Best Local Co-Op Games: Best Couch Co-Op Games In 2022
The best local co-op games are perfect, whether you're stuck indoors with family thanks to a certain virus or you just fancy a weekend staring at screens together with your partner. There's something continually special about having friends or family join you on the couch for a gaming session and working together to fight a common foe. Sure, some of the best times can be when you find yourselves turning from friends to enemies in an epic, bloodthirsty head-to-head match, but co-op games help you to work as team with fulfilling results. So, here's our list of top 10 best local co-op games we'll always love.
- Fancy playing online instead? Here are the best online co-op games
Best Local Co-op Games: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (#10)
Click to enlargePlatforms: Nintendo Switch
Oh no, what have those pesky Rabbids done now? Caused absolute mayhem in the Mushroom Kingdom that’s what. Ah well, guess it’s up to Mario and his friends to sort everything out again. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle involves players teaming up to use an arsenal of weapons to face-off enemy Rabbids that have caused chaos in the kingdom. The game is only available on Nintendo Switch consoles and, as yet, players can't go head-to-head online. However, that just means players will have to team-up in person to take on those mangey rabbits.
- Are you a Super Mario fan? Then you may be interested to know that a Mario Cinematic Universe is on the way.
Best Local Co-op Games: KeyWe (#9)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
A game where you can play as an adorable kiwi bird working in a post office? Sign me up. KeyWe sees teammates playing as Jeff and Debra the kiwi birds to complete a series of tasks in a whimsical post office. Working together, these little kiwis have to flap, peck, and butt-slam their way across the office to make sure that the mail is sent is on time and in tip top condition. You can even customise Jeff and Debra with some funky accessories to make them the best-dressed postal bird around. The good news is KeyWe is available on a long list of consoles including: Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Best Local Co-op Games: Don't Starve Together (#8)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC
The clue is in the title. Don't Starve Together is all about teaming up with your friends and working together to survive. The early days of the game can be particularly frustrating as you traipse around this gothic, perilous world. The objective is to find as many materials as you can before your energy runs out or the murderous shadows of the night close in on you. I've lost count of how many times I died in my first few playthroughs but, luckily, you and your partner can work together to resurrect you. Well, that's as long as you don't both die before the sun goes down. Just be aware you'll have to find some rare items to complete the process. While it's not available at the time of writing, Don't Starve Together is coming to Nintendo Switch in Spring 2022.
Best Local Co-op Games: Mario Kart Wii (#7)
Click to enlargePlatforms: Nintendo Wii
If there is a game that epitomises a night-in with your mates having an intense gaming match, it is Mario Kart Wii. Of course, there have been plenty of co-op Mario games since the Wii game, but no one can deny it still has a special place in the hearts of many. Players can choose to take on courses like Rainbow Road and Maple Treeway together as a team using strategic banana peel placing and by sending off a blue shell at just the right moment. It breaks my heart to put Mario Kart Wii so low in the list, but, ultimately, the best multiplayer matches come when it's every Mii for themselves, which doesn't fit with the whole co-op spirit.
- Raring to go on a new Mario Kart game? Well, fans are a little worried about the future of Mario Kart 9.
Best Local Co-op Games: Stardew Valley (#6)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
After months, or even years, building up your farm in Stardew Valley, of course you're going to want to show it off to as many of your friends as possible. Thanks to the game's co-op mode you can do exactly this. You can have the choice to invite up to three of your friends to come join you in Pelican town and become your farmhands. You can either spend the day together chopping down trees and picking pumpkins or use the opportunity to go on a perilous mission to the caves. You can even build your friends their very own cabin on your farm and even get married.
Best Local Co-op Games: Portal 2 (#5)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
If you're looking for a video game which really does force you to have to work as a team, then Portal 2 is the one for you. It's safe to say, it is downright impossible to complete some of the courses in the multiplayer version without relying on your partner to aim their Portal Gun in a precise location. Not to mention, it's even more difficult trying to non-verbally communicate in the game. So, what better way to play the game than teaming up together in-person to take on GLaDOS's sass.
Best Local Co-op Games: LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (#4)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS2, PS3, Xbox, GameCube, PC
Sail through time back to the mid-2000's with LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. Of course, there have been fantastic LEGO Star Wars games since then. Personally, The Original Trilogy will always have a special place in my heart. It reminds of the days sat in front of the TV with my brother clutching our PS2 controllers and mucking about in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine, switching characters as we went. Of course, there was always a little competition to snatch up the blue LEGO coins, but with a little bit of co-operation and a whole lot of square button smashing, you reach the end together.
- If you're looking for a new LEGO Star Wars game, you may be sad to learn that fans weren't too happy about the recent LEGO Star Wars Battles game.
Best Local Co-op Games: Fortnite (#3)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
We couldn't possibly have a co-op list and not include Fortnite. The more friends who band up with you the better. Fortnite definitely has a strong following as an online co-op game, but there are plenty of players who love nothing more than jumping on the couch and playing the game together locally. The hybrid-tower defence-shooter-survival game has gained a huge fanbase since its release in 2017, with players being able to pick from a wide variety of incredible skins to become an elite team of zombie killers.
Best Local Co-op Games: It Takes Two (#2)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC
For many players, It Takes Two is the best co-op game around. Think Toy Story meets Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and you have got yourself It Takes Two. In the purely co-op game, players have to join up together to play as Cody and May, a bickering married couple on the edge of a divorce who find they have been magically transformed into dolls. The couple have to embark on a crazy journey to return to their human form and completing a series of fun challenges including, facing-off against gangster squirrels and flying through the air on a pair of underpants. This is all with the help of an eccentric anthropomorphic self-help book giving the Cody and May a bit of couples therapy along the way.
Best Local Co-op Games: Minecraft (#1)
Click to enlargePlatforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
The mother of all sandbox games, where would the world be without Minecraft. In this blocky paradise, players can yet their imaginations run wild to create awe-inspiring feats of engineering or something completely daft. The game's lack of structure allows you and your fellow player to spend a day building new structures and features for your world or enter survival mode, working together to fight for your lives. Players can use split-screen, but this is only available on mobile devices, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Windows or Xbox consoles.
Fancy something for your Switch instead? Check out our list of the best Switch games
