Best Nintendo Switch Multiplayer Family Games for 2022

May 11, 2022 Scott Stein

    Switch Sports
    Best active party game
    $40 at Nintendo
    Kirby and the Forgotten Land
    Best Kirby game on Switch
    $45 at Target
    Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain
    Best quick-thinking competition
    $30 at Target
WarioWare: Get It Together


Best weird Nintendo party game
    $50 at Target
Mario Party Superstars


Best Mario Party reboot
    $60 at Target

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury


The best multiplayer Mario platformer
    $51 at Best Buy
Clubhouse Games
    $30 at Best Buy
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
    $40 at Best Buy
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
    $51 at Best Buy
Super Mario Party
    $40 at Best Buy
Overcooked 2 (or Overcooked)
    $24 at Target
Super Mario Maker 2
    $60 at Target
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
    $60 at Best Buy
Luigi’s Mansion 3
    $53 at Best Buy
Pikmin 3 Deluxe
    $48 at Best Buy
Yoshi’s Crafted World
    $55 at Target
    Fast RMX
    $20 at Best Buy
Mario Tennis Aces
    $53 at Best Buy
Mario Golf: Super Rush
    $60 at Best Buy
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
    $53 at Best Buy
Snipperclips
    $45 at Walmart
Puyo Puyo Tetris
    $20 at Best Buy
    FIFA 22 (or NBA 2K)
    $25 at GameStop
Just Dance
    $30 at Target
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
    $60 at Best Buy
Nintendo Labo
    $75 at Amazon
Minecraft Dungeons
    $30 at Target
Bubble Bobble 4 Friends
    $40 at Amazon

    Five years into?the Switch’s lifespan, Nintendo’s brilliant multi-purpose console remains a fantastic destination for families and multiplayer games. Some of Nintendo’s latest games, like Switch Sports and the newest Kirby, are perfect for co-op and families. But there’s a lot more to look for, including plenty of board game options and games that can handle up to 8 players at once.
    Assuming you only have one Switch, here are the best multiplayer games that are worth playing with your family, which we keep updated as new titles appear. Remember, this is just a list specifically focused on games that have some sort of family-friendly same-Switch multiplayer mode: for other picks, check out our list of the?best Nintendo Switch games.?
    Note: if you’re looking to do same-room multiplayer gaming, make sure your Switch is TV dockable. The most recent?OLED-screened Switch, like the original?TV-connected Switch, are both better family picks than the smaller?Switch Lite, which only works in handheld mode, and doesn’t have those useful sharable Joy-Con controllers. (Switch Lite owners could do multiplayer, but you’d need to?buy extra controllers?and huddle around the tiny screen.)
    Note: Most of the links below are for the physical copies of the games, sold via Amazon, Walmart, GameStop and other retailers. You can alternately buy and download all of these directly from the Nintendo eShop, straight from the Switch. Just make sure you have a microSD memory card?with ample capacity to store game data.?
    Read more: Find Your Nintendo Switch Friend Code, Share Screenshots and More Tips

    Nintendo
    Switch Sports
    Best active party game

    Remember Wii Sports? It’s back, and the six kinetic motion-controlled games on Switch Sports are a lot of fun for same-room 2- to 4-player gaming, connected to a TV. You should definitely aim for using a TV-docked Switch with this one, and keep in mind that Switch Sports isn’t a game made for handheld playing on the go (although you could play while huddled around the Switch screen with Joy-Con controllers held in-hand, in a pinch). There’s a $40 digital version or a $50 physical version that includes a leg strap you can use with the Soccer game.
    Read our review.

    $40 at Nintendo

    Nintendo
    Kirby and the Forgotten Land
    Best Kirby game on Switch

    Kirby, a power-absorbing puffball who’s brightened Nintendo’s multiverse for decades, is one of the most upbeat game characters out there. Nintendo’s latest Kirby game drops the cute pink blob into a 3D platformer that’s full of secrets, fun powers, and a difficulty level that won’t scare off young kids. There are two great Kirby games on the Switch (see Star Allies, below), but I’d put Forgotten Land at the top of your Kirby shopping list.
    Read our review.

    $45 at Target
    $45 at Amazon
    $45 at Walmart

    Nintendo
    Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain
    Best quick-thinking competition

    Years ago, Nintendo had the Brain Age series that was full of math and logic quick-reaction puzzles to “train your brain.” Big Brain Academy was another game in that same tradition. This Nintendo Switch version focuses on two- to four-player competitions over a handful of math, logic and analysis minigames, rewarding quick thinking. The game’s fun, and there’s a daily “test” of your speedy skills as well as chances to try to beat ghosts of others online. Though it feels too short, I’d love to have more games like it on the Switch. Controllers feel like a weird way to interact with some games, but there’s a touchscreen option for two-player head-to-head games too. There’s a free demo on the Nintendo eShop to play before you buy. See if you like it.
    $30 at Target
    $20 at Best Buy
    $19 at GameStop

Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

WarioWare: Get It Together

Best weird Nintendo party game

    WarioWare games, if you’ve never played them, involve surviving rapid waves of strange arcade-like quick-reaction minigames. Get It Together is a collaborative and competitive game for two players (and more in some of the multiplayer modes), with a variety of game modes and arcade-like challenges. If it’s on sale, it’s well worth considering.
    Read our WarioWare review.

    $50 at Target
    $46 at Walmart
    $50 at Best Buy

Nintendo

Mario Party Superstars

Best Mario Party reboot

    There are two great Mario Party games on the Switch: Super Mario Party was the first, and leans more on motion controls. But Nintendo’s recent remastering of a bunch of classic N64 and GameCube Mario Party game boards, called Mario Party Superstars, is also excellent. The minigames are more button- and controller-focused, which I prefer if I don’t have a lot of room to play. Also, this Mario Party can be played in handheld mode or on the Switch Lite, which you can’t do with Super Mario Party.
    Read GameSpot’s Mario Party Superstars review.

    $60 at Target
    $60 at Best Buy
    $55 at Amazon

Nintendo/Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

The best multiplayer Mario platformer

    There are plenty of Mario games on the Switch, and a lot of them are listed below. Super Mario 3D World originally was made for the long-gone Wii U, but its mix of local and online multiplayer (up to four players) offers a lot of fun chaos on the Switch. An extra (but short) game called Bowser’s Fury only uses the second player as a helper, but this bonus game’s a welcome extra. If you want even more multiplayer Mario, see New Super Mario Bros. U below. Or for creative Mario, try Super Mario Maker 2.
    $51 at Best Buy
    $60 at Target
    $46 at GameStop

Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

Clubhouse Games

Nintendo’s new collection of family board games and retro games bundles 51 surprisingly fun worldwide classics, with online play and local multiplayer. The game also supports local Switch-to-Switch play with a free bridging app. Many games do two-player; a few do three- to four-player. A few games like Bowling are almost like a return to Nintendo’s Wii Sports. It’s a great instructional tool for games like backgammon, chess or even shogi, mahjong and hanafuda, and there’s a lot of stuff to keep entertained over the summer. It’s also equally good on a TV, huddled over one Switch, or played between several Switches.
Read our Clubhouse Games review.

    $30 at Best Buy
    $40 at Target
    $30 at Amazon

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

    Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become an absolute phenomenon?last year, and for a lot of people it’s now the game to buy a Switch for. The casual, calming, social community game just lasts forever, and a new multiplayer mode allows more than one player to wander around and play at the same time. This co-op game has a lot of ways to connect with other players and friends, too.?
    Also, Animal Crossing is an ideal multiplayer game for homes where any sort of group play becomes a battle royale. There’s no winning, just planting trees, catching fish and chatting with other players — an ideal video game scenario for the super-stressed. Just be forewarned that you can only make one island per Switch, so get used to sharing.
    Read GameSpot’s Animal Crossing review.

    $40 at Best Buy
    $60 at Target
    $40 at Amazon

Nintendo

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Fans and newcomers to the Mario Kart series alike will never get tired of Mario Kart 8. The game’s dozens of tracks are excellent, and local multiplayer with four players can get crowded on a smaller TV, but this Nintendo Switch game is fantastic. It’s one of the very first games that we’d recommend for Switch multiplayer. It also has an online multiplayer mode, so it’s a great game for your kiddos to play with fellow quarantined friends without actual interaction.
Read GameSpot’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe review.

    $51 at Best Buy
    $49 at Target
    $50 at Walmart

Nintendo

Super Mario Party

Nintendo’s long-running Mario Party series is like a video board game with a bunch of wacky minigames thrown in. The Switch Nintendo console version also has a rhythm-dancing party game that’s a good little workout, too, and a collaborative game where players paddle down a river together. My family loves this one — it’s just overall an excellent game.
Read GameSpot’s Super Mario Party review.

    $40 at Best Buy
    $50 at Target
    $40 at Amazon

Nintendo

Overcooked 2 (or Overcooked)

You may get into some arguments, or you may find this builds teamwork. This party cooking game is madness, and it’s a perfect couch co-op game for a single player or for four players at once. Seriously, you’re going to get stressed. But it’s so fun.
Read GameSpot’s Overcooked 2 review.

    $24 at Target
    $25 at Amazon
    $24 at Walmart

Josh Goldman/CNET

Super Mario Maker 2

Besides being a Mario construction kit and mini-course on game design, not to mention being full of user-made levels to download, four players can play levels together too. Super Mario Maker has an endless fountain of things to try. By the way: if you’re playing directly on the Switch, a basic stylus (seen here) is a great tool to use.
Read our Super Mario Maker 2 review.

    $60 at Target
    $52 at Amazon
    $56 at Best Buy

Nintendo/Screenshot by Alfred Ng/CNET

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The Switch’s eight-player multiplayer game has a lot of fighting, but it’s of the cartoon kind. There are a growing number of characters to add to a roster that’s already at 75 and counting. This couch co-op fighting game is another game that allows for online play, or you can join everyone in on one screen (it gets crowded).
Read our Smash Bros. Ultimate review.

    $60 at Best Buy
    $60 at Target
    $46 at GameStop

Nintendo/Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

Luigi’s Mansion 3

Nintendo’s version of Ghostbusters, but with Luigi — if you haven’t played, that’s the best way to think of this ridiculously charming, Disney-like haunted house game. A two-player co-op mode works through the whole game and might be the best way to play.
Read our Luigi’s Mansion 3 review.

    $53 at Best Buy
    $60 at Target
    $50 at Walmart

Nintendi/screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

Pikmin 3 Deluxe

Nintendo’s cute planet-exploring and treasure-hunting strategy game, which involves collecting, caring for and using populations of plant-like Pikmin, first came out on the Wii U console years ago. The Switch update adds two-player co-op through the whole game. The open maps encourage teamwork, and a handful of party modes and challenges levels are included too. It’s the best Nintendo franchise you’ve probably never played.
Read GameSpot’s Pikmin 3 Deluxe review.

    $48 at Best Buy
    $45 at Target
    $45 at Amazon

Nintendo

Yoshi’s Crafted World

Nintendo’s papercraft platformer slightly extends into the third dimension, with a two-player co-op mode. It joins a number of other fun games that are also platformers in Nintendo’s roster, but Yoshi’s challenges are a bit gentler, and more focused on discovering secrets and surprises.
Read GameSpot’s Yoshi’s Crafted World review.

    $55 at Target
    $40 at Amazon
    $40 at Walmart

    Nintendo
    Fast RMX
    A cheaper Mario Kart, or perhaps WipEout for the Switch, this futuristic hover-racing game was an early Switch launch title, and it’s really underrated. It does multiplayer wonderfully.
    Read GameSpot’s Fast RMX review.

    $20 at Best Buy
    $20 at Amazon

Nintendo

Mario Tennis Aces

Mario Tennis is unforgiving. Mario Tennis has lots of characters and enemies. Mario Tennis has online modes, and it’s maybe one of the best Switch sports games. There you go. It’s Mario characters playing tennis with crazy power-ups.
Read GameSpot’s Mario Tennis Aces review.

    $53 at Best Buy
    $49 at Target
    $49 at Amazon

Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

Mario Golf: Super Rush

I still prefer Mario Tennis over Mario Golf, but this party-oriented golf game adds some twists that are better in groups. A speed mode (which is why it’s called Super Rush) has players golfing at the same time, even interfering with other people in the game. A battle mode gets even nuttier. The game does two-player split-screen on a single Switch, or four-player turn-based golfing (two players can also play online with others simultaneously on one Switch). There’s also a lengthy single-player adventure mode, too.
Read our Mario Golf: Super Rush hands-on.

    $60 at Best Buy
    $60 at Target
    $50 at Walmart

Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

The sequel to an older console Marvel series of games, Ultimate Alliance 3 feels like Diablo or an arcade brawler, but with a roster of dozens of Marvel characters to play. It’s repetitive at times, but the joy of collecting characters is a lot of fun, and you can keep switching your heroes throughout.
Read our Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 review.

    $53 at Best Buy
    $50 at Amazon
    $45 at GameStop

Snipperclips

Two paper-things solve puzzles together by snipping pieces of each other. Or battling each other with snips. It’s a puzzle game with a lot of different play modes, perfect for two at a time.
Read GameSpot’s Snipperclips review.

$45 at Walmart

Sega

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Tetris 99 is a must-have Tetris battle-royale online game, but Sega’s other Tetris game works with four-player battles, and includes Puyo Puyo, which is another puzzle game worth your time. There’s a long story mode, too.
Read GameSpot’s Puyo Puyo Tetris review.

    $20 at Best Buy
    $20 at Target
    $20 at Amazon

    EA
    FIFA 22 (or NBA 2K)
    Now that real sports leagues are on hold, either of these franchises are excellent stops to play out the season virtually and challenge your family. Depends on whether you prefer soccer or basketball (I’m picking FIFA here, just based on personal preference).
    Read GameSpot’s FIFA 22 review.

$25 at GameStop

Ubisoft

Just Dance

    If it’s hard to get exercise indoors, Just Dance is an active alternative to Ring Fit Adventure and works with the Switch’s included Joy-Con controllers. You could buy any version of Just Dance and be happy.
    $30 at Target
    $29 at Amazon
    $27 at GameStop

Nintendo

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

Super Mario Odyssey is a stellar Switch Mario game, but this remaster of a Wii U classic is the one for four-player action. It’s an old-school, platformer-style Mario game, with an extra Luigi mode that adds harder challenges.
Read GameSpot’s New Super Mario Bros. U review.

    $60 at Best Buy
    $44 at Target
    $44 at Amazon

Sarah Tew/CNET

Nintendo Labo

Nintendo’s cardboard experiment is still worth a try if you can find it online and have an original TV-docking Switch (the OLED and Lite won’t work with all its parts). The all-cardboard folding construction kit, which takes hours to put together, is like a craft kit and game rolled into one. Once built, the wild inventions in each Labo kit have a ton of extra games and things to tinker with and try. It’s crafting and gaming combined. (While there’s also a very cool Labo VR set that’s worth trying, the original Labo 1 variety kit may be the best package to go for with several kids.)
Read our Nintendo Labo review.

$75 at Amazon

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Minecraft Dungeons

Co-op dungeon-crawling, but with Minecraft. For kids who want a battle experience but aren’t ready for something as intense as, say, Diablo, Minecraft Dungeons is plenty of pixelated fun to play through. It’s a spin-off game, so don’t expect normal Minecraft. But it’s fun on its own terms.
Read our Minecraft Dungeons review.

    $30 at Target
    $29 at Amazon


    nintendo-switch-online-nes
    NES and SNES classic games (and N64/Genesis, too)

Free with a?Nintendo Switch Online subscription, from $4 a month, the NES and Super NES games that live on the Switch are actually a great little repository of two-player gaming. Many of the games have two-player modes, which work well in a tabletop Switch mode with Joy-Cons detached, and there’s enough arcade, action and sports stuff to keep kids occupied for hours. Or do high-score battles. It’s not every NES and SNES game we wanted, but it’s a lot. Note: I’d mention the N64 and Sega Genesis games on the Switch as well, which are great, but those require an additional bump-up subscription price that probably isn’t worth it unless you’re a die-hard N64 fan.

Taito

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends

    This couch co-op is a lot of frantic fun for up to four players. The controls and gameplay are simple so that even younger kids can play and the level bosses are just challenging enough to keep things interesting but not impossible. It’s a good option if you’re looking for something to play in short bursts, but it does have 100 levels to get through and Taito will release additional content for download, including new stages and the character Baron von Blubba. The original 1986 version of the game is included, too.?
    $40 at Amazon
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