Switch Games for Two, Four and Eight on One Couch

The Switch is the best couch-multiplayer machine in years, mostly because every pair of Joy-Cons is two controllers the moment you slide them off. So this is my shortlist, sorted by the thing that actually decides what gets played: how many people are in the room.

Player counts below are the local maximum on one Switch.

For two, working together

Games where two people have to cooperate, and where the fun is mostly in the talking.

Game	What it's like
Snipperclips	Cut each other into shapes to solve puzzles. Short, clever and very funny. (Four in the party modes.)
Unravel Two	A gentle platformer with two little yarn creatures tied together
Pode	A calm, pretty puzzle adventure where two characters help each other
Yoshi's Crafted World	A relaxed arts-and-crafts platformer
Vitamin Connection	Fly a tiny ship through a body fighting germs
The Stretchers	Two paramedics, one ambulance, a lot of physics
Good Job!	Office tasks, done as destructively as possible
Tales of the Tiny Planet	Puzzle platforming across small worlds
What the Golf?	Golf, but nothing's golf. There's a two-player party mode
A Hat in Time	A charming 3D platformer with split-screen co-op
Spiritfarer	A cozy management game about ferrying spirits to the afterlife. Slow and lovely
Stardew Valley	Farming together. Up to four in split-screen, but it's great for two
Overcooked 2	The opposite of relaxing. Up to four, and two is plenty of chaos

Try this

Mix the tempo. Follow an hour of Overcooked 2 with something slow like Spiritfarer or Stardew Valley. The games that need constant shouting are more fun when they aren't the only thing you play.

For four

Game	What it's like
Castle Crashers	The classic co-op brawler
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime	Run the stations of one spaceship together
Moving Out	Carry furniture out of houses, badly
Super Mario Party	The easy pick for mixed ages
Minecraft Dungeons	A friendly dungeon crawler
Nine Parchments	Co-op spell-slinging
Riverbond, Rogue Heroes	Co-op adventures with a blocky and a retro look
Death Road to Canada	A road trip through the zombie apocalypse
Catastronauts, Death Squared	Frantic co-op, and co-op puzzles where one wrong move sinks everyone
Astro Bears, Flat Heroes	Quick competitive rounds
Wild Guns Reloaded	An arcade shooter, with a great Western look
Stardust Galaxy Warriors	A co-op side-scrolling shooter
Super Blood Hockey	Arcade hockey, very violent
BAFL, Baron: Fur Is Gonna Fly, Wrestledunk Sports, Guts 'n Goals	Silly competitive sports and racing

For six

Game	What it's like
TowerFall	Tight archery battles. The Switch version goes up to six
Boomerang Fu	Food fighting with boomerangs. Short rounds, lots of laughing
Worms W.M.D	Turn-based, so it works with any number of controllers
Monopoly	If you must

For eight and more

Game	Players	What it's like
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	8	The big one. Works for casual and competitive
Super Bomberman R	8	Classic multiplayer mayhem
Jackbox Party Packs	Up to 8 (varies by game)	Everyone plays on their phone, so no extra controllers
Pico Park	8	Co-op puzzle platforming. Harder than it looks with a crowd
Luigi's Mansion 3	8 in ScreamPark	The party mode, not the main game
Killer Queen Black	8	Team arcade strategy
Knight Squad 2, Runbow, ClusterPuck 99	8	Quick competitive rounds
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes	1 plus readers	One person defuses the bomb, everyone else reads the manual
12 Orbits	Up to 12	Each person gets one button. Mad, and it works

Heads up

"Eight players" usually means eight controllers. A lot of these take one Joy-Con per person, but some want a full pair or a Pro Controller each. Check before game night, not during.

Quick picks

• Big group: Smash Ultimate, Jackbox, Super Bomberman R.
• Mixed ages: Super Mario Party, Luigi's Mansion 3, Pico Park.
• Competitive crowd: Smash, TowerFall, Killer Queen Black.
• Two, cozy: Stardew Valley, Spiritfarer, Yoshi's Crafted World.
• Two, chaotic: Overcooked 2, Moving Out, Snipperclips.

If Zelda's more your speed than a party, I sorted every Zelda game on Switch by how long it takes. And for the older generation of couch games, the d-pad-friendly GameCube and PS2 list is heavy on fighters that are still great with two players and one sofa.