The Switch’s dock and KitKat controllers make it perfect for multiplayer games. But if you’re looking for something without intense competition, a cooperative local multiplayer game is what you need. Here are the best ones on the console.
Kirby Star Allies
Nintendo’s pink puffball tends to fly under the radar of bigger franchises like Mario and Zelda, but Kirby games have been dependably delivering co-op platforming for a long time. Star Allies is all about making friends, throwing “hearts” around and recruiting classic Kirby bad guys to help you out. Up to four players can go at it in local cooperative multiplayer. Secondary players can combine their friend abilities with Kirby’s gobble-em-up powers for combination super attacks.
Cuphead
Cuphead has become an instant classic among fans of indie 2D games. It’s sort of the opposite of Kirby: an insanely difficult platforming game with an art style inspired by some disturbing 1930s cartoons. The game is absolutely beautiful in motion, but don’t get distracted, because the brutal enemies and screen-filling bosses will wipe you out in seconds. Thankfully, Cuphead is built from the ground up for two-player co-op, so you can tackle the challenge together.
Fire Emblem Warriors
Fire Emblem Warriors is a mash-up of Nintendo’s strategy-slash-dating sim fantasy games with Koei’s Dynasty Warriors series, giving the feudal characters massive battlefields filled with thousands of enemies to hack and slash in real-time. Ridiculous melee and magic attacks fill the screen as you take down dozens of enemies at once, carving your way through the map for strategic objectives. Two local players can tackle the battlefield in split-screen mode.
Death Road to Canada
What happens when you mix top-down combat with a long Oregon Trail-style resource management game, then sprinkle in zombies? Death Road to Canada, that’s what. This unique pixelated title has you controlling survivors of a zombie apocalypse as they get the hell out of Dodge, collecting new party members and facing massive zombie hoards. The co-op setup offers up to four local players, but one stays “in control” of the group, so it’s a good game if you’re looking to play with a child without surrendering to too much chaos.
