This past year alone has shown we all need ways of staying connected, whilst staying apart. Co-operative games are a key ingredient to bridging the socially distanced gap family and friends have had to make.
These games are tailor-made to have you working together from a distance. And if you have a competitive streak, you may even be able to settle some scores!
It Takes Two
It Takes Two is the definition of a co-op game, where teamwork, logic and a sprinkling of competition makes for hours of entertainment.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
In It Takes Two, you take control of Cody and May, a couple at the precipice of a divorce. Caught in the middle is daughter Rose, who unknowingly casts a spell transforming them both into little dolls.
To free themselves, Cody and May must work together in a story which follows all the Hallmark movie signposts of a couple having to set differences aside for the common good.
Levels are comedy gold and add charm to an otherwise dicey plot. Sure we've all seen a couple arguing, but has it ever taken place amidst a turf war between wasps and squirrels? Has a parent ever ran for dear life from their child’s teddy bear before?
As bizarre as the scenarios you’ll find yourself in, puzzles are well designed and will require some surprisingly critical thinking. Each one feels more worthwhile than the last and there’s plenty to chew over with hours of content in the game.
This is helped by every level having different abilities. Early on this might see Cody firing nails into walls to allow partner May to climb, to Cody firing flammable sap onto objects, only for May to ignite them with a rocket gun.
Teamwork is needed in virtually every instance of this game. Except of course, the several minigames scattered throughout levels, which turn the tides and have you compete against each other for ultimate bragging rights.
Whilst you can play co-op with someone on your couch, one of the biggest selling points of the game is the Friend’s Pass system, which allows you to play online with a friend - with only one of you having to own the game.
It Takes Two makes playing together easy, but more importantly worthwhile. It’s zany, creative and engaging. And the way it tackles co-operative gaming is an industry game-changer. And despite an otherwise vanilla plot, there’s real heart to be found in this broken romance.
It Takes Two is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat
Fully remastered and cooked up from scratch, Overcooked! All You Can Eat combines every delicious course of the hit co-op game into one meaty menu.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
If there was one word to describe Overcooked gameplay it would simply be... chaotic. Scurrying around a kitchen trying to do several things at once (and ultimately achieving nothing), has entertained countless friends since the original's release back in 2016.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat packages the same flavour of fun into one sizeable meal. Across over 200 kitchen levels, you’ll bark orders over coms, hoping no one realises that it’s you who’s setting the kitchen on fire.
And with 120 chefs to pick from and access to online cross-platform multiplayer, you have even more ways of enjoying one of the staple co-op games to come out. And if there are too many chefs in your kitchen, you can slip back into all the story-modes to perfect your culinary skills in relative peace.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat is available PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, Steam and Nintendo Switch.
No Straight Roads
With an outrageous plot set to a killer soundtrack, No Straight Roads is an action-adventure co-op couch game with some memorable musical performances.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
You play as two fame-hungry rock musicians, Mayday and Zuke, who dream of bringing a rock revolution back to the neon-metropolis, Vinyl City.
However, these dreams are quashed by a host of musicians specialising in electronic dance music, EDM, and who see no reason to embrace any other style of music, least of all rock. The goal of each level is for Mayday and Zuke to hijack their concerts and re-take that district's airwaves.
Gameplay is a mix of Kingdom Hearts meets Cuphead, where you’ll hack-and-slash your way through cartoony levels until faced with ludicrously hard boss fights.
From fighting a child-prodigy and her overbearing mother to laying waste to cloned K-Pop boybands, the social commentary against EDM and pop culture, in general, is witty. Altogether, No Straight Roads is a relaxing, dip-in and dip-out experience, which never takes itself too seriously.
We need your consent to load this Spotify contentWe use Spotify to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Perhaps the real treat is its soundtrack, which is well-executed and filled with earworms. Don’t ask how classical piano and electronic dance music works together – it just does.
No Straight Roads is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
