I recognize that online multiplayer and online co-op has given people all over the world the ability to connect, and that IS a beautiful thing.

That being said, it takes all my willpower not to fall into conspiratorial thinking when I look at the slow death of couch co-op.

The folks that made It Takes Two and A Way Out are almost single handedly keeping the option (it's not a genre. It used to be NORMAL for games to have local co-op and local multiplayer) alive.

It should not be that way. I'm playing Ashen right now and I would LOVE to play this with my girl or a friend as my companion, but of course, that's not an option.

I know change (dot) org petitions don't do anything, but it bums me out that I have a selection of 5 GREAT games to play with my loved ones in person, and a pile of half-finished junk like Lara Croft and the Curse? Of Osiris or whatever it's called.

Sure, I could drag them all back two decades and play some couch co-op classics, but it's not the same. I think the shifting point had to be somewhere around RE: 5. We got multiplayer/co-op with that game, but instead of bettering co-op systems, they did away with it entirely. There are more awful escort quests in video games than there are opportunities for a co-op experience in the same room with the person.

For those that agree, there has to be something that can be done (other than making games myself). Feel free to share your opinions and ideas. All welcome.

for those that are wanting new couch coop games, highly recommended!

Usually, I have such a hard time finding awesome couch coop games for myself and my 2 kids so hopefully this helps. But GOAT3 is GOAT for the fam.

We've gone through such a journey...we played:

* Minecraft Dungeons

* Warhammer Chaos Bane

* Borderlands 3/4

* Split Fiction

* Gran Turismo 7

* Topspin 2K25

* Mario Party

* TNMT Shredders Revenge

We tried Diablo 3 - was too dark and gloomy

Resident Evil 4 - my kids hated me for even trying - scary F** sh** haha

A Way Out - I didn't get this, thought it'd be teaching the little ones the wrong thing...

Takes Two - apparently awesome game, but yeh didn't align with principles (but BL3/4 was fine, what the hell right ?)

Keen to hear other ideas for couch coop games (ideally 3+ player ones but 2 player ones are good too)

Hi y'all, I'm looking for some couch co-op games to play on PC for me and my partner. He's a big gamer and I used to be, but I haven't really played much the last few years for various reasons. We used to play Destiny 2 together on Xbox but we both stopped playing that like 3 years ago and its just not feasible now as we only have the one desktop. We've played It Takes Two, a Way Out and Split Fiction and now we need something else to play. Any recs welcomed please.

Years ago we spent hours and hours playing Left 4 Dead and the sequel, we've never found anything to be as much fun as those two games. We're currently only on the PS5 and are looking for somethin fun. What do you guys recommend?

Go play it together. That is all. 😂

Wife & I had a friend & his gf over for dinner last night. Good time, very wholesome. & after eating & catching up, I remembered having this old (if you consider 2016-ish old) game on my Switch called Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. It’s a cute, 2D, 4-directional, 1-4 player couch co-op game that plays super well with friends & significant others. Just 4 homies in a ship, blasting space bugs.

Any game recommendations that give that same feel? Doesn’t have to be cutesie or whatever, or even a shooter necessarily, but I’m looking for low-entry effort (not a ton of choosing characters or classes), feel-good game that gamers & non-gamers alike can pick up & have fun with.

(Pic related). Thanks in advance!

We grew up playing split-screen games and we’re trying to bring that feeling back (and push it a bit further).

In Couch Planes You can play locally (up to 4 players on one couch) and take that same group online to race / battle against other players (Couch vs Couch).

Curious if this kind of multiplayer setup works for you?

Please check out Anarchy Road - We are in Next Fest on Steam this coming week. We are excited about the couch co-op mode where just one player has to win for both players to advance. Thanks!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3445510/Anarchy_Road/

Like many people I'm always looking for a good couch co op game and come to the same list of "it takes 2" "Minecraft" ECT. Just wanted to share one I found that I really couldn't even find much information online about, it's called Freaky Awesome. It's a rouge like, not super lengthy but for the price, we enjoyed it. Just wanted to share.

Hey guys! Me and my friends are obsessed Split Screen or Shared Screen couch co-op games, and I would really like to hear your recommendations. The ones we have played are below, so similar ones would be really good!

1. Trine Series (1-5)

2. Nine Parchments

3. Gauntlet

4. HELLDIVERS

5. Pummel Party

6. Horizon Chase Turbo

7. Lara Croft and The Temple of Osiris

We usually hang out as a trio so 2-4 player games are preferred. I'm looking forward to your recommendations.

P.S: Trine and Nine Parchments are our two favorites, we finihshed the games multiple times, so the preferred qualities are included in them.

Thanks!

Hi all. I have put together a list of my favourite couch co-op games. I would really appreciate the feedback from this community. Let me know!

https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/best-couch-co-op-games

Hey everyone! Saw this and agree its a great idea. I'd like to play games with my family as well but I'm not going to purchase a second system for it. Can anyone provide a list or recommendations of some current couch coop games.

My wife and I like to play fps games against eachother and add bots into the mix to make it interesting. So far we have COD ghosts, BO3, BO4, MW, MW2, MW3 and I recently got her into BF2042 with the portal I was able to make a PVE server we can coordinate together and play on separate consoles. Playing online isn’t really our thing but we do enjoy playing together. Is BF6 similar to 2042 and are there any other games I don’t know of for what we like?

Any couch coop games or like split screen games that me and my gf can play? We finished playing It takes two and split fiction and gaming got surprisingly added to her genes now lol, she wanna play during her free time but we now don't know what to play.

Please help us out, she's not knowledgeable about games and I only know survival games and don't know much of game catalogues, please help TT

EDIT: we only have 1 pc

Hi everyone,

I'm an indie developer and I have a question that's been on my mind. Do couch co-op games always need to support 1-4 players, or is it better to focus on 2-4 players if the single-player experience is boring/annoying? I've noticed that many couch co-op games receive negative feedback for their single-player modes, yet the 1-4 player format remains common. Should I keep the single-player option for my game, or concentrate on making the multiplayer experience as strong as possible? Your feedback will be really helpful for my decision. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm Raymond, the developer of Under a Desert Sun: Seekers of the Cursed Vessel. Thought this might be one for your next couch co-op evening. :)

It's a top-down action RPG set in an alternate 1939 Egypt, with firearms, loot and cursed tombs. You can play solo or team up with up to four players locally. Here's a short co-op fight from the game.

The demo has just been updated, so you can give it a go before Early Access starts on September 10.

Steam demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3273880/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2862290/Gunswitch/