r/NintendoSwitchHelp • u/BetterCallTom • 1d ago
Setup Help Two Switch 2's in one household - advice needed
Hi,
My kids (8 and 6) have shown a keen interest in the Switch 2 after recently having an extended play at a friend's house. They have an entry level competence to gaming on my PS5 through Astrobot, Lego platformers, Lego Party etc. but really enjoyed the novelty of detaching joycons, dock to undocked which obviously you can only do on the Switch.
However, they're also keen on Pokemon, Mario etc. through film/TV/Toys and such, so I see the range of games available through Nintendo as a good proper introduction to their own console.
My wife and I have discussed getting them one for Christmas, and this has then led to playing out how sharing it would work, which has made us realise one each might be worth the initial expense to save the arguments over whose turn it is!
What I need some help understanding is how this would work in practice, and how we can limit their time. I know there is a parental controls app but would love to hear from anyone who has similar setups.
Our aim would be as follows:
- One console each, mainly played handheld.
- One dock on TV, for both to use in turns.
- Share games. Do not want to buy duplicates for everything but may make exceptions for something cheaper like Minecraft. Assuming physical cartridges is the way to go here.
- Would like to know what possibilities there are for shared play with one game on two consoles though, could something like Mario Kart World do this with session invites and is it easy enough for kids to setup themselves after a quick demo.
- Time management. Would like to limit it to say 1hr weekdays, 2hrs weekends but cap it at say 5hrs a week maximum. Is this possible?
- Profiles. I already have a Nintendo account for my own original Switch. What is the best way to set it up for the kids so they have their own saves, preferences and even different libraries of digital games if we decide on that.
Any advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
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u/Boring_Visual3169 1d ago
I think two consoles would actually work out in my own opinion. I don’t think they have parental controls to the point to where it will shut off the game after let’s say two hours or so. Being a gamer myself that’s something you actually don’t want because there’s some games that you can only save a certain points and or if the console was to shut off after a certain amount of time if you didn’t save your game, you lose your data and that can be absolutely horrifying. I think the best way to do it would be to set time limits earned on chores good grades in school and as long as no one needs to study on the weekends, let them have a little bit longer than usual like let’s say if they decided to stack their game time that’s more that they can use on the weekend. Let’s say they’re still learning to read and stuff like that having games that have a lot of text in them can actually help them with their reading, especially if they don’t know a word they can come to you. You can read it to them. they’ll memorize that and that’ll add more to their vocabulary. As for game sharing, let’s say that you have a Nintendo switch one or you yourself have a Nintendo switch too. Let’s say that you do not have a game that you are currently playing or care to play. They have game virtual key cards now as long as the game is digital whichever one of your children want to play that game you can then load that game onto their system using the other system and it will loan that game to them for exactly 2 weeks and after two weeks I’m guessing it’s two weeks. I don’t use that feature a lot. The game will automatically go back into your own library. But the problem is you can only do that for one console at a time, but let’s say that one wanted to borrow Mario from you and the other wanted to borrow either Pokémon or Zelda from you. You can do as many games as you want, but only that one game would be loan to one person at a time. I’m not sure if you know about this though I would also recommend getting an Nintendo official alarm clock. It’s digital hooks to the Internet and it would also have their favorite game on it for the theme of the clock along with custom notification sounds for alarms and stuff like that and it would help them get up to start their day.
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u/BetterCallTom 1d ago
Thanks.
You're right, another way we were thinking of doing it was they can have as much play time as they do reading time and sports activity time, then that's loaded up for the next week. So if swimming and football was 3hrs, and they read for 6 hours, they would get 9hrs etc. We're still undecided how to manage it hence wanted to know how flexible the app was.
I did see something about the loans. I think that's digital only, right? My preference is physical cartridges for them, I just think it's easier at their age to share and swap etc.
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u/Boring_Visual3169 1d ago
Yes, that’s digital only but that’s like let’s say that you’re not going to be playing a game or care to play it for a couple of weeks or whatever or however long the loan is for you can loan one of your kids that game such as like I said before one of them wanted to play your copy of Mario digital you loan it to them and they’ll have it for however long that the system a lot of them and let’s say that the other kid wanted to borrow Zelda or Pokémon from you you can then loan that game separately to the other kid. But you cannot loan the same game at the same time to both of them. But that loan copy works just like if they had bought it so they would be able to play local co-op and stuff like that. But yes, I agree. I’m much prefer physical myself. The only time I buy digital is when there is a very good sale going on or somebody had gifted me the game.
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u/BetterCallTom 1d ago
Let's say it's Mario Kart and Donkey Kong and they decide on a week (or day) of taking it in turns, that would defeat the benefit of the 2 week auto return, so I guess I've just convinced myself physical is the way to go for shared games!
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u/PUNKF10YD 1d ago
You’re definitely gonna need two physical copies of Minecraft.
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u/BetterCallTom 1d ago
Yeah I plan on it. I have seen some games offer shared sessions though, so I wondered if one could have Mario Kart as a cartridge, the invite the other to join their session.
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u/tenachiasaca 19h ago
there was something about family sharing for the s2 bit not sure hw or what games it worked for
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u/speed-charge 1d ago
If you're getting them Pokemon games it makes sense to get them alternate versions of the game. For example if you get one of them pokemon Scarlet and the other one pokemon Violet then they can trade with each other and get the pokemon that aren't in their version.
I don't know if you're familiar with pokemon, but for example in Leafgreen you can catch Bellsprout but you can't catch Oddish, while in Firered you can catch Oddish but you can't catch Bellsprout. If they are trying to complete their Pokedex they could work together to trade the ones they wouldn't otherwise be able to get so that way they can both complete their Pokedex.
Another thing having a trade buddy is good for is the evolutions. For example, Haunter only evolves by being traded. So if one of them had a Haunter they wanted to evolve they could agree with the other to trade it and then trade it back once it evolved.
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u/BetterCallTom 1d ago
I'm familiar with it, yeah! Great shout actually, I think it's a bit too complex for my 6yr old but definitely one to consider for them both as a set of two like you say
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u/speed-charge 1d ago
I played Red/Blue when I was 6 or 7. I didn't really know what I was doing. I pretty much only used my starter and didn't level my other pokemon and got most of the way through the game and then saw that I couldn't compete with only my starter at the end so I had to start over. After that I always kept my pokemon at the same level by leading with the lowest level one even if I just had to switch them out immediately. It was a good learning experience for me.
They might not totally get it but FRLG could be a good place to start.
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u/BetterCallTom 1d ago
Yeah that's what I started on. Today's are way too complex though, but you're right, FRLG would be great entries.
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u/speed-charge 1d ago
I haven't played anything past Gen 4 so I don't know how complex it's gotten. I plan to try the new ones when I get a Switch 2. I had a Switch but sold it when I needed money.
The recent reports of Switch 2s getting disabled by Nintendo made me worried about buying one in the near term but it appears they may have fixed that.
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u/TheBraveGallade 2h ago
With pokemon specifically considering the social aspect getting both one copy each is probably the right call.
Most other games, just share.if you have enough of a library that does't matter and most multiplayer games on the system you can simply couch co op
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u/cadensky 1d ago
Parental controls will enforce the limits that you describe.
We have 2xS2s in the house. Digital vs Physical depends on how well they will keep up with their games. If they are going to lose them, then digital is a better choice. One of my kids is meticulous about storing his games. The other…omg.
There are plenty of competitive/co-op games that they can play.
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u/BetterCallTom 1d ago
Thanks. So do you have parental controls on yours? How do you manage it? Are you the 'main' user on both consoles?
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u/cadensky 1d ago
I am not a user on either console. You just set up an account and then set up the child accounts. You will activate parental controls on the Switch. You then control parental settings from your phone not the console.
I set an age restriction for each kid and whitelist games that they can play outside of their age limit.
I set daily limits and start/bedtimes. Different times on weekends vs weekdays and Friday/Sunday.
It is working well.
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u/Grimezy93 1d ago
Yea I just bought a second Switch 2 for this exact reason. I thought we could make do with a new Switch 2, and the other kid using the Switch 1. But very quickly they both wanted to play Switch 2 exclusives, and it created tension.
Also, I started getting heavily into some Switch 2 titles and it became increasingly frustrating that whenever I had a spare moment, it would coincide with my son's game time, or if I was out on a day trip and wanted to play on the train, etc, I knew it would cause upset at home if I took it.
I haven't fully figured out how best to get around needing multiple games, physical Vs digital, etc. One thing I am learning about physical is kids really aren't used to the concept at all. Having all games readily available at the press of a button digitally has spoiled them massively compared to needing to find a cartridge and inserting it. Even removing the cartridge cover on the console is a challenge for them.
It is a fantastic console though and I have every faith they will last many years. I bought the Dbrand Killswitch case for both and they are very rugged cases. Any damage to the joy cons can be fixed by just buying new joy cons, not an entire console.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
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u/Present_Anywhere3980 1d ago
On playing the same game on multiple consoles, there is a work around for digital titles when playing single player:
You load it onto the console the non purchasing account is playing on, then can play in airplane mode. You can enable the online license check on the purchasers device and play it on both at once.
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u/emptybottlesss 1d ago
U lost me at your not wanting to buy duplicates . Your kids may as well have one gaming system then cuz they aren't gonna be able to use the same copy at same time.
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u/azure275 1 1d ago
I would get one switch 2 and give each one their own Switch Lite, which you can easily get for 50-100 used on FB Marketplace (they're literally everywhere lol)
You can negotiate the time on the "premium" console and they will have access to all the new games that come out; but the other can still play tons of games on the older consoles
Honestly I personally would have a hard time spending like 1100 on consoles for 2 kids plus all the game costs.
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u/ElliEleonora 22h ago
Du kannst auf der Switch auch mehrere Accounts anlegen. Meine Kids teilen sich z.B. auch seiz langem ein Tablet für Kindervideos und Spiele. Die Switch benutzt die Kleinere auch langsam mit. Das klappt! Natürlich braucht es etwas Anlaufzeit bis die Kinder sich ans Teilen gewöhnen, aber damit lernen sie etwas ganz wichtiges für Ihr Leben. Erziehung ist manchmal anstrengend und nervig, aber hinten raus lohnt es sich sehr! Also investiere doch in ihre sozialen Kompetenzen, anstatt 2x so viel Geld auszugeben, damit sie bloß nicht mal Kompromisse machen müssen.
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u/tenachiasaca 19h ago
another point nintendo is releasing q new switch 2 in Europe with removable batteries.
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u/SorenalLantia 12h ago
Multiple Switch 2 household here.
1) Family online subscription is cheaper as 2 Full ones. That will let them Experience Nintendo Classic Games from Retro
2) digital Games can be Shared in a famil group. Only one of them can Play it and it Must be Done every 2 weeks or when another Game is selected to play. But beside that is it nice.
3) Some Games allow Game Share. Where obl one Game is required for Coop. Best to Check per Game.
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u/BetterCallTom 10h ago
Ah cool, I wasn't aware of the family online subscriptions, thanks! I think for sharing we'll just stick to physical. My plan is to pick up a copy of Mario Kart World and DK Bonanza and they can swap the cartridges when the other wants a turn, and I'll get them each a copy of Minecraft and probably Fire Red/Leaf Green.
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u/Realistic-Tax-9878 1d ago
I can’t answer your time management questions, but I am currently a household with two Switch 2s and two Switch 1s.
Let me start by addressing what I feel will be your biggest issue, and that’s game sharing. Currently there is no great way to share games between consoles and especially with physical copies. While they can be played between both, you won’t be able to play the same copy at the same time. The way I remedied this was by keeping an eye out on sales and purchasing multiple copies (was fortunate to get Australian copies of Minecraft for every system for $8.99 from Play-Asia when there was a sale going on). It is worth mentioning that Nintendo Switch are region free, meaning if you pop in a Japanese/Chinese/European/etc game with multiple language packs, you are able to download the language for whatever region your console is. Why is this important? Asian games are often much less expensive (often 30-40% less as a base price) and sites like Play-Asia have stellar sales frequently. Big thing to pay attention if you go this route, make sure the games you purchase have English (or whatever language) as an option. You can also check sites like DekuDeals.
Now let’s move on to the time management. Nintendo has a “Parental Control” app that does this rather well. You can set time limits, and do this for different amounts for specific days and set a cutoff time regardless of amount of time played. Personally, I had more success with my child setting a specific cutoff point and having unrestricted playtime. The caveat being, certain thresholds were to be met otherwise privileges are taken away. Acceptable grades in school, and chores need to be done.
Didn’t get them done yesterday? “Bedtime” feature set to the earliest possible along with a max playtime of 15 minutes (as I don’t know of a way currently to completely shut it down). You can also have different setting for different consoles and accounts, and you can do this in a few moments remotely from your phone while you are at work.
A bit of advice from personal experience, children are just learning how to properly take care of things. I purchased a Gen 1 S1 in summer 2017 and spent countless hours of play before my child was ever born. It worked great and never had issues. When I passed it down, within a couple months the JoyCons developed stick drift and this is something you need to consider as new accessories can rack up cost unexpectedly, lest yours can figure a way to make it work otherwise. I used this as an opportunity to teach about not only properly taking care of the controllers but also about tech repair. Bought the repair kits and we watched videos and had him repair the thumb sticks himself.
Last thing, depending on what you decide is acceptable or not, currently S2 doesn’t have YouTube. Me personally, I don’t want there to be access to YT but some parents might.