Why It Takes Two Set a New Standard for Co-op Gaming
It Takes Two won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021 for a reason that has little to do with graphics or scale. It’s built entirely for two players, no solo mode exists and there’s no way to sample it alone first, and if you’re hunting for similar games to It Takes Two, that constraint is exactly where the search starts. It spends that constraint well: almost every chapter hands you a brand new mechanic and a brand new toy-sized world, a garden seen at insect scale, a music box you can walk inside, so neither player is ever doing the same thing for long. Underneath the constant reinvention sits a genuinely honest story about Cody and May, a married couple magically shrunk into dolls and forced to fix a relationship that’s falling apart, told through the puzzles themselves rather than cutscenes bolted onto them.
That combination, mandatory teamwork, constant mechanical variety, and a story with real emotional stakes, is the bar every game on this list gets measured against. None of them are trying to be a carbon copy. Each earns its place for a specific piece of that formula it does particularly well, and it’s worth knowing which piece before you buy.
From the Same Visionary Director: Hazelight’s Hits
Josef Fares and Hazelight Studios made It Takes Two, and their other two games share its DNA closely enough to start here.
1. A Way Out
At a Glance
Genre: Action / Adventure
Co-op Type: Mandatory split-screen, local or online
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Price: $$
Why You’ll Love It
Hazelight’s game before It Takes Two, a two-player-only prison break shown in permanent split-screen even when playing online, so you always see exactly what the other player is doing rather than cutting between camera angles. It’s a complete, focused story in a single playthrough, shorter and tighter than It Takes Two, closer to one evening than a long commitment.
What Makes It Special
- Permanent split-screen presentation, local or online
- Friend’s Pass, only one partner needs to own it
- A tense, character-driven story built entirely around two escaped convicts trusting each other
- From the same director and studio, before It Takes Two existed
Keep in Mind
Strictly two-player, no solo mode, and a shorter, tighter experience than It Takes Two, one sitting or two rather than a long-term commitment.
2. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
At a Glance
Genre: Adventure / Puzzle
Co-op Type: Local co-op (Remake only, see below)
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: $
Why You’ll Love It
The game that put Josef Fares on the map before either Hazelight title existed: two brothers on a journey to save their father, controlled with one thumbstick each. Its puzzles rely on the two brothers having distinctly different strengths, the younger is small and quick, the older is strong but afraid of water, so every obstacle asks you to work out which brother does what.
What Makes It Special
- One of the most influential co-op-style games ever made, from 2013
- Wordless storytelling that lands harder than most fully-voiced games
- Asymmetrical brother abilities baked into every puzzle
- Short, roughly three to four hours, easy to finish in one sitting
Keep in Mind
The original 2013 version is a single-player game, one person controls both brothers at once, a thumbstick each. The 2024 Remake added an actual local co-op mode with a second player, worth checking which version you’re buying if playing together matters to you.
View Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake on Steam →
A Wholesome Alternative: Hela: Of Mice & Magic
At a Glance
Genre: Adventure / Puzzle
Co-op Type: Local split-screen & online, 1 Solo / 2 Local / Up to 4 Online
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
Release Window: December 1, 2026
Why You’ll Love It
Picture a mouse crouched at the edge of a fallen log, working out exactly how far the frog strapped to its back can stretch before letting go. That’s the texture of a Hela: Of Mice & Magic puzzle, small, physical, tactile, set in a world drawn from the woods of northern Sweden rather than a toy-sized apartment or garden. Froggy, the magical frog backpack, handles climbing, swinging and traversal, and every obstacle is built around exploration and kindness rather than combat or a countdown.
The Shade System hands a solo player a controllable magical companion in place of a second person, so the whole adventure works as a complete experience on its own, one consistent world from start to finish rather than a new toy every chapter. Local split-screen or online co-op is there for up to four players whenever you want company, and nothing about the pace or puzzle design changes depending on who’s playing.
What Makes It Special
- A quiet, folklore-inspired world built for slow exploration
- Froggy, the magical frog backpack, drives every traversal and puzzle
- Shade System makes it a complete solo experience, not co-op with a bolted-on solo mode
- Scales from one player to four without changing what the game actually is
- Co-op built around exploration and kindness instead of combat
Keep in Mind
Hela: Of Mice & Magic is releasing on December 1, 2026, so it isn’t out yet. It’s wishlistable on Steam now, worth adding to your list before it launches rather than after.
Wishlist Hela: Of Mice & Magic Now
Co-op Puzzle & Platformer Gems
Three picks where the puzzle mechanic itself is what forces you to work together, not just the setting.
3. Portal 2
At a Glance
Genre: Puzzle
Co-op Type: Local split-screen & online, 2 players
Platforms: PC, Switch, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Price: $
Why You’ll Love It
Portal 2’s co-op campaign, entirely separate from its single-player story, hands each player their own portal gun and demands constant coordination through physics puzzles that are flatly impossible to solve alone. Released in 2011, it’s older now, but the puzzle design still hasn’t really been matched for how cleanly it teaches two people to plan a move together.
What Makes It Special
- A fully separate co-op campaign, not a mode bolted onto the single-player story
- Sharp writing and memorable humour throughout
- Puzzles flatly impossible to solve without both players
- Local split-screen and online support
Keep in Mind
The visuals are dated next to modern titles, released in 2011, even though the puzzle design holds up completely.
4. Unravel Two
At a Glance
Genre: Puzzle Platformer
Co-op Type: Local co-op, or solo controlling both
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: $
Why You’ll Love It
Two small yarn creatures, physically tethered together, work through gentle platforming puzzles where one player’s jump quite literally pulls the other along. It plays solo, controlling both at once, or with a second player locally, so timing a jump means either coordinating with a partner or thinking two steps ahead yourself.
What Makes It Special
- Playable solo, controlling both characters, or with a second player
- Physically tethered movement makes cooperation a core mechanic, not a theme
- Short, calm, roughly five or six hours
- No combat, patient timing over reflexes
Keep in Mind
Short at five or six hours, a single calm evening rather than a long-term commitment like some others on this list.
5. We Were Here Forever
At a Glance
Genre: Puzzle / Escape Room
Co-op Type: Online only, 2 players
Platforms: PC
Price: $$
Why You’ll Love It
The fourth entry in the We Were Here series locks you and a partner into separate rooms with nothing but a walkie-talkie between you, one of you sees a puzzle, the other holds the piece of information needed to solve it, and neither can see the other’s screen. It fails immediately, loudly and often hilariously the moment you stop talking.
What Makes It Special
- Built specifically for two people in separate physical locations
- Communication isn’t a theme, it’s the entire mechanic
- Crossplay between Steam and Epic Games Store
- Part of a five-entry series if you want more once you’re finished
Keep in Mind
Online only, no local option, and you’ll need a working microphone, this is the one game on the list where a bad headset actually ruins the experience.
View We Were Here Forever on Steam →
Adventures in Creative & Chaotic Cooperation
A different flavour of co-op entirely, communication under pressure rather than a calm narrative.
6. Overcooked! 2
At a Glance
Genre: Party / Cooking Sim
Co-op Type: Local & online, up to 4 players
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: $
Why You’ll Love It
Chop, cook and serve against the clock while the kitchen floor tilts, catches fire or splits into two moving trucks. It’s the opposite of a slow narrative game, and it demands just as much teamwork, calling out orders, dividing stations, covering for each other, just compressed into a few frantic minutes instead of a whole chapter.
What Makes It Special
- Properly chaotic, laugh-out-loud co-op under time pressure
- Up to four players, local or online
- Short rounds, easy to fit into one evening
- Teamwork under pressure rather than teamwork through puzzle logic
Keep in Mind
The clock is real pressure, the opposite mood of most other picks on this list, worth knowing if you specifically wanted something calmer.
7. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
At a Glance
Genre: Party / Puzzle
Co-op Type: Local (or remote via voice chat), 2 or more
Platforms: PC
Price: $
Why You’ll Love It
One player sits at the keyboard staring at a bomb, everyone else reads instructions from a manual nobody at the keyboard is allowed to see. Success depends entirely on describing what you’re looking at clearly and listening under pressure, closer to a party game than a traditional co-op title, but built on exactly the same communication muscle as everything else here.
What Makes It Special
- A different shape entirely from every other pick, asymmetric information rather than shared controls
- Works with any number of “Experts” reading the manual, not fixed at two
- Endlessly replayable, randomised bombs every round
- Cheap and a genuine party-night favourite
Keep in Mind
Only one player actually holds a controller, everyone else is reading and talking, worth knowing if your group wants everyone hands-on.
View Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes on Steam →
Narrative Journeys to Share with a Friend
Two picks where the relationship between the characters, not the puzzle mechanic, is the main draw.
8. Haven
At a Glance
Genre: RPG / Adventure
Co-op Type: Local co-op, drop-in/drop-out, or solo
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: $$
Why You’ll Love It
Two runaway lovers, Yu and Kay, build a life together on a fractured alien planet, gliding across floating terrain, cooking meals, and fighting synchronised battles where both players’ actions combine into one attack. A second player can join or leave at any point without breaking the game, playing solo simply means controlling both characters.
What Makes It Special
- A genuine romance story told through shared gameplay, not cutscenes alone
- Drop-in, drop-out co-op, no commitment to a fixed session
- Synchronised combat that turns two players’ actions into one move
- Fully playable solo if a second player isn’t available that night
Keep in Mind
Co-op is local only, no online option, so it’s a same-sofa pick specifically.
9. Blanc
At a Glance
Genre: Adventure
Co-op Type: Local or online, 2 players
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: $
Why You’ll Love It
A wolf cub and a fawn, natural predator and prey, are stranded together in a hand-drawn, entirely wordless snowy wilderness, and have to rely on each other to find their way home. Each animal has a different ability, the fawn can jump further, the wolf can smell a path forward, so every obstacle needs both, told without a single line of dialogue.
What Makes It Special
- Entirely wordless storytelling, mood carries the whole game
- Two distinctly different characters with complementary abilities
- Beautiful hand-drawn, black-and-white art style
- Works locally on one sofa or online with a friend elsewhere
Keep in Mind
Short, a few hours, closer to a single shared evening than an ongoing game.
How to Choose Your Next Co-op Adventure
Three practical questions before you buy anything, since none of the competitor lists for this exact search actually answer them.
Local vs online co-op. Local means the same sofa, same screen (or split-screen), the fastest communication there is. Online means separate machines, essential for long-distance couples or friends who don’t live together. Check each game’s At a Glance box above, several here are local-only (Haven, Overcooked’s couch mode), one is online-only (We Were Here Forever), and most give you the choice.
Platform availability. Every game above is on PC. Most are also on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, the exceptions are We Were Here Forever and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, both PC only. If you’re specifically after games like It Takes Two on Xbox or PS5 games similar to It Takes Two, that narrows the list to A Way Out, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake, Portal 2, Unravel Two, Overcooked! 2, Haven and Blanc, all confirmed on both. Worth checking before you commit if you and your co-op partner use different consoles.
Pricing. Nothing here costs as much as a brand-new full-price release. Unravel Two, Portal 2, Overcooked! 2, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes and Blanc all sit at the cheaper end; Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake is one of the least expensive picks on the whole list. A Way Out, We Were Here Forever and Haven run a little higher. Several, including It Takes Two, A Way Out and Blanc, carry a free Friend’s Pass or equivalent, so only one of you needs to actually buy the game.
Your Next Shared Story Awaits
The games above cover three genuinely different reasons people loved It Takes Two: constant mechanical reinvention (A Way Out, Brothers), puzzles that demand real communication (Portal 2, Unravel Two, We Were Here Forever), and chaos or story that only works because two people are paying attention together (Overcooked! 2, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Haven, Blanc). None of them are trying to be a copy, each one earns its place for a specific reason.
If what you actually loved was the quiet moments between puzzles, the feeling of exploring somewhere new side by side, Hela: Of Mice & Magic is worth watching. It launches on December 1, 2026, wishlistable now, and it’s built to work whether you’ve got a partner free tonight or not.