All players golf simultaneously, so no one has to sit through everyone else’s opening drive.

In this version, eight players are matched together in a battle to win five holes. I was immediately ecstatic when I discovered that golf uses that same premise for its online mode. I wound up spending dozens of hours bowling online, usually doing it as I listened to music or podcasts in the background. Rounds felt high-stakes, especially as the final few players battled for the final three spots, but still relaxed thanks to the small moments of downtime between rolls. It’s a very simple premise, but one that worked incredibly well alongside the elegance of motion-controlled bowling. Rounds start with a lineup of bowlers who slowly get knocked out throughout a match. That was my feeling at the time too, but I quickly found myself sinking an exorbitant amount of time into it for one reason: Survival Bowling.įor the uninitiated, Switch Sports turns bowling into an elimination mode when played online. Critics enjoyed the core idea of it well enough but largely felt the package was too thin for its price point.

When Nintendo Switch Sports launched earlier this year, it landed with a bit of a thud. As light an affair as it may be, the version of golf included in Nintendo Switch Sports builds upon one of my favorite online experiences of the year. And yet, after playing for just a few hours, I’m already obsessed with it.

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