With all the buzz and attention that single-player story-driven games seem to get, cooperative-focused games often take a back seat. As fun and compelling as these mainstream triple-A blockbusters are, they often pale in comparison to the fun you may have when gaming with a buddy by your side.
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Co-op games demand a different sort of attention, forcing you to collaborate with others in ways that few other forms of entertainment can replicate. If you want your co-op fix, it’s usually a safer bet to head into the indie space. There’s anindie gameavailable for all types of players, whether you’re a pair of budding explorers, wild acrobats, or gun-wielding maniacs.
Updated on July 07, 2025 by Jouanna Bondakji:There are few things better to do with friends than gaming. Games made by mainstream studios are usually easier to discover, thanks to their marketing budgets and popularity in the industry. It’s much easier for indie games to get lost as a result, but there are so many out there that are worth playing, especially with friends. There are countless hidden gems out there, and we’ve added even more of them for you to discover and play with others.
13Phasmophobia
Phasmophobiabrings some horror into your co-op experience, but it also provides some unintentional humor. It has enough jank that you and your friends could spend a good chunk of the game goofing around with your character models and shooting hoops for some good laughs.
But if you want to play what the game actually has to offer, you and up to three other friends can investigate the paranormal indifferent haunted locationsusing all sorts of ghost-identifying equipment. The game encourages voice chat, because the ghostscan hear and understand you. But beware: if you don’t cooperate with each other, you’ll be picked off by the ghosts one by one.
12Spiritfarer
Spiritfareralso deals with the dead, but its take is much morewholesome and cozy. In it, you play as Stella, a Spiritfarer who guides recent spirits of the deceased to the afterlife. A friend can join as Daffodil, Stella’s trusty companion. The game has many simulation elements, so you can fish, cook, craft, and more together.
When you’re not doing that, you get to meet and befriend a variety of different spirits as you traverse the world between life and the afterlife. It’s an endlessly charming game, but there’s a deeper message behind it. Spiritfarer explores the bittersweetness of meeting, bonding, and eventually parting with others, which is always relevant as long as we remain mortal.
11Risk Of Rain 2
Take note of the “risk” part inRisk of Rain 2. You and up to three other players battle increasingly tough monsters on an alien planet. The concept is simple enough, but the game’s mechanics are what make it especially fun. The items you get combine with each other, potentially giving you some unexpected effects with every new one you get.
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Items are also how you unlock more of the game’s lore, and them being randomized (along with the monsters you get) makes for a unique experience every time. The survivors aren’t clones of each other, either; you can choose fromover ten different characters, and each one of them plays differently. There’s a lot to get out of this game, even after the initial playthrough.
10A Hat In Time
Gear for Breakfast’s A Hat In Time was released when there were veryfew 3D platformerson the market. The game sees Hat Kid on a quest to find her missing timepieces in a variety of colourful worlds, and uses her impressive movement and magical hat abilities to get the job done.
A great split-screen co-op mode was added post-release, which allows you to play this wonderful tribute to thegolden era of Nintendo 64 platformerswith a friend. Unfortunately, console versions get the short end of the stick and can only be played in co-op online — if you’re looking for some joyous old-school split-screen co-op action, PC is the way to go here.
9Overcooked! 2
Get your chef’s hat on and turn up the heat as you head into the chaotic cooking action ofOvercooked! 2. As a sequel to one of the most chaotic party games in recent memory, this time around you’ll be whipping up plates to serve in a whole host of wacky locations, including a hot air balloon floating in the sky.
The game’s fun multiplayer modes will have you working together with friends to make increasingly difficult dishes in order to satisfy the restaurant’s notoriously hard-to-please patrons. It sounds simple enough, but it soon turns into absolute anarchy that will see you lobbing all sorts of food across the room and trying to make sure your kitchen doesn’t burn to the ground in the process.
8No Man’s Sky
After a disappointing and extremely rocky launch,No Man’s Skywill probably forever go down in history as one of gaming’s best-ever comeback stories. Aftera slew of significant patches, updates and huge content drops fromHello Games, it has more than succeeded in its original vision.
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One of the game’s later additions was the option toplay and explore No Man’s Sky’s vast universe cooperatively. you’re able to explore the surface of planets, mine materials, embark on certain missions, and build a shared base with a friend. The co-op experience is continually being improved and brings an added layer of depth to No Man’s Sky’s wondrous unending universe.
7Deep Rock Galactic
Explore large procedurally generated alien caverns inDeep Rock Galactic, where you must mine through 100 percent destructible environments to find precious resources. It is a delightfully unique voxel-based looter FPS, where you and three other players are tasked with gathering as many valuables as you can while surviving an onslaught of deadly aliens.
As there are four unique character classes, you’re able to each work to your strengths to head into the vast randomly generated cave network and get the job done. There are plenty of cool gadgetsand advanced weaponrythat will see you slicing your way through rock and alien flesh like tissue paper.
6Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve Togetheris a fantastic multiplayer expansion to the punishingly difficult survival sim,Don’t Starve. At the start of each procedurally generated run, you and a buddy are thrown straight into the thick of it and must work together to survive.
Build a camp, forage for food, plot a farm, andcraft weapons and gearto take on an array of nasty creatures that you’ll stumble upon when you least expect it. After a while, you will build a steady survival rhythm that will see you last a bit longer on each attempt. It’s immensely satisfying and has a lovely off-the-wall Tim Burton-esque art style, which adds to all the doom and gloom when inevitably starving to death early on.You’ll get ‘em next time.
5Terraria
Early in its development,Terrariawas heavily inspired by the sprawling voxel-based survival sandbox thatMinecraftoffered, but the game is distinct enough to make it a classic all on its own. In addition to the huge variety of randomly generated biomes to explore, enemies to fight,bases to build, and resources to gather, the game gives you so many options in regard to the gadgets and tools you can have in your arsenal.
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The entire game can be played cooperatively in either split-screen or online play. You can each choose to go your own way and build your characters how you see fit to help each other mine, build, and take on the game’s series of intimidating summonable bosses.
4Gunfire Reborn
Gunfire Reborntakes the tried-and-trueroguelikeformula and merges it with a chaotic first-person shooting looter game. You have the choice to control a bunch ofadorably fluffy anthropomorphic animals, who each have their own levelling trees and abilities. You can play with three other players, who can all join you in your quest for furry mayhem.
There’s a lot of content to get stuck into, including hundreds of different items and weapons to play with, a deep levelling system, and interesting procedurally generated stages to explore. It’s a great solo experience that is made even better with three gun-toting cutesy animals by your side.
