Summary
FromStardew ValleytoBaldur’s Gate 3, the world of co-op games has an extraordinary amount to offer. A good co-op experience can foster friendship in a completely different way than a competitive game, but working together can also have the potential to induce a lot more rage than solidarity. In either case, a game that handles co-op well makes it easy to have a memorable experience.
The best co-op games come from every genre and style of play, from frenetic first-person shooters toimpressively robust RPG experiences. If there’s a uniting factor, it’s that co-op needs to feel like a genuinely meaningful addition rather than just an alternate way to play. The latter can still be fun, but when everything really clicks with more than one player involved, the overall experience can be significantly elevated.
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10Borderlands 2 Is Chaotic FPS Fun
The looter shooter genre has become heavily populated over the past decade, butBorderlands 2did things right in ways that other games still struggle to match. Perhaps most importantly,there’s no shortage of memorable and unique guns to pick up, which can keep mindless gameplay feeling fresh over the course of a substantial adventure. A cel-shaded art style and memorable characters cement its iconic status, and it’s possible to have a good time even playing solo.
Co-op gameplay, however, is whereBorderlands 2really shines. The over-tuned humor of the game works better with the silliness of two to four players bungling things together, and grabbing different kinds of guns helps back up the weaknesses of any one approach. The otherBorderlandsgames offer similarly enjoyable experiences, butBorderlands 2just feels like the most well-honed package.
9Stardew Valley Makes Farming Social
Stardew Valleyis about as far as it can get from an FPS, centering its gameplay loop around building up a productive farm rather than gunning down enemies. By nature, this means that the moment-to-moment experience isn’t always social, as it’s easy to focus on tilling the fields while another player runs some errands in town. As far as more relaxed experiences go, however,it’s the perfect way to spend some downtime with a friend.
Stardew Valley: Year One Guide (Crops, Mining & Upgrades)
Managing a farm in Stardew Valley involves proper management of time, energy, and crop selection, enabling players to snowball their personal wealth.
Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update added 8-player co-op, which gives it a big hook that’s hard to find elsewhere. Bringing that many people in for one playthrough might result in a well-oiled machine of a farm, or it might simply lead to a lot of idle chatter and inefficient production. Whatever the case, playing a co-op game is a nice way to breathe new life into an icon of the farming sim genre.
8Deep Rock Galactic Has Great FPS Variety
A lot of the best co-op FPS games are starting to get up there in age, butDeep Rock Galacticis a major standout from recent years. The action focus is on blasting alien threats in procedurally generated, destructible cave environments, with a fantasy sci-fi flavor that has a lot of charm. What really makes it memorable, however, is just how many options are available, all of them with an impressive amount of polish.
There’s something for everyone in the four different classes of Driller, Engineer, Gunner, and Scout, and the way that they synergize is notably well-balanced and compelling. Within those archetypes, there’s also a lot of room for interesting build customization, which helps keep the game feeling fresh over time. Developers and community management who care a lot about the game have helped endear it to fans, andDeep Rock Galacticwill probably remain popular for quite some time yet.
7Battleblock Theater Makes Platforming Funny
Co-op platforming can be a lot of fun, but it also tends to be frustrating, with way too many opportunities to get in the way of another player.Battleblock Theaterunderstands the fundamental absurdity of the concept and hones it into something hilarious. Tightly designed levels make smart use of co-op possibilities while leaning into the inevitable comedy of errors, resulting in a gratifyingly chaotic experience.
Battleblock Theaterdeveloper The Behemoth is known for its co-op chops, with the hack-and-slashCastle Crashersand tactical RPGPit Peoplebeing two other hits from the studio. It can be a lot of fun, butBattleblock Theatermight be the best package that The Behemoth has ever put together, and it’s easy to recommend to both platformer fans and anyone looking for a good multiplayer experience.
6Terraria Is Better With Friends
PlayingMinecraftsocially has always been a pleasure, but as far as pick-up-and-play co-op goes,Terrariamight be an even more convincing package.The side-scrolling sandbox game is exceptionally easy to play with friends, requiring absolutely no server shenanigans to get things up and running. Servers are also a possibility and can be especially useful for larger groups, but it’s hard to argue with the ease of simply clicking “Host & Play.”
16 Best World Seeds In Terraria
Terraria has a lot of amazing world seeds, with many of them being secret world seeds that unlock new and incredible challenges for willing players.
Terrariaalso leans into RPG concepts on top of its sandbox play, with plenty of weapons to acquire and bosses to fight. This sense of direction can be helpful to make co-op play feel truly cooperative, although there’s nothing wrong with focusing on building unique bases or simply mining deeper and deeper. Regardless of what seems most appealing,Terrariahas a lot to offer any multiplayer group.
5Portal 2 Has A Smart Co-Op Campaign
Portal 2is often upheld as one of thebest single-player campaigns of all time, offering a complete package of brilliant puzzling and sharp storytelling, but its co-op element is also worth checking out. As a completely separate campaign,Portal 2co-op casts players as the robots Atlas and P-Body, who have to work their way through the Cooperative Testing Initiative after the events of the single-player story.
What makesPortal 2’s co-op so memorable is how much it plays with the tension of working together, with GLaDOS attempting to weaponize this against the robots over the course of the campaign. It may not be something for the history books in the way that the single-player story is, but there aren’t many other games out there that offer something as thoughtful on top of the solo experience.
4Baldur’s Gate 3 Is A Huge Co-Op Adventure
TabletopDungeons & Dragonsis all about cooperation between a party, but that can be a difficult thing to bring to video game form in all of its complexity.Baldur’s Gate 3translates the concept with a shocking amount of ambition and accuracy, making it possible to form a party out of friends, NPC companions, or a mixture of both.Getting through its lengthy campaign could require some very open schedules, but it’s an incredible option for anyone with plenty of free time.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Co-Op: Unspoken Rules & Common Courtesy
Baldur’s Gate 3 co-op can be a great experience, but going about it the wrong way makes it easy to suck the enjoyment out of a campaign.
There’s always the potential to step on the toes of companions in an RPG, butBaldur’s Gate 3does a good job minimizing this frustration with turn-based combat and a seamless approach to starting up conversations. A compelling fantasy story rich with choices and challenging encounters makes for a truly memorable adventure, and playing it with friends might just enhance the experience.
Left 4 Dead 2released in 2009, but all these years later, there’s still nothing of its ilk that quite compares. Only a year after the originalLeft 4 Dead, Valve releaseda sequel that honed the horde shooter setup of the first game into a nearly perfect package. Compared to many shooters that have come out since, it’s refreshingly free of bloat, with no complex live-service systems or unnecessary mechanics getting in the way of immediate fun.
That doesn’t mean thatLeft 4 Dead 2is a slim experience, with plenty of great maps and modes to keep things fresh. Like other Valve games, it’s also extremely well-supported by mods and community content, extending the replayability far beyond the core game’s offerings. A lot of games have tried to beLeft 4 Dead 2, but at the end of the day, there’s a reason why everyone keeps coming back to the classic.
2Overcooked 2 Is A Cooking Frenzy
Overcooked 2is the kind of co-op game that can really put friendships through the furnace,thrusting players into level after level of kitchen nightmares that demand exceptional teamwork amid the fray. Even the most synchronized group will be constantly putting out fires, which is a lot of what makes the game so great. There’s no downtime here, only fast, fluid gameplay.
Despite the intensity, failure inOvercooked 2never ends up feeling too punishing, as snappy, efficient levels are as easy to replay as they are hard to master. It also steps up the variety from the originalOvercooked, with a long list of clever environments that shake up the nature of the gameplay. From jungle rafts to enchanted castles,Overcooked 2makes the prospect of getting bored seem like the toughest challenge of all.
1It Takes Two Is Endlessly Creative
A Way Outfelt like a breath of fresh air for co-op games, setting up a prison break-out adventure with a surprising amount of ambition and ingenuity. After developer Hazelight Studios followed it up withIt Takes Two,A Way Outalmost just feels like a trial run.It Takes Twotells the story of a couple turned into two dolls who then have to journey across a wide variety of environments and challenges as they work on their own issues.
It Takes Two Review: A Wonderful Co-op Adventure
It Takes Two is a masterful co-op game, with plenty of varied and enjoyable game modes alongside a fantastic visual style and heartfelt story.
Most great co-op games do one thing very well, butIt Takes Twois never content to settle, trying out new kinds of gameplay and puzzles with reckless abandon. Although the story might never quite get to flourish in the way that it wants to, everything else is absolutely bursting at the seams.It Takes Twois everything but the kitchen sink ofco-op games, and it never fails to make its new ideas exciting.
