10 best co-op games to play in 2025

✓ VideoGamer Summary

• It’s agreed that the first co-op game was Pong Doubles for arcades in 1973, which allowed two players to compete against two other opponents.
• Co-op games on home consoles, such as Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and even Sonic 2, demonstrated how the genre could thrive on these platforms.
• Today, games like Overcooked, Portal 2, Sea of Thieves, and more are known as the go-to cooperative games to play.
• Some of the most successful co-op games include Portal 2, It Takes Two, and, more recently, Split Fiction.

The best co-op games allow players to come together and complete a unified task. This could be set on a ship, in a kitchen, or as part of a team to wipe out a horde of enemies. But it’s the co-operation that defines how fun a game can be. Indeed, some games are built on the genre, while others offer it as an exclusive mode.

The best co-op games are incredibly fun when played together — whether it’s over an online connection or side-by-side in a bedroom. We’ve gone through the archives and picked out ten of the best that you can play right now, which have come to define and improve the genre.

Best Co-Op Games

Portal 2

Portal 2 remains one of the best co-op games to play, and for good reason. Developed by Valve and released in 2011 for PC and consoles, the game tasks two players to work together to solve puzzle-based levels that chain together to form a campaign. Switches must be pressed together, portals must be fired in the right places for the other to reach an object, and much more. 

Portal 2 doubles down on what a co-op game is capable of, and runs with it. Incredibly innovative, very replayable, and the fact that new maps can be downloaded and played thanks to the community makes this one a timeless classic.

Split Fiction

Despite launching earlier in 2025, Hazelight Studios’ Split Fiction has already become a go-to co-op game for many, especially on consoles. Players must work through various levels in a third-person perspective, playing as either Zoe or Mio. You can swing onto vehicles, ride motorcycles, fight bosses, and more, with every moment feeling unpredictable but compelling.

Split Fiction feels like a game from the early 2000s, but in a good way. It’s fast and fluid to control, the story doesn’t get in the way of the gameplay, and the unpredictability that’s offered will keep you and a second player coming back for more.

Overcooked 2

In the late 2010s, Overcooked 2 was a defining co-op game, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Developed by Team17, the game sees up to four players work together to chop, slice, cook, and serve a multitude of dishes under increasingly chaotic conditions. Success depends on everyone working together and communicating as kitchens become more manic.

Overcooked 2’s frantic mechanics have made it a mainstay among local-co-op and online games, especially one of the best co-op games on Switch. It’s perfect for an evening with friends and family, which helps create lasting memories that you’ll reminisce about for weeks and months.

Sea of Thieves

It could be argued that developer Rare has been at the forefront of pushing co-op games forward for years. Battletoads on the NES was a fantastic example of how two players could work together, but it’s Sea of Thieves that showcased how well the studio can do co-op in the open seas.

Released in 2018 for PC, followed by Xbox and PS5, Sea of Thieves drafts in crews of up to four players to sail the procedurally generated seas to complete missions, explore uninhabited islands, and engage in nautical combat. Unpredictability shines in Sea of Thieves, with encounters with other players, monsters like krakens, and its fair share of impromptu hilarity ramping up the fun. It’s these shenanigans that also make it one of the best PS5 co-op games in years. Rare nails the formula of playing a pirate game with others, where co-operation is key, and memorable anecdotes come naturally.

Minecraft

It’s hard to imagine a co-op list without Mojang’s Minecraft. The blocky sandbox game has co-operation at its core: playing with friends and family to create whole new worlds or survive in others, sharing resources, and more. Other modes transform teamwork into a collaborative effort to make elegant art pieces, which only adds to Minecraft’s long-standing appeal.

Discovery and construction lie at the heart of the game—you’re part of a group where every world feels unique, and ideas are limitless. Minecraft’s simplicity makes it accessible to almost anyone at almost any age, positioning it as a timeless classic in the co-op genre.

Fortnite

Granted, Epic Games’ Fortnite is known as a battle royale game, but its co-op modes have defined the title for years. As soon as you dive in, you have the option of playing on your own or in duos and squads. Other modes, like Creative, let you and friends build huge structures in your own worlds, taking advantage of Fortnite’s surprisingly expansive co-op chops.

With constant updates via its Season and Chapter releases, teamwork is crucial to winning matches and leveling up to unlock cosmetics. Ultimately, Fortnite is at its best when played with someone else, or in a team — it ramps up the tension while spurring new ideas and tactics that make the game an easy addition to this list.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley shouldn’t work, but it does. It’s a game that feels plucked from the mid-’90s on the SEGA Genesis console and updated for modern platforms. But instead, Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone released the game in 2016 as a way for players to build and grow farms calmly and elegantly.

But it’s multiplayer where the game shines. Up to eight players can share a patch of farmland, where some tend to crops, others fish, and some fight, all working towards growing and maintaining the land. It’s cadenced to a relaxing pace, too, where there’s no rush. Stardew Valley’s multiplayer mode is a calming, almost therapeutic mode where you and others are guaranteed to have a wholesome, cosy time together.

It Takes Two

Released in 2021, It Takes Two was one of the best local co-op games during the pandemic when many were still in lockdown and restricted to their homes. Available for PC and consoles, the game tasks two players with completing different objectives across levels spanning seven chapters, each with its own unique set of levels. From being shrunk to controlling magnetism, it’s the creativity that makes the game unpredictably fun.

It’s because of It Takes Two’s creative level design that it can appeal to almost any player. From top-down levels to grinding on rails, it triggers memories of previous games from long ago, ramping up the fun and replayability. It’s a perfect game for a weekend to break the ice with someone, and once you’re done, you can try out Split Fiction, the title that Hazelight Studios worked on after It Takes Two.

Left 4 Dead 2

Although Left 4 Dead 2’s co-op mode is an add-on to the main game, it’s an essential part of Valve’s Left 4 Dead series. The 2009 sequel built on what made the first game work so well, with an improved ‘AI Director’ now able to dynamically change certain aspects of levels when you play with others, making encounters drastically different with every playthrough.

Across four game modes and a campaign, you must blow past the abundant hordes of enemies in Left 4 Dead 2, ensuring that your group makes it out alive. Whether that’s healing one another or sharing resources, teamwork is crucial to complete each level. But it’s these factors that make Left 4 Dead 2 an iconic co-op game, even all these years later.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Despite being on the receiving end of heaps of praise when it released in 2023, Baldur’s Gate 3’s multiplayer mode is a hidden gem and a testament to how well co-op can work in a tabletop RPG. Based on the Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition, Baldur’s Gate 3 lets up to four players create their own characters, which are then locked for the duration of the multiplayer campaign, unless they wish to leave.

This is a great reflection of Dungeons and Dragons itself, requiring players to meet up and continue the narrative that you’ve all created in Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s the turn-based strategy that developer Larian Studios has nailed so well here, with every combat decision, plan, or dialogue option influencing your group’s overall story. So few games capture a tabletop campaign with multiple players as well as Baldur’s Gate 3, making it a fantastic co-op game.

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