the game being free, though criticizing the game not keeping the player's attention and the sound effects that played on the game's cat background.

References

{{reflist 2020 video games Fitness games Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the video game industry Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development games Nintendo games Nintendo Switch games Nintendo Switch-only games Video games about rabbits and hares Video games developed in Japan Skipping rope

Gameplay

Development and release

Reception

See also

References