Can you play Minecraft Dungeons on a split-screen?

Minecraft Dungeons is best when played with friends (Image via Nintendo)
Minecraft Dungeons is best when played with friends (Image via Nintendo)

Minecraft Dungeons is an excellent game. For Mojang's first real departure from Minecraft, this offering is stellar and has developed a really devoted player base.

It's different enough to attract different gamers and similar enough to maintain the devoted users that Minecraft has earned over the past 13 years.

The title is even better when played with friends. That's generally true for all games, but especially Minecraft Dungeons. It's a social game, and there's nothing like running through slaying mobs with friends. It supports online play, but does it also support split-screen?


Minecraft Dungeons multiplayer: Can it do split-screen?

Minecraft Dungeons does have local multiplayer, but not in the traditional split-screen sense. Players can play together on one console, but they won't have their own quadrant of the screen to focus on.

Instead, all four users will be on the same screen. This can be both beneficial and detrimental. Depending on the size of the television or the monitor it's on, the game can be pretty small if gamers only get a fourth or half the screen. That could worsen if they are playing on a tabletop Nintendo Switch.

In that case, it's good that the screen remains full and not split. However, it means that players have to stay close to each other. They can't roam freely and go ahead of their counterparts.

Still, the ability to play on one console with up to four players does exist, so users should take advantage of that. Here's how to do it.

Dungeons co-op (Image via Mojang)
Dungeons co-op (Image via Mojang)

The local multiplayer works the same as it does for many games. Gamers need only switch their game to offline instead of online, as they can't connect locally if they're not in local mode.

This can be done in the menu by pressing the start button. They can use the triggers to switch back and forth between modes, but it needs to be in offline mode to connect more players.

Once done, players can simply connect the extra controllers to the device, including PC, since Minecraft Dungeons gamers can't play on the same keyboard or mouse. Depending on how many users they have, they'll need up to four controllers.

After that, they can simply load into the level they're playing and play with their friends. When everyone is done playing, it may be essential to switch back to online mode.