These co-op games turn teamwork, miscommunication, and friendly chaos into the perfect night in.
Co-op games thrive on communication, on someone yelling instructions across the room while another person panics, and on a specific chaos that turns into a funny memory later. They work for gamers and non-gamers alike, since most of them favor teamwork and timing over reflexes or aim.
Whether your group wants to run a doomed restaurant, defuse a bomb neither of you fully understands, or figure out who among you is secretly a murderer, there’s a game built for that exact kind of night in. Below are seven of the best co-op games for friends who want something more social than competitive, more laughter than trash talk, and more “why did you throw the fish at me” than “get wrecked.”
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Overcooked! Series
Overcooked drops you and your friends into a kitchen that seems to actively hate you. Here, you chop vegetables, stir pots, and rush plates to the counter while the kitchen falls apart, splits in two, or catches fire around you. Later levels move the whole setup to pirate ships, moving trucks, and ice floes, so the layout keeps changing under your feet. Two to four players can jump in, and it rewards teamwork that inevitably ends in someone getting blamed for burning the onions.
Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Moving Out
Moving Out takes the frantic energy of Overcooked and points it at furniture instead of food. You and your crew play professional movers who haul couches, pianos, and increasingly bizarre objects out of houses before the clock runs out, often by smashing them through windows or walls. The controls stay simple enough that anyone can pick them up in minutes, but coordinating with a partner while carrying an oversized bathtub down a staircase is harder than it sounds.
Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
It Takes Two
It Takes Two builds its entire story around two players, but it refuses to let either one sit on the sidelines. You control half of a couple who get magically turned into dolls and have to work together to become human again. The game keeps handing you new abilities and mechanics as the story moves forward. One chapter might split you into a fire-and-water pair with opposite powers, while another turns you into tiny astronauts navigating a garden. It earns its reputation as one of the best co-op games ever made.
Available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes hands one player a screen showing a ticking bomb and hands everyone else a manual full of confusing diagrams. The player facing the bomb can’t see the manual, and the player holding the manual can’t see the bomb. The only way through is shouting instructions back and forth while the timer runs down. It scales well for larger groups since people can trade off who’s staring at the bomb. Then, it turns into one of the loudest, funniest games you can put in front of a party.
Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Meta Quest, and mobile.
Among Us
A modern classic for a reason. Among Us puts your group on a spaceship, hands most of you a list of tasks to complete, and secretly makes one or two players impostors who sabotage the ship and pick everyone else off. Bodies turn up, meetings get called, and the group spends the next few minutes accusing each other while the impostor tries to blend in. It works with big groups just as well as small ones, and the arguments that break out over who’s lying tend to outlast the actual game.
Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.
Gartic Phone
Gartic Phone takes the old telephone game and mixes it with Pictionary, and the result gets funnier the worse everyone draws. One player writes a sentence, the next player draws it, the next player writes what they think the drawing shows, and the chain keeps going until the original idea turns into something completely unrecognizable. At the end, the whole group watches the chain play back from start to finish, and the gap between the opening sentence and the final guess usually gets the biggest laughs of the night. It runs entirely in a browser, so nobody needs to own anything or install a thing.
Available on PC, tablet, or mobile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Overcooked!, Moving Out, It Takes Two, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Among Us, and Gartic Phone are fun options for groups looking for a more social gaming experience.
Overcooked!, Moving Out, and Gartic Phone have simple concepts and controls that are easy to pick up, making them accessible to casual players.
Among Us works well with both large and small groups, while Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes can accommodate larger groups by letting players take turns working with the bomb and manual.
Gartic Phone runs entirely in a web browser, so players can join from a PC, tablet, or mobile device without installing the game.
It Takes Two is designed specifically for two players, while Moving Out and Overcooked! also support smaller groups and focus on teamwork.
