Mario Kart World: How to create a 24-player LAN Party

Many of you just got your brand new Nintendo Switch 2 with Mario Kart World, and as much as you can do solo, the first thing you want to do is share the experience with friends, right?

Of course, hundreds of thousands of meet-ups are being organised for this weekend: will you come over and have a Mario Kart World party? World allows 2-4 people to play split-screen (as has been mandatory since Nintendo 64, on the same TV) and also connect up to 8 machines together anywhere wirelessly for handheld games, each with their own console in hand. On the other hand, the online servers are also already on fire, with a crazy competitive level for the third day of the game's life.

But there's one mode that straddles the line between the two, one that we experienced first-hand at the Nintendo Switch 2 Premiere in Paris, pitting 24 people against each other in the same location. All 24 of them screaming, of course.

Well, you can do the same thing at home or in a larger venue if you expand that meetup from 4-8 people to the maximum number of runners on the starting grid. So how do you do it?

How to configure LAN Play in Mario Kart World, step-by-step

1. First of all, you naturally need to have a local network or common access point. And that all players have their Switch 2 with their respective Mario Kart World.


2. Next, connect all the physical consoles to that same LAN, either via ethernet cable (you know the Dock comes with a port out of the box) or to the WAN, connecting the machines to the same Wi-Fi network.


3. Then, decide which console will host and create the group. The chosen player should take the next step.


4. Now, from the main menu of Mario Kart World, don't go to "Multiplayer" or "Online", because as we said, this mode is a hybrid.


5. Finally: go to "Wireless Play" (the fourth option), hold down the L and R buttons and, without releasing them, press the left stick as if it were a button. You will then see the option change to "LAN Play".


6. Finally, log in and create a room that can be joined by up to 23 other players connected to the same network.

This mode was already present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and was basically designed to be able to organise championships in public and even competitive events, but you can take advantage of it to do it on your own with friends and family. Best of all, it removes the cap of 8 consoles linked wirelessly together (in "Wireless Play"), because a router takes care of the connection and data sharing.

In other words, this literally unlocks the best possible way to play Mario Kart World: 24-person local multiplayer.

Thinking about organising your LAN Party yet? Tell us about your experience below.