Top 10 Switch Games To Play At Parties


No, not top 10 Nintendo Switch *party* games, but rather my top 10 favorite Nintendo Switch games to play *at* parties. Physical carts that 4 or more players can enjoy together on a single console!
Say hello! @shawnschaller | shawnschaller.com Intro 00:00 Nintendo 01:08 HMs 01:58 #10 02:31 #9 03:12 #8 03:45 #7 04:23 #6 05:04 #5 05:35 #4 06:09 #3 06:56 #2 07:35 #1 08:29 #Outro 09:26 #Credits 09:54 Music Credits (in order of first appearance): Super Smash Bros Ultimate "Menu Theme" Mario Kart 8 Deluxe "Rainbow Road" Just Dance 2019 "Main Menu Music" Cruis'n Blast "All Night Shaker" Among Us "Main Menu Theme" Killer Queen Black "Main Theme" Rivals of Aether "Fighter Select Screen Theme" Rayman Legends "Main Menu - The Tower of Babel" Rocket League "Main Theme" Diablo III "The End of Days" Snipperclips Plus: Cut It Out Together "Noisy Notebook A" Overcooked "Restaurant Theme" Streets of Rage 4 [Yuzo Koshiro] "Main Theme" Nintendo Switch Game Trailer Credits (in order of first appearance): Moving Out "Launch Trailer" Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 The Black Order "Launch Trailer" Rabbids Party of Legends "Launch Trailer" Mario Kart 8 Deluxe "Nintendo Switch Presentation" Super Bomberman R "Official Nintendo Switch Trailer" Sports Party "Launch Trailer" Super Mario Party "Launch Trailer" Super Smash Bros Ultimate "Available now! Trailer" Clubhouse Games 51 Worldwide Classics "Announcement Trailer" Just Dance 2020 "Launch Trailer" Cruis'n Blast "Announcement Trailer" Among Us "Launch Trailer" Towerfall "Announcement Trailer" Killer Queen Black "Release Date Trailer" Rivals of Aether "Launch Trailer" Rayman Legends Definitive Edition "Launch Trailer" [Ubisoft - all consoles] Rocket League "Cinematic Trailer" Diablo III Eternal Collection "Announcement Video" Minecraft Dungeons "Launch Trailer" Snipperclips Plus Cut It Out Together "Launch Trailer" Heave Ho "Reveal Trailer" [Devolver Digital - all consoles] Death Squared "Launch Trailer" [SMG Studios - all consoles] Overcooked All You Can Eat "Launch Trailer" Streets of Rage 4 "Launch Trailer" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge "Launch Trailer" Scott Pilgrim vs The World The Game Complete Edition "Announcement Trailer"


SCRIPT

The best way to let everyone know that you're the best at Nintendo Switch game-having... is to have the best Nintendo Switch games for everyone, when the party's at your place... and also, you have to have physical copies... to help you... brag about your game shelf, or use as coasters and door stops.

That all sounded better in my head, but a recent survey I made up estimates that only 1% of the people allowed in my home want to watch me play Skyrim. Gotta work a little harder to entertain the other 99%, and I'll be d****d if I ever play complicated card games at parties again. Why Go Fish? What's my motivation? What is an Old Maid?

So let's compromise and do exactly what want, play video games, but specifically games others might enjoy too. Here are my Top 5 Favorite Nintendo Switch Games To Play At Parties. It's not just party games, oh no, I'm trying way too hard to impress my guests! It's any game that will captivate their attention... as long as it's a physical cart that at least 4 people can play locally on a single console.

Which leads me to - surprise! - my number 1 pick! Or disclaimer, actually! Take it how you want, but I'm trying to say that the number 1 best Switch games to play at parties... are the Nintendo-owned properties. Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Mario Party, Mario Sports, Switch Sports, Wario Ware, Clubhouse Games, Super Mario 3D World, Kirby Star Allies, they're all great... mostly... But I'm here to talk about different stuff, so I'm getting them out of the way right away by putting them on this very special best-in-show pedestal... or not counting them at all, really, since I have 10 other games listed, and a shameless number of honorable mentions and ties... But it's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe... it's the best one...

Anyway, if those first-party gems are top-shelf cocktails you can only get at Club Nintendo, then Jackbox, Big Brain Academy, and Hasbro Board Game Night are Mich Ultra, Bud Light and the generic kind that just says "beer" on the can, respectively. No shame, it's just not a great showing for the Switch. I will toss an honorable mention to the Just Dance series - boxed wine in this scenario - with a word of caution; nothing ruins a good time like realizing way too late that your friends only dance in the privacy of their own showers. Me too, usually, but I needed some b-roll for this video, so you're welcome, and let's get started.

At any party with a Switch, someone will ask to play Mario Kart... and they'll be pretty sad when you only have Nickelodeon Kart Racers in this fictional setup. Clone kart racers just make me want Mario Kart even more, and most other racers lack broad party appeal. But my number 10 pick, Cruis'n Blast puts enough arcadey racing action on screen to help your guests temporarily forget about Kario Mart 80 lux and its fancy battler modes or whatever. If you absolutely need a kart-clone, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is actually a surprisingly decent sequel to a real-bad original.

I've actually never played my number 9 pick - Among Us - but I can see how wildly accusing people of murder, right to their faces, could be a lot of fun! Nothing grows and nurtures relationships quite like trust issues! It's both one of the most popular games of the entire generation, and one of very few in its 4-player social deduction ilk you can buy physically on the Switch. Also there's minigames I guess. When your family reunion is surprisingly short on back-stabbing, Among Us is there for you.

If you like your fictional violence more fast-and-direct, look into my number 8 picks, a tie between Killer Queen Black and TowerFall. Killer Queen Black is a unique team-contest with multiple paths to victory that's more arcadey, cheaper, and modern-polished feeling, while TowerFall's 4-player mode is a retro-styled last-man-standing contest that probably has a wider audience and longer attention-span-hold. Both are very satisfying arena combat experiences. For settling disputes among guests, they're a nice mid-point between paper-scissors-rock and fist-fights.

Speaking of punching guests, ruining friendships and Nintendo clones, that disappointed Mario Kart fan will probably ask you about Super Smash Bros. next. Brawlout and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl might be better for a party than their bland reviews suggest, but my number 7 pick, Rivals of Aether (ather? ether? euther?) - the improved sequel to a solid fan-made Smash Bros. remake called Super Smash Land - is basically as accurate and good as a Nintendo-clone party platform-fighter be. It's not very cheap, but it is strong enough to hold your solo interest long after your guests are gone.

You actually don't have to intentionally turn your guests against one another - in-game or in reality - to have a good time. You could just cooperatively platform-adventure your way together through my number 6 pick, Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition. Explore everywhere, collect everything, laugh at hideous characters, and channel your group energy against a common enemy... until that one person who can't quite get the hang of the whole tricky jumping business becomes the new common enemy.

High speed cars, fast-paced action, explosions, my number 5 pick, Rocket League sounds more like Mad Max than car soccer. It's sort of gaming at it's most pure, like modern Pong; you control a thing to push a round dealio toward an opponent's scorey zone. I really don't even know what else to say other than, whether you like sportsball or not, at least try Rocket League in a group setting - maybe stiffen everyone's drinks before you suggest it - and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

What's more bonding fun with loved ones than cooperatively hacking, slashing and looting through hordes of the spawn of satan himself? I'd rank my number 4 pick, Diablo III: Eternal Collection even higher if it were a little more short-spurt friendly. It would be perfect for some kind of consistent meet-up; say, you suggest your significant other start a weekly book club, during which time you and your buddies can hide in the basement. Aside from Dragon's Crown, this is my favorite game to play with my friends. But if your guests are more comic-nerd than DnD-geek, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order uses your favorite mutants to scratch a similar itch, or if the only parties at your house are kids' birthdays, check out Minecraft Dungeons.

Peak tests of friendship include staying awake through each others' favorite movies, and solving puzzles together... without killing each other. To give you enough ammo to burn through all your meaningful relationships, my number 3 pick is a 3-way tie. Snipperclips Plus: Cut It Out Together is the most intuitive, affordable, and common. Heave Ho is a more meme-silly, frustrating-to-be-funny physics-based experience. And Death Squared foregoes the amusing aesthetic in favor of max brainbusting. Watch some reviews, and add at least one of these co-op puzzlers to your Switch arsenal.

Are your friendships feeling flat? Maybe going a little stale? Barely palatable? Spice things up with likely the most-recommended Switch game for parties, my number 2 pick, Overcooked! All You Can Eat. It's similarly cooperative to the previous puzzlers, but swap out the "puzzle" part for surprisingly chaotic, somewhat pattern-rhythmic, cooking-simulation action! Work together to conquer the food service industry in short order, and try not to strangle the person who won't wash the d**n dishes! Personally, I can barely stomach real-life cooking, but the best alternative - Moving Out - offers all the fun of cramming furniture into a truck; this genre comes in weird flavors. Anyway, my wife and her friends love this well-done Overcooked compilation, even just watching the chaos unfold (an underrated facet of good group gaming).

I've talked a lot about punching your friends, but nothing is more fun than punching other people, with your friends. My number 1 pick, Streets of Rage 4 offers a comfortably recognizable city-setting beat'em up format and narrative, plus difficulty level options and crunch-tastic look-sound-and-feel that are immediately gratifying to a very broad audience. It won't appeal to everyone, but it's the best example of a more traditional type of video game action that happens to be intuitive and short-spurt-friendly enough for a group setting. No offense, Overcooked, but my brain spits out more serotonin for street fights than kitchen chores. If you prefer heroic anthropomorphic adolescent amphibians, the great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge will be available physically soon, or maybe you'd specifically like to punch your significant other's exes, in which case Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is solid, too.

And there you have it, my Top 10 Favorite Nintendo Switch Games To Play At Parties. Normal people would take a second to read the room, but I "don't have what they call social skills," and prefer to just assume everyone wants to fist-fight a crime syndicate together. But I won't assume you know how grateful I am that you watched this video! If you didn't hate it, I'd really appreciate a like, comment or sub. Thank you for being here, and I'll see you next time.

And I'll be d****d if I ever:
  • Play blackjack at a party again... I need all my fingers and toes to count. How else was I supposed to get to 21?
  • Let my friends teach me 52 pickup again!
  • Lose to Charlie at Monopoly in front of people again! Seriously, I had to claim I lost to him on purpose as a party trick.
  • Play Just Dance with my friends again... or ever again... sorry wife, it's just that this footage will haunt my dreams forever.

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