Andrew McMahon
ARK: Survival Evolved
If you grew up watching Jurrasic Park and dreamed of being to have your own dinosaur wonderland, ARK: Survival Evolved is about as close as you can get. The best part is you can do it with friends! Starting from nothing, ARK: Survival Evolved tasks you and your friends with surviving a deadly world filled with roaming dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players. To do so, you’ll need to work together, building shelter, weapons, and plenty of other necessary resources to survive and thrive amidst the chaos. While it may take a bit to get going, this game is truly a great time to be had with friends, resulting in a lot of adventures and stories you wouldn’t be able to have otherwise. ARK supports up to two-player local co-op.
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Call of Duty: Vanguard is arguably one of the most accessible games on PS5 when it comes to playing co-op. Not only does it have a slew of options to play locally, but it is also easy to play on split-screen as well. As long as you have two accounts, you can play co-op in three different modes for Call of Duty: Vanguard: Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. Each one of these offers a completely different experience, though they all require a fair amount of teamwork and communication to do well in. Call of Duty: Vanguard boasts couch co-op for up to two players.
Dirt 5
Nothing really beats getting down and dirty with a friend, especially when it’s a racing game like Dirt 5. In this fun Codemasters-developed title, players can play through an entire campaign together in split-screen. Throughout that campaign, Dirt 5 features a boatload of crazy tracks and obstacles to race around, making for some chaotic racing. Alongside the campaign, you can also play with friends offline as well, selecting specific tracks to enjoy at your leisure. Dirt 5 is couch co-op for up to two players.
FIFA 22
FIFA 22 is a soccer/football fan’s dream, allowing you and your friends to team up in a variety of online and offline game modes. Compete in the card-based Ultimate Team mode, go one on one against each other, or go through an entire Online season together. Thanks to constant gameplay and roster updates, you’ll also get to experience player rating and roster changes in real-time together, making it feel like you’re both out there on the pitch in real life. FIFA 22 is couch co-op for up to two players.
Fortnite
While shooters used to thrive on the couch co-op and local multiplayer experience back in the day, it’s a feature that isn’t as prevalent as it really should be. Thankfully, the titan that is Fortnite knows how important it is to be able to get together and get a victory royale. Work together to fight enemies and even solve mysteries via Fornite’s online Battle Royale mode, fueling your competitive desires along the way. Fortnite features couch co-op for up to two players.
Gran Turismo 7
If you’re a big racing game fan, look no further than Gran Turismo 7 on PlayStation for your co-op needs. After completing a lot of events in the game, you’ll unlock this local multiplayer mode that allows you and a friend to compete in a race. While it isn’t necessarily the deepest co-op experience out there, Gran Turismo 7 offers one of the few split-screen racing experiences left in the racing genre currently, especially on PS5. Gran Turismo 7 supports co-op for two people on PS5.
Guacamelee! 2
It is a shame that there aren’t more Metroidvania titles on this list, as the genre is rife with possibilities for couch co-op. If you need proof of that statement, look no further than Guacamelee! 2. The sequel to the hit 2014 action-platformer, the game allows you and your friends to explore the Mexiverse, wrestling skeletal hordes and overcoming skillful platforming challenges to save the world. Guacamelee! 2 supports up to four-player drop-in/drop-out local co-op, which can be accessed about 15 minutes into the game’s campaign.
Haven
Haven is the perfect couples game, as it tells the story of two teenage fugitives who venture off on their own to escape the oppressive authoritarian society called “Apiary.” Together, the duo explores, cleans, and connects planets throughout the solar system, while also developing their relationship along the way. Alongside a lovely story about a budding young romance, Haven’s co-op multiplayer is also a blast. The mode allows players to control each character, letting them roam the planets or choose their actions in combat accordingly. Haven is couch co-op for up to two players.
Human: Fall Flat
Sometimes, there really just is no replacement for playing a game with friends that features ragdoll physics, especially one as fun as Human: Fall Flat. Thanks to the unique features and physics of Human: Fall Flat, completing challenges in co-op has never been more fun. Whether you’re working together to solve things or racing via separate routes to see who can reach the end first, No Brakes Games is a must-play for anyone that loves a good puzzle. Human: Fall Flat is couch co-op for up to two players.
It Takes Two
Despite being a newer studio, Hazelight Studios has already become synonymous with co-op, doing its best to bring the medium back to the forefront of the gaming industry. Its latest game, It Takes Two, is a shining example of why playing with a friend is so fun. In this game, players control Cody and Max, characters with their own unique abilities that they must use in tandem with their partner to progress each level. To do this successfully, communication and timing are key, as you’ll need to use different weapons and abilities to defeat enemies and solve puzzles throughout a variety of interesting levels. It Takes Two is a couch co-op title for two players.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Another game that both casual and hardcore co-op gamers alike can enjoy is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Throughout 45 levels that stretch across the nine mainline Star Wars movies, you and a partner can mix and match between 300 different characters to make for an amazing, comical experience. Gameplay is simplistic but satisfying, as you can destroy pretty much everything in your path since it’s all made of legos. With a comical story and ease of access, this is one that you’ll definitely want to play if you’re looking for a low-key, enjoyable game to play with someone. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is couch co-op on PS5 for up to two players.
Madden NFL 22
Another title that makes your sports dreams a reality, Madden 22 features a lot of great multiplayer modes for you and your friends to experience. Go one on one with each other, create your own team and dynasty in Ultimate Team, and so much more with this distinct football experience. Thanks to constantly updating rosters, ratings, and playbooks, it’s only a matter of time before you end up feeling like a couple of head coaches covering their clipboards. Madden NFL 22 features couch co-op for up to two players.
Minecraft
If you’ve ever wanted a game that could be played with any of your family or friends, Minecraft is the perfect couch co-op game to start with. Anyone can hop into this blocky world and have a good time, as its resources collecting and building mechanics are oddly satisfying and deep. Together, you can build a town or world, travel to mysterious places like the nether, or even just build weapons and traps to kill each other with. The possibilities of what you can do in Minecraft with friends really are endless. Minecraft is couch co-op for up to four players.
Overcooked: All You Can Eat
If you’ve ever cooked food with someone, you know just how frantic and fun it can be. Overcooked: All You Can Eat takes all of the excitement of cooking and adds in the chaos of trying to complete a slew of orders for customers amidst some crazy designed levels. Together, you and your friends must navigate haunted kitchens and shifting appliances to get the right order out and save the Onion Kingdom. What results is a heck of a good time, as you all try and coordinate jobs and work around the wacky variables that are assigned to each level. Overcooked: All You Can Eat combines both the first and second games into one game, featuring couch co-op for two-four players.
Rainbow Six Extraction
While a lot of people recently may associate the Rainbow Six series with intense, 6v6 competitions, the series has always had deep roots in the co-op landscape. Rainbow Six Extraction dives back into them, putting you together with friends, A.I, or strangers online in a Left 4 Dead-like battle for survival against aliens known as Archaeans. Using each character’s different abilities, your team must complete a variety of tasks and objectives for each map, ranging from destroying or extracting something using the tools at your disposal. Due to just how many operators and unique traits there are in the game, you can approach the same situation a number of different ways, making for a boatload of replayability. Rainbow Six Extraction features co-op for you and up to two friends.
Rocket League
If you’ve ever looked at soccer/football and thought, “that would be great with a rocket-powered remote-control car, ” you’d be right, as Rocket League is a boatload of fun. With three cars to each side, the goal is to get the giant ball into the opposing player’s net by any means necessary. Whether that is using weapons, boosting off jump-pads, or wall-riding, just get the ball into the other goal, and you’ve accomplished your mission. Rocket League is couch co-op for two-four players and is free to play.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
While Sackboy: A Big Adventure is certainly a fun single-player title, there is no denying that the game is at its best when playing with friends. Off the beaten path of the main story, most worlds in the game feature sections that can only be played in co-op, offering unique puzzles and platforming that is centered around the mechanic. The best part is that playing throughout each of these levels earns Dreamer Orbs that help you clear the Uproar at the end of each world in single-player. That means that you can have fun and be productive all at the same time. Sackboy: A Big Adventure can be played with up to three other players in co-op on PS5.
Stardew Valley
Just about everyone has days where they’d like to pack it up and move to the country in the hopes of starting a farm and living off the land. Thanks to Stardew Valley, that goal is much more feasible for you and your friends, and you don’t even need to worry about the calluses or early mornings. In this relaxing life sim, players can build a farm, cultivate crops, and complete objectives for townsfolk in order to earn money to progress. As the calendar year progresses, so too does the setting and its inhabitance, making for an amazingly immersive co-op title. Oh, and did we mention that you can even get married to your sweetie in-game? Now, that’s adorable. Stardew Valley is couch co-op for up to two players.
The Dark Pictures Anthology Games
Horror is always the most fun when it’s experienced with friends, as the tension and fear that comes alongside waiting for the next fright are both terrifying and hilarious when experienced with others. The Dark Pictures Anthology takes this idea and makes it even scarier by putting you and your friends in control of what happens via its Movie Night mode. Movie Night mode in The Dark Pictures Anthology assigns each player a specific character. Once selected, you’ll be in charge of making decisions for that character, selecting dialogue, picking routes, and plenty of other choices that will decide whether or not they survive. This immersive horror movie-like experience is one-of-a-kind and can be experienced via couch co-op for up to five people.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
The Borderlands series has always been a haven for co-op fans, as the series has been built upon enjoying the game with friends or even online strangers. While more of a spin-off than a direct game in the series, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is no different, boasting a hilarious and wonderful world to experience via co-op. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is essentially Dungeons and Dragons mixed with Borderlands, combining all of the loot, crazy creatures, and humor of the series with the fantastical elements of DnD. This works surprisingly well, especially if you’re looking for a nice long, grindy playthrough with your amigos. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is couch co-op for up to four players.
Unravel Two
In Unravel, players had to solve a slew of puzzles using yarn-based physics that was by no means a cakewalk. Unravel Two takes that concept and expands it even more, putting an emphasis on co-op and forming new bonds. Together with another Yarney friend, you’ll go on an adventure that is full of change and excitement as you solve puzzles and defeat monsters together through communication and friendship. Unravel Two is couch co-op for up to two players.
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