Can someone kindly explain a Nintendo switch to me please?

[steakzilla]

How do they work?

I was looking to buy one each of the Nintendo switch Lite consoles for my two boys but I am unsure how to work it with games.

Are there physical games that need to go in the console to be played, or can the game be shared? Do I need to buy the games or could I pay for/download them from some sort of internet Nintendo shop for both consoles?

This will be there main present each so I dont want to get this wrong.

Also any game recommendations. They will be 9 and 5.5 and don't have any gaming things at the moment apart from an old PlayStation 3 they play occasionally. They dont have iPads or phones or anything.
They like watching shows about minecraft and have played this at an after school club a few times so considering getting that for both. They also like Pokemon and super mario type stuff.

Any advice is welcome - thank you!

You can't share games
You can buy cartridges or download them from the nintendo e shop

The proper console with the dock is much better than the lite version
You can then plug into the TV and play full screen

We’ve got the main Nintendo (not the lite) and it’s brilliant for playing on the big screen (and then they can play together). You can download games from the Nintendo website or buy the physical cartridges

You can't share games, and the games can be quite expensive so be prepared to pay quite a bit more than the base price for the console. You can get games on the Nintendo E Shop and there's often sales and offers.

I would recommend if you can afford it getting the standard or OLED Switch rather than the lite - there are some games that can't be played on the lites at all, and there's no options for multiplayer or plugging them into the television and playing games on the big screen (either just for fun or so you can play together as a family). The battery life on the Lites is also not as good.

Minecraft is a great shout as a game for them, most of the Pokémon games are also a lot of fun but generally at the higher end of the price range (£35-£50 per game depending)

Mario Kart is a classic and always fun but better played with a dockable switch as mentioned before so they can play together.

The Lego game series is also great fun and lots of options across different series (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel Super Heroes etc.) and very kid-friendly obviously!

This is so helpful, thank you

We have a switch, two boys use it rule is it stays on dock play using TV & controller try to only have games that allow 2+ player but they have profiles so can play by themselves too.

I also recommend buying a Switch/OLED as then they can hook it up to the TV and play together - lots of fun multiplayer options for their age group - mario kart, Mario party, super Mario, Lego series, Splatoon, mario & Rabbids, Pokémon sword and shield, Kirby all star allies ....