15 Games Like It Takes Two for Co-Op With Friends
The best games like It Takes Two in 2026. Handpicked co-op games for friends who love playing together, from couch co-op platformers to cooperative puzzle adventures with real teamwork mechanics.
It Takes Two won Game of the Year in 2021, and it earned it by doing something almost no other game attempts: it made co-op the entire point, not an afterthought. Every level in It Takes Two hands each player a different set of mechanics and then builds every puzzle, platforming section, and boss fight around the assumption that two people are communicating and coordinating in real time. One player gets a sap gun, the other gets matches. One shrinks down to insect size while the other stays full height. The game cycles through these ideas at a pace that would be reckless if the execution were not so tight.
What makes it hard to replace is the density of invention. Most co-op games find a formula and repeat it for ten hours. It Takes Two reinvents itself every thirty minutes. The snow globe level plays differently from the toy box, which plays differently from the garden. Josef Fares and his team at Hazelight treated each chapter like its own standalone game jam, and the result is a co-op experience that never coasts on a single idea.
If you have burned through It Takes Two and want that feeling again -- the feeling of two people solving problems together in a game that was designed from the ground up to require both of you -- these 15 games are worth your time. They are grouped by what they do best: cooperative puzzle-solving, co-op action, and couch co-op chaos.
Co-Op Puzzle Games
These are the games that come closest to It Takes Two's core identity. They give each player distinct tools or roles and ask you to think together.
Unravel Two
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Two tiny yarn characters tethered together by a single thread. The thread is the core mechanic: you swing from it, pull each other up ledges, create bridges, and use tension to launch across gaps. Every puzzle is built around the physical properties of that thread, and the best moments come when both players have to move simultaneously in opposite directions to create the right angle or the right amount of slack.
The physics puzzles are clever without being frustrating, which is rarer than it sounds in co-op puzzle games. The art direction is gorgeous -- real-world Scandinavian environments rendered at miniature scale, so you are running across a dock or through a forest floor where blades of grass tower overhead. Shorter than It Takes Two at around six hours, but every level feels carefully designed around the two-player dynamic. There is no filler here.
Pode
Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch
A puzzle game about a fallen star and a rock helping each other through the inside of a mountain. One character grows plants, the other activates crystals. The entire game is built around combining those two abilities to open paths forward, activate mechanisms, and reveal hidden areas in each room.
The art style is inspired by Norwegian folk art, and the whole game has a quiet, meditative quality that sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from It Takes Two's frenetic energy. That is not a weakness. If you want co-op that feels like a conversation rather than a shouting match, Pode is the best option on this list. The puzzles are calm and methodical, the kind of thing where you both stare at a room for a moment, try something, and then nod when it works. It is co-op as contemplation.
Phogs!
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
You control a two-headed dog. Each player controls one head. That sounds like a gimmick, and it is, but it works far better than it has any right to. One head can grab objects while the other stretches to reach platforms. You bark to activate switches, bite onto rails to swing, and stretch your shared body to bridge gaps.
The puzzles are built entirely around your shared anatomy, and every solution requires genuine coordination. There are worlds themed around eating, sleeping, and playing, each introducing new ways to use your stretchy dog body. It is lighthearted and funny without being shallow, and the physical comedy of two people trying to coordinate a single bendy animal creates moments that no other co-op game can replicate.
Biped
Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch
Two robots walk through obstacle courses, and each player controls one of their robot's legs using the analog sticks. Walking itself is a mechanic you have to master. You coordinate steps to cross balance beams, slide across ice, and navigate rotating platforms. There are sections where one player has to stand on switches while the other carefully walks a tightrope, and the leg-control system makes even simple traversal feel like an accomplishment.
The controls sound gimmicky on paper, but they create some of the most satisfying cooperative moments in any co-op game. When you and your partner finally nail a tricky sequence of coordinated steps, it feels earned in a way that button-press puzzles never do. The game is short and focused -- about four hours -- and it does not waste a minute.
KeyWe
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Two kiwi birds run a post office. You type letters by jumping on keyboard keys, sort packages, stamp mail, and handle an increasingly absurd series of postal duties. The birds are tiny and all the equipment is human-sized, so everything becomes physical comedy: reaching, pecking, flapping, and body-slamming your way through each task.
Each season brings new mechanics and hazards, from snowstorms that blow your letters away to haunted mail that fights back. The game requires genuine coordination rather than just having two people do the same thing side by side. One bird holds the envelope while the other stamps it. One reads the address while the other sorts the package. It is short, but the precision required makes it a proper co-op puzzle game wrapped in a comedy skin.
Co-Op Action and Adventure
These games pair you up for combat, exploration, or narrative-driven adventures where cooperation matters but the pace is faster.
A Way Out
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
From the same director as It Takes Two, Josef Fares. Two prisoners plan and execute a jailbreak, and the entire game plays out in split-screen, even online. The camera dynamically shifts between players depending on who is driving the current scene -- sometimes one player is doing something mundane while the other has a tense encounter, and you are both watching each other's screen.
The gameplay shifts between stealth, combat, vehicle chases, and cinematic set pieces. It is rougher around the edges than It Takes Two -- the combat is not as tight, and some mechanics feel underdeveloped. But the commitment to the split-screen format is impressive, and the story payoff in the final act is one of the best surprises in co-op gaming. If you care about narrative in your co-op games, A Way Out delivers a gut punch that most single-player games never land.
Haven
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
A co-op RPG about a couple who escaped to an alien planet to be together. One player controls Yu, the other Kay. You glide across landscapes on hover boots, gathering resources, cooking meals, and fighting corrupted creatures in a turn-based combat system where your attacks combo off each other. Impact attacks chain into shield breaks, which chain into blast attacks, and the rhythm of combat only works when both players are coordinating.
The tone is warm and intimate in a way that most co-op games never attempt. Between missions, you hang out in your camp, cook dinner, talk about your relationship, and make choices that affect how the story unfolds. If you liked the relationship story in It Takes Two, Haven focuses entirely on that. It is a love story where both players are active participants, and the mundane moments -- making breakfast, fixing the ship, choosing what to say -- are as important as the combat.
Nobody Saves the World
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
An action RPG where you shapeshift between forms: a rat, a horse, a dragon, a bodybuilder, a slug, a robot, and about a dozen more. Each form has unique abilities, and the co-op shines when two players combine forms to cover each other's weaknesses. One player tanks as a turtle while the other deals damage as a magician. The dungeon modifiers force you to constantly swap builds, so you can never settle into a single strategy.
The variety of mechanics and the pace of unlocks keep it fresh across the full fifteen-hour runtime. Every hour or so you gain access to a new form with its own ability tree, and you can mix passive abilities between forms to create broken combinations. It is more combat-focused than It Takes Two, but the constant reinvention of your toolkit captures a similar energy. You are never doing the same thing for long.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Platforms: PS4, PS5, PC
A 3D platformer with dedicated co-op levels that require real coordination. The levels that are specifically designed for two players are the highlight -- they lock you into challenges where one player pulls a lever while the other jumps through the gap, or where you carry each other across hazards. The controls are tight, the level variety is strong, and the rhythm-based stages set to licensed music are genuinely surprising.
It has that same energy as It Takes Two where the game keeps throwing new ideas at you. One level is a music visualizer. The next is a precision platforming gauntlet. The next has you riding a yak through an obstacle course. Up to four players can join, but two is the sweet spot. The co-op-specific levels are not optional extras -- they are some of the best content in the game.
Darksiders Genesis
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
A top-down action game set in the Darksiders universe, designed from the ground up for two-player co-op. One player is War (melee-focused, tanky), the other is Strife (ranged, mobile). The two characters complement each other in combat, and the game builds encounters and puzzles around having both playstyles active at once.
The combat is the main draw -- it is fast, punchy, and satisfying, with upgrade trees for both characters that let you specialize. But there are also environmental puzzles that require both players to stand on switches, throw objects to each other, and use their unique traversal abilities to reach different areas of a room. It is not as inventive as It Takes Two, but if you want co-op with a heavier combat focus and Diablo-style loot progression, Genesis fills that gap well.
Couch Co-Op and Party Games
These games lean into the chaos of sharing a screen. They are less about careful puzzle-solving and more about communication under pressure, physical comedy, and cooperative panic.
Overcooked! 2
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Pure cooperative chaos. You and your partner run a kitchen together, chopping, cooking, and serving orders under a timer. The kitchens get increasingly absurd: moving platforms, fire hazards, portals between counters, conveyor belts that rearrange your workspace mid-service. You have to divide labor, call out orders, and adapt when the kitchen literally shifts underneath you.
Communication breaks down fast, and that is the entire point. Overcooked 2 is the best game ever made for testing whether two people can stay calm under pressure. You will develop shorthand, assign roles, optimize routes, and then watch everything fall apart when a new kitchen layout throws your system out the window. If It Takes Two is a celebration of cooperation, Overcooked 2 is a stress test of it.
Moving Out 2
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
You are movers. You carry furniture out of increasingly ridiculous buildings. Couches get stuck in doorways. Boxes fly out windows. Fridges roll down stairs. The physics are intentionally chaotic, and the fun comes from solving each level's spatial puzzle while everything goes wrong around you.
Each level is a miniature logistics problem: what order do you move things in, which route is fastest, can you throw that couch through the second-floor window instead of carrying it down the stairs? The answer is usually yes, and the game rewards creative destruction. It hits the same cooperative-but-barely-holding-it-together energy as Overcooked, but at a different pace. Less frantic, more slapstick. The sequel adds interdimensional levels and online co-op, which expands the chaos nicely.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
You and your co-op partner crew a circular spaceship, running between stations for shields, weapons, engines, and a map. There are never enough players for every station, so you are constantly shouting about which turret needs attention while someone else steers into an asteroid. The ship has multiple floors and you physically run between them, which turns crew management into a platforming problem on top of everything else.
The neon art style is beautiful, the difficulty ramps up fast, and the game gets genuinely intense in later levels when you are being attacked from all directions and have to make split-second decisions about who runs to the shield and who stays on the gun. It is one of the best couch co-op games ever made, and the frantic energy of managing a ship together creates stories you will retell for years.
Towerfall Ascension
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Technically a competitive game first, but the co-op campaign is excellent. Two archers fight through waves of enemies in single-screen arenas, using limited arrows that you have to retrieve after shooting. The movement is tight -- you dash, wall-jump, dodge, and catch arrows mid-air. Every session is a flurry of precise shots and narrow escapes.
The co-op works because the game is lethal. You die in one hit. Friendly fire is on by default. You have to be precise and aware of where your partner is at all times, or you will kill them. The limited arrow economy means you are constantly sharing resources and making calls about who takes the shot. It is fast, tense, and deeply satisfying when you clear a hard wave together. Short sessions, high replay value.
Wilmot's Warehouse
Platforms: PC, Switch
Two players manage a warehouse, receiving deliveries and organizing hundreds of different products on a grid floor. There are no shelves or categories -- you decide the system. You and your partner have to agree on where things go, and then remember your system when a customer asks for three specific items and you have thirty seconds to deliver them.
It sounds mundane, and that is what makes it brilliant. The game becomes a conversation about taxonomy. Do you sort by color? By shape? By vibes? Your organizational system has to make sense to both players, and the pressure of timed deliveries reveals exactly how well you actually understand each other's logic. It is unlike anything else on this list, and it captures something specific about cooperation that combat and platforming never touch: the challenge of building a shared mental model.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you play It Takes Two with someone online?
Yes. It Takes Two supports online co-op with a Friend's Pass, meaning only one person needs to own the game. The second player downloads a free trial and joins through an invite. This works on all platforms.
What is the best game like It Takes Two for couples?
Haven is the strongest choice for couples. It is built around a romantic relationship, with quiet domestic moments alongside the adventure. The tone is warm and the co-op mechanics are approachable without being shallow. If you want something with more action, A Way Out's shared narrative also works well for two invested players.
Are there games like It Takes Two that work with more than two players?
Overcooked 2, Moving Out 2, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime all support three or four players. However, the games on this list that are specifically designed for exactly two players tend to have tighter co-op design, since every puzzle and encounter can assume both players are present and accounted for.
What is the easiest game on this list for non-gamers?
Pode is the most accessible. It has no combat, no time pressure, and puzzles that you can solve at your own pace. Phogs and Unravel Two are also good choices for players who are new to games, since the mechanics are simple and the difficulty ramp is gentle.
Did Josef Fares make other co-op games?
Yes. Josef Fares directed A Way Out (2018) and It Takes Two (2021), both at Hazelight Studios. His next game, Split Fiction, released in 2025 and continues the two-player co-op formula with a sci-fi narrative. All three games require two players and cannot be played solo.
Is It Takes Two a couch co-op game?
It supports both local split-screen and online co-op. If you are playing on the same screen, you each get half the display in split-screen. The game works well in both modes, though couch co-op is the better experience since communication is instant.
Build Your Own Co-Op Game
If these games make you want to build something with a friend, check out our co-op game templates. Summer Engine gives you a working two-player foundation with shared-screen mechanics, character abilities, and networked multiplayer out of the box. You describe what you want and the engine builds it -- the fastest way to go from an idea to a playable co-op game without writing netcode from scratch.