No matter how exciting, difficult and challenging a singleplayer game can be, they can never offer the same challenges that co-op games have. No matter how good you are, you won't win in a co-op game if you cannot cooperate with your teammate.
Other than that, anything is better when you are doing it with your friends. Co-op games allow you to slay evils and explore the world side by side with your buddy or just simply have fun and beat the shit out of each other. Whether you guys are playing together on a couch or via the internet, playing co-op games with your friends will create countless funny and memorable experiences for both you and your friends.
Here are some of the best co-op games you can find to play with your friends.
1. Gears 5
We are going to start with a very famous co-op shooter game, Gears 5. Gears 5 is the latest installments of Gears of War franchise, developed by The Coalition. Gears 5 brings back Kait as the main character to find out about the origins of the Locust and Kait's family.
The singleplayer mode of the game allows you to play with up to 3 other friends locally or online. There is also a new co-op mode called Escape mode, where 3 players work together to eliminate the Swarm and try to reach the exit. Each level in this mode is shorter and requires more coordination, which is perfect to play with friends.
Gears 5 is available for Xbox One, Microsoft Windows.
2. Don't Starve Together
Don't Starve Together is a base-building survival game from Klei Entertainment. It's the multiplayer version of the survival game Don't Starve.
Nothing can test your ability to cooperate with each other like a survival game. First, you need to keep yourself alive by gathering foods to eat and resources to make tools. As the game goes on, there will be more work to do. You will have to split the workload evenly to make sure everyone survives from dangers such as hounds, the winter, or darkness. The world is huge and there is always something new to explore to survive another day.
You can play Don't Starve Together on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
3. GTA Online
Grand Theft Auto Online is an open-world playground which constantly evolving. There can be up to 30 people in a single world, each with their own story missions. Players can gather together to take up different roles to complete a big heist, including stealing cars, scouting, or assassinate. All the missions are designed very cleverly so everyone feels like they are an important part of the big scheme that will earn them an ultra-large sum of money in the end.
You can play GTA Online on PS4, Xbox One, PS 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows.
4. Sea of Thieves
A good thing about Sea of Thieves is that you can absolutely do whatever you want with your friend in a beautiful open world. You can sail a ship going around without any particular destination, enjoying the scenery while chatting. You can drink grog until you throw up, play an instrument or firing your cannons at each other. Other than that, you can also mess up with other people and fight their ship, hunt treasure, battle a skeleton fort,...
You can play Sea of Thieves on Xbox One, Microsoft Windows.
5. Portal 2
Portal 2, developed by Valve, is one of the most innovative puzzle games in the last decade. You and your friends will be playing as 2 testing robots Atlas and P-Body to go through the testing routine of GlaDOS. The game requires players to have a good three-dimensional spatial thinking to overcome impossible puzzles using portals. The fun of experimenting and trying weird methods to get through a level is what makes the game great. If you have already finished all the level in the game, there are still an endless of other maps created by the community in the past few years for you to explore.
Portal 2 is available for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
6. Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is another great product from Valve, taking place in a zombie apocalypse world. You and 3 other people have to work together as a team to survive hordes of zombies. From all kinds of guns to devastating melee weapons, you will have all weapons you ever need to make those undeads dead. The mutations mode will always keep the game fresh every time even for experienced players.
The community is also a reason why Left 4 Dead 2 is highly recommended. They have been creating new campaigns for everyone to play on top of base campaigns, creating all sorts of fun cross-over with other franchises.
Left 4 Dead 2 is available for Xbox 360 and PC.
7. Cuphead
Cuphead is a brutal, punishing run and gun game, in contrast to its adorable characters and graphics. Luckily, you don't have to go through all of it alone and make your friends suffer with you in co-op mode. Your friend will play as Mugman, Cuphead's brother. But, before fighting the boss that you have been stuck on for months, make sure to take your friend to the store and gear them up first using your coins.
There is no feature for you to play with your friend over the internet in the game. However, you can work around that using Nvidia's GeForce Experience if your friend can't come around.
You can play Cuphead on Switch, Xbox One, and PC.
8. Heave Ho
This special co-op game can potentially destroy all your relationships by swinging them around and drop them to death.
You and your friends will be playing as characters with unusually long arms to grab onto objects or other players' hands to reach the end of the map. Apart from skill and timing, one very important factor in this game is trust. You need to let go and swing yourself across the air, trusting that your friend will catch you... or not. There will be more obstacles in your way of strengthening your friendship such as spikes at higher levels.
You and your friends will definitely have some unforgettable moments and laughter playing this game.
Heave Ho is available for Switch and PC (Steam).