My wife got a switch recently for herself. We also currently live apart due to work contracts, so the switch has been one of many means for keeping in touch with each other.
Having two switches separated by a ten-hour flight has brought up the question of whether there’s a “right” way to buy two copies of the same game. With single-player games, With single-player games, if one of us already bought it, the other can borrow it when either of us visits and then give it back later.
With multiplayer titles, she has been buying titles off the eShop and tying them to her account. While we aren’t hurting for money, we do appreciate savings all the same.
I suppose it all depends on how badly you want certain games in your possession and whether you can stomach the wait to swap over. For example, with a game like Miitopia, I would want it in my possession at all times, and likewise with Pokémon games, Animal Crossing etc., as they're games that I play with enough frequency that the wait between sessions would bug me a bit. I own enough Switch games so that this shouldn't be an issue at all, really, but I understand how this could be a problem for those with more modest libraries.
But for single-player games, especially those that can be completed in a relatively short amount of time (such as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening) I would have no aversion to my spouse borrowing it for an extended period if we were to live apart. But I would also be okay if they were to borrow Breath of the Wild, even though it's a significantly longer game (albeit one that I have mostly completed).
By and large, it is not worth owning more than one copy of a single player game given your circumstances, but I understand why you would double-up with multiplayer games, especially if you happen to play them together.
If you buy a game as a download, it'll be playable by any account on the primary console for that user and also by that user on any other console. This makes it very easy to share downloads between two users on different consoles without having to also share save games. You've just got to remember to buy the games with the correct accounts.
Things aren't so good when you add a third user or console into the mix or are buying games that you might want to play online at the same time, but it'll beat trying to swap cartridges when you're that far apart.
Just remember Google searching while not the best is a good way to find such information. Otherwise you should contact NIN support they can tell you more on sharing. And games bought with NIN account can only download that game. So unless you have a Primary and Secondary this would be the only way to share the game if it allows it.
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Topic: Is there a “right” way to buy multiple copies of the same game?
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