10 Revolutionary Co-Op Games Every Fan Needs to Experience

While I still love the single-player gaming experience, I find that most of my playtime these days is devoted to playing co-op titles with my friends online. Co-op games have always been a fun way to hang out, socialize, and feel like you’re getting something done. And the nice thing is, the concept of teamwork translates across so many genres.

There are so many different types of co-op games out there that it’s easy to find something that everyone can agree on. Whether you feel a need to blast away zombies or just want to hang out and play with building blocks, there’s a co-op title out there to meet your needs.

With that said, there are some co-op games that have changed the way we play together. These revolutionary titles are the kind that fans of teamwork or camaraderie should take for a spin at least once in their lives.

10 Left 4 Dead

Lively Co-op Action

Zombies have been a staple in video games basically since they’ve existed, but after Left 4 Dead it feels like they spread like a virus. The concept is simple enough, up to four players work together to get from point A to point B without being completely devoured by a seemingly endless onslaught of the undead. It’s a chaotic FPS experience that relies heavily on working together as a team to make it to the next safe house.

Left 4 Dead does a few clever things to balance silent moments of tension with trying to shoot your way out of a seemingly endless wave of zombies. Basically, it’s set up so that the spawn points for hordes and types of zombies you’d face were randomized each time you played through a level. This type of staging and gameplay loop has essentially become its own extremely popular co-op game sub-genre thanks in no small part to Left 4 Dead.

9 Overcooked

Yes, Chef!

Co-op cooking games don’t get much more insane and enjoyable than the indie co-op legend Overcooked! Imagine trying to run a restaurant while on a pirate ship as barrels sway to and fro and block your ability to get to parts of the kitchen. Players have to work together to slice onions, heat up soup, and cook burgers to get all your orders out quick enough.

It’s a game that can easily melt into panic and chaos in the most fun ways possible with the right group of people. Other times it can turn into an episode of the Bear depending on what type of kitchen you all want to run. It’s a game that’s fun to play online, but you should really get three of your friends to come over and play it, couch co-op style, to get its full effect.

8 Streets of Rage 4

Kickin' it with the Homies

Beat-em ups have been around for most of video games’ existence and were heavy quarters-eaters in the arcade era. But, it wasn’t until Dotemu put out Streets of Rage 4 that the genre really entered the modern gaming zeitgeist. It beefed things up by adding an intricate combo system that allowed for more complex gameplay than just mashing the punch and kick buttons like old side-scrolling brawlers.

Similarly to Overcooked! Streets of Rage 4 can be played with one friend online, but it encourages couch co-op by making 4-player mode local only. It’s a game that breathed new life into one of the best co-op video game genres out there.

7 Monster Hunter: World

Putting the "Pal" in "Palico"

While the Monster Hunter series has been around for quite a while, it didn’t really achieve mainstream success until World came out. A lot of that has to do with the way it streamlined many of its more complex mechanics, but the amazing co-op experience and gorgeous environments are what clinched it as a hit. You really can’t take down a giant lizard on your own and being able to enlist the help of friends or strangers in order to get that scale or horn you need to make your perfect piece of armor is essential to the Monster Hunter experience.

It’s also a game where you can really benefit from having a friend who’s been playing the series longer than you that can show you the ropes. It’s almost like the game hands down wisdom from generation to generation just by its co-op nature.

6 Gears of War

A New Kind of Grind

Probably the most bromantic third-person shooter ever, Gears of War was a new type of co-op experience when it was released. The cover system allowed for a dynamic shoot-out experience. Teaming up with a friend as the dynamic duo of Marcus and Dom to take on the Locust Hordes was one of the most epic experiences you could have on the Xbox 360 when it launched and helped cement the console as a powerhouse of its generation. And how could you not love having a gun with a chainsaw attached to it?

Gears of War’s gameplay still holds up today, and it has even had a few remastered editions come out over the years. It’s a game I’ve played with friends online and while sitting on the couch with my bestie a number of times. If you like intense shooters, and you haven’t tried GoW, you need to add it to your list.

5 Borderlands 2

Never Loot Alone Again

The first Borderlands was nothing to scoff at, but Borderlands 2 took everything that was good about it and cranked it up to 11. While the game is full of more guns than you could possibly count, it also has selectable hero classes as well. Whether you wanted to blast away your foes as the Gunzerker or sneak up on them as the Zer0 the assassin, players could squad up and make a team as balanced or unbalanced as they wanted to.

Throw in a story full of humor and just the right amount of crass along with the iconic villain Handsome Jack and you’ve got one heck of an iconic co-op experience. Borderlands 2 is a game that will have you and your friends laughing and smiling the whole way through.

4 It Takes Two

A New Kind of Marriage Counseling

The premise of you and your estranged spouse being turned into dolls who must go on an adventure in order to reconcile your marriage problems is different to say the least. But, it works so fantastically well. The asymmetrical co-op gameplay of It Takes Two requires you and another person to communicate and work together in order to navigate the game’s many puzzles and platforms.

It Takes Two is one of the most rewarding co-op experiences ever, thanks to some very solid gameplay and a story that unravels perfectly as you progress. And Dr. Hakim, the talking book, is a completely unhinged guide that will keep you both entertained through the whole journey.

3 Minecraft

Digging Deep

I think one of the nicest things Minecraft does is let you choose what level of challenge you want to have. If you and your friends just want to hop into a private server and build things, you can, or you can put up with things like Enderman and Creepers and hunt down resources. The game is one part survival/explorer experience and one part building digital LEGOs with your friends, which is reason enough to try it.

Minecraft can be a casual thing you and friends do, or it can be a bigger challenge. It’s no surprise that it’s gone on to be one of the best-selling games of all time given its dynamic co-op gameplay.

2 Helldivers 2

Calling in Reinforcements

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do for democracy and Helldivers 2 gets that. Squads of up to 4 Helldivers can take on space robots or giant bugs that look like they’re straight out of Starship Troopers in this squad-based third-person shooter as liberate planetary systems. Team tactics and everyone having a balanced loadout help make this a game where everyone needs to have each other's backs in order to complete their objectives and make it back in one piece.

The need to work together to get through missions is not lost on Helldivers 2’s in-game community. For the most part, it’s been one of the least toxic online co-op experiences I’ve ever personally had. Everyone just wants to hug you or high five before and after a mission. Even if you don’t have anyone specific to play with, Helldivers 2 is an enjoyable time.

1 Split Fiction

Mix-up Madness

Okay, I know Hazelight Studios already made the list for the amazing and revolutionary work on It Takes Two, but that’s just how much they upped the ante with Split Fiction. It takes all the concepts from their previous game and then blends it with more video game genres than you can shake a stick at. As you alternate between sci-fi and fantasy worlds, you’ll do things like climb mountains with the help of giants and ride around on futuristic motorcycles.

Once again, it takes the genre of asymmetrical teamwork to a whole new level. It’s co-op fan’s co-op game, to say the very least, and one that you simply have to play through if you enjoy the genre.