Kirby Star Allies
Best Switch Co-op Games of Q1 2018
Everyone loves the adorable pink puffball named Kirby, and if you’re looking for an enjoyable little co-op romp with friends, Kirby Star Allies is right up your alley. The main new mechanic of this game is that instead of simply defeating or eating foes to gain new powers, Kirby can now befriend up to three enemies to join his team. Each of these can be controlled by a player, meaning up to four friends can play the game cooperatively at a time, as long as you have at least four Joy-Con controllers.
Allies can help power up Kirby’s abilities, as well as unleash their own moves. The game provides a user-friendly menu which provides the button combinations needed to pull off certain moves or even team attacks. The gameplay isn’t particularly challenging, but Kirby has never looked better than here on the Switch, and players will most certainly be able to have fun just running around the screen with friends.
This post was originally written by Katharine Craven.
Scribblenauts Showdown
Best Switch Co-op Games of Q1 2018
Scribblenauts is well-known for its unique ability to bring to life nearly any word that you can think of, and now you can use that mechanic both to work with or compete against friends in Scribblenauts Showdown.
There are three main game modes in Scribblenauts Showdown. The first two, Verses and Showdown, are competitive in nature, while the third, Sandbox, is more cooperative. Versus mode features minigames where players will compete against one another, making use of whatever objects they have decided to bring forth. Showdown mode features up to four players racing to reach the end of a game board by tackling minigames in a somewhat Mario Party-like fashion.
In Sandbox mode, players are given several environments to play around in. The players can create mayhem, or work towards overcoming challenges and achieving certain goals. This game mode is a bit closer to the other games in the series, and while it doesn’t bring much of anything new to the table, it is still enjoyable nonetheless.
Scribblenauts Showdown can be played as single-player, or against a CPU in competitive modes. However, the game was designed for playing with friends, and the game’s true potential is hard to unlock without other players.
Aegis Defenders
Best Switch Co-op Games of Q1 2018
If you haven’t heard of Aegis Defenders, it is a beautifully crafted and unique game which combines platforming and tower defense elements. The game can be played with just one player, but was definitely designed with two-player co-op in mind. In fact, right at the beginning of the game, players are positioned at entirely different points in the map, with the starting goal of finding a way to rendezvous. Players will have to help each other out in order to progress. In single-player mode, the player has to switch between characters instead.
The game features a beautiful soundtrack, and visually stunning pixel art. In co-op mode, the screen will split when players are apart, only to merge together when they meet up again. In addition, there is plenty of room to strategize with co-players in order to come up with the best method to repel enemies.
The Escapists 2
Best Switch Co-op Games of Q1 2018
In the Escapists 2, players and their friends take on the role of prison inmates trying to escape. The game can be played between two people locally in split-screen. In online mode, you can play with up to four players. Online mode comes with the added bonus of not having to share a split-screen, but players may want to have some sort of voice-chat system set up in order to truly enjoy the experience.
Whether players are working together to break out of prison, or competing in versus mode to see who can break out first, they have to think strategically about the method they want to use to escape. There is more than one way to break out of each prison, so it can be fun trying up with the best way, or even just the most creative way, to carry out their escape.
Attack on Titan 2
Best Switch Co-op Games of Q1 2018
Fans of the Attack on Titan anime will be glad to hear that the story mode in Attack on Titan 2 is completely playable in co-op mode. This means that players can team up with a friend online to play through the game’s story missions. There is also an online competitive mode called Annihilation Mode, which features two teams of four players competing to see who can earn the most points. In Annihilation Mode, the biggest amount of points comes from actually killing titans. Therefore, teams may want to strategize in order to keep the opposing team from stealing their kills, as well as trying to steal a few titan kills for themselves.
A lot of the story will seem familiar to those who have watched the anime, or even just played the first Attack on Titan game. However, big fans of the series certainly won’t want to miss out on the fun.
