Nintendo Labo’s blueprint patterns are now available for free, online, through Nintendo itself — but remember that Labo requires more than just cardboard to work as designed.
Software, of course, is needed to govern the Joy-Con controllers’ behavior when playing around with creations like the fishing rod or the RC car. The patterns are mainly useful as replacement parts for those who mutilate the original cardboard cutouts or, down the line, wear out their creations.
This video (below) is a good look at what goes into preparing a Nintendo Labo cardboard toy and how they’re operated. Construction time for most toys is measured in hours — and the more complicated the toy (like that piano) the longer it will take.
Anyway, download ‘em, print ‘em, lay ‘em over a piece of cardboard and cut them out, voila, Labo spare parts. The .pdfs are also a tip-off for how intricate these Labo creations are and how much work may be necessary for them.
Realize that If you print spares off these .pdfs, you’re probably going to need an X-acto blade like a true model maker, and maybe a wax stick to affix the template to whatever cardboard you have around.
The cardboard templates from the store-bought boxes is already perforated, so users can more easily punch out the forms and get to folding already. For those who want official spares, Nintendo is selling those at prices ranging from $2.99 to $11.99. The D-I-Y spare parts are the cheaper option, but remember that the Variety Kit also has other components — rubber bands, strings and reflective IR stickers.
Nintendo Labo is currently only a retail launch but by making these blueprints available online, conceivably it could become a digital release at some point — in that users download the Labo software, fetch the blueprints and cut their own cardboard. But that seems to be a step or two down the line.