While playing games alone is always a good time, they’re even better played with a friend or family member.

Not only do co-op games provide entertainment, but they are also good bonding experiences that build relationships thanks to the need to cooperate and figure things out together.

Co-Op Games for a Game Night with Friends

Thankfully, there’s no shortage of great co-op games that you can enjoy with others. Co-op games span just about every genre, so there is a good chance you will find something you and your partner in crime can enjoy.

If you want to start a co-op adventure with a friend or family member, here are ten great choices that will surely bring out the best (or worst) of your relationship:

Don’t Starve Together

Source: Nintendo

Don’t Starve is a survival game akin to Minecraft and ARK with a graphical style similar to Tim Burton movies.

A few years ago, the game received a free update that allows two players to play together, so now you can fight demonic Yetis and try to survive the cold night with a friend!

Left 4 Dead

Source: Steam

Left 4 Dead places you in a team of three other players to take on waves of the undead. While the game is approaching its fifteenth birthday, there is still an active community that plays the game today.

Though the title has seen many spiritual successors with Back 4 Blood and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, the original still remains a staple in the genre.

Moving Out

Source: Nintendo

Moving Out is an arcadey moving game where you and three other whacky characters move furniture out of a house within a set amount of time.

The game is built around its physics systems, allowing you to throw coaches out of second-story windows into the moving truck. There is even a smack button to ensure your friends remain alert.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Source: Xbox

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is an obvious homage to the old Konami beat em’ ups of the 90s like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist.

The newest beat ’em up to feature the heroes in a half shell has fantastic pixel art and allows you to play as all of the turtles, Casey Jone, April O’Neil, and Splinter.

Gears of War

Source: PC Invasion

This entry is not only for the first Gears of War but for the whole series. The series takes a lot of inspiration from Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 while also incorporating a cover system which was very popular upon the series’ first release.

While the Gears series seems to have taken a break after being acquired by Microsoft, it will surely come back and deliver a new and exciting co-op experience.

Castle Crasher

Source: Game Guides Channel

Castle Crashers is a four-player beat ’em up from Behemoth, a studio synonymous with the Newgrounds site. There are multiple knights to choose from, all with different magic abilities.

Throughout the game, you can collect animals that can assist in combat or help find hidden loot.

While originally released on the Xbox Live Marketplace in 2008,  it was remastered in 2015 and is now on just about every console.

It Takes Two

Source: Game Developer

It Takes Two is a co-op adventure game with two players taking on a married couple amid a divorce.

The game was even the winner of the Game of the Year Award in 2021, and while many would chalk that up to a slow year filled with delays, it is still a massive accomplishment for what is essentially an indie title.

Resident Evil 5

Source: Switch Player

Resident Evil 5 was massively anticipated, thanks to the acclaim received by Resident Evil 4. However, the fifth entry was a massive shift, introducing a campaign that can be played by two players.

One player takes control of Chris Redfield while the other player takes control of the series newcomer, Sheva Alomar.

While many fans were disappointed with the shift, others were happy to play through a horror, zombie-filled adventure with a friend.

Cuphead

Source: Nintendo

Cuphead is a run-and-gun shooter that has dominated the indie scene despite being in one of the least popular genres, contemporarily speaking. The game can be best described as a modern Treasure game, thanks to its intense run-and-gun action and the parry gimmick.

The 1930s-inspired cartoon art style is striking and makes it really stand out against the countless pixel art games that have been released as of late.

Portal 2

Source: PC Gamer

Portal 2 may always stand as one of the best co-op games in existence. The mind-bending puzzles from the single-player story are expanded with a second player.

You and a friend have two portals each to figure out the increasingly difficult puzzles, all while being insulted by an ominous and cruel A.I.

Even 12 years after its release, Portal 2 sits at the top of most co-op games, which is a testament to its fantastic gameplay.

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