Drag x Drive: How To Play With Friends Online

If you're getting tired of playing Drag x Drive against bots or randos, you might be wondering how to invite a friend along for a spot of hooping. Strangely, for a dominantly multiplayer title, it isn't immediately obvious how to do this.

In this guide, we'll explain how to play with a friend in Drag x Drive and whether you can choose to be on the same team as your buddies.

Drag x Drive: How To Play With Friends

There are a couple of different ways to play with friends in Drag x Drive, depending on what kind of match set-up you're after. Below, we've got the rundown for playing a match with friends and strangers, and for playing with friends and bots.

A quick note, however — Before you start trying to play with friends, make sure your Switch Account Online Status is set to 'All Friends' or 'Best Friends' (Settings > User > Friend Settings > 'Who do you want to see your online status?'). You can still team up with this setting locked down, but it makes the process much easier if your friends can see when you're online.

Playing With Friends And Bots

The easiest way to play a match with friends is to fill the rest of the spots with bots. Here's how to set up a park so you and your pals can play together.

• From the starting arena, press 'X' to open the main menu, and choose 'Mode' on the top selection bar.
• Select the yellow 'Friend Park' icon and press 'Open a park'.
• After choosing your Park capacity and who's allowed to join, you'll be in your private park. If you opened the park to 'All Friends', others can join you by following the instructions below. If you chose to run things with a Park ID, open the menu, select 'Players' and choose 'Show Park ID on the right.
• Once your friends are in, open the menu, head to 'Players', and choose a spot for each baller on either of the two courts. Fill the rest of the spots with Bots by clicking on an empty space (click again to up the Bot difficulty), then hit 'Start Game(s)' to get the show on the road.

If your pal has already set up a park, you can access it by heading to Mode > Friend Park, then either selecting them from the drop-down list, or inputting the Park ID by pressing 'Search by Park ID'.

Playing With Friends And Strangers

If you're not keen on populating your empty spots with Bots, follow these steps to play with friends and strangers.

• With a friend already in a Public Park, open the game menu with 'X', head to 'Mode' and choose 'Friend Park'.
• Select the online friend from the list, and you will be added to the same Public Park as them (if the Park isn't already full).
• If you don't already have a friend in a Public Park, head to the 'Mode' menu and select 'Public Park' yourself. Your friend can follow the same two steps outlined above to join you.

Note. Teams are chosen at random when playing in a Public Park, so there is no guarantee that you will be on the same side, or even the same court, as your friend. Hey, that's street basketball!

An alternative method for playing with friends and strangers is to set up a Friend Park, as outlined in the above Playing With Friends And Bots section, before sharing the Park ID on social media or a forum. Anyone with the ID will be able to join, but it might be a much slower process getting the game up and running — unless you have a very active online following, that is.

Drag x Drive Online Play FAQs

Here's a handful of questions you may still have about playing Drag x Drive with your pals.

Why is my friend's name greyed out on my Friends List?

You won't be able to hop into the same Public Park as a friend if they have their Switch Account Online Status preferences set to 'No One'. Make sure they have followed the instructions at the top of this guide, and their name should appear in a lovely, clickable yellow font.

How many friends can play at once?

You can fit a whopping 12 players into the same Drag x Drive Friend Park, either by opening the area to 'All Friends', or by sharing the Park ID. These will be split into four teams across the park's two courts.

If you set up the Friend Park, you can choose the teams by heading to 'Players' in the game menu, and dragging all those online into the empty spaces. Alternatively, you can hit 'Random' in the bottom left to automatically assign players to one of the four teams.

Can I play a 2v2?

Yes, you can! To play a 2v2, simply assign only two players to either team from your Friend Park 'Players' menu. You can team up with a pal and face off against two Bots, or split your talents and face off against each other.

Whatever numbers you choose (1, 2, or 3), the teams have to be balanced, so you can't play a 2v3, for example.

Can I play minigames with friends?

Yep, that one is possible too! With everyone in the same Friend Park, head to the 'Players' menu and then choose either 'Circuit Sprint' or 'Rebound Scramble' at the bottom of the screen.

Can I play local multiplayer?

That one's a no. There is no local multiplayer in Drag x Drive, so make sure that your Nintendo Switch Online subscription is up to date, because the only way to play with other people is to head online.

And just like that, you have all the tools to play online with a friend. For more Drag x Drive advice, check out our full rundown of all the game's cosmetics and how to unlock them.