What are the best co-op games on Steam?

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Genre:Action / Adventure / Beat 'em Up

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 Pro

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

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

Co-Op:2 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Genre:Platformer / Indie

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 Pro

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

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

Co-Op:2 Player Local

Genre:Action / Indie

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 Pro

Actual couch co-op that can also be played online

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

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

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

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

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Top Pro

The spell system is pretty unique

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

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Left 4 Dead 2

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

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

Genre:FPS / Action / Zombies

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

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 PLayer LAN

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 Pro

An open sandbox that provides a wide variety of activities

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

Co-Op:2 Player Online / 4 Player LAN

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

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Top Pro

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

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

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 Pro

Extensive mods that add to the fun

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

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

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

Genre:Realtime Strategy (RTS)

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

See All

Gauntlet

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

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 Pro

Drop-in co-op (online and LAN)

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

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player LAN

Genre:Action / RPG / Hack n' Slash

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 Pro

Highly interactive environments that contain rewards and consequences to ones actions

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

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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