The best co-op games to play in 2024
Playing a competitive game against loved ones can be a lot of fun, but there can be a lot of ways it can go wrong. If you’re not at the same skill level or have the same taste in games as your partner then it’s likely only one of you will enjoy any given experience. Co-op games are a way around this problem. Since the aim is to help each other rather than compete, a disparity in skill or genre preferences can be made up for quite easily.
Not to mention, if you love games, then sharing the experience with other people is always fulfilling. So, we’ve picked out the best co-op games that you should try with your friends and family. Of course, there are different types of co-op, and what you can play with others depends on what systems you both own, so we’ll give you that information to help you out.
If you'd rather have a movie night with your friends, then you can try watching the best video game movies ever made instead.
Monster Hunter Rise
One of the best ever Monster Hunter games.
Capcom
This in-depth RPG is only for groups ready to be in it for the long haul, but it’s worth it if you like intense group experiences. You’ll be tracking down all sorts of monsters, learning their habitats, and behaviors – combining your abilities to bring these beasts down. It’ll take hundreds of hours to see everything it has to offer, but you’ll come away from it a tighter group than you went in.
Overcooked 2
A great arcadey blast.
Ghost Town Games, Team17
Overcooked is far less in-depth than Monster Hunter, but it’s equally as intense, just in a different way. With each level, you and your partners will fall to pieces shouting and screaming at each other while the game does its best to drive you apart. However, eventually you’ll hit a point with each level where you all click, and suddenly you become this well-oiled machine that can conquer any challenge set before you. It’s a unique co-op experience that everyone should try at least once.
A Way Out
A short but great adventure.
EA, Hazelight
From a silly cooking game to a serious prison drama, A Way Out dedicates itself to co-op play in a way very few games do. Since co-op is mandatory such care and attention is given to ensuring both players always have something to do and always have some investment in the story, even when the characters they’re controlling aren’t together. Throw on top of that a brilliant prison-break narrative, and you’ve got an unforgettable shared experience.
Sea of Thieves
Infinite adventures to be had on the high seas.
Rare, Microsoft
There’s nothing complicated about Sea of Thieves, you just get your friends together and go out on pirate adventures. Anything else about the game is secondary to that fact. Sure, the activities and quests are engaging, but the simple experience of being out on the open sea with people you care about and plundering to your heart’s content is enough to pull you back to this game time and time again.
Rocket League
A modern classic.
Psyonix, Epic Games
If you want high-pressure scenarios that force your team to communicate and pull together like never before, Rocket League will fit the bill. While you can play against each other, the true fun of Rocket League comes from uniting against an opponent, formulating game plans, and watching them fall apart before your eyes. Win or lose, you’re always in it together which brings the screaming football hooligan out of anyone.
Stardew Valley
One of the all-time best farming games.
ConcernedApe
It’s becoming an increasingly common dream among those of us that live online to disconnect and go live peacefully in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, most of us will ever live that dream, but Stardew Valley will bring you pretty close. With such a variety of tasks to do every day and different skills to focus on, having a couple of you playing together means you can all specialize in what you enjoy most, making it a truly relaxing co-op game.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Make sure to get teammates you trust.
Steel Crate Games
In this game, one of you has a bomb that needs defusing but no manual, and the other has a manual but no bomb. You must communicate through an increasingly complex series of puzzles that are deliberately designed to make communication as hard as possible. The potential for tragic hilarity should be clear as day. Much like Overcooked, when you really click with your partner it’s quite a sight to behold, the way you’ll naturally develop a shorthand that both of you understand, and the ways the game tries to trip you up makes it as much a challenging puzzle game as it is a social test.
It Takes Two
One of the best 3D platformers not made by Nintendo.
Hazelight Studios, EA
It Takes Two takes the groundwork that A Way Out laid down and turns it into something magical. The story is just as powerful – this time focused on divided lovers rekindling their relationship – plus, it takes place in a much more cartoonish world, allowing for way whackier concepts in terms of gameplay ideas. It’s a showcase of the kind of games that can only be done in a co-op format, something no other studio has properly explored.
Minecraft
You've played this one already, right?
Mojang
Given that it’s the best-selling game of all time, you probably know at least one or two people who own and play Minecraft. There’s really no reason not to play together, there’s enough space for you to build collaboratively and separately, plus the nature of worlds and servers means that you can both come and go at your own pace – you don’t necessarily always have to play at the same time.
Plus, you can add new wrinkles to your world for free whenever you want with the best Minecraft mods.
Portal 2
A fantastic puzzle adventure.
Valve
Over a decade later, Portal 2 is still the king of co-op. The flawless puzzle design of the singleplayer mode translated perfectly into co-op, knowing exactly how to make both players think in different ways while working together. Plus, there’s endless potential for shenanigans as you’d expect when you’re flinging each other around with portals. It plays into the game’s iconic sense of humor without compromising the fantastic puzzling.
Resident Evil 5
One of the best co-op shooters.
Capcom
Resident Evil 5 certainly isn't the best Resident Evil game, mostly because it plays more like an action shooter than anything else. But that actually makes it perfect for a co-op romp, and teaming up a friend to lay waste to bioweapons wreaking havoc in Africa is a great shooting experience. Yes, better than playing Resident Evil 6 in co-op, we assure you.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Another option for co-op shooter fans.
Machine Games, Bethesda, Microsoft
While you can play it solo, Youngblood is designed to be played with a partner. You play as two slightly unhinged sisters as you gear up in supersoldier armor and stomp Nazis. You and your friends can revisit areas, defeat enemies, and get extra loot so you can upgrade all of your gear back at base. Great fun with the right friend.
Baldur's Gate 3
One of the best RPGs of all time.
Larian Studios
Our Game of the Year for 2023 - a sentiment shared by a lot of outlets and fans - Baldur's Gate 3 is truly fantastic, and the entire game can be played from start to finish in a group of four. It might be awkward to arrange BG3 sessions with your pals, but if you can make it work, it will be one of the most memorable gaming experiences you'll ever have.
