The Game Awards' "Best Family Game" category is often reduced in conversation to "Best Nintendo Game" because of how heavily the company skews towards developing and publishing titles that are often aimed towards a more kid-friendly audience. Each year, the category is usually made up of Nintendo games and one or two non-Nintendo family friendly titles, with this year being no exception. For 2021, the category is full of Switch exclusives, barring It Takes Two as the lone non-Nintendo nominee and, while its merit as a "family game" are up for debate among fans, its inclusion next to so many Switch titles highlights a seemingly perfect pair that hasn't come to fruition: a Switch port of It Takes Two.
It Takes Two follows the story of a husband and wife on the brink of divorce, who are magically shrunk down to a minature size and are forced to reconnect with their dying marriage. Players embark on a quest through roughly 12-15 hours of puzzle platforming and other various sections of co-op gameplay. It's a shame that the game isn't playable on Switch because, based on just about everything about it, It Takes Two seems like the kind of title that would be ideal on the handheld/console hybrid.
It Takes Two Pairs Perfectly With the Switch
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Hazelight Studios has long since devoted itself to perfecting co-op gameplay in ways that many major studios have leaned away from in recent years. The only other major studio that still seems to prioritize split screen co-op in the same way that Hazelight does is Nintendo. Nintendo is so devoted to the social, cooperative elements of gaming that splitscreen co-op is built into the DNA of the Switch, with its removable Joy-Cons each functioning as their own controllers for co-op play on the go. Because of It Takes Two's cooperative nature, it seems like it would have been the perfect fit for the Switch.
If it were to receive a Switch port, it doesn't seem so far fetched that It Takes Two would be a best-seller on the platform. Dedicated co-op games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Stardew Valley have all seen major success usually topping the charts. It Takes Two seems as if it could fit nicely alongside the rest of the Switch's co-op catalog if it were ever to be ported to the platform. On that front, however, it doesn't seem likely that a port will ever come to be.
Why a Switch Port of It Takes Two Wouldn't Work
Despite the merits behind the idea, a Switch port of It Takes Two seems unlikely given the restrictions of the Switch's hardware. While that sentiment is often used in reference to the console's low processing power, it's actually the Joy-Cons that would likely hold an It Takes Two port back.
It Takes Two features a surprising amount of mechanics that require more buttons than a single Switch Joy-Con has, meaning that it wouldn't be able to work if played locally in handheld mode. Becasue local multiplayer is It Takes Two's bread and butter, it just doesn't seem like a port would ever be viable. What's more, the game would be entirely unplayable on the Switch Lite unless someone brought an additional controller and was fine with playing the entire thing looking over the shoulder of their co-op partner.
It's not entirely impossible for a port to be made, but there are enough roadblocks standing between players and being able to enjoy It Takes Two on the Switch, that it just seems entirely unlikely. It's truly a shame, as the Switch is the perfect place for such a co-op heavy game like that to live. Switch owners will just have to settle for the plethora of other titles available for the time being.
It Takes Two is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.