Topic: Thinking about getting two switches question

So i have ordered my son a switch for xmas and thinking about getting a second switch for my daughter shes a little older 12 so she might not play it that much and wanted to ask how it works with downloading games etc.
Will i have to setup to different accounts or can the same account be used on both switches and can games be downloaded and played on both at the same time ?

@MrEleven1181 Heya. Congrats on the purchase - you're going to be very popular over Christmas!

In the overwhelming majority of cases any downloaded game will only be playable on the individual console that you bought it and downloaded it onto. (The rare exceptions are games that allow for some multiplayer features off a single copy of the game. This is not really common enough nor a full fat multiplayer experience to influence your decision, in my opinion.)

Of course, any game that has multiplayer can be played locally by multiple people using two or more controllers. If you buy 2 Switch consoles, you have 2 full controllers by default, and actually have 4 mini controllers for the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. So that's sorted.

To get the best bang for your buck, I'd avoid buying multiple copies of games at all costs. The Switch has such a strong library of games, that you can balance who has what with relative eases (Mario Kart 8 vs Spaltoon 2, Mario vs Zelda for example).

Also worth noting that Switch Consoles can be easily "swapped" to share the game. Simply remove the joy cons, swap the console section, create your own account on each other's console and away you go.

I got my second Switch this year - the Smash bundle one - thanks to that saint of a girlfriend I have, so it's definitely not an abnormality, no matter how much it could look like one. Now my girlfriend has my old Switch, while I packed my digital stuff and moved on to the new one (too bad she's stuck with the one that kind of screws up Joy-cons' batteries now).

Back on topic, account-sharing is not quite as snappy as it is on Xbox One (read: not at all). But it can work. What I'd suggest more for your kids, however, is rather having each other's accounts on the other, so that while game ownership is restricted to the account that bought the title in question, whoever plays a game more gets to have it on his or her own Switch, whereas who plays a game occasionally can get his or her own save file on the other's Switch. If that makes sense to you at least.

@MrEleven1181 If you're buying digital games they can only be played by A) Any user on the console that is the primary of the account that bought it, and B) By the user that bought it on any Switch. So either player could play them on the machine that belongs to whoever "owns" the game. Only the owner of the game can play on any other console.

Physical is probably the better way to go for sharing games with two people. You can however permanently swap consoles so that the console your daughter uses is your son's "primary" and he uses her "primary"...then they can access all the games under their own account - however, that means the one he uses would have to be online all the time, otherwise no access to any game. It works easier for Playstations and XBoxes because they never really move, so swap the boxes and be done with it. For Switches....that's going to create problems if you try to do it that way for kids. For adults it's a little more manageable. So while it "can" be done, you have to assume in practical terms, they can both play the games with their own accounts on the "primary" switch, but the secondary switch doesn't get access to those games. It's a good situation for recommending physical so you can just swap carts freely between them.

Physical is the better way to go. I have 3 switch shared by my 4 kids and wife and it’s just so much easier.

You can have multiple account users on the same Switch. When they go to eShop that is when they need their own Nintendo accounts and there has to be either Paypal or CC registered on the Switch to buy on eShop. If they can do all that on one Switch then that is all you need unless you decide otherwise. You can't use the same account on both Switches as it will need to be registered on one account when you start. That will be the Main account holder when you do that.

@MrEleven1181 If you want to be able to share games between different kids, you absolutely want to go with physical games whenever you can. Sharing a physical game is as simple as handing it to another person. It doesn't get easier than that. As has been said, sharing a digital game can't be efficiently done because it can only be played on the system on which the account that purchased it is located. For digital sharing it's better to simply have one Switch with several accounts, then anyone with an account on that Switch can play the games.