Go-Go Town!
Go-Go Town! friend's game not showing up: how to fix the join list
The frustrating part of this problem is that it fails silently. There is no error message, no "you cannot join because…", just an empty list — so people assume it is broken when it is usually one of four settings that nobody thought to check.
Work through them in this order. It is sorted by how often each one is the answer.
Cause 1 — Version mismatch#
The most common cause by a wide margin, and the easiest to miss because the game does not tell you.
Multiplayer sessions between different game versions do not appear to each other. If one of you has the latest patch and the other does not, you are effectively on separate games.
Both players check:
- Home menu → highlight Go-Go Town! → press + → Software Update → Via the Internet.
- Confirm you both end on the same version number, shown on the game's information screen.
- If one of you was mid-download, wait for it to complete and restart the game.
Console patches land after PC patches because of platform certification, so "we both updated today" is not sufficient — compare the actual version numbers.
Cause 2 — Nintendo Switch Online#
Online multiplayer on Switch requires an active NSO subscription for each player, not just the host.
- Home → your user icon → check the NSO membership status.
- A lapsed subscription does not always produce a clear message inside a game; it can simply hide online sessions.
- Family memberships cover each profile, but confirm the profile you are actually playing on is included.
Cause 3 — The friendship is not where you think it is#
Switch friendships are per-account, and a surprising number of these reports come down to two people who are friends on one profile and playing on another.
- Home → user icon → Friend List. Confirm the person is there, on this profile.
- Confirm they show as Online and that their status is not hidden. If either of you has online status sharing disabled, sessions may not appear.
- If you added each other recently, both consoles need to have synced the friendship. Restarting both consoles resolves a stale friend list.
Cause 4 — Local versus online session#
If the host started a local wireless session, it is only visible to consoles in the same room. If they started an online session, it is visible to friends anywhere.
The host should check the multiplayer menu and confirm which mode is active, and that the session is set to friends-visible rather than invite-only or private. This one is entirely on the host's side, so if you are the one who cannot see it, ask them to check rather than troubleshooting your own console.
If all four check out#
Then it is network. In rough order of likelihood:
Restart both consoles fully. Not sleep — Home → System Settings → power off, or hold the power button and choose Power Options → Turn Off. Sleeping does not clear the network state that causes this.
Test the connection on both consoles. System Settings → Internet → Test Connection. Note the NAT type it reports:
| NAT type | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| A | Ideal | Nothing needed |
| B | Fine for most sessions | Nothing needed |
| C or D | Restrictive | Enable UPnP on the router |
| F | Blocking | Router or ISP is blocking; UPnP or port forwarding required |
If either console reports C, D or F, enable UPnP on that router. It is the fix for the majority of restrictive-NAT cases and requires no port lists.
Change DNS on both consoles to 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1. System Settings → Internet → your network → Change Settings → DNS Settings → Manual.
Try the host being the other person. If they can host and you cannot, the restriction is on your network specifically — which is useful to know and points straight back at NAT and UPnP.
Test on a phone hotspot for ten minutes. If sessions appear over the hotspot, your home router is the problem. That is a definitive answer in ten minutes and it is worth the data.
What will not help#
Saving you the time:
- Reinstalling the game. This is not an installation problem, and you risk your save for nothing.
- Deleting and re-adding the friend. Occasionally clears a stale list, but restarting both consoles does the same thing without the friend-request round trip.
- Changing your Nintendo Account region. It does not affect session visibility and causes store and purchase complications you do not want.
FAQ#
Why can my friend see my session but I cannot see theirs?#
Asymmetric visibility almost always means one side has a restrictive NAT. The person whose session is invisible is the one with the restricted connection — enable UPnP on their router first.
Do we both need Nintendo Switch Online?#
Yes, for online play. Local wireless in the same room does not require it, which is why some groups find that local works and online does not.
Does it matter who hosts?#
Yes. The host's connection carries the session, so a host on a restrictive NAT or a weak Wi-Fi signal produces problems for everyone. If one of you has a wired-equivalent setup or a better router, that person should host.
The session appears but joining fails. Is that the same problem?#
Related but not identical. Appearing-but-failing is usually a NAT traversal failure rather than a visibility problem — the two of you can see each other but cannot establish a direct connection. UPnP on both routers is the fix that addresses it.
Can Switch players join PC players?#
No. The versions do not share a multiplayer network, and there is no crossplay between them.