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Once Upon a Katamari · Rolling lab · Checked 3 October 2026

Two sticks, one ball. Roll it in your own hands.

Once Upon a Katamari steers like a tank: each stick is one of the ball's two tracks. Roll a katamari here with your controller or keyboard in both schemes, Usual Stuff and Simple, and the bench times them. Below it, every move of the game's chart checked on your own pad, and what the 8 October Switch 2 version means for the copy you own.

Roll a katamari in your own hands. Then try the other scheme.

A room of 278 things, a ball of 8 cm and 2 minutes to reach 25 cm. Anything smaller than about half the ball rolls up; anything bigger stops you. Run it once in Usual Stuff and once in Simple, and the bench says which one your hands roll faster.

Controller, keyboard (WASD and IJKL) or two thumbs on a touch screen.

Usual Stuff or Simple? Make every move once.

The game's own chart, drawn on two sticks. Pick a scheme and make each move with your controller or keyboard: the bench reads both sticks and ticks the move off when your hands match the chart. Usual Stuff steers with both sticks like the two tracks of a tank; Simple rolls with the left stick alone.

0 of 9 moves made

  1. W + I

    Roll forward

  2. S + K

    Roll backward

  3. I

    Swing left

  4. W

    Swing right

  5. W + A + I + J

    Turn left while rolling

  6. W + D + I + L

    Turn right while rolling

  7. A + J

    Roll sideways to the left

  8. D + L

    Roll sideways to the right

  9. S + I

    Quick Shift

Two more that are buttons, not sticks

Prince Dash: L2 LT ZL U. In Usual Stuff you can also rock the two sticks in opposite directions, back and forth, and the Prince winds the dash up.

Prince Turn: L3 R3 Shift — press either stick in and the Prince hops to the other side of the katamari.

Which to keep

Usual Stuff if you will play a lot of Katamari: turns, Quick Shifts and the dash are all one motion of two thumbs, and the hardest levels are built for it.

Simple if two-stick steering fights you, or one hand is easier than two: the left stick goes where it points and the right one only looks round.

Settings, General, Control Type switches it at any time. On a keyboard every key can be reassigned; a controller switches between the two presets only.

What changes for you on 8 October 2026? Pick your copy and your console.

Once Upon a Katamari has been out since 23 October 2025. On 8 October 2026 it got a Nintendo Switch 2 version, and the Rolling LIVE Highlights DLC came out on every platform. Bandai Namco's own Switch 2 page decides every line below; the prices are the US eShop's and Steam's.

The Switch 2 version is out
Free: the update does it.

Your Switch copy plays on the Switch 2, and a free update adds the mouse controls and a higher frame rate. The sharper picture is the Switch 2 version's, a separate $39.99 purchase.

  • Mouse controls ✓—Two Joy-Con 2; not in online play
  • Higher frame rate ✓—Up to 60 fps on a Switch 2
  • Sharper picture ✓—Up to 4K in TV mode: the Switch 2 version only
  • Bring your Switch save ✓—Once, one way, to the Switch 2 version

Your Switch copy keeps its own save on the Switch 2. Buy the Switch 2 version later and the save moves to it once, and only before the Switch 2 version has a save of its own; DLC bought for the Switch version does not move with it.

Rolling LIVE Highlights, on every platform

  • 10quests
  • 12songs
  • 6new cousins
  • 18accessories

From the phone game Katamari Damacy Rolling LIVE, where everything revolves around live streaming. A separate purchase, $11.99 on Steam, also sold bundled with the game; bought for one version, it stays with that version.

KatamariBall, the multiplayer mode, is online only: up to 4 players a room, with computer players in any empty place. Switch and Switch 2 play together; there is no cross-play.

Everything this site has on Once Upon a Katamari

Four pages and none of them repeats another: the controls, this rolling lab, the Switch 2 date and the graphics-card check. Every figure is counted from what the page holds.

35 bindings keyboard18controller17settings8 Once Upon a Katamari controls Every default bind on keyboard and pad, dated, with the settings behind them. 3 benches keyboardyescontrolleryestouchscreenyes Once Upon a Katamari input lab You are here 1 platforms milestones4questions9editions4 Once Upon a Katamari on Switch 2 When it came out, the editions and the platforms, dated from the publisher. 2 tiers ray tracingoptionalmemory6 GBgraphics cards5 Can you run Once Upon a Katamari? Reads your graphics card and places it against the publisher’s own tiers.
Answers

Straight answers

Steering, the two schemes, the keyboard and the Switch 2 version — answered from the game's own charts and Bandai Namco's announcements.

How do you roll the katamari in Once Upon a Katamari?

With both sticks at once, like the two tracks of a tank. Push both forward to roll forward and both back to roll back. Push one alone and the ball swings round the other side; push them in opposite directions and it spins on the spot, the Quick Shift. Both diagonally forward curves the roll, and both sideways rolls it sideways.

Should I play Usual Stuff or Simple?

Usual Stuff if you mean to play a lot: turns, Quick Shifts and the dash are each one motion of two thumbs, and the later levels are built around it. Simple if steering with two sticks fights you — the left stick then rolls the ball the way it points and the right one only looks round. Roll the room above in both and keep the one your hands roll faster.

Why does my katamari keep turning on its own?

In Usual Stuff a stick pushed even a little is a track moving, so a stick that does not centre makes the ball swing or creep. Check both sticks with the controller check; if one drifts, Simple controls cope better because the right stick only turns the view.

Can you play Once Upon a Katamari on keyboard?

Yes. WASD is the left stick and IJKL is the right one, so forward is W and I together and a Quick Shift is S and I. U dashes and Shift or Ctrl turns the Prince round. A turn needs four keys at once, which some keyboards cannot register, and every key can be reassigned.

Is the Switch 2 version a free upgrade?

Partly. Play the Switch version on a Switch 2 and a free update adds the mouse controls and a higher frame rate. The sharper picture, up to 4K in TV mode, belongs to the Switch 2 version, a separate $39.99 purchase; a Switch save moves to it once, one way, and Switch DLC does not.

Why can I not roll something up?

It is too big for your ball. A katamari rolls up things smaller than roughly half its own size, and bigger ones stop it. Roll up the small things first and come back: the ball grows faster than it seems at the start, because every centimetre takes more volume than the last.

Tools for the same hands

Controller check Both sticks steer the katamari, so a stick that never quite centres makes the ball creep or swing on its own. Stick drift test Measure how far each stick rests from centre before a timed level. Keyboard ghosting test A turn on the keyboard is four keys at once — W, A, I and J. Check your keyboard registers all four. Other game labs The same treatment for the rest of the library.

Unofficial. Keymap Labs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Once Upon a Katamari is a trademark of its owner. The controls are the game's own charts and the dates Bandai Namco's announcements; the room, the ball and the things in it are drawn for this page. Controller readings stay in this browser. Last checked 8 October 2026.