Good Party/Family Games for the Nintendo Switch?

[Hawkwing]

Thanks to the amount of Christmas money I received, I decided to buy a Nintendo Switch earlier this month, along with Breath of the Wild, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Three Houses. Our family had a lot of fun messing around with the new options for creating Mii's, and the ability to switch from the television to handheld and back again is amazingly convenient. However, the only multiplayer game we have right now is Smash, and, well, my years of experience with the series makes it difficult for me to participate without it becoming a curb-stomp battle, and when they play against each other, the faster pace has thrown them off several times. We actually hooked up the Wii after a few rounds of Smash to play together that way.

I think my family could have a lot of fun playing on the Switch together, but I'm wondering what are some good party games, multiplayer games, and/or family friendly games in general that we could play together? I have bought the Mega Man X Legacy Collection off the E-shop when it was on sale (before realizing it has been a long time since I've last played a platformer, and I'm out of practice), so I am fine with purchasing E-shop titles, even if I'd prefer physical copies. I don't plan on getting Nintendo's online service, so that is off the table if a game relies on it.

[AnonymousSpeed]

Super Mario Party literally has "Party" in the title but it's also Mario Party and thus pours salt upon the earth when played. Someone always ends up having to be convinced not to quit in my household.

Overcooked 2 is supposed to be really good, haven't gotten it but it's a game I've considered for the same roll as you're looking for.

[Anacybele]

Luigi's Mansion 3 has some multiplayer fun! And you can't go wrong with some good ol' Luigi. He's amazing. :3

Also, maybe Arms? I've tried it out before, it's neat.

[SatsumaFSoysoy]

Mario Kart maybe? Split screen Mario Kart is always a chaotic time.

[Gregster101]

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe obviously. Or Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled. Both are good for some racing fun though.

There's also Puyo Puyo Tetris if you want a good puzzle game.

[Morgan--Grandmaster]

31 minutes ago, Gregster101 said:

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe obviously. Or Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled. Both are good for some racing fun though.

There's also Puyo Puyo Tetris if you want a good puzzle game.

I prefer Poyo Poyo Tetris. 😎 All great options so far. I mean, Luigi's Mansion 3 won multiple awards for Best Family Game of 2019. Other great options not already mentioned include Super Mario Maker 2, Kirby Star Allies, Unraveled 2, any of the LEGO Games, and Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eveee.

[Gregster101]

Just now, Morgan--Grandmaster said:

I prefer Poyo Poyo Tetris. 😎 All great options so far. I mean, Luigi's Mansion 3 won multiple awards for Best Family Game of 2019. Other great options not already mentioned include Super Mario Maker 2, Kirby Star Allies, Unraveled 2, any of the LEGO Games, and Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eveee.

Oh yeah definitely get Luigi's Mansion 3

[DancingDanny]

Go Vacation is a pretty fun time! I will say some of the minigames are kinda hit or miss, but riding around on the vehicles in each of the different resorts is a blast (especially in multiplayer)!

[Sir Gerwald of Vallora]

Aside from the obligatory Smash, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Luigi's Mansion choices, one of my favorite games growing up that has a great co-op Switch port was Lego City Undercover. Overall, if you are intrested in playing with just one other person, any Lego game is a good pick.

[ZeManaphy]

Super Mario Party might involve a lot of luck, but because its so luck based with very little skill, my friends who never played the switch end up loving it as well as understanding Switch much better. Great game if you want people who never played the Switch to get introduced. 

[Reality]

I play my own switch mostly for MP party games so I've got all kinds of stuff.

Overcooked 2- 100% I'm so addicted to it I bought the inferior Overcooked 1 as a "level expansion"

Super Mario Party - really depends on how many old Nintendo consoles you still own. I think it's about 4th best in the series, minigame rotation can sometimes let you down though.

Snipperclips Plus - I think my family members like this more than I do, but they won't let me forget that they think it's better than most of my switch favorites... 

Worms WMD - Worms games always age well, kind of like bomberman (I think playing on a crafting disabled, basic weapons ruleset is best though)

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Very silly game that is kind of a turret defense, BUT, 1 player has to get out of the turrets to steer. 

Super Bomberman R - Bomberman always delivers - Battle mode should be 90% percent of your time, but the story mode does have 2 player max co-op.

Splatoon 2 - Reasonably fun, even for family members who don't like First person shooting games.

Cel Damage - This is a "Twisted Metal" clone with the mechanics and physics simplified and using cartoon graphics instead of the usual "dark realism" aesthetic. Very fun to fight with cars.

Astro Bears - more of a mini-game than anything else, but it's basically a 3D version of the classic "snake" game where you don't want to run over your own trail. The 4P kicks it up in a fun way with 4 different trails and a jumping option - warning only 1 music track that plays endlessly - play on MUTE! 

Crawl - it's like Gauntlent  except you fight each other instead of being co-operative- the Lovecraft thing might be a turnoff.

Astro Bear (indie) - more of a mini-game than a full game, but it does the job.

Screen Cheat (indie) - Very Goofy First Person shooter based entirely around PS1 / N64 era splitscreen (it has no blood. I think the charathers are beanies made out of thread?) The gimmick is that charathers are invisible at all times and you can only find people by looking on their screen. The maps are designed to hel p this (mostly with pastel color coating and landmarks)

Puyo Puyo Tetris - I'm personally a Puyo Puyo addict, so I run into your curbstomp problem when I actually play it as against the family. We mostly only play the Big Bang mode to make sure everyone has a good time and we avoid the 8 chain every 30 seconds thing. The lack of a lot of family-bonus modes makes me prefer this to (Puyo Puyo chamipions)

Wild Guns Reloaded - this is a "cabal" style rail shooter- that is a sub-genre where you shoot into the background while having a charather in the foreground who must dodge bullets. It's pretty fast and hectic... some people will prefer games like  Sin and Punishment or Star Succesor- but those work better as single player score attack games than as Party games - Wild Guns keeps things kind of easy enough to be fun, hard enough to get them to try it more than once - 

Their are a couple of 2P max games  I could offer as well, but they don't sound like what you need.

[Anathaco]

Other than the obvious MK8D and Super Mario Party, I remember my friend bringing 1-2-Switch to school and everybody having a blast. Pretty basic game, pretty competitive but without the salt of Mario party, and a wide variety of mini games to play. So that may be worth considering.