The best co-op games guarantee fun with friends and family, whether you’re sharing a screen or meeting up online.
Co-op games are designed to be played together, and not against each other, like many of the best multiplayer games. Of course there are games on this list that you can also play against your friends, but our list focuses on the team work aspect, whether that’s in a sports game, one of the best RPGs out there, or in an action adventure. Team work makes the dream work, even when playing together can be surprisingly stressful, depending on the game.
In great-co-op games players can be each other’s eyes, hands or feet. You get tasks that are either too big to be fulfilled alone, or you find yourself in a pickle only a friend can rescue you from.
Brilliant games like It takes Two show that playing a story with a friend works well when a game’s narrative is designed for it too, and plenty of the best MMO games invite us to explore their worlds with our friends. Whatever your speed, in this list you can find games for co-cop sessions with friends and loved ones.
Best co-op games
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Platforms available: PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC
Online or couch co-op? Both
It Takes Two is a fun, tongue-in-cheek adventure that creator Josef Fares famously said anyone would enjoy – or he would issue them a refund. Fares’ strategy must’ve paid off (no pun intended), because It takes Two was one of the best games of 2021 and is easily one of the best co-op games right now.
The story of a husband and wife who are enchanted and have to cooperate in order to turn back into their real selves is built for co-op play from the ground up, just like Hazelight’s previous game No Way Out. The fantastical theme offers even more opportunities for varied and fun gameplay. It takes Two is a memorable experience, one that even people who usually don’t enjoy playing with others should make time for.
Platforms available: PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
Online or couch co-op? Both
Rocket League, the game that sees you play soccer with cars, is persistently popular, even years after it was first released. Now that it's a free-to-play game, there will always be others available to play with you and against you, that’s why the game is also on the list of the best multiplayer PC games.
Matches range from 1-v-1 to 4-v-4, so there’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to gathering your friends for co-op play. Rocket League is a game that requires ceaseless communication, as you try to coordinate your team into a speeding carousel of goalkeeping, defending and attacking. There’s also a league-based system online, so you get a nice sense of progression as your team grows from a fumbling mess into a well-oiled machine.
Platforms available: Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC
Online or couch co-op? Online
This is a stirring example of a game that hit the ground stumbling but really caught the wind in its sails over the last four years. Sea of Thieves tasks up to four players with manning a ship, and sailing around a vibrant, cartoon Caribbean-style set of islands in search of plunder, adventure and notoriety.
While the game used to feel loose and a little purposeless in the beginning, it’s now filled out to become an ever-evolving world of possibilities. You follow maps to skeleton-infested coves, fight mythical sea creatures, and take on other player-controlled ships and crews. There's even an overarching story to keep tabs on.
Sea of Thieves is the ultimate freewheeling pirate fantasy, designed purposely to be played alongside a motley crew of scurvy-infested sea rats you call your friends. It's easily one of the best co-op games right now, as well as one of the best Xbox Series X and best Xbox One games.
- Read the full Sea of Thieves review
Platforms available: PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S if you pick up the All You Can Eat compilation)
Online or couch co-op? Both
In a bid to defeat the 'Un-bread' (zombie baked goods), in Overcooked 2 you and up to three other players must prepare a variety of recipes including sushi, pizza, and burgers while working in increasingly chaotic restaurants. To add to the frantic fun, you must battle obstacles including random fires, collapsing floors, and interfering passers by, all while getting your orders out to the pass in time.
Things get complicated incredibly quickly, and relationships, friendships, and family bonds will be tested as you work together to complete your recipes on time, making it one of the best co-op games for that very reason – after all, it is as the saying goes, "too many cooks spoil the broth."
We recommend picking up the original Overcooked too, if you haven't played it already. If you're fortunate enough to have a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S then you can pick up Overcooked: All You Can Eat, a compilation that includes the first and second games alongside all the DLC for both.
Platforms available: PS4, PC, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
Online or couch co-op? Online
What began as a barebones online mode some nine years ago has grown into one of the best co-op games out there. While playing with strangers tends to be shambolic, gather a crew of friends and you’ll have all the madness of San Andreas at your fingertips. The incredible roleplaying in GTA Online is also absolutely infamous by now.
You can run around the world freely causing general mayhem or take on competing crews in dedicated missions. The best co-op experiences, however, are in the game's multi-part heists. There’s nothing like robbing a bank and running out to an alley where your driver screeches up right on cue, then fleeing for the hills with police klaxons in your rear-view mirror.
Platforms available: PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
Online or couch co-op? Both
Everyone who’s invested hundreds of hours into RPGs has at some point fantasized about playing through an entire campaign with a friend. Divinity: Original Sin 2 goes one better, and makes co-op arguably the best way to play the campaign.
Up to four players (two in split-screen) can freely roam around Divinity’s rich, story-filled game world. You can stick together as a unit, maximizing your chances during the challenging turn-based combat, or split up to try to find your own ways of solving quests. Additionally, there are in-game conversations between player-characters that shape their personality and ultimately how you play through the game.
Original Sin 2 feels as if every single decision matters, whether that’s in conversation, combat or exploration. For that incredible feat, it’s a great co-op experience and also one of the best RPGs.
Platforms available: PS4, PC and Xbox One
Online or couch co-op? Online
The long-running oddball series finally grabbed the attention of the whole world with its latest installment, refining many of the more awkward bits while doubling down on making its primordial Jurassic world a hostile joy to explore and one of the best co-op games.
Although perhaps a little fiddlier to set up than would be ideal, you can group up with your friends and hunt scaled-up versions of formidable dinosaur-like beasts together. The sheer variety of weapons offers many tactical opportunities; for instance, assign someone to buff the squad while one player shoots from afar and the others get stuck into the melee with their swords and spears.
Monster Hunter: World's dynamic world means that the unexpected can always happen; another monster may join the fray or the ground may collapse beneath your feet. It means that even with friends, it’s a world that never stops feeling wild and dangerous.
The sequel, Monster Hunter Rise, is available on PC and Switch and also comes highly recommended.
- Check out our full Monster Hunter: World review
Platforms available: PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Android and iOS
Online or couch co-op? Both, but split-screen is a console-exclusive feature only available for certain editions of the game.
Thi is the ultimate co-op experience, allowing players to grab blocks and build worlds together that are only limited by imagination. The beauty of Minecraft is that it can be played co-operatively across different platforms, that's why it's also made our list of the best crossplay games .The main world can for example be hosted on PC , while others jump in using an Android or iOS device.
If you don't know what Minecraft is all about, then get out from under that rock. However, in its simplest terms, Minecraft is a block-building simulator that seemingly has no limits.
Of course, you can go hardcore and join the numerous PC-based Minecraft servers seeded on the Internet using the original Java-based version of the game. And the creations you can find are simply mind-boggling, ranging from the reconstructing of actual cities to a full-scale Starship Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- How did a sandbox game about blocks become a worldwide phenomenon? Check out the history of Minecraft
Platforms available: Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC
Online or couch co-op? Both
Gears 5 is fantastic, and it's made even better if you take advantage of its co-op. If you haven't played any entries in the Gears series, all you need to know is that it's a third-person shooter that will get your adrenaline pumping.
Players step into the shoes of Kait Diaz for the first time who, following the events of Gears of War 4, is trying to come to terms with the death of her mother, unravel the twisted roots of her family tree and deal with her own personal baggage. Meanwhile, humanity is being threatened once more - this time by the Swarm, the successor to the Locust horde.
Not only can you play through the game's campaign with a friend, you can team up with others in multiplayer horde mode, escape mode or in versus matches.
- Check out our full Gears 5 review for more
Platforms available: PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS4, PC and Xbox One
Online or couch co-op? Online
Even if you're not the type to rack up headshots every evening after work in Call of Duty, don't be so quick to write off Rainbow Six Siege as "just another competitive first-person shooter". It's not. Ubisoft has come a long way in realizing the Rainbow Six series' potential. With the advent of online gaming, the publisher was able to take teamwork to an entirely new level with Siege.
While the game is mostly about cultivating brief yet unforgettable relationships with other players in fully destructible environments, it also requires a fair share of planning. Because of the limited resources you're given in each mission, it's essential to keep communication purely tactical in order to take down the opposing side.
Unfortunately there's no real story to speak of here, but if you're interested in joining up with a few buddies online for countless hours' worth of strategy-focused competitive gaming, Rainbow Six Siege is a safe bet.
