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Is Kirby and the Forgotten Land two player?

9 October 2026

Find out who player two controls in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, how local co-op works, and which edition runs on your Switch.

Yes. Kirby and the Forgotten Land supports two-player local co-op on one Nintendo Switch. Player one is Kirby and player two is Bandana Waddle Dee. Nintendo describes sharing Joy-Con controllers for this mode on its original Switch game page.

Player two is a partner, not another Kirby

Bandana Waddle Dee has a different role from Kirby. That matters if two children both expect to use Kirby’s transformations: co-op gives them two characters, rather than two identical sets of abilities. Agree to swap roles between stages if both players want a turn as Kirby.

For a parent and child, let the child choose which character interests them. Helping does not have to mean taking the leading role. Ask whether they want advice, help during a fight, or simply someone exploring beside them.

Make the first session manageable

Nintendo offers Spring-Breeze mode with more health and easier enemies, alongside the tougher Wild mode. Start with Spring-Breeze if either player is learning to move around a 3D space. A sensible first goal is finishing a stage together; hunting every hidden objective can wait.

The free original-game demo includes three stages and lets you try local co-op. That is a useful way to check whether the shared screen and different character roles suit your family before buying. Local co-op is the feature to look for here; an online-feature label is not a promise of internet story co-op.

Check the edition before buying

This guide concerns the original Nintendo Switch game. Nintendo’s Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World adds a new story and visual improvements and requires Nintendo Switch 2. Do not buy that edition for an original Switch, Switch OLED, or Switch Lite.

See Axel’s Kirby gameplay video and our Kirby adventure article for more context. Compare it with Captain Toad’s two-player puzzles and browse the Nintendo Switch hub.