What are the best co-op games on Steam?

Question

169

Options
Considered

3.8K

User
Recs.

2 mins

Last
Updated

Find Awesome Games

The 25 must play gamesWhy?

Best co-op games on Steam	Price	Steam Rating	Co-Op
97 Portal 2	$19.99	Very Positive	2 Player Online / 2 Player Couch / 2 Player LAN
95 Castle Crashers	$14.99	Very Positive	4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch
95 Terraria	$9.99	–	8 Player Online / 8 Player LAN
94 TowerFall Ascension	$14.99	–	2 Player Local
94 BattleBlock Theater	$14.99	Overwhelmingly Positive	2 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

See Full List

Castle Crashers

Top Pro

Nostalgic beat 'em up gameplay that is familiar, making an easy game to jump into

If you liked classic, side-scrolling, beat 'em up arcade games like Double Dragon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, or Alien vs. Predator, you will thoroughly enjoy Castle Crashers as its gameplay is based around the classics listed above. Move side to side and up and down the screen with a 2D character, while trying to attack bad guys who are doing the same. It is a balancing act of aligning you character up with the bad guys, in order to hit them while avoiding being hit. Overall a classic style of play that many will be familiar with. See More

Top Con

Bugs that appeared in the original Xbox title were not fixed for the PC port

There are still bugs and glitches in the game that were in the original Xbox version. Even though some of these errors could be fixed fairly simply, especially since there was enough time between releases, neither the developers nor the publisher bothered to address them. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Genre:Action / Adventure / Beat 'em Up

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Playing with groups of friends allows for endless scenarios of building and destruction

Up to 8 players can join a shared Terraria world, including the worlds that are used in single-player mode. This allows for large co-op or PvP games. Build something big together, or destroy the other guy’s base. The scenarios are endless. See More

Top Con

Progress can feel slow

Quite often you'll have to collect tons of materials to craft the necessary tools, equipment, and boss summoning items to advance. This can take a really long time, especially if you're unlucky with the items dropped by mobs. See More

Specs

Co-Op:8 Player Online / 8 Player LAN

Genre:2D platformer / Minecraft-like

Controller Support:Android (MOGA / HID), Steam (Full)

Top Pro

Any skill level can figure out the gameplay, while still keeping it challenging for everyone

Anyone can pick up the game and reach a level of basic competence in a matter of minutes. To become a great player, however, there is a lot of technique and strategy to learn. The gameplay remains pretty basic and easy to grasp, but there is a level of skill that can only be learned through repeated practice. See More

Top Con

Co-op quest mode is short

The co-op quest mode takes around seven hours to complete. For those looking for a longer game with full co-op quests, this may not fit the bill. Fortunately this isn’t the only game mode. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Co-op adds a completely new element of coordination to the gameplay

There is a modified co-op campaign that requires players to coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes it a fun couch co-op game due to the importance of communication (as well as how fun it is to grief your teammate in person). See More

Top Con

Competitive play feels lackluster

Competitive play is not as enjoyable as the co-op modes due to stiff combat. The mechanics of this wear out pretty quickly. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Co-Op:2 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Genre:Platformer / Indie

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Invigorating cooperation based survival dynamic

Left 4 Dead 2 requires players on the same team to cooperate to survive. This makes for an interesting dynamic for teammates, as it will be increasingly difficult to make it through a level if any one player decides to go off on their own. See More

Top Con

Very difficult without team engagement

For those looking for a casual co-op experience, Left 4 Dead 2 probably isn't the best option. Without a good sense of teamwork and focus, this game can get very challenging. See More

FunEpiphron's Experience

Good game See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 2 Player Couch / 4 Player LAN

Genre:FPS / Action / Zombies

Top Pro

Chaotic gameplay that results in amusing friendly fire

Since the main gameplay mechanic of casting spells is skill based on how quickly you execute a certain key combination, there's a high chance of misclicking or mistargeting and accidentally attacking your ally. There’s nothing quite like thunderbolting or summoning death on your friends. See More

Top Con

A bit of a learning curve

With the number of spells you have at your command comes the challenge of discovering and remembering them all. But once you know them, you'll be able to counter anything that's thrown at you. See More

Boris Yakubchik's Experience

Great fun -- just watch a YouTube video of people playing it with their friends :) See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch / 4 Player LAN

Genre:Action RPG

Controller Support:Full

See All Specs

Top Pro

The spell system is pretty unique

Magicka has a unique spell-casting system based on adding elements such as fire, water, and stone to an action queue. There are eight basic elements (each assigned to a key), of which up to five can be queued at a time. Some elements can be combined in the queuing process (such as fire and water to create steam). The effect of the spell changes to match the elements you add to the queue. Additionally, there are four casting methods: beam (right-click), area (shift+right-click), self-cast (middle-click), and imbue weapon (shift+click). See More

Top Con

Memorizing spells is extremely difficult

The vast combination of elements make it all but impossible to blindly figure out what spell combos the game has and even the wiki page has no usefulness in finding spells for your play style. See More

Top Pro

Two different gameplay modes

Other than the standard campaign mode there's also a survival mode that's your standard affair with increasingly difficult waves of enemies. There's also an online leader board for survival mode. See More

Top Con

Optimization could be better

At certain times during competitive play, the game can lag or slow down (not rare for an online game), which may mess up the timing of skill shots in the game. Being that timing is highly important to the gameplay, having a poor netcode that fluctuates during play can be upsetting, especially if it results in a loss. See More

See All

Borderlands 2

Top Pro

Actual couch co-op that can also be played online

Those playing on local split-screen can play online with others at the same time. This way even if playing locally with a friend, both can experience online play on the same machine and screen. See More

Top Con

Boring bulletsponge enemies

A lot of the enemies, and especially bosses, are just bulletsponges that require no different tactics in place to beat them. See More

Case Cowboy's Experience

Nothing beats it! It aged very well, it's cheap and has a lot of replayability! See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player LAN / 2 Player Couch

Top Pro

Maintains depth while still being accessible

The game starts out easy. There is very little in terms of mechanics and the only objective is not to starve. Then, over time, new mechanics are introduced as you explore more of the game world. The game provides very little guidance, leaving players to figure out how things work for themselves. Goals and story elements are also unveiled organically over time. See More

Top Con

Constant restarts can be drawn out and boring

The game is a roguelike, so permanent death is something that will be encountered often. The beginning of a playthrough starts out pretty slowly, which is exacerbated by the fact that the player will need to restart so many times. See More

TranquilZirnitra's Experience

its fun See More

Specs

Co-Op:2-4 Player Local

Genre:Roguelike, Survival, Horror

Top Pro

Intuitive and fluid parkour movement gives a sense of power and control

The main protagonist is capable of scaling buildings, jumping over obstacles, and vaulting over zombies. This makes traversing the open-world city a lot of fun, as it is intuitively controlled as well as gives a sense of power to the player that they can artfully traverse the world with ease. See More

Top Con

Poor plot and characters

The story is nothing new, and many of the plot elements are all too familiar at this point: Another reluctant hero and cold government agent mixed up in a plot that can be seen coming from miles away. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 PLayer LAN

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

An open sandbox that provides a wide variety of activities

Saints Row 4 offers a very compelling open-world experience with much to do and see. Not only does it offer the usual large city to explore whith completing objectives, but it also pokes fun at similar titles in the genre, going over the top to parody competitors like Grand Theft Auto.. See More

Top Con

Only one player gets to experience the scripted parts

While different players have different roles when playing co-op, only the host player will see the scripted parts of the game. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:2 Player Online / 4 Player LAN

Controller Support:Full

See All Specs

Top Pro

Large soundtrack that should appeal to anyone as it contains a good cross section of popular music

With a soundtrack of 109 songs, there is bound to be music that suits just about anyone. The player listens to music over the radio; the breadth of this catalog makes for a realistic listening experience as it mimics the variety of a real radio station. See More

Top Pro

Friends can easily jump in and out of your campaign with the included online co-op

Saint's Row IV features 2 player online co-op, thought there is no local co-op supported. The online co-op allows 2 friends to experience the campaign together, which may appeal to those looking for a shared experience over a solo one. See More

Top Pro

Great character customization

Players can change their appearance if they need to, at any time. See More

Broforce

Top Pro

Being designed around co-op play makes for crazier and crazier gameplay, the more people join in

Broforce features 4-player local and online co-op modes. The gameplay is pretty much built around this type of play, much as it was in arcades, so having the ability to team up locally or online makes for a versatile multiplayer mode. Each additional player will increase the hilariously frantic nature of the game by a significant margin. See More

Top Con

Single player not as fun as multiplayer co-op

The single-player mode becomes boring pretty quickly. In this mode, the game is more of a puzzle platformer than a multiplayer co-op frag fest. See More

Specs

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Genre:Action / Indie / Platformer

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Addictive and challenging game play

Top Con

A single play through can take multiple, multi-hour co-op sessions

Some people would consider this a pro. See More

Chris McGee's Experience

One of the best Games i have played in my ~ 22 years of gaming experience!!! See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Realtime Strategy (RTS)

Top Pro

Extensive mods that add to the fun

More than any other ARPG currently on the market, Torchlight 2 has accumulated a good number of mods to improve the game in a variety of ways. See More

Top Con

Limited respec system

Much like an old school dungeon crawler, there is little to no useful respec system here. You can respec the last three skill points used on a character, but that is it. This tends to lead towards plenty of skills in the skilltree that ended up going nowhere, which are just wasted points. Unless you know specifically where you will be putting each and every skill point for your build beforehand, no respec may have an impact on making a perfect build. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

Game unsyncs every turn, which makes playing the game a horrible experience. See More

See All

Grim Dawn

Top Pro

Drop-in co-op (online and LAN)

Co-op is pretty convenient as players can drop in and out of your gaming session at any time. This way there is no wasted time waiting to find players to play with. See More

Top Con

Static pre-rendered levels

This may cut down on replayability a bit as all the levels in the game are pre-rendered, meaning that each playthrough will have the exact same layout, making for something that can get tiring and too familiar. Similar games have gone with randomized levels, which can keep the game fresh. While Grim Dawn is meant to be a throwback to earlier games in the genre, some newer features found in more recent released would have been welcome. See More

EfficientSamshinHalmoni's Experience

Great arpg experience. What diablo3 should have been. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player LAN

Genre:Action / RPG / Hack n' Slash

Top Pro

Highly interactive environments that contain rewards and consequences to ones actions

Divinity: Original Sin has a high level of interactivity within the games environment. This ranges from NPC interactions, elemental spells that can douse fires, to a cornucopia of in-world items that can be stolen. Most actions in the game have consequences as well; for example, you will lose reputation in a town, when caught stealing. There is often a price to pay for behaving badly and getting caught, but a great thrill when getting away with nefarious deeds. See More

Top Con

Building a working party may take several tries

Depending on what one wants to achieve in the game, and what jobs and powers they want each member of their party to have, it may take several restarts in order to find the right balance for success. This will take time, and can be an inconvenience, as none of this is spelled out in the game whatsoever. Basically a lot of time can be wasted on finding out what character builds work the best together. See More

Specs

Co-Op:2 Player Local / Online

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

Top Pro

Each boss requires different tactics, which keeps things fresh as you progress

Different bosses require different tactics to defeat them. This creates a good change of pace from the regular hack and slash gameplay, as differing tactics will need to be used. See More

Top Con

Can be rather difficult

The difficulty level is way too high especially when playing with kids. See More

Specs

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG, Hack n' Slash

Controller Support:Full

Help millions of people find awesome games.

Each month, over 2.8 million people use Slant to find the best products and share their knowledge. Pick the tags you’re passionate about to get a personalized feed and begin contributing your knowledge.

score 342 · Accepted Answer

Portal 2

Top Pro

Creates a sense of accomplishment through a high level of teamwork

Co-op multiplayer offers a completely different set of puzzles from the single-player campaign, which keeps things fresh for those that finished the single player campaign. Almost all co-op puzzles require a high level of teamwork, creating a great sense of accomplishment for the players working together. See More

Top Con

Main co-op campaign is short

The co-op campaign in Portal 2 is about 4 hours long for experienced players, meaning it could be beaten in a just a couple days. With almost zero replayability, this makes the game feel incredibly short. Luckily, hundreds of hours of user-generated content is available. See More

Steve's Experience

The co-op in Portal 2 was an enjoyable experience when I played it with a close friend. It was fun trying to figure out how to solve each puzzle and none of the puzzles felt overly difficult to solve. There was additional fun and challenge added in when trying to earn Steam achievements/PS3 trophies and finding new and funny ways to kill each other. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:2 Player Online / 2 Player Couch / 2 Player LAN

The 25 must play gamesWhy?

My Recommendation for Portal 2

My Recommendation for Portal 2

Creates a sense of accomplishment through a high level of teamwork

Main co-op campaign is short

Challenging puzzles that require creative thinking

Steep co-op learning curve

Well implemented tools that improve teamwork

Late game single player can be quite difficult

Co-op does not punish when you want to goof off with or troll the other player

Entertaining and well delivered voice acting

Huge selection of user-generated content that should appeal to any use-case

So large in scope that it takes multiple playthroughs to see everything

Witty and funny character driven story

Versatile selection of co-op multiplayer

Cross-platform co-op

My Recommendation for Castle Crashers

My Recommendation for Castle Crashers

Nostalgic beat 'em up gameplay that is familiar, making an easy game to jump into

Bugs that appeared in the original Xbox title were not fixed for the PC port

Co-op keeps you coming back for unlockables

Hitboxes are questionable

Silly humor keeps the game light hearted and amusing

Fair amount of grinding

Gameplay stays fresh with the distinctive look to each of the level designs

Poor item ballancing

Controller heavily recommended

Bugs that appeared in the original XBox title were not fixed for the PC port

My Recommendation for Terraria

My Recommendation for Terraria

Playing with groups of friends allows for endless scenarios of building and destruction

Progress can feel slow

Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pacing

Unintuitive menus

Rewarding progression system that hinges on your own collecting and crafting abilities

Gameplay can feel slow

Great flexibility and dynamic generated worlds

Replay value is low for those who play it as an adventure game

Contrasting bright and happy graphics against the suspenseful survival gameplay makes for a game creates a feeling of urgency

Really fun, especially when playing with others

Find servers, tutorials, and streams within minutes online

It has tutorials, a large calm community and great number of bosses

Intriguing world

Items

Constant rewards

Gives drive and purpose by hybridizing sandbox and adventure elements

Fun combat

Active modding community

Really great indeed

My Recommendation for TowerFall Ascension

My Recommendation for TowerFall Ascension

Any skill level can figure out the gameplay, while still keeping it challenging for everyone

Co-op quest mode is short

Well balanced risk-reward gameplay by way of limited ammo

Limited to local multiplayer only

Friendly fire during local co-op means communication is key but also leads to humorous banter

Gameplay lends itself well to small local gatherings

Old-school, arcade-like design adds a level of complexity not found in many modern games

Refined power-ups and arenas creates a situation where the gameplay has no fat

My Recommendation for BattleBlock Theater

My Recommendation for BattleBlock Theater

Co-op adds a completely new element of coordination to the gameplay

Competitive play feels lackluster

Thought-out presentation that balances style and humor well

Good mix of co-op and PvP multiplayer modes keeps the game enticing

No difficulty spikes, the game is very well balanced

Endless replayability through the level editor and its easily sharable creations

Cute and funny

My Recommendation for Left 4 Dead 2

My Recommendation for Left 4 Dead 2

Invigorating cooperation based survival dynamic

Very difficult without team engagement

Turn the gameplay upside down by hunting the hunters in a unique co-op mode where you play as the zombies

More of the same

Melee weapons have the best visceral experience

AI not the smartest

Highly improved over Left 4 Dead

There is no variation of gameplay

AI teammates work great in single player gameplay

My Recommendation for Magicka