The Switch 2 launched with a quiet promise it’s been steadily keeping: it’s the best dedicated local multiplayer device you can buy right now. Not because of hardware specs. Not because of the game library alone. Because Nintendo built the entire philosophy of this machine around playing with people who are physically near you. Two Joy-Con controllers in the box. GameShare for lending digital games to friends. A form factor that means “the couch” can be a couch, a kitchen table, a hotel room bed, or the back seat of a car. 17 million units sold in the first six months tells you that proposition is resonating. Here’s what’s actually worth playing on it together. A Note on Backward Compatibility The Switch 2 plays every Switch 1 game. That’s not nothing, the original Switch library has some of the best local co-op games of the past decade. Throughout this guide I’ll flag which games are native Switch 2 releases and which are Switch 1 titles that play (and in some cases look significantly better) on the new hardware. The Must-Plays Mario Kart World (Switch 2, June 2025) There’s a reason this was the headline launch title. Mario Kart World takes everything Mario Kart 8 Deluxe built and adds an open-world Free Roam mode, new character types (Costumes), and 24-player races…
