Best Nintendo Switch Multiplayer Family Games for 2023

For anyone who’s ever played a Game Boy Advance way back, Advance Wars will be remembered fondly. For anyone else, think of a military-strategy game like Nintendo’s Fire Emblem, but with tanks and soldiers and helicopters. Nintendo’s remaster of the first two Advance Wars games feels more like a strategy board game on the Switch, almost like something you’d play in Nintendo’s excellent compilation Clubhouse Games. The turn-based game is very focused on strategic planning, and it’s easy for multiple players to join in at once from a single Switch. New maps can be created, too, adding a lot of replay value. Yes, this is a war game, but the action is cartoonish and there’s no actual violence other than explosions. It plays more like an animated version of Risk.

There are tons of Kirby games on the Switch. The pink shape-shifting puffball is a perfect alternative to Mario, offering less-demanding gameplay for kids who might find Mario games a bit too challenging. This 2D game is a remake of a Wii classic, with much-improved graphics and a bunch of fun competitive (but not too intense) mini-games you can play, too. There’s a lot to do, and co-op supports up to four players at once. This replaces our previous suggestion of Kirby: Star Allies, another good 2D Kirby game that’s fine as an alternative. If you want an even better Kirby game (that’s also tougher), though, buy Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tetris 99 is a must-have Tetris battle-royale online game, but Sega’s 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.

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.

Free with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, from $4 a month, the NES, Super NES and Game Boy games that live on the Switch are actually a great little repository of two-player or pass-and-play 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 game we wanted, but it’s a lot. Note: I’d mention the N64 and Sega Genesis games (and Game Boy Advance 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 (although, Goldeneye N64 is still pretty great).

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.