Paper Mario: The Origami King

Lore & Background

The story begins with Princess Peach inviting Mario and Luigi to an Origami Festival near her castle, which is abandoned. Inside the castle, they find Peach turned into origami and brainwashed by King Olly, a sentient origami figure. Many of Bowser's minions have become Folded Soldiers, and Bowser himself is folded into a square. Mario rescues Olly's sister Olivia and Bowser, but Olly wraps the castle in five streamers and transports it to a volcano. Mario, Olivia, and Bowser escape separately, and Mario must follow and destroy each streamer. Along the way, they encounter members of Olly's 'Legion of Stationery,' including Colored Pencils, Rubber Band, Hole Punch, Tape, and Scissors, as well as the separate boss Stapler. A Bob-omb named Bobby sacrifices himself to save Olivia. After defeating the streamers, Mario, Olivia, and Bowser confront King Olly, who reveals he has folded 999 paper cranes and seeks ultimate power. They defeat Olly, who apologizes as he dies.

Reader's Guide

Paper Mario: The Origami King is significant as the fastest-selling game in the Paper Mario series and one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch, with three million copies sold by September 2020. Its development emphasized innovation, introducing an open world format and new paper-themed concepts like origami and confetti. The game received generally positive reviews for its writing, design, characters, music, and mechanics, but was criticized for straying from the series' original role-playing style and lacking original character designs. The combat system, a ring-based puzzle system, received mixed reception—praised for innovation but faulted for lack of difficulty and purpose. The game was nominated for three awards and listed among the best games of 2020 by multiple critics. Its legacy lies in its experimental approach to the Paper Mario formula, blending action-adventure, RPG, and puzzle elements.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally intended to be announced at E3 2020 as part of the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., but the expo was cancelled.
• The development team used enemies uninvolved with the Mario franchise.
• The game sold three million copies by September 2020, two months after release.
• King Olly's Legion of Stationery includes five anthropomorphic office supplies: Colored Pencils, Rubber Band, Hole Punch, Tape, and Scissors. Stapler is a separate boss, not part of the Legion.

The Ring-Based Combat Revolution

Paper Mario: The Origami King weaves action-adventure, role-playing, and puzzle mechanics into a single loop. Players steer a flat, paper-cutout Mario through a linear open world styled like crafted paper and cardboard, tracing five decorative streamers across broad zones filled with puzzles. Along the way, players gather coins for shop items, uncover hidden treasures for a museum, and rescue Toads folded or crumpled into origami shapes. A special ability, the "1000-Fold Arms," tears back paper layers to expose secrets, while a confetti bag fills terrain gaps.

Battles shift to a dartboard arena of four rings and twelve radial slots. Within limited time and rotation counts, players slide rings horizontally or vertically to cluster enemies, then strike with a hammer on a two-by-two block or boots along a one-by-four line. Maximizing targeted foes boosts damage output. Rescued Toads can deal minor hits or nudge the rings, with their help scaling based on coins given. Boss fights invert the layout, placing the antagonist at the center while Mario follows arrow-marked paths to activate attack and magic tiles under rules unique to each opponent.

Development Philosophy and Creative Risk

The development team at Intelligent Systems deliberately pushed further into uncharted territory with The Origami King than any prior entry in the series. Anticipating that no single design choice could please every fan, the team committed to building entirely new concepts rather than iterating on familiar formulas. Origami and confetti were introduced as fresh variants on the franchise's paper theme, replacing older visual motifs. The traditional linear structure gave way to an open-world format, and the roster of enemies was populated with characters entirely outside the Mario franchise.

Nintendo had originally planned to unveil the game at E3 2020, tying the announcement to the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (1985). The cancellation of that expo forced the studio to reveal the title separately from the anniversary celebrations, a logistical hiccup that nonetheless kept the game's launch on schedule for 2020. The result was a title that positioned itself as the boldest reinvention in a six-game series, trading the comfort of established patterns for the risk of something genuinely unfamiliar.

Critical Reception and the RPG Debate

Critics largely embraced The Origami King, singling out its writing, character work, musical score, and overall design for praise. Multiple outlets listed it among the best games of 2020, and the title earned three award nominations. Yet the reception was not unanimous. A recurring thread of criticism centered on the game's departure from the series' roots as a traditional role-playing experience; several reviewers felt the cross-genre blend diluted the RPG identity that defined earlier Paper Mario entries.

The combat system drew the most divided responses. Supporters highlighted the ring-rotation puzzle as a genuinely inventive twist on turn-based fighting, while detractors argued it lacked meaningful difficulty and strategic purpose. The cast also attracted pushback: fans noted that previous installments had featured more original character designs, and the Origami King's roster felt comparatively less distinctive. Despite these reservations, the game's narrative voice, world-building, and mechanical creativity kept it firmly in positive territory across most reviews.

Commercial Success and a Series Milestone

Within just two months of its 2020 release, The Origami King had moved three million copies worldwide, a figure that made it the fastest-selling title in the six-game Paper Mario series. The milestone also placed it among the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch at the time, underscoring how a niche spin-off could punch well above its weight on a first-party console.

As the sixth entry in the Paper Mario line and a member of the broader Mario franchise, the game carried the expectation of a dedicated but modest audience. Instead, its blend of open-world exploration, puzzle-driven combat, and a fresh origami-themed narrative resonated with a wider player base. The commercial performance validated Intelligent Systems' gamble on radical reinvention, proving that a series could shed its linear, RPG-heavy identity and still capture millions of players. For Nintendo, the strong sales reinforced the viability of the Paper Mario brand on Switch and set a new benchmark for the franchise's commercial ceiling.