How to play local co-op in Super Mario Maker 2

Published , by Sam Chandler

Super Mario Maker 2 is here and it’s ripe for co-op fun. The only trouble is actually knowing how to play co-op locally. Setting up a co-op experience isn’t exactly clear when first starting, and even Course World doesn’t offer much insight into local co-op or multiplayer. Thankfully, once you get it sorted, playing on a couch with a friend isn’t too hard.

How to play local co-op or multiplayer in Super Mario Maker 2

You can play Super Mario Maker 2 locally in either co-op or multiplayer.

Setting up a local co-op game in Super Mario Maker 2 requires a few steps. Firstly, it’s not available through the Course World. Local multiplayer co-op is only available through the Coursebot, which holds all your created courses and the ones you’ve downloaded. So here's the steps to set up a local co-op or multiplayer game:

  1. Open Course World and find a course you want to play
  2. Click Download and put it in an empty slot
  3. Navigate to Coursebot by pressing the plus button (or minus)
  4. Find the course you want to play under My Courses of Downloaded Courses
  5. Navigate to the right-hand side and select the Play Together tab.
  6. Activate the controllers that will be used for co-op
  7. Once you confirm the players, the course will begin
Once you download a level through Course World, you can play it in local co-op with a friend through the Coursebot. Just select the Play Together tab on the right and confirm the controllers.

So far, this seems to be the only way to play co-op locally. For some reason, the Course World requires that both Joy-Cons be used to navigate the various player-created levels. Furthermore, it offers no option to split the Joy-Cons for co-op play when you select “play” from within Course World.

As for the types of course you can play co-op, all of them have the functionality! Even if a course isn’t specifically labelled as “multiplayer”, you will be able to play it with a friend. This same functionality is true for the competitive multipler, non-co-operative courses. You should be able to download them and play them through through Coursebot in exactly the same fashion.

While playing local couch co-op or multiplayer in Super Mario Maker 2 isn’t straight forward, it is at least possible. Remember to download the course you want to play, and then select it using the Coursebot menu. From here, you will be able to select “Play Together”, which allows you to play local co-op and multiplayer on one Nintendo Switch. For more guides, check out the Shacknews Super Mario Maker 2 page.