Nintendo Talking Flower – a Mario plant that won't stop chatting

By Ricardo de Jong ·

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Nintendo Talking Flower on a stack of books on a nightstand next to a bed and a lamp

Some people want a smart speaker that answers questions. I want a plastic flower that yells “wakey wakey” at me and then randomly switches to Dutch.

Good news. Nintendo made the Talking Flower from Super Mario Bros. Wonder into a real thing. It’s a battery-powered desk toy that says silly things throughout the day, announces the hour and works as a little wake-up buddy. It came out in the US on March 12, 2026.

It has no Wi-Fi, no app and no microphone. It’s not listening to you. It just talks.

Nintendo Talking Flower, an orange trumpet-shaped flower with two big eyes in a brown and green pot

What is the Nintendo Talking Flower?

In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Talking Flowers pop up all over the levels with encouragement and bad jokes. This is one of them, about five inches tall, sitting in a little pot with a big Talk Button on top.

Nintendo says it will:

  • drop words of encouragement and quips on its own throughout the day
  • say something whenever you press the Talk Button
  • announce the hour (“mostly accurately”, in Nintendo’s own words)
  • comment on the time of day and the temperature
  • play select background music from the game

You can set a bedtime and a wake-up time, and holding the Talk Button puts it in mute mode for a while. It speaks English, Spanish (Latin America or Spain), French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. Nintendo warns that you might sometimes hear a language you didn’t pick, which is my favorite line on the whole box.

It runs on two AA batteries, which are not included.

How does it work day to day?

Kyle Barr at Gizmodo lived with one and gave it 4.5 out of 5. He found it speaks up roughly every 30 minutes with a quip and calls out the time every hour. You set the clock by hand, and it asks for your wake and bedtimes during setup. At wake-up time it counts down and hits you with a “wakey wakey.” Press the button while it’s muted and it plays the Super Mario Bros. Wonder theme.

Nintendo already made the Alarmo sound clock for the same job. The flower is the cheaper, sillier cousin.

The good and the not-so-good

What I like:

  • The flower itself feels well made, says Gizmodo.
  • It works as a fake alarm clock with a lot more personality than your phone.
  • Mute mode exists. Thank you, Nintendo.
  • No account, no app, no cloud. Batteries in, done.

What could be better:

  • Gizmodo calls the base cheap plastic and the speaker a bit muffled.
  • The quips repeat. A reviewer at The Star in Malaysia kept one on a home office desk and found the lines got redundant after a while.
  • You have to reset the time yourself for daylight saving.
  • Batteries not included. Buy them now, before someone unwraps it on Christmas morning.

Who is the Nintendo Talking Flower for?

Kids who play Mario Wonder, Nintendo fans with a desk, and anyone who thinks a smart speaker is too smart. It’s an easy stocking stuffer for a Switch owner. The Star’s reviewer calls it a joy for kids.

Skip it if you share an office and like your coworkers. If you want a Nintendo toy that actually does more, the Piranha Plant Camera for Switch 2 is the other plant in Nintendo’s garden. For a retro gift, look at the LEGO Game Boy.

Where can I buy the Nintendo Talking Flower?

Nintendo’s own listing on Amazon US is below. It’s also sold at the My Nintendo Store, where it was 35 bucks at launch.

A flower that never needs water, only AA batteries. Take my money.