40 Amazingly Addictive Couch Co-Op Games
If you need to recharge, what better way than to cozy up with friends or family and play some couch co-op games? Whether you want space shooter action, a platform challenge, or a tricky puzzler, we have a game here for every co-op crew, including games built for pairs, trios, quartets, and more. Here are the very best cooperative titles for the PlayStation, Xbox, Windows PC, and Nintendo Switch.
For co-operative fun when you can't get together physically, check out the Best Online Co-Op Games.
Updated September 2023: We added three new titles: Diablo IV, Boomerang Fu, and Crawl.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
- Courtesy of Xbox Game Studios
A Crime Movie
As Dusk FallsChoosing your path through this crime thriller is fun, but play cooperatively with up to seven friends, and you have a terrific party game. The pace is gentle as you vote on each decision. Countless branches veer off as the group decides on quick-time events and dialog choices. Fresh play-throughs can spin your perspective. Because it feels like an interactive crime movie, and there's no dexterity-based gameplay, this is very accessible for non-gamers.
2 to 8 players can guide this cinematic tragedy.
- Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Best Fantasy RPG
Diablo IVHigh-fantasy, demon-slaying, action role-playing at its finest—our Diablo IV review accurately described this game as a mind-melting bloodbath. If crawling grim dungeons to slaughter nightmare creatures is your idea of fun, you can enlist a friend in your gory pursuit of loot. Team-ups of different character classes, from barbarian to necromancer, make for varied gameplay, and veterans will feel instantly at home exploring this fresh hell. Couch co-op is limited to two players and is only supported on consoles.
2 players can invade hell together.
- Courtesy of Hazelight
Lost in Love
It Takes TwoSet against the bittersweet backdrop of a couple going through a divorce, this innovative love letter to co-op gaming is bursting at the seams with ideas. May and Cody find themselves transformed into dolls and must race to reach their daughter Rose. Every level features a new set of co-op mechanics and inventive puzzles to overcome. Designed as a two-player game (there’s no single-player), It Takes Two is a comical roller coaster ride that embraces cooperative gameplay like no other.
2 players can take a journey together at home or online.
- Courtesy of Nintendo
Animal Style
Untitled Goose GameWaddling around honking, stealing objects, and tormenting the inhabitants of a sleepy rural village sounds like a strange premise for a game, and it is. But role-playing as an annoying goose turns out to be incredibly fun. Winding people up with your antics to complete challenges proves surprisingly satisfying, and adding a partner in crime allows you to ramp up the mayhem and work together to really bug folks.
2 players can honk and annoy at home.
- Courtesy of SMG Studio
A Group Puzzle
Death SquaredImagine if Portal was isometric, starred adorable cubes, and lacked the titular portals and you have Death Squared. Seriously, the game even has a snarky narrator who endearingly gives you guff as you fail and succeed in levels. It's a charming puzzle game that's not afraid to make tickling your brain a cute, funny endeavor.
2 to 4 people can team up to solve puzzles.
- Courtesy of Curve Digital
Controller Warfare
Human: Fall FlatThis is the perfect game for cooperative duos in need of a complex puzzler. Its bizarrely entertaining physics force you and a friend to wage war on your controllers to get your blobby avatars up and moving. The physics ensures that navigating simple stages is never as straightforward as it seems. If you play on PC, you can build your own levels and play other players' creations too.
2 players can team up at home (8 can team up online).
- Courtesy of Team17
Cooking Together
Overcooked! All You Can EatCalling all chefs for some culinary co-op chaos! This release includes the original game and Overcooked 2, fully remastered and bundled with fresh content to serve you more than 200 challenging levels. Work together in wacky, themed kitchens to feed hordes of hungry customers before time runs out. Frenetic and often hilarious, you must resist the urge to shout at your teammates and find a way to coordinate smoothly if you want to succeed.
2 to 4 players can cook together at home or online.
- Courtesy of Hypersect
Shooting Tiles
Inversus DeluxeIndie games don't get much more frenetic and fun than this one. Your job is to try and take control of a checkerboard by playing as a moving tile that shoots other tiles. It's super simple, but the skill ceiling is really high. You can play with up to four people locally and fight each other in two-person teams, or cooperatively tackle the game's insane arcade mode (two players only). It supports all of these co-op modes online too.
2 to 4 players can team up or battle each other in 2-person teams.
- Courtesy of Team17
Friendly Fire
Worms W.M.D.Expect laughs aplenty as teams of heavily armed invertebrates battle to the death in this long-running series. Selecting correctly from a vast arsenal and aiming carefully as the seconds tick away is key to emerging victorious from the destructible 2D maps. Easy to grasp, with a quirky sense of humor, the near misses, accidental discharges, and friendly fire make Worms W.M.D. a hilarious couch competition. Of the recent releases, this comes closest to the series’ high point, Worms Armageddon.
2 to 6 players can throw down at home or online.
- Courtesy of Contingent99/Humble Bundle
For Dungeon Pals
Wizard of LegendThis dungeon crawler sets itself apart with its emphasis on magic and speed. Pixels fly and tensions run high, which may not be a fun thing for all players, but fans of craziness will love it. It's a difficult game, so be sure whichever friend you play with is ready to cooperatively overcome frustration.
2 players can dungeon-crawl together.
- Courtesy of Electronic Arts
Gorgeous Side-Scrolling
Unravel TwoUnravel Two is a side-scrolling platformer starring two tiny sentient yarn creatures who must traverse the large, scary world we humans live in. The two yarnies, as they're called, depend on each other's stringy bodies to perform various acrobatic feats and avoid obstacles, such as animals and other natural hazards. While it sometimes struggles to make its puzzles and challenges intuitive, the game's gorgeous graphics and heartfelt two-player design make up for any shortcomings.
2 players can platform together.
- Courtesy of Cranky Watermelon
Food Versus Food
Boomerang FuCan you slice and dice your friends with a boomerang before they end you? Find out in this frenetic physics-based party game that pits avocado against bacon (and a bunch of other foodstuffs) for messy combat in a series of hazardous arenas. Lightning reflexes, a killer instinct, and luck with power-ups are essential to emerge victorious. Versatile setup makes this customizable action game endless fun.
2 to 4 people can pulverize their pals.
- Courtesy of Neverjam
Laser Swords
SpiderHeckWho can resist a frantic couch co-op brawler starring spiders with laser swords? This dazzling physics-based platform battle to the death feels like a fast-paced Worms. Spiders can crawl, web sling, and wear cute hats. There is plenty of deadly weaponry to find. Working together to defeat waves of bizarre enemies is addictive fun, but the tweakable versus mode is also great.
2 to 4 players can team up or face off at home or online.
- Courtesy of Sega
Kart Racing
Team Sonic RacingIf you've played a Mario Kart game, you'll instantly get this cooperative kart racing game. It has team play, letting players divide into groups of two or three in order to outrace foes as a pack. It also encourages trading items mid-race with allies and using their speed to increase your own, meaning an eagerness to help squadmates is mandatory to score first place. It's an exciting, innovative co-op racer built for gamers who know that teamwork makes the dream work.
Up to 4 players can race together.
- Courtesy of Electronic Arts
Break Out
A Way OutIf The Shawshank Redemption had a video game adaptation, this would be it. The game only works with two players, and it tasks them with teaming up behind bars to find—you guessed it—a way out of prison. This game's an action-adventure like no other, loaded with heists, big-budget set-pieces, unique co-op mechanics, and enough narrative heft to satisfy just about every kind of gaming duo who have wanted to try their hand at escaping jail from the comfort of a couch. Plus, A Way Out offers online co-op if only one of you owns the game.
2 players are needed to escape prison.
- Courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment
Tricky Challenges
Sackboy: A Big AdventureThis spin-off from the LittleBigPlanet series is a beautifully polished gem of platforming adventure as you battle to save Craftworld from the villainous Vex. Super cute, colorful, and endlessly creative, with a wonderful soundtrack and a masterful level design, it's truly an unforgettable experience. There’s real depth here, too, with tons of replayability, tricky timed challenges, collectibles, and extravagant outfits to unlock.
2 to 4 players can team up at home or online.
- Courtesy of Valve
Portal Together
Portal 2Use your portal gun to shoot portals in two places so you can walk into one and come out the other. That's what the original Portal first-person puzzle game was all about. Now, multiply that portal count by 2 and you'll begin to imagine the mind-bending fun of Portal 2, which has a cooperative campaign that requires a pair of players to figure out how to make four portals transport them through some seriously tricky puzzle rooms. If you like physics, teamwork, and funny characters, this is a fantastic, one-of-a-kind puzzler to blaze through with a friend.
2 players can solve puzzles together.
- Courtesy of Team17
Lego Life
Moving OutPacking people’s junk into a van is the premise of this gentle physics puzzler, an ideal foundation for single-screen co-op fun. You and up to three pals must work together to squeeze couches, fridges, TVs, and lamps into a limited space as quickly as possible. What could have been a frustrating argument starter is cleverly subverted by comical clumsiness and chaotic challenges that encourage you to cut corners and smash stuff with impunity. If you enjoy this check out the sequel, Moving Out 2.
2 to 4 players can move couches together at home.
- Courtesy of Capcom
Frustrating but Fun
Ghosts N' Goblins: ResurrectionRisen from the dead, this notoriously challenging platform series is still incredibly fun and frustrating, but now you can enlist help. Brave Sir Arthur is joined by three helpful spirits, each with unique powers. Barry can conjure a shield around Arthur, Kerry can pick him up and carry him a short distance, and Archie can build a temporary platform. Pick the right companion to conquer some of the seemingly impossible levels filled with zombies, ogres, and all manner of other demons.
2 players can battle evil together.
- Courtesy of Good Mood Creators
Swap Animals
MekazooEvery stage in Mekazoo can be completed solo, but the platformer's central gimmick of switching between robotic animals mid-level affords the game a unique co-op mechanic. One player controls the primary animal, and a friend controls the secondary one. Only one animal can play at a time, so you take turns as needed. Whoever is pressing buttons on their controller activates their animal until the other player presses a button. (Don't fight!) Extreme precision is required to avoid screwing each other over, but for friends who really want to test their platforming prowess as a team, no game can top this neon-drenched couch co-op insanity.
2 players can control robot animals together.
- Courtesy of 2K
Couch Slasher
The QuarryIf you liked the sound of As Dusk Falls, feel ready to ramp up the stress, and your group is into horror games, The Quarry is everything great about slasher films. Your decisions will seal the fate of nine teen counselors in a remote forest camp, as you try to negotiate horror cliches and survive the night. There are various paths and quick time events, as the line between movies and games gets increasingly blurry.
2 to 8 players can run up the stairs when they should be going out the front door.
- Courtesy of Ubisoft
Great Tunes
Rayman LegendsRayman Legends is an absolutely gorgeous, must-play platformer. Every level is smartly designed, movement physics have a great sense of momentum, and the characters and animations are quirky and lively. Name a positive trait and this game has it. Plus, it has music levels, which task you with platforming to the beat of some incredible music tracks. Up to four people can play at once, so there's no reason not to gather a whole party for this game.
2 to 4 players can get limbless together.
- Courtesy of Asteroid Base
Space Out
Lovers in a Dangerous SpacetimeThis 2D shooter and spaceship management simulator lets up to four players save the galaxy from the forces of "anti-love" by controlling different facets of a single spaceship to pilot it through levels brimming with baddies. One player is the pilot, one controls the shields, and the other two control the four guns. The only way to survive is through intense coordination. Thankfully, since it's a couch co-op experience, shouting orders back and forth with your crew is an intergalactic piece of cake.
2 to 4 players can control a spaceship together.
- Courtesy of Nintendo
Arts and Crafts
Snipperclips PlusIf you've ever enjoyed producing crafts with construction paper, then this unexpectedly fun, family-friendly shape-making game is for you. Snipperclips Plus is all about cutting and trimming objects to make particular shapes that'll allow you to complete a wide variety of objectives, like popping balloons and rotating gears. The game's core levels are built for one to two players, though there are four-player multiplayer modes that allow a quartet of friends to get crafty.
2 to 4 players can cut through puzzles together and on teams.
- Courtesy of Nintendo
Kirby!
Kirby and the Forgotten LandPlay as Kirby and enlist a pal as Bandana Waddle Dee in this cleverly designed 3D platformer packed with fun-to-explore levels, puzzles to solve, and bad guys and bosses to defeat. The co-op experience is a little uneven, as Kirby is the main character, and there are sections where the less capable Bandana Waddle Dee is relegated to sidekick.
2 players can team up and explore at home.
- Courtesy of Warner Bros. Games
Star Wars
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaStriking the perfect balance between parody and reverence, this beautifully crafted Star Wars adventure offers a vast open world for fans to explore. The gameplay is varied, the gags come thick and fast, and characters evolve as you progress. There’s always something else to do or collect, and a second player can drop in or out at any time. While some levels work better with co-op than others, this trilogy of trilogies is enormous fun to play split-screen as a duo.
2 players can use the Force at home.
- Courtesy of Powerhoof
Capture the Hero
CrawlThe killer idea behind this pixelated roguelike is that one person plays the hero and up to three friends control the traps and monsters in the dungeon. Level up by slaughtering spiders, demons, and undead horrors. There’s loot aplenty, but make a fatal mistake, and you switch sides and become an undead obstacle to one of your friends.
2 to 4 players can battle in the dungeons.
- Courtesy of DrinkBox Studios
Wild Animations
Guacamelee! (Series)There are a lot of indie games that play like the Metroid and Castlevania series, but Guacamelee! isn't just another retread of a tired subgenre. It's a luchador-themed platformer-brawler with verve, which is evident in its wild animations and zany art direction. Add Guacamelee!'s aesthetic achievements onto its satisfying gameplay mechanics, and the overall experience is definitely a rich one that lends itself to being enjoyed alongside a friend.
2 to 4 players can brawl together.
- Courtesy of Studio MDHR
Classic Cartoons
CupheadHarkening back to the ye olde days of film-grain-riddled Mickey Mouse cartoons, the 1930s-inspired Cuphead is a visual treat as well as a genuinely exciting game. Beyond its sumptuous visuals, Cuphead delivers a tough and immensely satisfying gameplay experience via a uniquely punishing brand of bullet hell mayhem. Playing co-op doubles the challenge by giving bosses more health, so for masochists who want to brave this beast of a game together, know that no title on this list might test a friendship as much as this one.
2 people can get animated together.
- Courtesy of Nintendo
The Most Famous Plumber
New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeThis Mario Bros. game is, at its core, like every other 2D Mario platformer. It's familiar and incredibly fun. Nintendo has perfected the art of creating safe, enjoyable products the whole family can get behind, and New Super Mario Bros. is a refined and polished plumbing adventure. If you have a group of four in need of a Nintendo Switch game that's easy to pick up and play, look no further.
2 to 4 players can platform together.
- Courtesy of Konami
Bombs Away
Super Bomberman RWhile you can play story mode co-operatively, the heart of this enduring franchise is multiplayer madness as up to eight players dash around a maze snatching power-ups and laying bombs to blast each other into oblivion. There are issues with Super Bomberman R, but as the price drops, it is worth picking up just for the local multiplayer. Even if you die, you can hurl bombs from the sidelines and get back in if you score a hit.
2 to 8 players can get blasting at home or online.
- Courtesy of Capcom
Scared Silly
Resident Evil 6In many ways, Resident Evil 6 is the pinnacle of cinematic action-adventure horror games. It blends its genres with skill and, at times, even manages to sell the idea that you're trapped in a wildly fun B-movie. That fun is doubled when you bring a friend along for the ride, since the game offers a two-player co-op for all four of its lengthy campaigns. Few cinematic gaming experiences offer the bang for the buck that RE6 provides, and even fewer can do it all in a co-op like this one.
2 players can survive the zombie apocalypse together.
Courtesy of 10tons Ltd.Honorable Mentions
More Couch Co-Op GamesIf you've tried everything above and can't get enough couch co-op fun, you might consider one of these games.
Dysmantle for $20 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC): Enlist a friend to help you survive on a monster-infested island by destroying things and scavenging resources. (2 players)
Unspottable for $12 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC): Can you spot the real people amongst the bots? This simple premise makes for plenty of laughs, and the varied levels include distractions and alternative ways to win. (2 to 4 players)
Star Wars: Battlefront II for $20 (PlayStation, Xbox): Split screen is limited to the Arcade mode on consoles, but it allows you to duel with lightsabers or take on a handful of set piece battles together. (2 players)
Nobody Saves the World for $25 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC): This action RPG is an absurd, chaotic dungeon-crawler from the makers of Guacamelee! (2 players)
What the Golf? for $20 (Switch, PC): While this quirky, often laugh-out-loud physics puzzler has little to do with golf, it is an enjoyable parody with a fun party mode. (2 players)
Spacelines from the Far Out for $15 (Xbox, PC): Run a retro-space-age alien airline and cater to the whims of demanding passengers in this randomly-generated co-op management adventure. (2 to 4 players)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge for $25 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC): If you love side-scrolling beat 'em ups like Double Dragon, you will enjoy teaming up with pals to bash wave after wave of enemies. (Up to 6 players)
Cat Quest II for $15 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC): This gentle action RPG is an easy sell for cat lovers as you explore a magical fantasy realm and battle your way across the map. (2 players)
TurboTax coupon: Up to an extra $15 off all tax services
H&R Block tax software: Save 20% - no coupon needed
Instacart coupon: $10 Off any size order + free delivery
50% off any size order + free delivery with DoorDash promo code
Get $15 off $75+ using Afterpay - Finish Line Promo Code
Groupon coupon - Extra 10% off the entire site