Article

Splatoon 3 makes ink battles feel bright and bonkers

31 August 2026

A kid friendly AxelGamer look at Splatoon 3, with colourful ink battles, Turf War, Salmon Run, story mode, lockers, gear, and why squid chaos is so fun on Nintendo Switch.

Splatoon 3 is one of those games that looks messy in the best way. It is not about realistic soldiers or gloomy battlefields. It is about squid kids, bright ink, silly weapons, music, fashion, and trying to cover more ground than the other team before the timer runs out. That already sounds like something I would want to play after school.

The main thing I like about Splatoon 3 is Turf War. Two teams jump into an arena and start blasting ink everywhere. You can splat other players, but the important part is painting the floor with your team colour. That makes it feel different from heaps of other action games, because even if you are not the best aimer, you can still help by covering paths, walls, corners, and sneaky little spots that everyone forgets about.

It also has a really cool movement idea. Your character can turn into a squid or octopus and swim through your own ink. That means the floor is not just decoration. It is like your road, your hiding place, and your escape plan all at once. When you dive into the ink and zoom away from danger, it feels like you just pulled off a clever trick.

The weapons are funny too. There are normal looking blasters, but then there are rollers, brushes, buckets, bows, and other weird ink tools. A roller is probably the most satisfying because you can just charge around painting the ground like you are doing the wildest chore ever. Brushes feel fast and cheeky, like you are zooming through a painting and annoying everyone at the same time. I reckon that is what makes Splatoon so good for kids. It is competitive, but it is also goofy.

Splatoon 3 came out for Nintendo Switch in September 2022, and it still feels like a big colourful playground. The official Nintendo store page describes it as a game where you enter ink soaked battles and use weapons to cover turf. That is a simple idea, but once a match starts it gets properly chaotic. One second your team is winning, then suddenly the other team pushes through the middle and your whole base looks like someone spilled a giant smoothie over it.

There is more than just Turf War as well. Salmon Run is the co op mode where players work together against waves of strange Salmonid enemies. I like the idea of that because it is not only about beating another team. It is about staying calm with your mates while everything goes bananas. You have to collect golden eggs, survive bosses, and not get trapped in enemy ink. It sounds like the sort of mode where everyone starts yelling helpful stuff at the screen and then laughs when the plan falls apart anyway.

The single player story mode is also a good reason to try it. It lets you practise movement, weapons, and puzzle ideas without needing to be amazing online straight away. That matters because some online matches can feel a bit scary when everyone else looks like they have been training in a hidden squid academy. Story mode gives you room to learn how ink works, how to jump around, and how to think about the map.

I also like how much personality the game has. In Splatoon 3, gear is not just boring armour. Hats, shoes, shirts, and little style choices make your character look like they belong in a cool music video. You can decorate a locker too, which is such a random but awesome detail. It makes the game feel like a place with its own world, not just a menu full of matches.

The music helps heaps. Splatoon music sounds weird, energetic, and squid like, if that makes sense. It makes battles feel like a sport, a concert, and a paint fight all smashed together. Even the city areas feel alive because there are characters, shops, signs, and players walking around with strange outfits.

For family gaming, I think Splatoon 3 is best when everyone understands it is fast and online, so you need good sport feelings. You can lose in the last few seconds and it can be annoying, but the matches are short enough that you can try again quickly. It is colourful and silly, but it still needs teamwork and practice. That is a good mix.

My favourite thing is that Splatoon 3 turns mess into strategy. Painting the ground sounds simple, but it changes how you move, where you fight, and how safe your team feels. Every blob of ink matters a tiny bit. That makes a match feel exciting right until the results screen drops.

So if you like bright games, funny weapons, quick battles, and a bit of squid chaos, Splatoon 3 looks like a brilliant Nintendo Switch game to try. It is not just about splatting people. It is about making the whole map yours, helping your team, and laughing when the screen becomes a massive colourful disaster.