Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Connect everyone and choose the set

This format uses Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on an original Nintendo Switch or Switch OLED, docked to a television, with 2–4 people racing together. Use the base game's courses. Update the game before guests arrive and check that it launches. This is the Switch edition, rather than Wii U Mario Kart 8 or Mario Kart World.

Place seats where everyone can distinguish their screen area and see the course. Connect the dock to power and the TV with HDMI, charge the controllers, and keep cables out of walkways. Each person can use one detached Joy-Con held sideways, a pair of Joy-Con, or a Switch Pro Controller. Two Joy-Con supplied with a console can serve two people separately; four players need four controller setups.

From the title menu choose Multiplayer, the player count, and VS Race. Follow the controller prompts: press SL and SR on a single sideways Joy-Con, or L and R on a pair or Pro Controller. Confirm which screen belongs to each person. Let everyone choose a character, vehicle body, wheels and glider from what is available.

Set 100cc, No Teams, Normal Items, No COM, Choose courses, and 4 Races. No COM removes computer-controlled racers, so only your group competes. Before starting, agree to race these base-game Mushroom Cup tracks in order: Mario Kart Stadium, Water Park, Sweet Sweet Canyon and Thwomp Ruins. Player 1 selects each track when prompted. They are separate choices in VS Race; selecting a cup is not this mode's setup.

Each player may use Smart Steering and Auto-Accelerate. Open the kart's options with + or − and use the displayed buttons to check the icons. Smart Steering helps keep the kart on the course; Auto-Accelerate keeps it moving without holding the accelerator. Tilt Controls steer by moving the controller; turn them off for stick steering unless you prefer them. Check these choices openly before play.

Learn the buttons before counting a race

With a Pro Controller or paired Joy-Con, use the left stick to steer, A to accelerate, B to brake, R to hop or drift, and L to use an item. Holding B while stopped reverses. With one sideways Joy-Con, steer with its stick, use SR to drift and SL for items; check the accelerator and brake in the game's control display because the printed face-button names differ between left and right Joy-Con.

For a first visit, open Help from the title menu to see the driving and item explanations. Then run an unscored practice set with the same settings. Try accelerating, taking a corner, collecting an item and using it. You can leave that practice early together; return to VS Race and start a fresh set so its points do not count.

To drift, keep accelerating, hold R while turning, then release it after sparks appear for a boost; use SR on a single Joy-Con. Start with ordinary steering if that is easier. Coins increase kart speed up to ten collected coins, but are not your set score. Boost pads speed you up, and special ramps open the glider automatically. Keep steering and follow the track.

Race together and add the results

Keep the competition friendly and clear

Let new players try the controls and assists before the scored set. Ask whether they want a slower set rather than quietly changing their settings. Smart Steering can limit shortcuts and prevents the strongest drift boost, so it changes how racing feels; it is a permitted personal choice here, not a guarantee of equal skill. Keep advice to one useful tip at a time.

Items and kart collisions are ordinary parts of the race. A late shell is not grounds for restarting. Use the game's finish order and points to settle close finishes. Keep hands off other people's controllers, and ask before pausing: on one console, a pause interrupts everyone.

For a disconnected controller, pause when possible, reconnect it through the on-screen controller prompt, and resume together. If a technical failure makes a race unusable, this guide suggests a house remedy: abandon the unfinished set, repair the problem and start a fresh four-race set with zero points. Do not mix scores from an abandoned set with new scores. Announce this remedy before the first race.

Lower the TV volume and keep conversation soft if the room needs to stay quiet. The visible countdown and track show when to drive; agree that anyone can request a break between races. Decide whether to continue only after completing the set, so a losing player is not trapped in an open-ended evening.

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Ideas & Twists

Choose a variation together before you start.