Super Mario Odyssey: Here's How Luigi's Balloon World Works

Announced in the January Nintendo Direct video, Luigi’s Balloon World is a new mini-game mode for Super Mario Odyssey. In this weird multiplayer mode, that also happens to be a totally free add-on, you’ll be able to play with Luigi — and hide balloons — and… well, that’s about all we know when it was first announced.

That isn’t the case anymore. Thanks to some fresh updates on Nintendo’s Japanese official site, we now know just a little bit more about this totally unexpected addition to Odyssey. The update that adds Luigi’s Balloon World will also include new snapshot filters and fresh costumes for Mario to wear. The new mode is expected to land sometime in February.

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Luigi’s Balloon World — How It Works

Luigi’s Balloon World is a bonus mini-game that is unlocked after completing the main story in Super Mario Odyssey. It’s a competitive multiplayer hide-and-seek mode, where one player hides a balloon, and another player tries to find it. Luigi has 30 seconds to hide a balloon, and Mario has 30 seconds to find it.

Sounds simple? There’s a little more to it than that.

There are two modes in Luigi’s Balloon World — Find It mode and Hide It mode. In Find It mode, you’ll be searching for balloons, and in Hide It, you’ll be hiding balloons.

You can earn coins in both modes, depending on your performance, and the game will rank you based on several factors — how many coins you’ve received, how many times you’ve played, number of balloons found, and the max number of balloons found in a row.

Balloon World scores are global, and you’ll earn a global ranking — you can check out the top-ranked balloon hiders and finders and compete in their challenges. When you talk to Luigi, you’ll be able to select balloons to find, or place balloons yourself.

To actually play with a friend, your friend will need to place balloons in Hide It mode, then upload. Next, you’ll need to talk to Luigi and check out the list of balloons to find in Find It mode. Select the icon of a recognizable friend to begin searching.

We still don’t really know what the star ranks are for — other than increasing your global ranking. We’ll know more when Luigi’s Balloon World drops sometimes in February.