Switch games can have manuals on the system, devs have to manually invoke the option
Something Switch owners have noticed about the system is that games lack manuals. This comes in contrast to Nintendo’s past, and most recently, the Wii U and 3DS.
Those two systems started to phase out physical manuals. With Switch though, they almost seem to be gone completely. Zelda: Breath of the Wild nor 1-2-Switch have manuals of any sort – not even digital ones accessed on the console.
Interestingly, Yacht Club Games’ David D’Angelo informed Kotaku that Nintendo offers an option for games to have manuals on Switch. Dvelopers must manually invoke the option though.
About Shovel Knight specifically, D’Angelo said:
“You are correct that there isn’t an instruction manual. We weren’t sure how common they would be used on Nintendo Switch. It’s possible we may add it in the future, but we chose to focus on making sure the game was done since we were rushing to make launch day! We were definitely hemming and hawing about whether to pull more all-nighters to get the manuals in there.”
