Here's How To Win A Free Nintendo Switch From Lunchables

Lunchables and Nintendo are making the back-to-school season a bit more palatable for some lucky fans of the popular Nintendo Switch gaming system. For the Lunchables Game Your Way Sweepstakes, which runs from August 1 through the whole month of September, Lunchables will give away 750 Nintendo Switch Prize Packs plus a grand prize, according to a press release issued by Kraft Heinz and Nintendo (via Business Wire). 

The prize packs come with a Nintendo Switch system, two digital game codes of the winner's choice, and 5,000 My Nintendo Gold Points, which can be redeemed for Nintendo Switch games and other merchandise (via My Nintendo). But there can only be one winner who will receive a Nintendo Mystery Prize Pack valued at $1,000. Entrants can also look forward to the possibility of winning such prizes as Nintendo Switch carrying cases and Joy-Con controllers. 

Fans can enter the Lunchables Game Your Way Sweepstakes by scanning a QR code on specially marked Lunchables like the one pictured above that features "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" packaging. The regular prize packs can be won instantly by finding codes inside select Lunchables. Those who prefer a challenge can go to LunchablesGameYourWay.com and take on a special challenge for a chance at various prizes, including the mystery pack. What if you or your parents don't want to buy Lunchables? That's OK. You can still enter for free, as the official rules explain. Simply request a code online or by mail.

For a chance to win the ultimate prize through gaming, entrants must select from a series of challenges, including a racing game, catch a game, and a "pack-your-own-lunch" game. It's no secret that kids like "making" their own lunch with the stackable bits of meat, cheeses, and crackers in Lunchables. Katie Hunstad, associate director of marketing at Kraft Heinz, which makes the popular lunch packages said in the press release (via Business Wire) that the Game Your Way Sweepstakes helps to "fuel kids' imaginations by encouraging them to build, stack, and play, not only with their favorite Lunchables but with these exciting challenges as well."

According to Nintendo Wire, this isn't the first year the brands have collaborated for a back-to-school giveaway. Previous sweepstakes featured various Nintendo games, such as "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," on Lunchables packaging and, like this year, offered fans a chance to win various Nintendo Switch-related prizes as well as a Nintendo Switch grand prize pack.

The partnership seems like a natural one. Nintendo Switch is a popular gaming system designed for the littlest gamers aged 6 and up (via Lifewire). It features games like the Mario series, "New Pokémon Snap," "Miitopia," and "Splatoon 2." Meanwhile, Lunchables meals have appealed to the school-aged set since they were introduced way back in 1988 (via Washington Post).

A free Nintendo Switch and other Nintendo prizes? That can take some of the sting out of going back to school.