Paying another $20, $25, or even $35 after buying a full Nintendo Switch game can be a difficult sell. The DLC has to do more than add a few costumes or convenience items. The best expansions give you new places to explore, meaningful mechanics, substantial campaigns, or enough replay value to change how often you return to the base game.
Among the DLC in this comparison, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass is the easiest overall value recommendation. Forty-eight extra courses fundamentally expand a game designed around replayability, and Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members can access it without buying the DLC separately.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass is the stronger pick for story-focused players, largely because Future Redeemed is a substantial new adventure rather than a collection of small extras. Pokémon’s The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero offers the broadest new areas and creature-catching content, while Splatoon 3’s Side Order is the best choice here if repeatable challenge is what you want.
Best overall: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass. Best for story: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass. Best for exploration: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.
- How we ranked the DLC
- Best Nintendo Switch DLC ranked
- 1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass
- 2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass
- 3. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero
- 4. Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass
- 5. Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass
- 6. Fire Emblem: Three Houses Expansion Pass
- What about smaller item packs and cosmetics?
- Which DLC is included with Nintendo Switch Online?
- Which Switch DLC should you buy?
How we ranked the DLC
Price alone is a poor way to judge DLC. A cheap pack that adds almost nothing can be worse value than a $30 expansion that feels like another game.
The ranking weighs five things: how much meaningful content is added, whether the DLC changes or expands the core gameplay, replay value, price, and how strongly it depends on already being invested in the base game or series.
| DLC | Regular price | Best for | Value verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass | $24.99 | Replay value | Excellent |
| Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass | $29.99 | Story | Excellent for series fans |
| Pokémon Scarlet / Violet – The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero | $34.99 | Exploration and collecting | Very good |
| Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass | $24.99 | Repeatable challenge | Very good |
| Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass | $19.99 | Extra Zelda challenges | Good |
| Fire Emblem: Three Houses Expansion Pass | $24.99 | Repeat playthroughs | Good for committed fans |
Best Nintendo Switch DLC ranked
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass
The Booster Course Pass is the easiest DLC here to recommend because its value proposition is unusually obvious: 48 additional courses released across six waves, plus additional playable racers.
Nintendo’s original Mario Kart 8 Deluxe lineup had 48 courses. The pass effectively doubles that selection to 96, which matters in a racing game where replaying tracks is the entire point. The additions include returning courses such as Coconut Mall, Waluigi Pinball, DK Mountain, and Wii Rainbow Road alongside city tracks originating in Mario Kart Tour.
The DLC also adds eight racers: Birdo, Petey Piranha, Wiggler, Kamek, Funky Kong, Diddy Kong, Pauline, and Peachette.
Why it ranks here: huge replayable content increase for a straightforward $24.99.
Core strength: 48 tracks directly expand the activity people already play Mario Kart for.
Main weakness: most courses are remastered or reworked rather than an entirely new game experience.
Best for: local multiplayer, online racing, and anyone still regularly playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Current status: all six waves are available, and the pass is also included with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has the strongest story-oriented expansion in this group because the pass eventually builds toward Future Redeemed, a substantial original adventure rather than just more items and side activities.
The earlier waves add Challenge Battles, new Hero characters, Hero Quests, outfits, and useful items. Future Redeemed is the part that changes the value calculation. It adds another story, a different party, additional systems, and connections across the wider Xenoblade series.
That last point is also the biggest caveat. Future Redeemed is designed for people who already care about Xenoblade’s larger story. Someone treating Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as a standalone RPG will not get the same payoff.
Why it ranks here: Future Redeemed gives the pass a genuinely substantial centerpiece.
Core strength: new story content plus Challenge Battles, Heroes, and quests.
Main weakness: much of its narrative value assumes familiarity with the series.
Best for: players invested in Xenoblade 1, 2, and 3.
Current status: all four DLC waves, including Future Redeemed, are available.
3. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero
The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero is the most expensive expansion here at its regular $34.99 price, but it also behaves more like a traditional two-part expansion than a small DLC pack.
The Teal Mask takes the player away from Paldea to Kitakami, with its own characters, story, environments, and Pokémon. The Indigo Disk moves the story to Blueberry Academy and its Terarium, an artificial environment divided into distinct biomes.
The real strength is that it gives Pokémon players more of the activities the base game is already built around: exploring, battling, catching, completing a Pokédex, and building teams. It also adds new competitive wrinkles and a large number of returning Pokémon.
Why it ranks here: two substantial new locations and a large amount of Pokémon content.
Core strength: exploration and collecting.
Main weakness: $34.99 is a relatively high DLC price, and it does not fundamentally reinvent Scarlet or Violet.
Best for: players who finished Paldea and still want more team-building, catching, and exploration.
Current status: both The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk are available.
4. Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass
Splatoon 3’s pass is slightly awkward to evaluate because its two main parts are not equal.
Wave 1 brings back Inkopolis Plaza as an alternative hub. It is a fun piece of nostalgia, but the basic weapons and gear available there are the same as in Splatsville. Wave 2, Side Order, is where the $24.99 pass earns most of its value.
Side Order turns Splatoon’s shooting into a repeatable single-player challenge. Players climb the Spire of Order, modify their abilities with Color Chips, unlock permanent upgrades, experiment with different Palettes, and keep returning with new builds. Nintendo explicitly designed the mode to be replayed rather than completed once and forgotten.
It does not add new competitive maps or fundamentally expand PvP, so multiplayer-focused players should not buy it expecting another batch of online modes.
Why it ranks here: Side Order gives Splatoon’s mechanics a genuinely different structure.
Core strength: replayable single-player runs and build experimentation.
Main weakness: Inkopolis is relatively light content, and the pass adds little directly to competitive multiplayer.
Best for: players who love Splatoon’s movement and shooting but want a repeatable solo mode.
Current status: Inkopolis and Side Order are both available.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass
Breath of the Wild’s $19.99 Expansion Pass is cheaper than most of the passes above and contains two very different DLC packs.
The Master Trials is primarily challenge-focused. Trial of the Sword strips Link back and asks the player to survive a sequence of increasingly difficult combat situations, while Master Mode makes the wider game more demanding.
The Champions’ Ballad adds the more substantial adventure material, including additional story elements involving Zelda and the Champions, new challenges and shrines, another dungeon, and the Master Cycle Zero reward.
The pass is good value for somebody who already wants another reason to explore Hyrule. It is less transformative than the DLC above it, especially now that Breath of the Wild itself is no longer Nintendo’s newest version of that open-world Zelda formula.
Why it ranks here: a reasonable $19.99 price with worthwhile challenge and story additions.
Core strength: challenging combat plus another reason to explore Hyrule.
Main weakness: much of it feels additive rather than like a new region or major standalone adventure.
Best for: players who finished Breath of the Wild and still want more from that version of Hyrule.
Current status: both DLC packs are available as part of the Expansion Pass.
6. Fire Emblem: Three Houses Expansion Pass
Fire Emblem: Three Houses has one excellent reason to buy its $24.99 pass: Cindered Shadows.
The side story introduces the Ashen Wolves, a secret fourth house beneath Garreg Mach, along with new characters, locations, and battles. Completing it also has benefits for the wider Three Houses experience.
The problem is that the rest of the pass is much lighter. Earlier waves add outfits, Auxiliary Battles, items, Anna as a recruitable unit, monastery activities, and other extras. They are useful to someone spending multiple playthroughs at the academy, but they do not carry the same weight as Cindered Shadows.
Why it ranks here: Cindered Shadows is worthwhile, but it carries much of the pass by itself.
Core strength: another tactical side story with new characters.
Main weakness: a significant part of the pass consists of smaller extras rather than major content.
Best for: Three Houses players planning multiple routes or another long playthrough.
Current status: all four DLC waves are available.
What about smaller item packs and cosmetics?
Smaller rewards are much harder to recommend on their own. Breath of the Wild’s Korok Mask and legacy armor pieces can be useful or fun to collect. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has outfits and consumable rewards. Fire Emblem adds costumes and support items.
Those extras can improve the overall package, but they should rarely be the reason to buy it. A useful test is simple: if you removed the costumes, consumables, and minor bonuses, would the remaining expansion still be worth the asking price?
For Mario Kart, Xenoblade 3, Pokémon, Splatoon 3, and Zelda, there is still a clear argument. Fire Emblem becomes a much closer call because Cindered Shadows has to justify most of the purchase.
Which DLC is included with Nintendo Switch Online?
This part is easy to misunderstand. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack does not include every Nintendo-published expansion.
Of the six passes ranked here, only Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass is included with an active Expansion Pack membership.
Expansion Pack also includes Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise and Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion, but those were not among the DLC selected for this ranking.
Buy vs. subscribe: if you purchase Booster Course Pass separately, you can keep using it indefinitely. If you access it through Expansion Pack, you can use it only while the relevant membership remains active.
Nintendo Switch DLC on G2A.COM
Several of the expansions in this ranking currently have marketplace offers on G2A.COM. Check the item page carefully before buying to make sure the offer matches the Nintendo Account and base game you intend to use.
| DLC | Why consider it | G2A.COM |
|---|---|---|
| Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass | 48 additional courses | Check out Booster Course Pass on G2A.COM |
| Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass | Future Redeemed and extra gameplay content | Check out Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass on G2A.COM |
| Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass | Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad | Check out Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass on G2A.COM |
G2A Plus: members can earn Plus Points on purchases, while Plus Premium adds member pricing and additional membership benefits.
Which Switch DLC should you buy?
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass is the best overall value from this group. It adds something players will keep using every time they return to the game, and 48 courses is unusually easy to quantify against a $24.99 price.
For story, pick Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass. For another large chunk of exploration and collecting, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero makes more sense. If you want a repeatable challenge rather than another traditional campaign, Splatoon 3: Side Order is the standout.
Zelda and Fire Emblem are easier to recommend to people who already know they want more time with those specific games. In both cases, the best parts are worthwhile, but the overall packages are less transformative than the DLC above them.