Luigi has a haunted hotel to deal with. Your Halloween group should not also have to solve the mystery of why the second controller does nothing. Luigi's Mansion 3 has several multiplayer modes, and their player counts describe different arrangements.
Start with the question that catches people out: have you unlocked Gooigi? Then decide whether everybody is using one console or bringing separate systems. Eight players on a product page does not turn the main story into an eight-person hotel inspection.
Featured image: SL and SR on the rail of an original Joy-Con. Hardware detail for this setup guide, not gameplay. Photo: Evan-Amos, public domain.
Why story co-op might be missing
Nintendo's setup guide says story co-op opens after Professor E. Gadd gives you Gooigi. ScareScraper also opens at that point. Progress through the opening before diagnosing a new save's missing option as a broken controller.
After that unlock, press + in the story, choose Co-op, then choose it again. Set each player's controller, return to the game and have Player 2 press a button to appear as Gooigi. Those steps matter more than repeatedly pressing buttons at the title screen and hoping Luigi takes the hint.
Our party-planning suggestion is to check the save before guests arrive. Let the person who wants to experience the opening enjoy it, but avoid promising instant story co-op from a completely untouched file. Nintendo gives an approximate unlock time; progress is the useful test, rather than a stopwatch.
Three modes, three different invitations
| Mode | What the group does | Setup to plan |
|---|---|---|
| Story co-op | Luigi and Gooigi explore the adventure | Two players on one console, after Gooigi unlocks |
| ScareScraper | Cooperate through floors and objectives | Up to eight total, with one or two per console, via local wireless or online |
| ScreamPark | Compete in team minigames | Two to eight players on one console |
The current Nintendo listing distinguishes two-player story cooperation from ScareScraper's larger group. That gives you a useful choice: follow the hotel adventure together, cooperate in a separate challenge mode, or run a competitive minigame session.
Pick that activity before handing out controllers. A group expecting short team contests may prefer a different plan from two people settling into puzzles and exploration. Both are Halloween plans. They simply ask for different kinds of attention.
A single Joy-Con uses the small rail buttons
For a horizontal single Joy-Con, Nintendo's support instructions use SL and SR. A controller pair uses L and R; so does an original Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. Our featured photograph shows the small SL/SR buttons on an original Joy-Con's rail.
For ScreamPark groups of five or more, the same instructions specify horizontal Joy-Con controllers or Pro controllers. Count player inputs in the configuration you intend to use. A Joy-Con pair assigned to one person is a different arrangement from two individual Joy-Con assigned separately.
Before a round, let each person identify their character and read the controls displayed for that activity. That short pause is more useful than discovering halfway through that the quiet player has been trying to control somebody else. The ghosts can provide the confusion once the controllers are sorted.
Several consoles means several copies
Nintendo's UK product information specifies one console and one software copy per two players for local wireless multiplayer. Its controller guidance also allows a Pro Controller or a Joy-Con pair for a player. Local wireless describes communication between systems, rather than eight people sharing one story screen.
Online features require Nintendo Switch Online membership. Check that requirement with the people joining remotely. Keep the online arrangement separate from a same-room, one-console ScreamPark plan when deciding what the group needs to own.
Also compare update versions before a local wireless session. Nintendo's update support page warns that updated software cannot play locally with an earlier version. Update and verify the consoles while there is still time to fix a mismatch.
The Multiplayer Pack is an extra purchase to evaluate
Nintendo lists the Multiplayer Pack as downloadable content alongside the base game. The UK page describes added costumes and themed ScareScraper content, plus more ScreamPark minigames. Read the specific pack's contents before buying it for a group; the words “multiplayer pack” alone do not describe the base game's existing modes.
This is a Nintendo Switch game setup guide. The photographs show original Switch hardware and controller details, not gameplay or equipment included with a used game. Nintendo dates the game's release to October 31, 2019, which makes Halloween a particularly fitting time to get the household ghost-hunting department organised.
Visit another haunted mansion with Zypher
Buy your next physical game from Zypher Trading Video Games. Check Luigi's Mansion for GameCube or Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for 3DS. These are their named earlier games, with different hardware requirements. Read each listing's condition and contents.
Shop Zypher's games, or sell your old games to Zypher. Nintendo instructions, product editions and photographic provenance checked October 31, 2026. Group-planning suggestions are Zypher editorial advice.
