When you’re dropping into a cooperative game, you’ll find a lot of them take a ton of setup, learning and time to figure out, and it’s a big commitment every time you want to hop on.
However, there’s a good bunch of co-op games that just let you and your friends work together towards a common goal, and anyone can easily pick them up and begin playing immediately.
10 Best Co-Op Puzzle Games
These are the best and most puzzling games for best buds to play around in.
These games let you hop in or quit out whenever you want, and are always a great time when you and your team can keep working at something and feel accomplished by the end.
These are just my personal favorite non-competitive multiplayer titles that easily let you stop whenever you desire, and pick it right back up and be back at peak performance within a few minutes.
10Terraria
Remember to Share
Terrariais the best Sandbox RPG out there, and whilethe multiplayer can be a bit stressful in a world with limited resources,one thing you can do to make it even more strategic is ration your stuff with other people.
It’s pretty easy to join the world, get kitted out by the people who have played more, then go mining and be the first to finally find Hermes Boots, making everyone else pretty vapid.
Taking on bosses togetheris fun, and even when no one else is on, you may still fish and mine and grind for new weapons to help everyone else out when they’re back on.
I love asynchronous multiplayer experiences. That’s what makesTerrariapretty great for me, since you can have a good time by yourself and have everyone else impressed with whatever you’ve got.
9No Man’s Sky
Plenty of Space
No Man’s Sky
Speaking of asynchronous multiplayer, it doesn’t get any more open thanNo Man’s Sky, where there’s a practically endless number of planets for you and your squad to explore and harvest.
You can create big bases on the ground together or expand into a massive space station, pooling all your resources as you head out to do one of a million tasks together.
10 Best Co-Op Platformers
Gaming is always better with a friend.
There’s so muchstuff to do in this game nowadays, which makes it all the nicer to have you and your buddies working together on the same big project, working towards every goal you can.
You could have one person out fishing, another working on constructing more parts of the base, and another just flying around the universe to find more planets to decimate in the name of progress.
8Webfishing
A Calm Vibe
Webfishing
If you’re looking for a game to just fish, thenWebfishinglets you just fish. It also allows you to make and join big servers where you and all your friends can hang out and talk about whatever.
It’s easily the most chill game on this list, one you can get sucked into and enter a Zen state where you fish for hours while listening to funny royalty-free music on the speaker, and heading back for more bait every so often.
you may help each other out by showing off whatever secrets you’ve found, or just help out by being good company while you sit together and watch the waves go by before jump scaring everyone with an oarfish.
I’ve had times when I just hop in voice chat with friends, boot up this game and sit at the docks, peacefully casting my rod and locking in while mashing 60 times on a two-star catch. It’s awesome.
7Super Mario 3D World
A Crown Jewel
Super Mario 3D World
I could put just about any four-playerMariogame on this list, but I decided on3D Worldin particularbecause it’s incredibly good, for one, and also because the Multiplayer is a fun kind of chaos.
All four characters have different stats, so no matter which one you get, you will have a unique experience from everyone else and potentially attempt to throw them off the level when you get the chance.
There’s a lot of fun to be had in collaborating on trying to cheese a Green Star instead of doing it the usual way. Trouncing through a level in a quadruple set of catsuits is a powerful experience.
It’s an incredible feeling playingSuper Mario 3D Worldin coop. All the platforming feels built around Multiplayer, and no matter what, every player has something to contribute as long as you’re not playing on Champions Road, in particular.
6Minecraft
Built Together
You’ve playedMinecraftbefore. So, if you don’t have the 2-week-long phase every year when you and your friends hop on a server, beat the dragon, play for a bit longer, and then wait another year to play again, are you even living?
I absolutely love starting off by going mining, building a funny little starter base, and then being told one of my friends had already made a Nether portal. So, I hopped in and started bartering for a solid half hour.
Minecrafthas always been the perfect mix of relaxing and stressful, with endless avenues for exploration and cooperation. Even if you’re not actively working together, dropping in and seeing your buds occasionally is fun.
Gathering together for big events, like the server’s opening, the first time in the Nether, and fighting the dragon, are some of my favorite memories on servers I’ve run. Most of this is only possible because it’s so easy to drop-in the multiplayer.
5Super Mario 64 Co-op DX
Peak Co-ordination
WhileSuper Mario 64Co-op DXis a mod for the fan-made PC port of the game, it offers such a uniquely different experience from the base game that I felt entirely obligated to include it on this list.
I booted this up on Mar10 day, jumped in voice chat, and expected to only play it for a bit and get a few stars. But my friends and I worked together and 100% of the entire game within a few hours.
It’s incredibly simple to set up, and you can join sessions through a link on Discord. Once you’ve beaten the base game, you can start running through any compatible ROM hacks.
If you have any admiration forMariogames, even if you’ve never playedMario 64before, I absolutely recommend trying this mod and working together with your friends, where you’ll all be collecting stars on different levels.
4Deep Rock Galactic
Rock And Stone
Deep Rock Galactic
If you’ve ever wished to be part of a dwarven mining operation with you and your pals, plus a bunch of guns and a few drinks, thenDeep Rock Galacticis an excellent choice to have a great time.
you’re able to hop in at any point with your crew and go on a few expeditions through procedurally generated cave systems together while trying not to be an idiot and fold whenever you see a slightly strong enemy.
8 Best Co-Op Sandbox Games
Building something pretty next to your friend’s dirt hut has never been easier than with these games.
It’s so easy to dip in and dip out because no matter your experience level, you’ll feel like you’re contributing somehow by mining whatever shiny stuff is in your direct path and then dipping out to the hub.
Deep Rock Galactichas well-paced sessions that feel satisfying. It’s one of the best games at promoting cooperation with you and your teammates. There isn’t much else to say other than Rock and Stone, Brother.
3Castle Crashers
Full Infiltration
Castle Crashers
While there’s a ton of hack and slash or beat ‘em ups with hamfisted multiplayer modes,Castle Crasherswas intimately designed around its co-op, constantly feeding you enough enemies that everyone has to work on something.
It’s also a hilarious, creative, and incredibly fun game with the same vibes as old 2000s flash animations. It’s also pretty easy to pick up and play since its only concept is beating up anything in sight.
Everyone fulfills a unique role. Whether you’re zoning everything out and sitting in the back or trying to get up close and personal and dying a few dozen times, you’re going to enjoy the carnage.
The bosses are an especially fun event. It’s one of the rare times that everyone focuses on the same enemy, making it feel like a huge collaborative effort to take it down. It’s simple, it’s great, and it’s a classic for good reason.
2Jackbox Party Packs
Choose Your Chaos
Jackbox party pack 8
While there are a ton ofJackboxgames that are ratherchill competitive experiences, plenty of them have you working together on something. I’d like to highlight a few of my favorites since they’re all designed around quickly dropping in or out.
Dodo Re Mi is a rather recent one from pack 10. While I initially didn’t like it, it grew on me a ton, and the Rockband-esque aspect of working together to make one cohesive piece of music is really satisfying when it comes together.
Quixort is an incredibly addictive puzzle game from Pack 9. You and your team stack trivia answers on a conveyor belt, trying not to clutter things up while also making more accurate guesses than the other team.
Poll Mine from Pack 8 is probably my favorite implementation of a cooperative game. It requires you and your team to collaborate on answers to questions while also not giving the other team information, and it’s remarkably hilarious and strategic.
1Lethal Company
Quite Scrappy
Lethal Company
You probably knowLethal Company, and I think its emphasis on being hilarious while also maintaining a very strategic and team-based gameplay loop makes it easily one of the best co-op titles.
You can hop out and hop in whenever the ship is in orbit, and no matter what, you can be acore part of the squadand contribute just as much as everyone else. As long as you don’t perish, that is.
It’s simple: run in, avoid the threats, grab scrap, and get out. But you could also be the terminal guy, using walkie-talkies to communicate with everyone or be bait for the monsters so everyone else has an easier time.
The numerous items you can buy and the various layouts of all the facilities make this game different every single time, and I love it for that. Plus, hearing someone’s scream get cut off as they get dragged into the darkness is funny as hell.
8 Best Slow Burn Multiplayer Games
Multiplayer games where you have your fun without worrying about the end being nigh.
