Wii U Games That Understood the GamePad

In Luigi's Ghost Mansion, the player holding the GamePad can see the ghost they control. The flashlight team watches the TV and has to work out where the ghost is hiding. Give the GamePad to someone who likes keeping a straight face while everyone else tries to corner them.

Only the player with the GamePad can see the ship's status. In a three-person crew, the engineer has to explain changes to the pilot and the science officer while they fly and scan. It's a co-op game where talking about how the ship feels can solve a problem the instruments alone can't. It was a Wii U eShop download, so look for it if you already own it.

In Gamer, you play short WarioWare microgames on the GamePad and watch the bedroom on the TV for signs of your mother. The moment you get comfortable with a microgame is often when you most need to look up. Few of these games make looking at the other screen feel quite so urgent.

Opening the backpack moves the inventory to the GamePad and pulls the TV camera back to show your character. Your attention goes down to the supplies while the TV still shows the space around you. That makes sorting through your bag feel like part of getting through the room.

The TV shows your Arwing from the outside while the GamePad puts you in its cockpit. Use the larger view to stay oriented and the cockpit to line up a shot. Switching between the two takes practice, especially when the first-person view gives you less sense of what is happening around the ship.

The TV shows 12 security feeds at once. Tap a camera on the GamePad map to bring its feed forward and take control. Scanning for a threat and choosing which camera to use gives the two screens different jobs.

Touch the course to place or erase elements, then switch straight into a test run. Afterward, the editor can show a short trail of Mario's movements. Use it to see whether a jump missed because of where you started or because you put the landing one block too far away.

The GamePad's map lets you look ahead while your crew is still somewhere else. Use Go Here to send a crew member toward a spot on the map while you do something with another group. It makes the planning screen part of how you get more done before sundown.

Try Battle Dojo to see what the two screens do for local competition. One player uses the GamePad screen while the other looks at the TV, and both race to pop balloons. You get a head-to-head game without having to split the TV into two smaller views.

Give one player the GamePad to control Murfy by touch while someone else guides a character on the TV. The fun is in judging when the person on the other screen needs help. Pick the Wii U edition if you want that division of roles to happen across two displays.

You draw rainbow ropes on the GamePad to give Kirby a path through the stage. A quick line can lift him toward an item or redirect him away from trouble. It's a good choice if you want the stylus to be how you move through the world from moment to moment.

Trace a shape on the GamePad to use the Wonder-Liner, then turn that shape into one of the team's Unite Morphs. Try changing the shape you draw when you want a different move. The team of tiny heroes makes the transformation visible as it happens.

The GamePad puts the sea chart, treasure charts, and item selection within reach. While you sail, you can use the lower screen to get your bearings and keep the wide view on the TV. It makes a longer crossing feel like a trip you are plotting as you go.

The GamePad gives the FrontierNav network its own screen. Touch a data probe to change its type, then look at the neighboring sites before placing another. The map starts as a way to keep track of where you've been and becomes a tool for deciding what those places can produce.

Bowser Party puts one person on the GamePad as Bowser and up to four others on Team Mario. The team works together to get away while the GamePad player tries to catch up and stop them. Start here if your group would enjoy having one person play the villain for an evening.