Best Co-op Games

Snipperclips

Snipperclips, now updated and expanded to Snipperclips Plus, was a launch title for Nintendo Switch. It may not be the newest game on the board, but it’s still interesting and fun and could be pleasant news to anyone that only entered the Switch world lately.
The concept is simple: the two main characters have paper-like bodies that, when overlapped, can clip each other, thus altering their shape. This way they need to solve many puzzles, like fitting an exit-shape or managing to pop a balloon.

Diablo 3

Diablo is the game that defined a genre, Hack and Slash at its purest. Players will explore different lands attacking anything that moves and also things that don’t move for good measure. Playing alone is fun, there is never a dull moment and special abilities often fill the screen with visual effects, there are moments when it’s hard to tell what’s going on and the best course of action is to keep attacking and spamming abilities until everything is dead. With up to 4 players the confusion and excitement are exponentially multiplied. The game has been out for a while, but having a go at it with friends is always good fun.

Divinity: Original Sin

Quite the opposite of Diablo, the two Divinity: Original Sin games are turn-based RPGs that proceed at a slow, deliberate pace. They demand a time investment of dozens of hours, most often upwards of 100 hours, but reward the player(s) with a compelling story and a rich, deeply detailed world to discover and interact with. Sharing these adventures with a friend is like going on a magical, wonderful trip together. Not for the faint of heart or for those who want a quick slice of action, but absolutely recommended to anyone who enjoys elaborate gameplay and well-written storylines.

We Were Here

We Were Here is a series of 4 games in the adventure/puzzle-solving genre. It can only be played online with a partner and it requires that both players have a microphone, because communication is key in these games. The premise is always the same: players awake in different rooms of a castle, with only a walkie-talkie to communicate with each other taking turns (hint: an out-of-the-game audio chat breaks the immersion a little, but is a lot more practical). They need to escape the various rooms they encounter by solving puzzles with hints provided by the other player. Usually, one player can give directions while the other does the actual legwork. The games are not long, each one can be beaten in 2 or 3 sessions, but are quite intense and a nice way to spend some puzzle-solving time together.

Borderlands

What’s better than a gun? A bigger gun. TWO bigger guns. Two bigger guns with mods! The Borderlands series has always been a staple of unconventional shooters, with wacky characters and wackier weapons and more loot than you can shake a stick at. When not shooting at something, players are likely to be running around in some out-of-this-world vehicle, engaging in minigames or just sorting through their inventory and selling loot. Fun fact: one of the minigames is actually a real-life science research, the data from each level is sent to a project to improve human health. If you’re out for a bit of fun, unconventional shooting, you want to go to the Borderlands! Twice the players, twice the mayhem, twice the fun!

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

This is more of a party game, playable with up to… as many friends as you like, really. The objective of the game is simple: the main player must defuse a bomb by deactivating its modules (wires, buttons, knobs and so on). The other players, who cannot see the bomb, must rely on the main player’s description of the modules to find the correct defusing instructions in a manual freely available online. So it will be a frantic race to describe the modules, find the relevant part in the manual and communicate the procedure to the main player. Things can get hectic quickly, as you imagine.

Sea of Thieves

Do what you want ’cause a pirate is free. You are a pirate! Sea of Thieves seems to have been inspired by this line from a popular children's song. This game is actually a large pirate-themed sandbox where you can do anything you like. Treasure hunting? Sure. Becoming a terror of the seas? Why not? Playing a sea shanty together (maybe while your ship sinks)? Ahoy, matey! Sea of Thieves requires players to form a crew, 2 to 4 people, for the simple reason that piloting a ship is not a task for a single person. You don’t just steer it like you would in other games. You need to manage sails, check your direction, manage repairs, man you cannons when it’s time to fight, and all in real-time, so you’ll be running around all the time. Doing it alone would be near impossible and totally boring, but would become fun when done in synergy with other players. Aaahhrrrrr!

Dark Pictures Anthology

The Dark Pictures Anthology consists of 4 different horror/supernatural-themed adventure games: Man of Medan, Little Hope, House of Ashes and The Devil In Me. This is the “1st season”, so apparently there are more games planned. Still, each game has its own story and no apparent connection to the others, so they can be enjoyed individually. They are meant to be played alone, in single-player mode, but there’s the option of joining with a friend locally or online. Each person will then have control of some characters (each game has a roster of 4 or 5 characters), sometimes playing together, sometimes taking turns with different chapters. It feels a bit like watching/living a movie together.

Unravel Two

Unlike the previous game, Unravel Two has 2 characters that can be controlled at turns by a single player or separately by two players. These characters are yarn dolls joined together by a length of yarn that can be extended up to a point. These mechanics will allow players to traverse the different worlds they encounter and solve puzzles. It is a classic platformer that stands out for its nice visuals and novel connected-characters gameplay. It’s a pleasant way to spend some time together with a friend.

Degrees of Separation

This is a classic tale of friends (lovers?) separated by force majeure: Ember lives in a warm, sun-filled world, while Rime exists in a cold world of snow and ice. When the two meet the screen is split in two parts, frozen for Rime and hot for Ember. They must take advantage of their different properties in order to progress in the world. As an example, Ember may swim in a water-filled hole under a gate, then flip a switch to raise the gate and let Rime walk across the water that freezes when he comes near. These cold/heat mechanics takes on different forms during the game, giving variety to a game that would otherwise become stale soon. Just when you think the puzzles start to get repetitive you come to a different part of the game and gameplay changes. In the end, it always comes down to positioning the characters correctly to solve the puzzle, the catch is finding the exact way to do so.

Trine

Let’s end this long co-op list with a long-time favourite: the Trine series. Originally a single game evolved into a trilogy, with a 4th instalment released some time later, Trine can be played in single-player but it’s much more enjoyable together with 1 or 2 friends. Each game has a story, but it’s not really important, the usual stuff about having a kingdom to save, yadda yadda. Our heroes are Pontius the knight, who can kill enemies with his sword or use his shield to parry/smash things; Amadeus the wizard, who can levitate things (or enemies) and conjure planks and boxes out of thin air (just don’t ask him to throw a fireball); Zoya the thief, who can shoot arrows and reach far-off places with her grappling hook. They will have to tackle many sections of the world to get to the end and defeat the bad guy. Each player can freely switch to any character not currently in use by other players, so Trine can be played solo, with a single friend alternating active characters, or by 3 people each controlling the same character all the way. Lots of fun confusion for many hours!