28 Best Couch Co-op Games of All Time

Couch co-op and split-screen are usually associated with consoles because they make people think of friends playing Mario Party and Crash Team Racing on a TV, but PC owners have plenty of choices as well.

Most big multiplayer games are now available on Steam, and they usually have online support to make it easier to find people to play with.

Most LAN parties have moved to online links, which lets people play with friends or with people they don’t know.

Online games are the norm now, but that doesn’t mean local co-op games are dead. In fact, some of the most famous multiplayer games on Steam let players share a screen.

Even though PC gaming isn’t always about local co-op or split-screen, there are still a lot of games that show how fun these kinds of shared experiences can be.

28. It Takes Two

Two of the best 2-player Steam games were made by Hazelight. It Takes Two, which comes out in 2021, is generally thought to be the better overall package.

A Way Out is great and an easy suggestion for any two people looking for a mature story. In the story, a husband and wife get shrunk down and have to go on a crazy trip to get back home.

The story may sound like it’s been done before, but the game’s personalities and graphics are great.

May and Cody are about to get a divorce, which pushes them to talk to each other honestly and work together again after years of growing apart.

The co-op gameplay in It Takes Two mirrors and builds on the story’s themes.

27. Super Mario Odyssey

Mario is like you’ve never seen him before in Super Mario Odyssey. Join everyone’s favorite plumber on his first-ever 3D open-world adventure and try out some of his skills that have never been seen before.

In Odyssey, Mario’s hat is a living creature named Cappy, which is a change from the other games. Here’s where the sharing feature comes in.

You can play by yourself and control Cappy, or you can give a friend a Joy-Con and let them control Cappy. You’ll have a lot of fun together.

Each level is different and fun, with enough secrets and shocks to keep you busy for hours.

26. Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together!

The Nintendo Switch has really changed couch co-op, and Snipperclips is one of the best games to show this. It’s a cute action-puzzle game that was definitely made for game nights with the whole family.

It’s easy enough for my six-year-old and possibly even younger kids to play, and it’s fun enough for my husband and me to keep playing.

Basically, you play as Snip and Clip, who need to cut each other into different shapes with the Joy-Cons to finish a series of challenges.

This isn’t always as easy as it sounds, though. In Party Mode, you can play with up to four people, so get the whole family together and get ready to laugh a lot.

25. Broforce

Broforce is a run-and-gun game with a side-scrolling view that took Steam by storm when it came out in the fall of 2015.

Broforce is a “under-funded, over-powered paramilitary organization” whose goal is to get rid of a terrorist threat (and destroy everything in the process).

With new bros and missions added every month, different game modes, a level editor and sharing, and up to four people, this is the perfect game for a group of friends who just want to blow stuff up.

It might be a bit mindless and overly macho, but it’s still a lot of fun.

24. HellDivers

Helldivers is a hard-core top-down shooter made by the same people who made Magicka. It lets up to four players work together to protect Super Earth from an alien threat in co-op levels.

In this dystopian world, Super Earth is ruled by a “managed democracy,” and it is ringed by three alien races that are hostile to humans.

The Helldivers are an elite unit whose job is to protect humanity. To win, players must use strategy to move through enemy territory, finish their goals, and avoid friendly fire, which is always on.

23. BattleBlock Theater

Even though BattleBlock Theater was first made for Xbox 360, we included it because it came out near the end of 360’s life and was later made available for Xbox One.

It’s also a lot of fun. After your ship, the S.S. Friendship, crashes on an island, you find a run-down theater and learn that your whole crew is being held captive by cats.

Under the direction of Hatty Hattington, the cats force the actors to take part in dangerous stage shows where they have to fight to stay alive.

You can play the story mode with a second player, or you can play Arena mode with 2 or 4 people (in two teams of 2) and choose from different types of matches.

22. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition

The turn-based RPG Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition is the sequel to the redundantly named PC game Divine Divinity, which came out in 2002.

Many critics have called it the best classic-style RPG in recent years. You can play the game by yourself, in which case you handle both Source Hunters.

However, the game really shines when played with another player. With a compelling story, a lot of side quests, and tactical, difficult fighting, the world will give you hours and hours of gameplay.

If you haven’t played it yet, you should do so as soon as possible because Divinity: Original Sin 2 is coming out in December.

21. Knight Squad

Knight Squad is a “top-down Bomberman meets Gauntlet for 8 players” game that is a family favorite. This multiplayer arena game lets up to 8 people play at once.

It has different game types, weapons ranging from swords to laser guns, and bots whose difficulty can be changed to fill in for missing players, so don’t worry if you don’t have 8 controllers.

There are a total of nine game types, and more can be bought as DLC. The different goals, the single-screen battlefield, and the fact that each knight can be killed with one hit make for pure chaos.

Even though you can play online, we suggest asking your friends (as long as you don’t care too much about them) to bring their controllers to this awesome party game.

20. IDARB

IDARB, which stands for “It Draws a Red Box,” is an eSport arena game for up to eight people that is “created by the crowd.”

The name comes from a tweet by programmer Mike Mika, who said that he had started a new project and that “it draws a red box.” Then, he asked his Twitter fans for ideas, which is how the phrase “crowd created” came to be.

These ideas are what make the game what it is. The idea is pretty easy to understand: Two teams run and jump around a field, trying to get a ball and score on the other team’s goal.

The social media aspect of this game is what makes it stand out. Anyone can tweet a Hashbomb using your game session number, which can have one of many planned effects on the game. Gather your friends and watch the chaos unfold.

19. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is a collection of the first-person shooters Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Prequel.

For the first time in the franchise’s history, you can also play four-player split-screen games. The sheer amount of material is impressive.

It includes both remastered games, enhanced multiplayer (so you can play with four people instead of two, which was the limit before), all available DLC, and the ability to transfer save games from previous-gen copies.

Reviewers have said that The Pre-Sequel has technical problems, but Borderlands 2 makes up for what The Pre-Sequel lacks in terms of speed.

18. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

The action space shooter Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime can be played by one person, but, as the name suggests, it is much more fun with two.

Don’t be fooled by the cute, bright graphics and cheesy name of this game. It’s hard and a lot of fun. You and your partner are in charge of a spaceship with several stations inside.

You have to move around to handle the different stations and protect your ship from aliens. The game has four missions, each with four levels and a boss fight.

As you play, you find gems that you can use to improve your stations. This is a great game for couples to play, but only if you know your relationship is solid.

17. Rocket League

The driving-meets-soccer game Rocket League is a favorite of both my husband and son. It won The Game Award for Best Independent Game and is played a lot in our house.

It’s exactly what it sounds like: players drive rocket-powered cars and try to hit a big ball into the other team’s goal while breaking the rules of physics.

With experience points, you can get access to more cars, like the Batmobile, and cosmetic upgrades.

It’s a simple idea that has been done very well, and we think that the easiest things are often the most fun.

16. Yoshi’s Woolly World

Yoshi’s Woolly World is a beautiful side-scrolling platformer where the island and all the Yoshis on it are made from yarn.

Yoshi doesn’t make eggs when he eats enemies like he does in other games. Instead, he makes balls of yarn that can be used to do different things.

The cute knitted Yarn Yoshi Amiibo, which comes in green and pink, also works with the game. In co-op, both players control Yoshis, and like most Nintendo games, the screen is shared by both players.

And if you run out of yarn balls, you can just turn your partner into one.

15. Minecraft

If you haven’t heard of Minecraft by now, you’ve been living under a rock. It may not need to be on this list, but it wouldn’t be complete without it.

You should try this open-world sandbox game if your kids are crazy about it and you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about, like we did.

You can play with a friend and work together to gather materials and build huge structures, or you can build forts and try to kill each other.

There is no real story or ending. Instead, you are dropped into a randomly-generated world where your goal is to gather, craft, and build (and sometimes find hidden structures).

But the options are endless, as this long post about Minecraft projects will show. Depending on the mode you choose, there may also be enemies that will bother you. So easy, yet so fun to do.

14. Kalimba

Kalimba is a great co-op puzzle game that was made by Press Play, which has since shut down. Players work together to make their own totem poles.

To get through each level, they will have to solve creative tasks while working together. There are many fun ways to play, and some of the games will make you and a friend try different things and scratch your heads when they don’t work.

Time is very important, which can be hard to do when you have to rely on someone else to get their time right as well.

This is what makes Kalimbafun, and its bright world is nice to look at. I’ll also say that it’s a very unique game, unlike anything we’ve seen before, and that even though it’s short, it’s a lot of fun for couples to play together.

13. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

As part of Diablo III: The Ultimate Evil Edition, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls was the first expansion pack for the famous dungeon-crawling action RPG Diablo III.

It added to the original game on PS3/Xbox 360 and also brought it to current-gen platforms.

It adds many things, like a new class called the Crusader, a fifth Act, an Adventure Mode (where players can travel the whole world), the Mystic artisan, a higher level cap, and more.

It did a good job of adding all the things that Diablo III, which was a good game, was missing.

It’s fun to play by yourself, but the fact that another player can join at any time makes it a great choice for couch co-op.

12. Rayman Legends

Rayman Legends was a great game when it came out in 2013, but it was even better when it came out for the PS4 and Xbox One in 2014.

It’s a beautiful game with well-thought-out levels, and it brought Rayman back to the forefront of gamers’ thoughts.

At the time, the next-gen game used textures that were not compressed, and the new platforms made it possible to load games faster.

Even though playing Rayman Legends by yourself is fun, couch co-op is what really made us fall in love with it.

Believe it or not, the Wii U version was our favorite because it let us play with other people so well. It is a bit messy, but a little bit of chaos can be fun when you’re sitting next to someone else who is playing.

It’s a must-have local co-op game for Xbox One, PS4, and Wii U gamers alike.

11. Castle Crashers Remastered

Castle Crashers was made by the same company that made Battleblock Theater. It was first released in August 2008 (remember Xbox Live Arcade…swoon).

But in late 2015, Castle Crashers finally came to Xbox One as Castle Crashers Remastered, bringing the great 2.5D hack-and-slash game to the latest generation of platforms.

The only new things in the new version are sharper graphics and smoother gameplay, as well as a new minigame called Back Off Barbarian.

But at its core, Castle Crashers is a necessary co-op game that reminds us of tag-team beat ’em up sidescrollers that cost us quarters in the arcades.

10. LittleBigPlanet 3

Where else can you play a game as both Spider-Man and Jake from Adventure Time? no place! Even though reviewers didn’t like LittleBigPlanet 3, that’s just one of the reasons we love it.

In fact, we think LGP 3 got a bad name because it wasn’t “new” enough, but co-op play is still a lot of fun.

It has local and online co-op for up to four people, and players can play and make levels together.

It’s a colorful world, and it’s a lot of fun to spend a night with your friends building your own levels together.

9. Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is the sequel to PopCap’s popular PvZ: Garden Warfare. It’s a mix of tower defense, third-person shooter, and silly mobile game graphics, and it’s hard not to like it.

This time, there are 6 new plant and zombie classes, a new mode called Herbal Assault, and Graveyard Ops.

We always want to work together with a friend or loved one to kill zombies, and doing so in this game just feels so good.

It’s pure, unadulterated fun, which is very different from the tone of most shooters today. It also helps that the game is not just a dumbed-down version of a third-person shooter.

Instead, it takes skill. This means that both adults and kids can play, which makes it a great choice for family game night.

8. Towerfall Ascension

Towerfall Ascension feels a bit like IDARB, but it has more color and less sports. A fight between four players can be made, and each one is a lot of fun.

You start with a limited number of arrows, so you have to pick them up again after you shoot to fill up your quiver.

Rounds can get pretty hot pretty quickly, and only the most skilled and accurate players will win.

There are lots of ways to change things, and the game’s simplicity makes for more than a few laughs.

But just so you know, it might make you want to punch the person next to you on the couch.

7. Child of Light

I did play the 2D side-scrolling game Child of Light alone the first time I played it, and it was a great game to play alone.

This game is memorable because of how whimsical it is, how beautiful the art is, how much it feels like a story, and how great the fighting system is.

The main character, Aurora, gets sick after her father marries her evil stepmother. In her dreams, she is taken to the magical land of Lemuria, where she meets a number of nice people who help her on her quest.

At any time during the game, a second person can join and take control of Aurora’s friend Igniculus, who is a ball of light that turns out to be an Elemental and can fly freely around the screen.

6. Enter the Gungeon

It would be wrong of me not to add the newly released Enter the Gungeon to this list. This bullet hell game with roguelike features is insanely hard, crazy, and a lot of fun.

As they move through randomly produced dungeon floors, players must shoot at and avoid fire from a variety of unique enemies.

They may also come across chests, secret rooms, and traps. Each floor can also have one of several bosses appear at random. Each of these bosses will really test your skills.

Most of the weapons and gadgets have a pop culture or game reference that is sure to make you laugh. Some weapons, like the t-shirt shooter, are just funny.

There are many different playable figures, and each one has its own useful skill. Try Enter the Gungeon if you want to have a good laugh and really test your gaming skills.

Just be aware that you only have a certain number of lives, and each loss will send you back to the beginning and make you want to throw your hands up in anger.

5. Super Smash Bros Ultimate

We have to talk about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is the latest version of the classic fighting game. It is the fifth game in a very famous series.

It has a cast of more than 70 gaming icons, a lot of dynamic stages (plus a stage builder! ), and both new and old items.

There are many different game modes that can be changed a lot, so you and up to seven people can play Smash however you want.

4. Cuphead

This run-and-gun action game, which was inspired by the cartoons of the 1930s, was originally only available for Microsoft, but it just came out for Nintendo Switch as well.

Cuphead has sold more than 4 million copies and won many prizes, including “Best Independent Game” at The Game prizes 2017.

You can play Cuphead alone, but local co-op is where it really shines. You and a friend can choose between Cuphead and Mugman and go through beautiful hand-drawn levels as you try to pay back your debt to the devil.

Don’t be fooled by the cutesy graphics, though. This game is hard and not for people who are easily scared.

3. Overcooked

Overcooked is a crazy cooking simulation game that you can play with up to three friends either together or against each other.

You each take control of a chef in a diner kitchen. As customers place orders, you have to prepare, cook, and serve them before they get angry and storm out.

In order to do this, you have to move between places in the kitchen, which gets harder as you move through the levels. Your goal is to save the Onion Kingdom.

To do this, you’ll have to beat a number of different kitchens that get more chaotic as you go. This is a fun game for the whole family. My husband and I like to play it with our kids (or with each other!).

2. Mario Kart 8

The latest version of the very popular kart racer lets up to 4 people play together locally, which is also the size of my family. It has 42 people, which is the most ever, including the Inklings from Splatoon.

It also has 48 courses to choose from, including tracks inspired by Excite Bike and Legend of Zelda. You can use 23 things to beat up your friends, and you can hold two of them at once.

In Battle Mode, you can fight in five different ways on eight different courses. Mario Kart 8 is the biggest and best version of the game so far.

It even has a feature called “Smart Steering,” which is great for younger players. The Deluxe version for Nintendo Switch has all the content from the Wii U version, including DLC, and both versions work with amiibo.

1. Death Squared

Robots and blasts, what more can I say? In “lonely co-op” mode, you can play the co-op puzzle game Death Squared by yourself, but the name says it all: like most things in life, it’s better with a friend.

You have to guide a cute little cube-shaped character through a number of colored traps and obstacles to get to the goal.

Cooperation is important, and you’ll need to talk to each other if you want to win. You will probably still die a lot, but it will probably be more funny than annoying and give you a lot of laughs.

This is a great game to play with a friend who isn’t really into video games because it doesn’t take a lot of controller skill or anything else other than a desire to solve puzzles and blow yourself up spectacularly in the process.