Games Like It Takes Two: Co-op Adventures That Demand a Partner
The best games like It Takes Two — co-op adventures built for two players with inventive mechanics, emotional stories, and the specific magic of shared gameplay.
It Takes Two won Game of the Year 2021 and earned it. Hazelight Studios built a game where every single level introduces a completely new mechanic that two players must master together. One level you're shrunk inside a snow globe. The next you're riding mechanical beetles. The next you're playing competitive shuffleboard. Josef Fares and his team made a game where the co-op isn't just "two people play the same game" — it's "two people play different games simultaneously that only work together."
Finding games like It Takes Two means hunting for that specific commitment to cooperative design where the game cannot function with one player. Not games with optional co-op. Games built from the ground up for two.
The Hazelight family
A Way Out is Hazelight's previous game. Prison break co-op with split-screen throughout. More cinematic, less mechanically inventive than It Takes Two, but the same commitment to two-player-only design.
Split Fiction is Hazelight's newest release. Two writers trapped inside their own stories. Same philosophy — constant mechanical reinvention, mandatory co-op, emotional story underneath. Reviews suggest it's their most polished game yet.
The co-op adventure peers
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is co-op 3D platformer with levels specifically designed for two players. Less narratively ambitious than It Takes Two but mechanically tight.
Unravel Two is cooperative puzzle-platformer about two yarn characters literally connected to each other. Beautiful, tactile, requires real coordination.
Pode is cooperative puzzle game about a rock and a star exploring a cave together. Norwegian aesthetic, meditative pace.
Phogs! is co-op puzzle game where you control a two-headed dog. Silly premise, genuinely clever puzzles.
The cooperative platformers
Cuphead in two-player co-op is a fundamentally different experience from solo. Boss patterns change, coordination becomes everything.
Rayman Legends is one of the best co-op platformers ever made. Murphy levels in particular are brilliant two-player design.
Overcooked 2 and Overcooked! All You Can Eat are kitchen chaos games that test relationships. Genuinely one of the best couch co-op experiences.
Moving Out is the moving company version of Overcooked. Physics-based furniture chaos.
The puzzle co-op picks
We Were Here series (four games and counting) is asymmetric co-op puzzle solving. Each player sees different things and must communicate to solve puzzles. Free first entry, paid sequels.
Portal 2 co-op mode is still the gold standard for cooperative puzzle design. Two portals each, four portals total, brain-melting solutions.
Escape Simulator is co-op escape rooms in VR or flatscreen. Over 1,000 community-made rooms.
Operation: Tango is spy-themed asymmetric co-op where one player hacks and the other infiltrates.
The action co-op picks
Diablo 4 co-op is excellent ARPG dungeon crawling with a partner. The diablo 4 builds post has more.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the CRPG co-op masterpiece. Two players can take opposing sides in the same story.
Baldur's Gate 3 supports two-player co-op through the entire 100-hour campaign. The bg3 tips post has more.
Remnant II is soulslike shooter with excellent co-op scaling.
The cozy co-op picks
Stardew Valley co-op lets two players share a farm. Genuinely one of the best cooperative experiences in gaming. The stardew valley tips post has more.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is drop-in drop-out co-op across all nine movies. Great for mixed-skill pairs.
Spiritfarer is a game about ferrying the dead to the afterlife. Two-player co-op. Genuinely emotional.
Haven is cooperative RPG about a couple in love, stranded on a planet. Built for couples to play together.
The horror co-op picks
Phasmophobia is ghost hunting with a partner. The ghost hears you through your real microphone.
Lethal Company is best with 2-4 friends scavenging derelict moons. The games like Lethal Company post has more.
Content Warning is YouTube-filming horror where you're trying to record spooky content for views.
The competitive co-op picks
If you want to play with your partner but also against them sometimes:
Boomerang Fu is food-based fighting. Simple, hilarious, great for couples.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is cooperative spaceship management where chaos is the feature.
TowerFall Ascension is competitive archery with co-op mode. Perfect couch game.
What we make at Choost
Granny's Rampage is currently single-player bullet heaven — co-op is something we'd love to add but haven't built yet. For now it's a solo experience. For more co-op recommendations, the best adventure games and games like Helldivers 2 posts have more.
The short answer
For the direct Hazelight experience: Split Fiction or A Way Out.
For puzzle co-op: Portal 2 or We Were Here series.
For cozy co-op: Stardew Valley or Spiritfarer.
For action co-op: Divinity: Original Sin 2 or Baldur's Gate 3.
For chaos co-op: Overcooked 2.
For horror co-op: Phasmophobia or Lethal Company.
For couch platforming: Cuphead or Rayman Legends.
It Takes Two proved that games designed specifically for two players are a viable commercial product, not a niche. The co-op genre has never been healthier. Grab a partner and commit to one of these — the shared experience is the whole point.