Can you play Nintendo Switch Sports in Handheld mode? Answered

Nintendo Switch Sports, the follow-up to the smash hit Wii Sports, is finally out. Players can take to their living rooms and once again flail around with controllers in hand while bowling or playing tennis with the best of them. The game’s great when hooked up to a TV, but does it hold up on the go? In fact, will it even work in handheld mode?

Well, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that technically, no, Nintendo Switch Sports doesn’t work in handheld mode. The game relies on the in-built motion controls, so players will need to detach the Joy-Cons in order to play the game. The good news is that you still don’t necessarily need a TV. If you set up your Switch in tabletop mode and detach the Joy-Cons, you can still play on the console’s own smaller screen. This works for the Switch Lite too, though you’ll need an external set of Joy-Cons to do so.

However, this comes with an important caveat. Local multiplayer is restricted in tabletop mode or on the Switch Lite for many sports, and require you to be connected to a TV instead. This applies to things like tennis, badminton, and volleyball — basically, anything that sees you going head-to-head simultaneously against an opponent. Some modes of bowling and soccer have options to play sequentially and pass around a set of Joy-Cons, though, which will work in tabletop mode and on the Lite, as will online multiplayer.