One of the things I have truly appreciated about the indie scene on the Switch is that it has produced games for all ages, all skill levels, and pretty well all styles of gameplay. By moving to a digital marketplace, removing the costly need to publish and distribute physical copies, there’s far more room for developers taking risks and focusing on more niche markets. One category that has benefitted from this has been family-friendly titles, obviously developed primarily with younger players in mind, without the need to attempt to be educational first and foremost.

There’s no question that Leo & Mia, despite being playable by gamers of any age, fits into this mold. It has a pretty light and breezy setup, involving you being on the lookout to help wild animals against lizards who happen to be poachers, and some other minor threats. In order to combat them you’ll make use of your handy bee gun, an AoE bee attack that works on a cooldown, and your handy shock baton that handles melee combat reasonably well. While there are proper missions you can take on at your main base, you’ll also encounter spots peppered throughout the play area that will have additional side missions where you’ll have the chance to nab a variety of cosmetics and other unlocks.

Now for the problems though, and just because this is aimed more at younger and probably less discerning gamers that doesn’t excuse some shortcomings. Technically from a visual standpoint the presentation is a bit of a mess, with abundant pop-in of objects, a tendency to get a bit dicey when there’s a lot going on at once, and controls that could use some additional work. The game is certainly still playable, and the cost of getting overwhelmed is pretty minimal, but there’s still some room for frustration along with the otherwise pretty light play. It isn’t going to win any awards, but it is still a very animal-friendly title with some heart that should be enjoyable to gamers of pretty much any skill level.