Ah, couch co-op. A lot of us can fondly remember the best moments of their young life dying endlessly on Legendary difficulty in the good Halo games or having to redo the whole game because you chose the wrong thing in Streets of Rage. If you’ve got a friend or two, a couch, maybe even some bean bags, and a whole afternoon with no responsibilities, these are just some amazing couch co-op games you should also check out.
Absolum
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Switch, Switch 2
Absolum is a tight, stylish beat-’em-up roguelite from the minds behind Streets of Rage 4 that’s built for two players who want to throw hands together. And swords!
You drop into the fantasy realm of Talamh, where magic’s banned and the Sun King is not being a ray of sunshine. You’re part of the resistance, smashing through arenas, chaining attacks and elemental powers. The combat’s crunchy and reward-weighted, and you can really thrive when your partner isn’t flailing on the floor.
The run-based structure keeps things fresh with new nodes, new enemies, and a little bit of narrative that sneaks in under the fists. The visuals lean into expressive, hand-drawn flair and the soundtrack goes pretty dang hard. This is a pretty new couch co-op game, but don’t let it pass you by.
A Way Out
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox
The cool thing about A Way Out is that you can’t play it alone — at all. It’s built entirely around two players, either couch co-op or online, working together through a split-screen narrative about two convicts, Leo and Vincent, trying to escape prison and survive what comes after. Josef Fares and his team at Hazelight made a story-driven game that’s mechanically tied to cooperation instead of just stapling it on, and it’s brilliant.
The player might be in a cutscene while the other’s free to wander, causing trouble or trying to instigate a bit of Connect Four. Every section demands some level of communication, whether that’s timing a distraction, lifting a gate, or driving terribly during the inevitable chase.
It’s short, focused, and built around shouting each other, but in sync. Whether you’re side by side or online, it’s two players only, which feels perfect for a surprisingly emotional story about uneasy teamwork. Also, Connect Four.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series
It’s kinda crazy that this one is even couch co-op at all.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a deep, cinematic Dungeons & Dragons adaptation with sprawling dialogue trees and moral quandaries. But really it’s you and your couch co-op partner arguing over who gets to romance the vampire and/or and who accidentally set everything on fire.
You can play it entirely solo, sure, but it’s much better when everyone’s trying to roleplay at once and the story keeps breaking in new, hilarious directions. One person’s noble hero is another’s kleptomaniac who can’t resist stealing during cutscenes, and the game somehow keeps track of it all like that weird bloke with the scroll in A Scanner Darkly.
Turn-based combat forces actual coordination, and the branching story feels alive even when everyone’s working at cross-purposes. It’s smart, funny, and full of role-playing, but do bear in mind that you’ll need to pour dozens upon dozens of hours into it.
Borderlands 2
Players: 2
Platform(s): PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch, Switch 2
Borderlands 2 is still the high point of the series. Is that a big compliment to the game or an insult to the rest of the series? Regardless, this one is perfectly tuned for co-op. The story’s there but the world’s loud enough to keep you locked in. You got endless loot, cartoon violence, and enough one-liners to fill a bad stand-up routine. Gearbox refined the formula here, turning every firefight into a scramble for better guns and louder explosions.
Co-op is where it shines. The split-screen setup isn’t just tacked on, as skills genuinely mesh, from turret support to elemental mayhem. The loot system still wants you to quit your full time job, but that’s part of the fun. Everything feels faster, messier, and more unpredictable with friends, and even at its age Borderlands 2 is a blast to pick up.
It’s dumb in a smart way — or maybe smart in a dumb way — and few shooters have managed that balance since.
Cult of the Lamb
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Cult of the Lamb is a bizarro mix of cosy management sim and light demonic possession. You play as a possessed sheep turned cult leader, balancing sermons, sacrifices, and the occasional dungeon crawl. It’s pretty daft stuff that feels like Happy Tree Friends took a strange turn
The co-op update finally made it something where you can, well, make a cult with a mate. You can bring a friend in for local play and run dungeons together, clean up after followers, or argue over who gets to indoctrinate the next believer. The loop of building, fighting, and cleaning vomit off the floor is a lot funnier when someone else is there to suffer with you.
Cult of the Lamb makes heresy feel like a weekend hobby, and couch co-op just amplifies the fun. Two players is plenty — have you ever heard of a cult with more than two leaders? That’s not a cult, it’s a rugby team. Or something.
Cuphead
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Cuphead doesn’t really need an introduction. It’s the game that made everyone nostalgic for the 1930s and then immediately sank them into a Great Depression. It’s a run-and-gun boss rush dressed like a Fleischer cartoon but check under the outfit and oops there’s a knife.
The co-op makes it equal parts exhilarating and infuriating. Two players share the same suffering, with you dodging bullets, reviving each other, and dying in sync to the same ridiculous grin from a giant carrot. The difficulty doesn’t scale down, so you either find a rhythm or implode completely. It’s less about winning and more about mutual suffering with good art direction.
Everything here is handcrafted, from the animations to the soundtrack, and it really does still look and sound incredible. Few games feel this precise. Whether you’re at the same screen or online, Cuphead is a co-op game worth persevering through as far as your relationship’s health can take you.
Diablo 3
Players: 4
Platform(s): PS3, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Diablo 3 is comfort food. You’ve got loot, demons, and a lot of clicking. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve cleared a dungeon; the numbers keep going up, and that’s all anyone really needs. The story’s alright, but the rhythm of smashing through hordes of demons, collecting glowing junk, and immediately re placing it with slightly shinier junk never gets old.
The couch co-op setup on consoles is where it really shines. Up to four players share one screen, tearing through dungeons and hoovering up loot until you can’t tell who’s who under the particle effects. It’s messy, but the good kind of messy. like eating takeaway with your bare hands.
Blizzard nailed the balance between simple and satisfying. Combat feels weighty, the builds are fun to experiment with, and it’s easy to lose hours without noticing. It’s the perfect “just one more run” game, and the fourth game isn’t too bad either.
Don’t Starve Together
Players: 2
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Don’t Starve Together is a relationship test disguised as a survival game. You and your mate get dumped into a gothic wilderness with nothing but twigs, anxiety, and a vague hope that you’ll figure out how to not die. Spoiler: you won’t. The world hates you, winter’s worse, and something’s always eating your crops or your sanity.
It’s gorgeous in an “Tim Burton ran out of Wednesday money” way, and it holds up pretty well still. Every session starts with optimism — “we’ll build a base, we’ll get organised!” — and ends with someone setting the camp on fire while everyone starves.The game said not to do that! It’s the perfect blend of mayhem and routine. You chop trees, make soup, scream at the darkness, and repeat.
If your idea of teamwork involves mutual suffering and haunting each other as ghosts, Don’t Starve Together could be just what you need.
It Takes Two
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
It Takes Two is Hazelight doubling down on what A Way Out started — a co-op game that actually needs two people instead of pretending to. Every mechanic, puzzle, and boss fight is built around coordination and mild domestic conflict. You play as Cody and May, a couple turned into dolls by their daughter’s magical breakdown. They’re trying to fix their marriage while torturing you elephants in the process.
Each level throws a completely new idea at you — platforming one minute, flying squirrels and snowball fights the next — and it all works really, really well. Even people who don’t play games will be able to get something out of it. It’s absurdly varied, perfectly paced, and occasionally heartfelt.
It’s also the best kind of couch game: equal parts teamwork and waiting patiently for your non-gamer girlfriend to make a simple jump. You can play online too, but it feels better in person, laughing, swearing, and trying not to blame each other.
Lego (all of them)
Players: various
Platform(s): various
The Lego games are the definition of sharing a pillow that happens to smell like your childhood. It’s pure comfort. You’ve played one, you’ve basically played them all, but that’s not a complaint. Whether it’s Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, or Lego Lord of the Rings, the formula still works: smash everything, rebuild it worse, and laugh while plastic Yoda wails.
They’re built for two players, local co-op, and pure low-stakes fun. No timers, no real punishment, just shared bits of plastic and the occasional accidental punch to your friend’s face. The later games add bigger hubs and voice acting, but even the older silent-era ones still have a tonne of charm, maybe even more.
You don’t play Lego games for depth, you play them because your brain hurts and you need to chortle politely at some references. Simple, funny, and best enjoyed next to someone else breaking the same furniture you just rebuilt.
Moving Out
Players: 4
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Moving Out takes the simple act of furniture removal and turns it into Takeshi’s Castle. You and up to three of your mates are a team of “Furniture Arrangement and Relocation Technicians.” That sounds professional until someone launches a sofa through a window, and also it actually spells FART. It’s basically Overcooked but with fewer onions and more shattered glass.
Every level gives you a house full of oddly shaped objects and far too little time. The physics system ensures nothing goes as planned. Beds get jammed in doorways, TVs fall into ponds, and teamwork immediately turns into shouting. It can be rewarding when you realise you can shave seconds off a run by hurling a fridge across a river.
What keeps it fun is how little it cares about realism. It would be no fun if everyone got a hernia. You can slap ghosts, dodge traffic, and commit light arson, all in the name of a five-star rating. It’s endlessly replayable and perfect with friends who don’t mind losing repeatedly and enjoy blaming someone else.
Overcooked!
Players: 4
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Basically Moving Out but with saucepans, Overcooked! is a good way of testing just how good your friendships actually are. You and up to three pals are trapped in increasingly ridiculous kitchens, frantically chopping, frying, and serving before everything catches fire. It’s simple to explain and very hard to master, especially when you are a bunch of idiot sandwiches.
Communication is everything, which of course means nobody actually communicates. Someone’s always shouting for onions, someone’s washing plates in the corner, and someone else is just spinning in circles because the kitchen’s on a moving truck now. It’s brilliant because it never stops escalating and it never gives you time to think or fetch your health and safety certificates
The sequel added online play and the ability to throw ingredients, which somehow made things worse in the best way. It’s stressful, hilarious, and occasionally tragic, like Gordon Ramsay meets Wipeout. That should sell it to you.
Portal 2
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
You could argue that Portal 2 is a puzzle game that works better with a partner, mostly because you both get to be smug and wrong at the same time.
The co-op campaign is separate from the main story, starring two mute robots who solve death traps for science and the occasional round of mockery from GLaDOS. It’s a brilliant mix of spatial reasoning, timing, and dry humour.
Every puzzle demands actual cooperation. You’ll spend half your time congratulating yourselves and the other half realising you’ve just flung your partner into a wall. The writing keeps it light, the physics are still incredible today, and the sense of accomplishment when something finally clicks is unmatched.
It’s playable online or in local split-screen with two players, and it remains one of the smartest examples of how to make teamwork fun without turning it into babysitting. Few games make problem-solving feel this fun.
Rayman Legends
Players: 4
Platform(s): PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch, Switch 2
In Rayman Legends, everything feels effortless. Every jump, kick, and punch lands exactly where you expect, and with another player (or up to four), it somehow stays just as tight. Ubisoft Montpellier nailed the rhythm, building stages that almost play like musical tracks even before you reach the actual music levels.
It’s co-op done right, in that it’s forgiving but not a walk in the park. You can revive each other instantly, bounce off your friends mid-air, and still keep the flow going no matter how much nonsense is unfolding. Case in point: a musical level soundtracked by a gibberish cover of Black Betty.
Even if you’re allergic to mascots and collectathons, Rayman Legends makes it easy to give in — few platformers feel this smooth, or this happy to have you. We’d be happy to have Rayman back again soon.
Resident Evil 5
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Switch
Resident Evil 5 isn’t the scariest entry in the series, but it might be the most fun to play with a friend. It turns Resident Evil into a sun-drenched action movie, with explosions, roundhouse kicks, and more biceps storytelling IQ. You and a partner take on the roles of Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, punching your way through parasites, cults, and control schemes.
The real draw is the co-op. It’s built around two players, either split-screen or online, and it works beautifully when both of you are in sync and the game just works. Sharing ammo, managing health, and covering each other under pressure turns the game from a clunky shooter into a proper teamwork exercise.
Sure, it has its rough edges, but that’s fine. Sometimes survival horror doesn’t need subtlety, something something boulder punching let’s move on.
Split Fiction
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series, Switch 2
Split Fiction feels like the natural next step for Hazelight after A Way Out and It Takes Two. It’s another fully co-op experience built entirely around two people trying to work together without falling out. Once again, you can’t play solo. It’s strictly two players, either local or online, and that’s what make it so bloody fun.
This time you’re swapping between story worlds, shifting genres and mechanics as you go. One level might play like a sci-fi platformer, t he next like a puzzle-driven adventure. Hazelight’s trademark split-screen presentation is back too, always doing something inventive rather than just dividing the screen for convenience.
It’s slick, confident, and built with the same blend of spectacle and silliness that made their earlier games click. While it may not hit as hard emotionally, Split Fiction is another smart, stylish excuse to spend a few hours blaming someone else for your mistakes.
Streets of Rage 4
Players: 4
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Streets of Rage 4 shouldn’t have worked. Reviving a 16-bit brawler thirty years later sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. But Dotemu and Guard Crush Games somehow pulled off one of the best modern beat-’em-ups, and also, of, well all time It keeps the feel of the originals while sharpening everything with tighter combat, flashier animations, and a soundtrack that makes punching a man through a bin feel absolute peak.
While still fun alone, it’s built for co-op. Up to four players can team up locally, or two online, and the pacing’s spot-on whether you’re juggling enemies with friends or fighting for the last roast chicken like you’re at dinner with John Goodman. Tag-team combos, quick revives, and a nice lashing of silly bollocks to keep you on your toes.
It’s proof you don’t need to change everything with a sequel. Sometimes you just need three friends who know that you are picking Blaze not just because of her outfit. Sure mate, sure.
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge
Players: 6
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is loud, beautiful, and gloriously stuck in the early 90s. It’s just like me!
Tribute Games managed to take the feel of the old arcade beat-’em-ups and make it slick enough to work today without sanding off the cheese.
You can play as all four turtles plus a few extras, with up to six players in local or online co-op. Yes, six players. Even on Switch! It sounds messy, and it absolutely is, but it’s the fun kind. The screen’s full of bodies flying around, someone’s yelling about losing track of their character, and somehow you’re all still having a great time.
It’s comfort food for anyone who grew up mashing buttons next to a mate. It’s short, sharp, and stupidly replayable for players of all ages. Pure arcade joy done right.
Unravel Two
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
You’ve had your beat em ups. Now here comes the yarn em up.
Unravel Two takes the quiet, sentimental platforming of the first game and turns it into a proper co-op experience. You and a friend each control a tiny Yarny, which immediately makes everything double as twee. Every jump, swing, and climb depends on how well you can coordinate, or how patient you are when your partner keeps missing the ledge.
It’s built purely for two players, either local co-op or solo (but honestly, that misses the point). The puzzles are clever without being smug, forcing you to use the yarn connection to swing each other across gaps, lower platforms, or pull objects into place.
Unravel Two isn’t about beating the final boss and being the best. It’s about figuring out how to move together without coming undone.
Untitled Goose Game
Players: 2
Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
Untitled Goose Game is the only stealth game where the objective is to be as annoying as possible. You play as a horrible goose let loose on a sleepy English village, honking, stealing, and emotionally scarring everyone within beak’s reach. It’s deeply satisfying.
The co-op update made it twice as funny. Double the honking, double the psychological warfare. It supports two players locally, and that’s all it needs. You’ll spend most of the time wordlessly coordinating destruction. One goose distracts a gardener while the other steals his keys, or you both chase a small child into a phone box purely to cause trauma.
There’s no pressure, no timers, and no real consequence. It’s just mischief as a team sport. Untitled Goose Game proves that not every co-op experience needs high stakes or fistifcuffs. Sometimes it’s enough to ruin someone’s day together.
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