How to play for two with Nintendo Switch . You are thinking of buying Nintendo Switch , Nintendo’s hybrid console, for the possibility of being able to play two of your favorite games, such as Smash Bros or Mario Kart. True? Keep reading, because I’m going to tell you things that can be very useful to you.
If you plan to organize evenings at home to show all your friends the qualities of the new Nintendo console, perhaps involving them in a wild dance in Just Dance I can tell you that I understand you very well. Nintendo Switch is a fascinating console precisely because of the many possibilities of local multiplayer game it offers compared to the competition. Which, however, are more geared towards online multiplayer and, above all, are not portable.
However, before you make your purchase, if you want to understand how the game for two works to start a multiplayer game as soon as I take it home, I have good news for you.
Take a few minutes in this article. I promise to explain the details about How to play two on Nintendo Switch. And also to help you fully appreciate some of the most important features of this hybrid console. Are you ready then? Perfect, I just have to wish you happy reading and have fun!
Index of contents
- How to play for two with Nintendo Switch. Important information
- How to play for two with Nintendo Switch in local area.
- Local multiplayer requirements
- How to play for two with Switch’s Joy-Con
- How to play with two controllers on Nintendo Switch
- How to play for two with Nintendo Switch Online
- Online mode requirements
- Subscription plans
- How to play multiplayer online
- Online mode requirements
How to play for two with Nintendo Switch. Important information
There are a few premises that I think I should make before I tell you about the different two-player game modes provided by Nintendo Switch. .
First of all, you should know that, although the console provides online game modes and functions, to play with two people from the same console, it is not mandatory to have an Internet connection or to be subscribed to the Nintendo Switch Online service.
In other words, when you buy Switch and the game you want to play with a friend, you will already have everything you need to be able to play in local multiplayer!
Now that I have outlined for you what the requirements for online and offline multiplayer are, I can finally tell you about helpful methods on How to Play Nintendo Switch for Two . You just have to feel comfortable with the Joy-Con in your hand!
How to play for two with Nintendo Switch in local area.
In addition to what I told you about local play, it is also important to specify the difference between local multiplayer for up to four players and wireless local multiplayer .
The first is the multiplayer mode in the most classic sense of the term. A single console is used thanks to the exchange of the two Joy-Con, one per player. By having four Joy-Con you can add two more players.
The second, however, requires one Nintendo Switch per player and allows a maximum of eight players simultaneously. I want to clarify that even this mode does not require an internet connection , as it uses an ad hoc Wi-Fi network created by consoles.
Local multiplayer requirements
Now let’s move on to the practical side and see how to play in local multiplayer on Switch . First of all, it may seem obvious, but I think it is necessary to clarify that local multiplayer, although it is a possibility provided by Nintendo for its new console, is not always available in all games.
As you may already know, there are games that support it, others like Fortnite that support online multiplayer , others that play alone.
From what I just said, if your intention is to play two on Switch, the first thing you should do is check the information about game modes at the time of purchase to ensure that it has local multiplayer.
How to play for two with Switch’s Joy-Con
Have you made sure that your chosen game is fully compatible with local multiplayer? Excellent, because that’s really all you need. Not sure how the second player will work without a controller? You have no reason to be, because the beauty of the Nintendo Switch is also that it already has two built-in controllers.
You got it right: to separate the two Joy-Con from the sides of the console, pressing the small button Round back and slide them up, to immediately have two controllers available to play in two!
How to play with two controllers on Nintendo Switch
The next step is to sync the Nintendo Switch controllers so that the console will recognize them. To begin, connect the Joy-Con laces to the Joy-Con, taking great care to match the positive and negative sides of both.
Once this is done, proceed by choosing the Joy-Con icon from the console menu and then pressing Change Hold Mode / Command . At this point, you must assign Joy-Cons to each player, pressing the back keys L and R and holding them for two seconds.
Once both players have followed this, press the A button , to confirm and return to the main menu.
Congratulations, you have successfully connected the two controllers to play Nintendo Switch for two! All that is left is to start the game you have chosen and select the local multiplayer mode . Remember that each game has its own way of starting this mode, so be careful to locate it.
How to play for two with Nintendo Switch Online
Now that you know all the details on how to play two (or more) people in local mode on the Nintendo Switch, you are probably curious to understand how the Switch’s online multiplayer works .
The online multiplayer mode of Nintendo Switch is used precisely to play with your friends from afar. You do not need to share a local network, as the famous Fortnite shows. This way of playing with friends also seems very interesting, right? So if you are also a fan of online gaming or, more simply, curious for more details on this Nintendo Switch game mode, then you are in the right place. Now I will tell you about the requirements and how to play online.
Online mode requirements
The first thing that I recommend that you check to play online with Switch is the support of the game that you intend to use for this type of multiplayer. You can also check the list of compatible games through the dedicated page of the official Nintendo website.
After doing this very simple operation, you will also need to subscribe to Nintendo Switch online , the service created by Nintendo specifically for playing online. I would also like to specify that the subscription also guarantees the ability to download a selection from the Nintendo Early Games (NES) catalog for free , save game progress to the cloud, and receive exclusive offers on Nintendo games and accessories.
Subscription plans
To continue activating a subscription, you can choose between different plans. 30 days for the price of 3.99 euros, 90 days for the price of 7.99 EUR and 365 days for € 19.99. That’s it? No, because Nintendo also offers a family group subscription that allows with an annual subscription, for the price of 34.99 euros, to play online up to eight member accounts of the same group.
Once you’ve chosen the type of subscription to subscribe to, if you haven’t already done so, proceed to create a Nintendo Account. It is a user profile associated with Switch and with which you can access online multiplayer and the Nintendo eShop .
Don’t have an account yet and don’t know how to create one? No problem – if you want, you can follow my guide on how to create a Switch user, and in no time you’ll be ready to play online with your new account.
Now that you have an account and have chosen which subscription to subscribe to, you can purchase the subscription on the official Nintendo website or by going to an online or brick-and-mortar retailer. Alternatively connected to the Nintendo eShop directly from the Switch, by selecting the appropriate icon from the main console menu , and from the list of yellow items on the left, scroll down to the Nintendo Switch online item and press the button.
Now you can press the Registration options button , choose the plan to subscribe and, when you are ready, press the Proceed to purchase button to confirm. I take this opportunity to inform you that if you have a code to activate the subscription , you will need to scroll through the registration menu to the Redeem Code button and proceed to enter the code.
How to play multiplayer online
Almost everything is ready to start the first online challenge. The last thing you need to do is start the game with online multiplayer support and select the relative online mode from its main menu.
Clearly, this option changes from game to game: for example, in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , you can find it in the Online game entry of the main menu, while if you start Fortnite just touch Game mode , choose the one you prefer and press the Y Button .
On the Nintendo Switch online multiplayer, I have one other thing to talk about before I drop you off on your group games. What is it about? Well, it is possible to play with friends online even without a Nintendo Switch Online subscription with free-to-play video games : These are free downloadable online games, like Fortnite , Paladins or Warframe .
