The Switch is nine years old and still the best console for local multiplayer. Nothing else lets you hand someone a Joy-Con and start playing within seconds. The problem is finding games that are actually worth sharing a couch for.
We tested every game on this list with at least two players in the same room. Online-only multiplayer didn’t count. If a game claims to support local co-op but the experience is miserable (tiny split-screen, performance drops, missing features), it didn’t make the cut.
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Players: 1-4 local, 2-12 online | Genre: Racing
Still the best-selling Switch game for a reason. 96 tracks after the Booster Course Pass, balanced item mechanics, and a performance mode that keeps 60fps even in 4-player split-screen. Every Switch owner already has this game and every Switch owner should.
The anti-gravity sections and underwater driving add variety to tracks that could have gotten stale years ago. Smart steering helps younger players stay on the road without making them feel like they’re on autopilot. The 200cc class remains one of the most chaotic multiplayer experiences on any platform.
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Players: 1-8 local | Genre: Fighting
89 characters. Over 100 stages. Every single fighter from every Smash game, plus DLC additions like Sora, Kazuya, and Steve. The roster alone makes this the definitive party fighter, and the gameplay backs it up.
Casual matches with items on and hazards active are pure chaos. Competitive matches with items off and flat stages reveal a fighting game with serious depth. It works at every skill level, which is rare for a fighting game and even rarer for one with this many characters. Eight-player Smash on a big screen is the closest thing to a house party game that Nintendo has made since the Wii era.
3. Overcooked! All You Can Eat
Players: 1-4 local | Genre: Co-op Cooking
Overcooked will test your friendships. You and up to three others run a kitchen, chopping ingredients, cooking dishes, serving orders, and washing plates while the kitchen literally falls apart around you. Conveyor belts move your stations. Floors collapse. Fires break out. The ice level makes you cook on a moving iceberg.
This remastered collection includes both Overcooked games and all DLC in one package. The accessibility options (slower timers, assist mode) are welcome additions that the originals lacked. But the real appeal is watching organized people lose their minds when three orders come in at once and someone burns the soup.
4. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Players: 1-4 local | Genre: Platformer
Four-player 3D Mario. That alone should be enough. Each character plays differently: Mario is balanced, Luigi jumps higher, Peach floats, Toad runs faster. The level design accounts for all four players being on screen at once, which means wider platforms, more generous checkpoints, and creative use of the cat suit power-up.
Bowser’s Fury is the bonus that ended up being the more interesting game. Open-world Mario on a series of islands with a kaiju-sized Bowser attacking periodically. It’s a proof of concept for what a fully open 3D Mario could look like, and it’s included here as a free extra. The main campaign has enough content for 15-20 hours of co-op.
5. It Takes Two
Players: 2 local or online | Genre: Co-op Adventure
It Takes Two won Game of the Year in 2021 and honestly earned it. Every single level introduces a new mechanic. One chapter has you as magnets attracting and repelling each other. Another gives one player a honey gun and the other a match launcher. The next puts you inside a snow globe with completely different physics.
It’s a two-player-only game. Can’t play it solo, can’t play it with three. That constraint forced the developers to design every puzzle around cooperation, and the result is tighter than any co-op game with a solo option. The story about a divorcing couple is surprisingly touching for a game where you also ride a pair of underpants as a boat.
6. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Players: 1-2 local | Genre: Platformer
Kirby’s first full 3D platformer, and it’s better than it needed to be. The mouthful mode lets Kirby inhale cars, vending machines, traffic cones, and stairs, each one giving different abilities and puzzle solutions. Player two controls Bandana Waddle Dee with a spear, which keeps them engaged instead of being dead weight.
The difficulty is gentle by design. This is the game you play with someone who doesn’t normally play games, a younger sibling, a partner who thinks controllers are confusing, a parent visiting for the weekend. The post-game content ramps up the challenge for experienced players, but the main campaign is welcoming without being boring.
7. Diablo III: Eternal Collection
Players: 1-4 local | Genre: Action RPG
Diablo III on Switch is one of the best couch co-op experiences on the console and nobody talks about it. Four players on one screen, no split-screen, just pure loot-dropping chaos. The console version added a dodge roll that the PC version still doesn’t have, and the shared-screen format somehow makes the loot grind more social.
The Eternal Collection includes the base game, Reaper of Souls, and the Rise of the Necromancer pack. Seasonal content keeps the endgame fresh. Runs at a locked 60fps in handheld and docked mode, which is more than the PS4 version can claim in busy fights.
8. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Players: 1-4 local | Genre: Co-op Shooter
You pilot a round spaceship with multiple stations: guns, shields, engine, map, and a giant laser. The catch is that each player can only man one station at a time. With two players, you’re constantly running between posts. With four, you can specialize, but coordination becomes the challenge instead.
The art style is neon and bubbly, which hides how frantic the game actually gets. Later levels throw enough enemies at you that the shield operator is screaming for help while the pilot is trying to dodge asteroids and the gunner can’t rotate fast enough to cover both sides. It’s the kind of controlled disaster that makes local co-op worthwhile.
9. Untitled Goose Game
Players: 1-2 local | Genre: Stealth/Comedy
You are a goose. You ruin people’s days. That’s the game.
The two-player mode added post-launch turns this from a charming solo puzzle game into a slapstick coordination exercise. One goose distracts the gardener while the other steals his keys. One goose honks to draw attention while the other drags a rake across the yard. The puzzles are simple, but executing them together with the physical comedy of two geese waddling around a village is funnier than it has any right to be.
Short game. Two to three hours. But it’s the kind of experience you bring up in conversation for years.
10. Splatoon 3
Players: 1-2 local, 4v4 online | Genre: Shooter
Nintendo’s take on competitive shooters, where you spray ink instead of bullets and the goal is territory control rather than kills. The local multiplayer is limited to two players on one console (online 4v4 is the main mode), but the Salmon Run co-op mode supports local play and is worth the entry alone.
Salmon Run throws waves of enemies at a team of four, with limited ink and increasingly difficult boss spawns. It’s Splatoon’s version of a horde mode, and the difficulty scaling gets genuinely punishing at higher levels. The main Turf War mode is still the most accessible online shooter on Switch, with matches lasting three minutes and a skill ceiling that competitive players haven’t stopped exploring.
How we picked these games
Every game was tested in local multiplayer on a standard Switch (not OLED, not Lite) to check performance. We looked at:
- Does the multiplayer feel like a real feature or an afterthought?
- Can someone who doesn’t play games regularly pick it up and have fun?
- Does the frame rate hold up with multiple players?
We prioritized couch co-op over online multiplayer. The Switch’s strength is playing together in the same room, and these games lean into that.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best 2-player Switch game?
It Takes Two, if both players are comfortable with a controller. Untitled Goose Game if one of you is new to gaming. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe if you want something you can pick up and play in 30 seconds.
Can you play local multiplayer on a Switch Lite?
Only with separate controllers connected via Bluetooth. The Switch Lite doesn’t have detachable Joy-Cons, so games that require motion controls or IR sensors in local multiplayer won’t work. Most games on this list work fine with Pro Controllers or third-party pads connected to a Lite.
What Switch games support 4-player local co-op?
From this list: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Smash Bros. Ultimate (up to 8), Overcooked, Super Mario 3D World, Diablo III, and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime all support four local players. It Takes Two is strictly two-player.
Do I need extra controllers for Switch multiplayer?
Depends on the game. Mario Kart and Smash Bros. work with single Joy-Cons, so one pair gives you two players out of the box. Games like Diablo III and It Takes Two play better with a full controller per person (Pro Controller or a pair of Joy-Cons each).
