Only Have One Nintendo Switch? Here Are the Best Cooperative Games to Share
When you've only got one Nintendo Switch console in the household, it can become quite the coveted item.
While play-time schedules and timers can help you keep the peace and make sure no one person hogs it too long, it's not always the ideal solution. If you can learn to share your time on it with cooperative multiplayer games, you just might find that things go more smoothly and you have more fun. If you're not sure what games to start with, we have a few suggestions for you below.
Luigi's Mansion 3: $59.99 (plus $9.99 Multiplayer Pack DLC)
Luigi's Mansion 3 was one of our favorite adventures of 2019 on the Nintendo Switch, but beyond the incredible single-player campaign, it's also a ridiculous amount of fun with a friend. In the game, Luigi's friends are kidnapped in a haunted hotel, and he must face his fears and bust some terrifying ghosts in order to save them.
Once you've unlocked Luigi's slimy doppelganger, Gooigi, you can tackle Story Mode together, or take part in the multiplayer ScareScraper mode up to seven friends online, or one friend locally. It's all about cooperation and working together to clear all types of ghoulish tasks, and it's a ton of spooky fun.
But the fun doesn't stop there when it comes to playing with friends. For $9.99, you can purchase the Multiplayer Pack DLC, which adds new features that make it even more enjoyable to play with friends. This includes new floor themes, characters costumes and ghost types in ScareScraper mode, as well as PuckStravaganza, Floaty Frenzy and Desperate Measures mini-games that'll keep you entertained for hours on end.
Knights and Bikes: $19.99
Knights and Bikes is a sweet, award-winning indie title about two girls named Nessa and Demelza who become fast friends and join forces to go on an epic (and always surprising) quest to save an "ancient island." While the game is perfectly playable on your own, swapping back and forth between the two protagonists, we think it's even better with a friend. With one player as Nessa and the other as Demelza, every magical moment of friendship becomes more real and affected when it's being mirrored in real life.
Good Job!: $19.99
Good Job! is a wonderful little game that snuck onto the Nintendo Switch in March in which players control stick figure character and try to complete all kinds of bizarre tasks for their father's company. Whether you finish the jobs carefully and elegantly or while causing as much monetary damage as possible is entirely up to you. You can get the work done faster (or cause even more destruction) with a buddy, and once you get started laughing, it's tough to stop.
Snipperclips Plus: $29.99
Snipperclips may have launched the same year as the Nintendo Switch, but it's still the first game we think of when it comes to amazing couch co-op on the system. The gameplay revolves around two paper characters who can snip shapes out of each other with the press of a button, cutting them into the right tools to get various tasks done.
While technically it's playable by just one person, we recommend always opting for bringing in a friend. The game tests creativity and the ability to communicate effectively in ways that most puzzle games simply can't, and it'll bend your brains in new ways and help you get to know each other better in the process. Plus, if you're not sure about the game, there's also a free demo to try out in the eShop. We're guessing just one play through will make you fall in love with it.
Moving Out: $24.99
Moving Out is a hilarious, physics-based moving simulator that's all about helping bizarre characters pack their furniture as quickly as possible into a moving truck. A bit like Good Job!, whether you want to be a diligent and cautious worker or one who breaks everything in your path is entirely up to you, as long as you're having fun while you do it.
This game also takes the term "couch co-op" quite literally, and it's way more fun with a friend than trying to move unwieldy sofas through doors all by yourself to get the lowest times and the best scores. You can even give it a try for free by downloading the demo from the Nintendo eShop.
What the Golf?: $14.99
What the Golf? just came out today on the Nintendo Switch, but we've been playing it for hours trying to unlock every last little secret this simply captivating game has to offer. Despite the name, it's not all about golf, and instead if an inspiring collection of minigames primarily based around a few basic minigolf mechanics. While we've sunk most of our time into the main campaign, its Party Mode is as competitive is it is silly, putting two ridiculous characters against each other in increasingly bizarre challenges. You won't even have time to feel heated if you lose because you'll be laughing so much.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons: $59.99
While the ideal way to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons with a friend is on your own Nintendo Switch and your own copy of the came, that's not always possible. That's why we think it's so sweet that you can have multiple homes on your island, and play at once to work toward all of your goals together. Though the gameplay for the second player isn't as robust, it's always more fun to be able to share your Animal Crossing adventure with someone you care about.
Love cozy games? Click HERE for our definitive ranking of Animal Crossing's most beloved characters.