Couch Co-op Games

[DelSolMan]

I noticed there aren't that many big games (that don't come from Nintendo) with 2 player modes anymore. Luckily, indie games have picked up the slack and I want to share a few that I've been playing recently. What do you guys recommend?

Overcooked - Available for most consoles and PC

I recommended this game to a lot of people and the ones who bought it have all said they loved it. It's almost unplayable in one player mode and there are no online multiplayer features but where it excels is 2 player action. 4 player gets a little too frantic. You and a partner have to cook and deliver orders and it's an exercise in project management. Imagine a hot potato mechanic where you're passing things back and forth but it involves chopping, cooking and assembling. Once you have it figured out the level design makes it so that you're switching roles frequently. I've never played a game with so much laughing and angry cursing (at the same time).

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Available for most consoles and PC

I haven't spent too much time with this one but to summarize it's like the classic Asteroids if you drove a ship. You control a little dude in a round ship and you can jump from the driving controls to the gun pod. Has a cool retro neon presentation.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes - Mobile, PC, PS4

This is an interesting one. One person reads a manual and cannot look at the screen. A second person has to work together to defuse a bomb. It reminds me of the rally driver - passenger dynamic in a rally race. If you get this game I recommend killing some trees and printing the manual out on paper for a physical experience.

Other good ones: Rocket League, Rayman Legends, Portal 2, Peggle, Mario Kart, Snipperclips, Smash Bros

Steam Link works really well with these types of games plus they go on sale often on Steam.

:)

[dodint]

I have sat on a couch and played Overcooked with Keith. Was great fun.

[Cam]

Xbox 360 indie game called Storage, Inc. There is a Storage, Inc. 2 on Steam, but it just does not have the same magic.

How could you not have mentioned Castle Crashers? It's pretty much THE best Xbox Live Arcade game.

I think all of the Trials (HD, Evolution, Fusion) games have on-screen four player races, like Excitebike.

Of course, there's Rock Band.

[DelSolMan]

I haven't played Castle Crashers. Must look into this.

[TheBenior]

Hmm... I've actually got Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime from when it was featured on PS Plus, but never got around to playing it.

[Rare White Ape]

Lovers was on XBL Gold a while ago too. It’s fun to play, you can do it in SP (Like I did because I’m a lonely loser) but it’ll be much easier with more people helping.

And the music is awesome. It’s a loud game!

[Rare White Ape]

Actually, something I’d love to see within the next 12 months would be a nice, simple, four-player shooter a-la Goldeneye, but designed for modern 4K TVs at 60fps, and that each player gets their own 1K piece of TV real estate, with controls tuned for both mouse/KB and gamepads like 8Bitdo’s offerings. The other major selling point would be that even playing LAN or online play still gives you the four-way split screen presentation of the old days. It’ll still be playable in 1080p of course, but it’d be better off in 4k.

Add alcohol and you have an instant hit.

[21Kid]

If you like RPGs, you can play Divinity: Original Sin all the way through with 2 players. I have it for Xbone. There's story interaction with each character and each other. It's pretty fun. It's on console and PC. The 2nd one Original Sin 2 is supposed to be amazing, but it's only on PC right now.

Diablo III is amazing. I have it for PS4.

All of the Lego Games are fun.

I had fun playing Rayman Legends with my boy.

Castle Crashers is a lot of fun.

Lara Croft: Temple of Osiris is decent.

Rocket League is really fun.

Borderlands 2 is great

Army of two was built for couch co-op. It was amusing.

I really liked Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and similar games. I wish they'd make new ones. It was on the X360. They updated the graphics a little for the Xone, but charged 75% of the original price. Not worth it, when I still own it on the 360.

Rachet & Clank (PS4)

Renegade Ops (Xbox Arcade)

There's a newer version of Gauntlet. It's ok.

I used to play Basketball and Football games with my roommate. It was fun going through a season, seeing who could get the most tackles, INTs, etc...

Dynasty Warriors used to be fun. You can pick from 6987 versions now. :|

There's always fighting games too. Super Smash Bros, Super Street Fighter IV, Mortal Kombat X, etc...

[thesameguy]

Never Alone was a fun two-player coop. Not difficult, good puzzle, good story, pretty to look at.

[Tom Servo]

Cook, Serve, Delicious 2 has a pretty fun co-op mode. It's PC only at the moment, so it's another good Steam Link candidate.

[Cam]

Gah! How could I have forgotten the LEGO games?

[Reynard]

Actually, something I’d love to see within the next 12 months would be a nice, simple, four-player shooter a-la Goldeneye, but designed for modern 4K TVs at 60fps, and that each player gets their own 1K piece of TV real estate

Heh.

I bet if you could find wherever this forum existed a decade or so ago, you'd find the same laments from me (not shooter specific mind you, all games) when HD tvs were becoming mainstream... i.e. don't hold your breath. ;)

[Kchrpm]

From what I can tell, the Halo remakes have 4 player split screen in the games that had it originally.

[Kchrpm]

Also some/all of the COD games have it.

[Reynard]

From what I can tell, the Halo remakes have 4 player split screen in the games that had it originally.

Well yeah, back then the BB's always cared at least. Those being Bungie & Bizarre.

[GreatScawt]

With the new TV setup I've got, and the PC upstairs linked via Nvidia Shield, I'm gonna be looking at the possibility of linking another controller and doing some couch coop/mp games. I'm thinking the new Xbox controller (connected via bluetooth) can connect and I can do it that way. But some experimentation will be involved.

And thanks for the great list is games, guys :up: overcooked and Cook, Serve, Delicious look interesting, and I've always had Rocket League tabbed in the background as a possibility.

[DelSolMan]

With the new TV setup I've got, and the PC upstairs linked via Nvidia Shield, I'm gonna be looking at the possibility of linking another controller and doing some couch coop/mp games. I'm thinking the new Xbox controller (connected via bluetooth) can connect and I can do it that way. But some experimentation will be involved.

And thanks for the great list is games, guys :up: overcooked and Cook, Serve, Delicious look interesting, and I've always had Rocket League tabbed in the background as a possibility.

Sweet. Yeah I heard the newer XBOX controllers work over bluetooth with no issues. Assuming it works like my Steam Link, I also recommend a cheapo keyboard because it acts as a very good desktop/video streamer if you watch local content off your pc.

[Tom Servo]

If, like me, you've been holding off on getting Overcooked until it goes on Sale, it's $5.77 on Steam right now and $6.79 if you want the "Lost Morsel" expansion pack along with it.

[DelSolMan]

If, like me, you've been holding off on getting Overcooked until it goes on Sale, it's $5.77 on Steam right now and $6.79 if you want the "Lost Morsel" expansion pack along with it.

Good deal. Totally worth it.

[Cam]

Bump.

Lori and I are interested in some couch co-op. This thread is over six years old now. Anything come out since then that is worth taking a look at? We are playing It Takes Two and enjoying it. Similar games would be great.

[Kchrpm]

The developers that made It Takes Two also made "A Way Out" and " Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons". Both of those games have twists near the end which may be emotionally tough if you're interested in such things, and Brothers is only multiplayer on Switch according to Wikipedia. Both were critically acclaimed.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance did get another sequel, again only on Switch. It came out in 2019 and I loved it.

I'm scrolling through what comes up when I search "best split screen games"...have you heard of Rocket League? ;)

[Cam]

Lori can’t do RL. :lol:

[Rare White Ape]

Can she act as crew chief and help when strategising endurance races?

[Cam]

Spring Steam sale happening now.

Finished It Takes Two. It was cute and fun. Also a bit frustrating in spots though.

Bought A Way Out, but have not played it yet.

Tried Knights and Bikes. A bit too simplistic for me, I think. Also, I felt like was watching it more than playing it. I really wanted to like this one because of the animation style.

We still play Storage, Inc. 2. :D

The wife seems disinterested in Diablo-style adventures. :(

Bought the Halo collection. We played Halo together quite a bit when we first got together.

Bought Rayman: Legends, but have not played it yet.

Bought Sackboy, but have not played it yet.

Bought Unravel 2, but have not played it yet. (I played a demo for Unravel a long time ago and was interested. I just never pulled the trigger on it.)

[21Kid]

Don't starve together is supposed to be good. Shannon and I tried for a few minutes but couldn't get into it. I think we just didn't try good enough. LOL.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/auth/msa?action=logIn&returnUrl=%2Fen-US%2Fgames%2Fstore%2Fdont-starve-together-console-edition%2Fbq7nmrjt1nq4&prompt=none

[21Kid]

Just saw your thread about playing on PC/Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/322330/Dont_Starve_Together/

[Tom Servo]

Bummer about Diablo-style games. My wife and I are still regularly playing Diablo 4 together, though her necromancer just hit WT4 and is a little squishy at the moment.

[Cam]

Rayman crashed on startup. Requested and received a refund.

Sackboy is a winner. Gameplay reminds me of the Lego games.

[Cam]

Sackboy gets progressively more difficult as you play through. Can’t just relax and walk around, oh no. Gotta keep sprinting to avoid the LASER WALL OF CREEPING DEATH THAT FOLLOWS YOU THROUGH THE WHOLE LEVEL. :lol:

[Cam]

Unravel Two has interesting gameplay, but no lick of story so far. No reason to care about the characters.

A Way Out is very much story, but one of the characters is an asshole. We are watching it more than playing it.

Meh.