A Co-op Look at Co-op RPGs
RPGs are often a solitary activity. While some subcategories flourish with friends, your standard story-driven fare mostly caters to solo play. But it’s exciting to find an experience you can share with a friend, doubly so when you can do it in the same room. Some RPGs broadcast their multiplayer modes, but there are plenty of hidden gems that you might not have even considered as multiplayer games. That’s why we’ve got a collection of expected and unexpected co-op experiences to introduce you to today!
“Wait,” you’re surely asking, “what do you mean we? There is but a single author listed on this feature!” But nay! You shan’t be reading one perspective, but the opinions of both myself, Player One, and those of my favorite Player Two! In addition to breaking down the basics of each game, we’ll be observing the unique experiences of each player. Sometimes the second player is an equal partner, sometimes…not so much. We’ve taken a sampling of each game, ensuring we experienced most of what each game has to offer in a multiplayer experience. When possible, we’ve finished each game. Either way, we’re comfortable offering up our recommendations (and lack thereof), but first, a little perspective on who we are, in our own words.
Player one: I’m Player One! I’ve written for RPGFan for a while, which probably tells you a bit about me already. I play a lot of games. I’ve played a lot of old games. Most of ‘em are RPGs—the more niche, the better. My golden era is the PS2, when wild RPG concepts were getting AAA budgets from studios that really couldn’t afford AAA budgets, but I’ve been kicking around since Dragon Warrior taught me to read on the NES. I keep up on gaming news, I get excited when my favorite niche series get new releases, and I have Very Strong Opinions™ on the best Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games. In short? I’m pretty similar to the average RPGFan reader. I’ll bring the deep RPG knowledge while I try to convince Player Two that crying during the opera scene in Final Fantasy VI is very normal, actually.
Player two: Hey, Player Two here. I am what you would call a capital “C” casual. I like to play games as long as I am having fun and happily drop them when the fun stops. I’m down with games on console, PC, or mobile with no discrimination between them. Messy, sure, but always down to try something new. Co-op games are great for me because I never have to worry about inventory management, menuing, allocating skill points, or min/maxing. I get to check in for the combat, puzzles and cutscenes and leave the rest to P1. Admit it, you all have a friend like me. Well, I’m here to tell your perpetual P2 what they are in for playing co-op RPGs with you: to help you sell them on a game you know they’d like if they just gave it a chance.
So? Do you trust us to guide you? Too bad. We’re diving in!
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
2019 – Played on PlayStation 4
Tales of Vesperia is an action RPG from a series that’s been around since the SNES. Until recently, entries primarily took place on a 2D or semi 2D plane, lending a bit of fighting game flair to traditional RPG structure. Co-op in Vesperia allows up to three friends to control your party members in combat. The feature isn’t immediately obvious, but it’s easy to set up. Simply set additional characters to semi-auto or manual, and give your friend a controller.
Player one says: The Tales series has always been a multiplayer series to me. Ever since Tales of Eternia pulled me in on the original Playstation, I’ve played through every game possible with a friend or three. The idea of plugging in another controller and taking a friend through one of these vast, world-spanning adventures was incredibly novel at the time and, to a degree, still is. Few games want you to experience long, epic stories with friends, and Tales brings the JRPG melodrama in spades.
Player one carries a lot of weight in Tales of Vesperia, as with all Tales games. After all, I was the one “playing the game.” Running around towns? Buying new equipment? Setting up skills and assigning new artes? That’s all player one, baby! As a long-time fan of spending my life in menus watching numbers go up, it’s pretty great. However, I noticed my co-pilot zoning out here and there, especially when I got to a new town and had all kinds of housekeeping before the next big story scene. The additional voiced scenes in the Definitive Edition helped keep player two engaged when the story kicked up, but most Tales of Vesperia multiplayer feels like playing an RPG in front of a friend while they watch.
The benefits, though? Oh my goodness, how wonderful it is to never deal with questionable party AI (P2 – Just questionable Human Intelligence). Player Two knows when I need heals and never needs to be told to lay off buffs in thirty-second dungeon fights. Player Two can manage their own dang TP resources, and when they ask me for an orange gel, I’m a lot more forgiving than when the computer does. But maybe the most fun is seeing other play styles. Little bits of the game changed based on what player two wanted, especially in party choice.
Tales of Vesperia is a blast as player one. You get all the benefits of a meaty JRPG, but the lulls are paved over by having a friend by your side. You’ve got the best party member ready to bail you out of tough spots. And, if your nerdery is compatible, you can gush over which characters are the cutest or stroke your chins and decide “vigilante justice is very good, actually.”
Player two says: Tales of Vesperia is the first co-op game I ever finished with Player One. After years of listening to them gush over Tales of games, I decided to give it a chance and found my favorite RPG of all time. The story was amazing, the characters were fantastic, the style was fun, and I did not have to work too hard! The first few hours were a bit dull holding a timed-out controller in my hands while P1 explored every nook and cranny, talked to every townsperson, and ran tutorials that I was too zoned out to pay attention to. A common thread in co-op RPGs is that only player one participates in tutorials. I was frequently left in the dust on how things worked and needed a rundown of how new mechanics worked once I was free to join back in.
Then a second character showed up. I was so excited to play! I got my controller back on, switched to semi-auto (a dream feature that let me autorun to the enemies instead of having to navigate the field), and checked out my skills. My skill. I could heal. By the time I found out how to target Player One, the fight was over and I was a little let down. That was until the beauty of the game started to kick in. The cast of different playable characters that I got to try out one after another gave constant new life to the game. Player One set my skills up how I liked and navigated all of the menus for me so I didn’t have to do anything but enjoy the game. Even when I wasn’t engaged in combat, the skits and cutscenes kept me in my seat. And when I did need to get up, I could hand the controller over to my six-year-old and they could hold their own in combat (P1 – That fact is debatable).
I never did get into the nuance of the combat system because I spaced out the tutorials, but I always felt like I was contributing and not bringing the game down due to a lack of skill. This was a great game to pick up or put down on a dime, and it didn’t punish me for not being a gamer. The ability to choose your difficulty by using or ignoring certain combat features was great and let me play to my ability level. All the cred I needed, I earned back rocking the box puzzles anyway, so an all-around win.
Bottom line: So long as player two is fine taking breaks from gameplay, Tales of Vesperia is a blast with a friend.
Final Fantasy VI
(P2 – You mean 3, right?)
(P1 – Sigh. Yes, P2, laugh and the world laughs with you.)
1994 – Played on SNES Classic
Final Fantasy VI hardly needs an introduction. An all-time classic from the Super Nintendo era, it’s easy to miss that the game even has a multiplayer mode. Drop into the options menu and you find an option to assign party slots to a second controller. In battle, the second player controls the selected party members.
Player one says: Final Fantasy VI is top tier Final Fantasy as far as I’m concerned. The ultimate culmination of the SNES heyday, FFVI combines a huge cast of charming characters with a world-spanning story that takes turns few RPGs are willing to, even decades later. We picked this option because I had in my youth played Lord of the Rings: The Third Age with a friend, and its similar co-op mode had hit us just right. The ability to utilize that same concept and use it to introduce one of my favorite games of all time to my favorite person of all time was a no-brainer.
It’s a real shame the co-op mode shows its age more than the game itself does.
See, we had a great time working through the story and learning how each character worked, so much so that we’ll be finishing this game after writing this feature instead of stopping where we did. But to be honest, the second player is just a reason to keep P2’s eyes on the screen. Co-op actively makes the game feel harder as you need to depend on someone else noticing your health when it gets low. The disparity between P2 learning the game and my own muscle memory was a constant drain. Since the co-op really just gives the other player control of a couple characters, there is nothing unique that having a second player brings. You can’t both control the UI at the same time, meaning that the race of the ATB gets more frustrating as you wait for someone else to finish their turn while your character is burning time waiting with a full ATB bar.
Worse, the game seems determined to make your experience sub-par. After-battle text bounces between first and second player control, making post-battle cleanup a pain. Worse is when your party changes. And if you’ve played Final Fantasy VI before, you know exactly how often that happens. You see, players each control a position in the party. In our case, I had the first and third members in the party, and Player Two had the second and fourth. The problem is, you have no choice in where characters go when the game changes them around, so you get thrust into battles controlling unfamiliar characters. This is a real bummer when someone unfamiliar with Blitz commands ends up with Sabin without expecting it. But worse is that once a character is in your party, control sticks with that character, not the slot. Let’s say our good friend Sabin ends up in the second slot, controlled by Player Two. So we go into the party order, swap Sabin with Cyan, Player Two’s favorite character in that section, but now Player Two owns the top slot (with Sabin) while I’m still piloting Cyan in the second slot. So we traverse back to the config menu to change each character manually. The fact that the game works by different rules seemingly at random is the true frustration here, and it’s the reason it’s hard to suggest Final Fantasy VI as a co-op game.
Player two says: As the youngest of four growing up when every game cartridge only had three save slots, I didn’t get to play a lot of video games as a kid. The multiplayer mode in FF3 (P1– Listen, we use roman numerals and the proper numbers in this household!) would have been a game-changer for me if I had known about it. Instead of sitting on the couch watching my older siblings playing for hours on end, I could have had a controller in hand, playing as my favorite characters, making combat decisions, and being involved in picking the pace of dialog. Player two is engaged from the first fight and I would have been over the moon to be a part of the whole game as a child!
As an adult playing with another adult, I don’t see the point. I had to keep a constant eye on the ATB to know when one of my characters was coming up instead of reacting instantly to combat menus. Clicking through post-battle text or in-battle cutscenes (which were super cool) alternated between players, so I had to keep the controller on hand and track who went last. It eventually got easier to mash through text boxes regardless of turn to save time figuring out who was controlling it. A bit of a pain when all other text and menuing were in Player One’s hands. It didn’t feel like I was contributing to the gameplay as much as slowing down the process. I didn’t want to have my cake and eat it too. I was happy to watch Player One eat that cake and get a bit of icing when the time was right.
Juggling who controlled which character got a bit tricky at times because the game could never decide if the controller was assigned to a character or a slot. It added a lot of unnecessary menu time and a lot of surprises after party shakeups as to who was controlling which character. That said, I genuinely enjoyed this game and probably never would have picked it up to play on my own. I might not beat it with Player One, but I will absolutely beat it someday just to see the story. FF3 (P1 – I give up. You win. FF3 it is) isn’t the type of co-op to share with a friend, but if there is a kid at home who really wants to play a game with you, hand them a controller and assign them someone non-vital and let them enjoy one of the classics at your side.
Bottom line: The game’s an all-time classic, and there are worse ways to share that with your less RPG-inclined friends. But the game never feels like it has carefully crafted multiplayer play, so only venture in if you can deal with some frustrations early on.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
2020 – Played on Switch
The Warriors series is no stranger to spinoffs based on existing franchises, but few saw the success of Hyrule Warriors. With Age of Calamity, the formula expands into a more robustly told semi-canonical story in the universe of a single Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. As with most games in the series, player two can drop in in the menu with a quick press of the + button, allowing friends to divide and conquer the series’ huge battlefields.
Player one says: My adoration for the Warriors series is already well documented on the site, but Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity might have the most RPG bonafides of the whole series. With deep equip systems, interesting progression, and a wealth of party members, Age of Calamity let my inner menu lover run wild. But better yet, those menus were quick and snappy, leaving more time for my favorite part of the game: digging into large-scale battles with Player Two.
If you’ve never played a Warriors game multiplayer before, let me tell you, it’s transcendent. Having these wide-open battlefields and having the ability to divide and conquer distant objectives is a truly satisfying co-op experience that keeps you talking the whole time. If you’ve played recent Warriors games, you’ve probably seen this available in single-player modes, simply opening a menu to direct other characters and swapping as needed. But multiplayer keeps you out of that pace-breaking menu, and it ensures the person you send off does their job once they get there.
And the single-player mechanics don’t get thrown by the wayside! You regularly have more than two characters available in a stage, so it’s as simple as sending that one character to a third location, then once you finish your objectives, it’s a race to see who gets to take over as the new character (and thus, not have to hoof it across the map). It’s a little bit of playful competition (P2 – There is nothing playful about the kill count competition) that keeps you invested, as the main gameplay rarely gets too difficult, especially with a buddy by your side.
I had fun with many entries on this list, but this one (more than any others) was actively difficult to put down.
Player two says: If there is any game on this list that I was just gonna play anyway, this is it. Zelda games have always been system sellers for me; I can’t keep away from Dynasty Warriors: Gundam releases no matter how little the story changes from game to game. Mashing the two things together is a winner from all angles. It is essentially a prequel to Breath of the Wild and I loved it. Little baby Sidon? I mean, come on!
My biggest complaint is more a pet peeve than anything. Player two doesn’t get to participate in the tutorial level. While player one gets to play a level all on their own and have the controls spoon-fed to them, I was left in the dust. This is a problem with several two-player games, but it was extra annoying in this one because of how much action the shoulder buttons get. I am not used to those guys being part of my rotation. The learning curve was steep, but so worth it. There are so many unique ways to smash through hordes of enemies with each character. Everyone has their own mix of melee, magic, items, and more to choose from. New characters come in hard and fast when you stick to the story, so there is always someone new to try out.
While swapping through characters scattered on the map to get to objectives done quickly, there was never a point where I was upset at playing a given character. There was always something genuinely useful for me to be doing in combat, and there was a minimum of fussing with menus between fights so we could move on fast, or Player One could explore stats and side content while I was out of the room without me missing the story. We both got to have our fun, and both of us working together enhanced the experience. The co-op was a game-changer and it was all towards good.
Bottom line: Warriors games are always a blast with friends, but Age of Calamity might sit near the top of the bunch for sharing the action with a friend. Coordinating through large maps keeps communication open, and the diverse characters are exciting regardless of which player you are. We have plenty of excellent games on this list, but none kept our attention quite like Age of Calamity.
Divinity Original Sin…kinda
2014 – Played on PlayStation 4
Divinity Original Sin is a classically styled CRPG, complete with deep roleplaying options, ample inventory management, and character progression that’s best served with a couple spreadsheets. The game is built from the ground up for co-op play, with each new game starting by creating two main characters whether you’re in single- or multiplayer. Starting up with a friend is as easy as selecting two player at the start screen.
Player one says: Listen, I have a lot of love for these types of games, even if JRPGs are my wheelhouse. I’ll play more of this game and/or its sequel on my own. But we didn’t get very far in this one… I’ll let P2 explain it.
Player two screams: Short story, I rage quit in under twenty minutes. It takes two to three menus to do literally anything except for walking. None of my actions happened in real time, but the world still worked in real time. In the time it took me to select a poison trap, decide I wanted to interact with it, and find my trap disarming kit, I was nearly dead. Behind the screen blocking menus, I had apparently walked into the poison without seeing, but I still had to back out of the menus to step out of the poison. The controls are clunky, the characters are ugly, the menus are dense, and not at all intuitive, and I hated it. Stupid game.
Player one adds: So yeah, we’re not reviewing this one.
Forward to Part 2!
Best Xbox One Couch Co-Op & Local Multiplayer Games (2022)
With the rise of online gaming, couch co-op seems to be falling to the wayside in recent years. Fortunately enough, there are still some really great games to play on the Xbox One that allow you to pull up with a buddy on your comfy couch and dive right in. Let’s do the same and dive into our list of the best Xbox One couch co-op games in 2022.
Halo Infinite
If you’re looking for a more modern-feeling Halo experience than what’s offered in Master Chief Collection, then the newly-released and absolutely free-to-play Halo Infinite should be right at the top of your download queue.
Boasting a plethora of multiplayer maps and game modes, a Battle Pass system to help track your progression and the same great-feeling arena shooter gameplay, Halo Infinite is an absolute must-play if you’ve got an Xbox console. It works in split-screen, too, so you and a friend can rack up kills together.
Minecraft Dungeons
Minecraft Dungeons is the new dungeon-crawling RPG spin-off that fans of the franchise should have on their radars. And even if you haven’t dabbled in Minecraft before, this is an enjoyable and accessible co-op hack-and-slash that anybody can hop into. The entire campaign is playable with up to four players.
Streets of Rage 4
This modern take on a classic series is a couch co-op experience not to be missed. Streets of Rage’s old-school brawling action was once a mainstay of arcades and university halls of the 90s, and now it’s back again with a fresh coat of paint, enhanced controls, and a suitably rockin’ soundtrack. You can play the entire campaign with up to four players.
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
While JRPGs are typically single-player affairs, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition allows players to have come couch co-op fun by letting players take control of other party members in battle. Things can get chaotic in battles, especially as different characters play around with their own set of Artes. However, with a little coordination, you’ll be able to dominate in no time.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
After far too long, Crash Bandicoot has returned in an all-new adventure on the Xbox One. The single-player brings back the classic platforming action with a modern twist, allowing Crash to utilize a number of time-bending abilities to help him overcome the obstacles in his path.
The entire thing can be played in a Pass ‘N Play mode, where you’ll pass the controller between you and your friend each time you die, providing a way to help calm you during particularly tricky levels as you laugh at your friend failing… and vice-versa.
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
The tower-defense game, turned third-person shooter has returned once again with Battle for Neighborville.
This game takes the world of Plants vs Zombies you grew accustomed to in Garden Warfare 2 and blows it wide open, adding more places to explore, more maps to play through, and even more absurdly good co-op fun.
Spelunky
If you love devilishly challenging 2D platformers, you can’t go wrong with Spelunky. The indie title has you exploring a series of randomly generated caves filled with deadly creatures. Of course, the danger feels much less intimidating if you bring a friend along for the ride, and, luckily, Spelunky supports local co-op.
Sonic Mania Plus
Sonic Mania Plus for the Xbox One is essentially the definitive edition of the game that saw Sonic’s return to form last year.
With a return to speedy 2D side-scrolling, two players can join forces as Sonic and Tails in order to collect rings and complete each stage. It’s classic Sonic fun, so what more could you really ask for?
Wizard of Legend
Wizard of Legend’s local co-op focuses on the Chaos Trials in the game. You’ll both have to dive straight into the action as you take on waves of enemies, strategically change your loadout, and compliment the playstyle of your partner.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced dungeon crawler to check out with your friends, you could do a lot worse than this.
Unravel 2
The original Unravel was a game filled with love and driven by a desire to release a heartwarming story of a family and their relationships with one another.
Unravel 2 follows a similar premise once more, as players watch the relationship between two children grow and evolve over time.
This time around, Yarny’s got another woolen friend to help him achieve his goals. You’ll need to work together to overcome the obstacles and reach the end. It’s a charming game with delightful visuals and some enjoyable platforming action to boot.
Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure
Stikbold is another one of those awesome party games that can double up as both a versus and co-op title. Stikbold is a dodgeball game, and you’ve simply got to knock your opponents out with the ball before they do the same to you.
There are a ton of different arenas to choose from, and the various hazards of each one can really shake up a game. Stikbold is absolutely a game you need to get for when your friends are over.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
With one person tasked with defusing the bomb, and all of the other players using the Bomb Defusal Manual to find the solutions to the various puzzles that need to be solved on the bomb, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes tests your teamwork skills. It’ll also test your communication skills and probably the strength of your relationships, too.
IDARB
IDARB is a frantic 8-player co-op (and versus) experience that has you leaping around arenas trying to throw a ball into your opponent’s goal. Imagine a kind of cross between platforming, soccer, and handball, and you’ve got a general idea of how it all goes.
Not only is it just great fun to score an epic goal against your friends as they sit next to you, the game also features Twitch and Twitter support to dynamically change the way the game plays via hashtags.
Laser League
Laser League is one of those games that’s just perfect for a party. While you can play against your friend or friends if you so wish, you can also team up together and take on the AI.
For those unfamiliar with Laser League, you’ll need to activate traps to eliminate your opponent, while avoiding the lasers coming from their own. It’s frantic, fast-paced, and incredibly compelling couch co-op fun.
A Way Out
A Way Out is a narrative-driven game with mandatory co-op. You and another friend can play either locally or online to plan a prison break and solve puzzles together in split-screen.
Resident Evil Revelations 2
Set between Resident Evil 5 & 6, players are treated to one of the best entries in the franchise in some time with Resident Evil Revelations 2. It takes the series back to the days of stealth, vulnerability, and the need to preserve resources and is a must play for fans of the horror genre.
Quake (2021)
Quake (2021) has just released, bringing an enhanced version of the grand-daddy of shooters to the current and last-generation of consoles. That means whether you’re playing on Xbox One or Series X|S, you’ll get to enjoy this new and improved experience.
Quake features both online and local co-op multiplayer for up to four players throughout its dark fantasy campaign and the expansions that followed. If you’re looking for some plain old shooting fun with friends, it doesn’t get much better than Quake.
Rock Band 4
Being in a rock band is fun. You get to be with your friends, shred on a guitar, and have crowds of fans cheering you on (if you’re good). Rock Band 4 lets you and some buddies live the dream without any of the pesky training or raw talent.
Human Fall Flat
The title may be weird, but so is the game. Human Fall Flat has players solving physics-based puzzles in order to escape dream worlds, and a lot of it has to do with getting thrown around and falling. The best part is that its open-ended, so you can grab a friend for some couch co-op and have fun just messing around with everything you can do.
Death Squared
Like really tough puzzles that are made even tougher by requiring communication? You may want to grab a few friends then and test your wits as you guide some cubed robots around a hazardous level built to kill you on the spot.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
If you’re looking for a good ol’ rootin’, tootin’, shootin’ good time with friends, then Aliens: Fireteam Elite is well worth checking out.
Up to three players can form a Fireteam and take on this third-person survival shooter as you fight off the Xenomorph threat. With other 20 enemy types and 11 different Xenomorphs, there’s plenty to blast your way through with any of the five unique classes, 30+ weapons and 70+ mods and attachments to finetune your loadout.
Terraria
Like Minecraft in the sense that you build you harvest resources in order to build just about anything you can imagine. However, this 2D experience houses even more threats and bigger monsters to contend with as you fight to make a home and not get killed in the process.
20XX
If you’re a Mega Man fan and are looking for something to offer that same fast-paced shoot ‘em up and platforming gameplay then look no further than 20XX. This roguelike offers couch co-op for its plethora of procedurally generated levels and screen-filling bosses. What more could you ask for?
Portal Knights
Portal Knights mixes elements of a few different games to provide a fun experience for either solo players or groups of friends. You can explore and build your world like in Minecraft, but at the core is a solid RPG that will keep you and your friends fighting for hours to get stronger.
Trine 4
Marking a return to the series’ side-scrolling roots, Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is a magical experience for up to four players to take on together.
Combining enchanted levels, with charming characters and story, and a healthy dose of puzzle mechanics to round things off, Trine 4 is a great 2.5D experience you can enjoy with up to three friends.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
While the competitive aspect of Geometry Wars 3 is hard to resist, you can stop trying to dwarf your friends’ scores from time to time to engage in some fun couch co-op.
Portal 2
Portal 2 is a hilarious physics-based puzzle game that’ll see you using a portal gun to navigate complex puzzle rooms. Your ultimate goal is to get to the way out of the room. With a friend, Portal 2 becomes even more chaotic, and is a great way to spend an afternoon with a friend.
Hyper Light Drifter
Hyper Light Drifter is a challenging game that tests your reflexes and ability to fight under pressure.
With death being easy, but combat being so fun it’s easy to not want to put the controller down, even when you have company. Thankfully, there’s local co-op to let any guests dive in and share in the fun encounters.
Dungeon Defenders II
Dungeon Defenders II mixes a few genres together in order to make a solid, horde fighting, RPG experience that uses tower defense mechanics as well. You and a friend can come up with strategies and coordinate efforts to stop enemies trying to destroy your Eternia Crystal.
BADLAND
Love puzzles set in a stark, overbearing world where even the slightest mistake can send you to your doom? Love bringing along another player so you can have help figuring said puzzles out while you laugh at each other’s demise? Pick up BADLAND and see just how good at navigating dark worlds you are.
Just Dance 2021
Just Dance 2021 may not offer groundbreaking visuals or any real advancement in the series’ gameplay, but we’ll be damned if dancing around with your friends, swinging your arms around in your living room isn’t a right old hoot. Plus, it’s great fun for younger players, with plenty of chart-topping hits to keep them grooving away for hours.
TowerFall Ascension
TowerFall is a game that was built for couch co-op, so there was no way we could complete a list without it. Its fast paced, frenetic gameplay makes for fun, challenging levels that push player skill and reflexes to their limits. There’s a cooperative campaign that you and a friend can play through. The fact that you can “accidentally” kill your partner just adds to the tension.
Resident Evil 5 & 6
There are a few Resident Evil games that let you team up with a friend locally to face the infected masses, such as RE5 and RE6. Communicating with someone nearby and giving your once useless partner a bit of purpose definitely makes for a far better experience than playing either of those two titles alone.
Kalimba
Kalimba is not for the faint of heart. It’s a tough puzzle platformer that has you simultaneously controlling two totems as you navigate tricky stages. One slip up, and you’re done. Throw in another player and it becomes even more challenging, which happens to be part of its charm. Communication, and a high level of skill are required, so if you and a friend feel you got both in spades, put it to the test and see if your totems (and your friendship) survives.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
While many cooperative games give each player their very own vessel to pilot or their own mini-screen, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime forces players to work together aboard one ship as they manage its systems and man the guns around the vehicle in order to fight off enemies in a cool, neon-colored world. It’s pretty, fun, and challenging, which is perfect for a game to play while hanging out.
Tumblestone
Tumblestone is a very fast paced game that plays like a cross between Tetris and your favorite match-three puzzle game. While it looks like a simple puzzle game, it actually has a story full of challenges (including boss battles) that you can tackle with a friend.
Battletoads
Battletoads released in 2020, remaking the classic beat ’em up title that had players raging with that motorbike level. You and up to three friends can take on the campaign of this iconic classic in couch co-op, and the good news is that motorbike level isn’t quite as rage-inducing as it once was.
Each of the Battletoads has its own unique attack style, and you can combine their moves together for devastating combos. It’s a fun, light-hearted cartoony beat ’em up that’s great to pass the time on a lazy Sunday.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
While Halo 5: Guardians may have skipped over the feature, the previous Halo games offered some couch multiplayer to let local players experience the epic story. Thankfully, the full series was remastered and released on the Xbox One as the Master Chief collection so you have all the games in one neat package.
Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Gears 4 & Gears 5
You actually have several options when it comes to Gears of War and couch co-op on the Xbox One.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition offers up the original game for you to dive into. Gears of War 4 allows you to take on the Swarm threat alongside a friend, while the newly-released Gears 5 also offers a three-player co-op campaign, Horde modes, and a new Escape mode to boot.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan & Little Hope
Man of Medan is the latest narrative-driven title from Supermassive Games. Players will control and make decisions for a group of young adults as they find themselves on a spooky ghost ship and must try and find a way to escape.
With multiple endings, a Curator’s Cut mode that gives you a glimpse at other ‘scenes’ in the story, and a mode where each person you’re with controls a separate character in the group, there’s plenty of fun to be had in couch co-op with this one.
And once you’ve wrapped up Man of Medan, the next entry, Little Hope ups the ante even more with the same enjoyable gameplay and couch co-op mode, but with a far more enjoyable story (in our opinion).
Madden NFL 22
If soccer isn’t your thing and you’re more into good ol’ American football, then the Madden NFL series is likely already on your radar.
Each entry continues to offer up the ability to play against a friend in local multiplayer or to team up and take on the AI or other players with couch co-op on Xbox one. With new offensive and defensive schemes in Madden 22, you can nail down your strategies even more.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a good enough game on its own thanks to the rogue-like mechanics, twisted imagery, and brutal challenge it presents to players. You don’t have to live through the nightmare alone though. You can bring a friend and both suffer at the horrors of hell and Isaac’s vivid imagination as you escape the clutches of dear ‘ol mom.
Star Wars: Battlefront II
Star Wars Battlefront II brings that galaxy far, far away right into your living room. Its visuals and sound effects are impeccable and feel like they’ve been ripped right out of the movies.
While it’s not possible to play through the campaign with a friend, you can work together with a friend to take on a variety of co-op challenges. They make for a great challenge and will be sure to keep you and your Star Wars-loving friends content for a good few hours at the very least.
Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
There’s a reason Minecraft is so huge. It’s a really fun game no matter how you decide to play it. Whether you search for the end or just try to build seemingly impossible structures, it’s all a great experience especially when you bring in a second creative mind. You can even do couch co-op while playing with players from other platforms soon including the Switch, PC, and Mobile alongside the Xbox One.
Enter the Gungeon
Twin-stick shooters, bullet hell, and rogue-likes combine for one seriously extreme indie experience. You can unlock the ability to play couch co-op which ups the ante for an endless stream of bullets and powerful enemies filling your screen.
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2
Isometric RPGs are always great for couch multiplayer because they allow a clear view of the action for all players. Divinity: Original Sin takes things a step further with its dynamic hybrid camera that splits up when you and your partner want to go to different areas. Of course, we wouldn’t recommend it solely for the camera. The gameplay is full of healthy challenges, tons of customization, and a true RPG experience for you and your friends.
Licensed LEGO Games (Pick Your Favorite)
There’s a long list of LEGO games that you really can’t go wrong on. Covering things like Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Jurassic Park, and many other properties that take you through your favorite movies, cartoon series, or even original stories. They offer tons of content that is always family friendly, and the fact that you can play couch co-op makes them great for a night with the kids or with just about anyone. It’s not punishing since you can instantly revive after accidents, so it’s all the fun without any frustration.
Cuphead
Cuphead is one of the most refreshing games to be released on the Xbox One in the past couple of years, and it also features local co-op, where you can team up with a friend to take down the game’s toughest bosses. It’ll take away a bit of the challenge, sure, but it’ll still be a fun time.
Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War
The fan-favorite Zombies mode returns in Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War once again, with new maps, exciting new easter eggs and weapons to uncover, and some new twists on the classic formula to keep things feeling fresh.
If you’re looking for a way to sink a few hours with your friend in local couch co-op multiplayer on Xbox One, there are few games that offer such hectic fun. It’s also incredibly replayable, too, with a variety of weapons and tactics to help you overcome the hordes of undead.
The Ascent
The Ascent is a cyberpunk twin-stick shooter that sees you ascending through the various layers of Veles as you work your way to becoming a free man. The gunplay is incredibly satisfying, the world immensely detailed, and the enemies varied enough to ensure things remain challenging and interesting.
While The Ascent can feel like a bit of a slog in single-player, it really comes into its own when playing with friends or other players. It makes the grind feel less punishing and you can fill the sluggish periods of traversal with banter with your mates, what more could you ask for?
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection & Borderlands 3
Borderlands is a first-person shooter RPG that’s full of endless enemies, gigantic bosses, and tons of loot.
While it’s plenty of fun on its own, bringing along a friend for some crazy adventures that include shooting psychos and other dangerous denizens is a real treat. Borderlands 3 is always another option, but keep in mind that the split-screen performance in the game isn’t great right now.
Top tier platforming? Check. Beautiful visuals? Check. Fun characters racing along to some seriously good music? Double Check. Rayman Legends is a must have on any platform, and the couch co-op just makes it all the more better. Have fun collecting Lums, beating enemies, and just bouncing around in this stellar platformer from Ubisoft.
Castle Crashers
Don’t let the cutesy art style of Castle Crashers fool you. This is one seriously challenging beat ’em up that will have you looking for help at every turn. The best way to find said help is to have a buddy grab a controller and pull up on the couch right next to you. Time to go save some princesses… and collect tons of gold.
Trials Rising
Trials Rising is the latest entry in Ubisoft’s popular biking series, and it features a cool mode where two players have to work together to balance on a single bike, and move forward at the same time. Like Octodad, except with bikes. We think.
Wargroove
Developed by Chucklefish, Wargroove is a fantastic tactical turn-based strategy game that can be played with and against friends.
You and three other friends can either match off against each other in a free-for-all, or split into teams and see who has the biggest strategic brain among you.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has it all in terms of multiplayer, even for those looking for some couch co-op action. The Special Ops mode continues the story of the main campaign, combining multiple smaller missions into one larger Operation.
Moving Out
Moving house is never actually all that fun in real-life, but if you’re looking for a different kind of co-op experience, then Moving Out is actually pretty darn enjoyable.
Tasking you and up to three friends with moving furniture out of various houses and loading it up as quickly as possible, you’ll need to work together to navigate obstacles, move heavy items, and complete bonus objectives to get the best ratings. It’s chaotic, silly, and incredibly good fun with friends.
FIFA 22
If you’re a soccer fan, the definitive video game emulation of the beautiful game is certainly FIFA 22.
The annualized series continues to bring updated rosters, smooth gameplay on-the-pitch, and more features and modes to keep players entertained and is one of best games for sport fans.
You can play couch co-op in either the online Rivals mode, against the AI, or with one of your Ultimate Team’s. Who’ll get the wins and coins on their FUT account will be down to the pair of you.
Diablo III
Blizzard’s Diablo III is one of the most fun, isometric, action RPGs out there. The best part? It has online and couch co-op. Join your fellow nephalem as you try out different classes, create powerful warriors, and take the fight to hell and heaven. We suggest upping the difficulty to get the most out of this hack and slash experience.
Rocket League
If you haven’t played Rocket League, you definitely need to rectify that. Once you get a hang of the responsive controls and the sick, flipping, rocket powered vehicles, it’s time to dive into some couch co-op multiplayer to take on the world with a buddy. The amount of skill and precision needed really lends itself well to the feeling of accomplishment when you and your friends pull of some insane stunts out on the pitch.
Overcooked & Overcooked 2
Overcooked is one seriously intense cooking game. Think Cooking Mama, only with a much higher difficulty, partners yelling expletives at one another, and mad dashes to get dishes complete. It’s a definite good time that’s sure to fill the room, with laughter, yelling, a bit of cursing, then more laughter. The sequel offers up more recipes to make, dynamic stages that change up as you’re cooking, and the ability to throw items to your fellow chefs. Plus, it’s got online Xbox One multiplayer, so the fun doesn’t have to end when your friends leave.
Finished the first game? Well, Overcooked 2 is there to fill the void with even more excellent levels and culinary challenges to keep you shouting and screaming with laughter with your friends.
It Takes Two
It Takes Two is a fantastic couch co-op Xbox One game that’s only just released in March 2021.
The game follows the story of couple Cody and May who find themselves magically transformed into puppet versions of themselves. The two (that’s you and your pal!) must work together to help return Cody and May to their regular lives.
There are plenty of laughs in here, and the gameplay has a satisfying means of introducing new mechanics as you progress through the game.
A bunch of hidden minigames along the way and stunning presentation make this a quality co-op title that’s a blast to play with friends and family alike.
That’s all there is to it! Those are the best couch co-op games on Xbox One to play with friends. Which ones are your favorites? Let us know down below.
And if you’re looking for more co-op Xbox One games, be on the lookout for these.
Tale True Truth — Hans Christian Andersen
— A terrible incident! — said the chicken, who lived on the other side of the city, and not where the incident happened. “A terrible incident in the chicken coop!” I just don’t dare to spend the night alone now! It’s good that there are many of us on our nest!
And she began to tell, so much so that all the hens’ feathers stood on end, and the rooster’s comb shrank. Yes, yes, the real truth!
But we’ll start over, and it all started in a chicken coop on the other side of the city. nine0003
The sun was setting and all the chickens were already on the perches. One of them, a white short-legged hen in all respects respectable and respectable, regularly carrying the required number of eggs, sitting comfortably, began to clean herself before going to bed and straighten her feathers with her beak. And then one small feather flew out and fell to the floor.
— Look how it flew! said the hen. — Well, nothing, the more I clean myself, the more beautiful I become!
It was said in this way, in jest — the hen was generally of a cheerful disposition, but this did not in the least prevent her from being, as has already been said, a very, very respectable hen. With that she fell asleep. nine0003
It was dark in the chicken coop. The hens were all sitting side by side, and the one that sat side by side with our hen had not yet slept; it wasn’t that she deliberately overheard the words of her neighbor, but she listened out of the corner of her ear—that’s the way it should be if you want to live in peace with your neighbors! And so she could not resist and whispered to her other neighbor:
— Did you hear? I don’t want to name names, but there’s a hen who’s ready to pluck out all her feathers just to be prettier. If I were a cock, I would despise her!
Just above the hens an owl was sitting in a nest with her husband and children; owls have sharp ears, and they did not miss a single word of a neighbor. At the same time, all of them intensively rolled their eyes, and the owl waved its wings, like fans. nine0003
— Shh! Don’t listen kids! However, of course, you already heard? So do I. Oh! Just ears wither! One of the hens was so forgotten that she began to pluck her feathers right in front of the rooster!
— Prenez gade aux enfants — said the father owl. “Children shouldn’t listen to such things!”
— It will still be necessary to tell our neighbor the owl about this, she is such a nice person! — And the owl flew to the neighbor.
— Whoo, whoo! — then both owls hooted right above the neighboring dovecote. — You heard? You heard? Yes! One hen plucked out all her feathers because of a rooster! She’ll freeze, freeze to death! If it’s not already cold! Yes! nine0003
— Chicken chicken! Where where? the doves cooed.
— In the next yard! It was almost in front of my eyes! It’s just indecent to even talk about it, but it’s the real truth!
— We believe, we believe! — said the pigeons and cooed to the hens sitting below:
— Chicken-hen! One chicken, they say, even two, plucked out all their feathers to distinguish themselves in front of a rooster! A risky undertaking! After all, you can catch a cold and die, but they already died!
— Crow! crowed the rooster, flying up the fence. — Get some sleep.
