The Best Co-Operative Puzzle Games

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home February 6, 2025 5 Views 24 Min Read
The Best Co-Operative Puzzle Games



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Although it’s fun gaming solo, sometimes you want to get someone else in on the action with you, whether it be a close friend, partner, or complete stranger. Luckily, cooperative games seem to be on the up, with some amazing new additions finding their way onto shelves and digital libraries in the last few years.

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Many of these cooperative adventures contain puzzle-solving elements, requiring you to work together and communicate well to reach your end goal. So whether you’re looking to escape a frightening labyrinth, work out a gravity-defying world, or even play as two geese waddling their way to village overlords, here are some of the best cooperative puzzle-solving games out there, all fantastic for an evening on the sofa together.

Updated on February 06, 2025, by Sanyam Jain: We’ve added more information about each of these puzzle games so that you find the perfect game based on your taste and platform availability!

23

Never Alone

Never Alone - Nuna sitting on the snow with her fox companion

Lots of co-op puzzle games focus on the funny hijinks you and your co-op buddy can get into, but Never Alone is a bit different. You play as a young Iñupiaq girl named Nuna and her fox companion as you venture to put an end to an eternal blizzard that threatens her village.

The developers collaborated with members of the Iñupiat to bring the game’s story and environment to life, and it shows. Not only is the gameplay itself immersive and challenging, but you’ll learn a lot about the Iñupiaq along the way.

22

Boxboy + Boxgirl

Box Boy! And Box Girl!: Creating Platforms As Boxes And Working Together.

Part of the Boxboy series and at least as good as the other games, Boxboy + Boxgirl is a co-op puzzle platformer where you create boxes to overcome obstacles and complete levels. The catch is that you can’t make as many boxes as you please; every level has a certain limit on the amount you can create.

You and your co-op partner will have to put your heads together to figure out how to make the best possible use of the boxes you can make. And if you like collecting things, good news: you can collect crowns to purchase power-ups, accessories, and even bonus levels that up the challenge.

21

Heave Ho

Heave Ho characters swinging on a platform trying to get to goal.

If you’re looking for something you can play with a group in gatherings, Heave Ho fits the bill. It’s a silly platforming game with one goal: don’t fall. The puzzle aspect comes from finding out how to best move along the level while being attached to three other people. The platforms you stick to come in all shapes and sizes, from hooks to boulders to see-saws, and some even have spikes you can’t touch.

The levels aren’t easy, but the humor factor will make you and your friends laugh out loud instead of yelling in frustration. You can customize your characters to more easily differentiate who each person is supposed to be (and to look cool), but that won’t totally save you from plummeting to your deaths more times than you can count.

20

Very Very Valet

very very valet character driving a car to the restaurant

Very Very Valet is a wacky party puzzle game that is dripping with off-the-wall shenanigans. If you haven’t guessed from the game’s title, you play as a valet driver. Your chosen cartoony valet driver works diligently to wrangle up as many cars as possible to park them and eventually retrieve them for your patrons.

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While that setup may sound undeniably simple and even mundane, nothing could be farther from the truth, especially when playing this one in zany co-op. Adding two or more players to the mix really makes this game a blast as you work with your chosen co-op partner to drive around the vehicles, which end up basically being puzzles since you have to navigate them through specific stage-based hazards and scenarios.

19

Good Job!

warehouse stage with boxes in good job! game

Platforms

Number of Players

1-2 players (local co-op only)

If you haven’t played the downright hilarious puzzle adventure game Good Job!, you should be sure to remedy that right away. It’s equal parts fun and hilarious, especially in co-op. In this game, you play as the heir to a successful CEO, and it’s now up to you to work your way to the top, literally and figuratively.

Good Job! relishes in physics-based mayhem where your goal is to move through different stages of a large office building, solving environmental puzzles, interacting with objects, and, of course, causing tons of destruction. While the game is fun solo, adding a friend to the mix turns this game from a simple puzzle experience to a bonkers one.

18

39 Days To Mars

split image of heroes working through mechanical puzzles in 39 Days to Mars

Platforms
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Linux
  • macOS

Number of Players

1-2 players (local co-op only)

This Kickstarter-funded project by It’s Anecdotal finally came to fruition after years in limbo, flying under the radar as a particularly innovative indie puzzler. The charming co-op game forces two players to work together through a series of creative brain-busters as they embark on a short but memorable trip to Mars by airship.

These 19th-century explorers must scramble to solve problems on board so they can reach their destination in one piece. Whimsical themes and stylized, hand-drawn visuals add a sense of character to the experience, engrossing you as you tinker with clever puzzles to maintain the ship. Tasks range from churning mechanical contraptions to assembling maps—and even the simple act of making tea.

17

Shift Happens

Shift Happens - promo image of gameplay in a mechanical world

Shift Happens is a puzzle-platformer game. It’s really best experienced with two people, but the developers also ensured there was a single-player mode available

The two creatures that the players control (named Bismo and Plom) are made out of jelly, which allows them to do chaotic and creative things! One of the main mechanics is “shifting,” which allows you to trade jelly to adjust your size between a big version and a small version of your jelly creature. There are four worlds to explore, each requiring your unique talents.

16

Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together

split image of drawing and piece arranging puzzles in Sniper Clips Cut It Out Together

This delightful puzzler channels that feeling of playing around in elementary school art class. Similar to that experience—just about anything goes in Snipperclips, as two players must use intuition and improvisation on the spot to solve crafty puzzles.

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The game’s puzzles revolve around rotating and overlapping controllable shapes to snip out new ones, which are used to transport or otherwise interact with other objects. Communication is key here, as both players will be working through a slew of random scenarios on the spot with little to no guidance. This colorful co-op romp makes for a fun little diversion that’s good for some laughs.

15

Death Squared

split image of multi colored block puzzles in Death Squared

Released by SMG Studio in early 2017, this mechanical game harkens back to the old-school puzzler feel, standing out in an era when bigger and more bombastic seemingly equals better. But while this blocky title seems simple on the surface, Death Squared offers some deceptively tricky tasks that keep folks coming back for more.

Two players will need to be precise and work in synchronicity to progress through the dozens of unique block mazes. This includes clearing obstacles and platforms by triggering contraptions and matching with switches of the same color.

14

Human Fall Flat

ragdoll physic puzzles stone henge and hanging from bridge in Human Fall Flat

Fumbling through these courses may seem counter-productive and silly due to the clumsy ragdoll physics—but in No Brakes Games’ co-op journey, this is the point. The aptly named Human Fall Flat drops loads of online players into a set of progressively tricky stages. From there, they’ll hop, stumble, and crawl their way through various puzzles while dealing with impeding obstacles, mostly themselves and each other.

One can imagine the laughs this goofy experience brings—with the blend of drunken physics, bustling crowds, and the relative precision the game demands to progress. Something as simple as dropping a plank for a bridge and scurrying across can be a tough, treacherous act.

13

A Way Out

split image of players trying to escape cell together and fighting in A Way Out

Those seeking a cooperative game with a slightly grittier, cinematic blend should look no further than this 2018 effort from Hazelight Studios and EA. Though more action-adventure than a straight-up puzzle game, A Way Out tasks you with coming up with solutions and working through tasks together in order to progress.

It’s a fun and intense experience with much on the line—as you must work together to sneak, fight, and maneuver your way out of prison while steering clear of the authorities. Uniquely, this memorable game stresses local split-screen play, as many of these actions require discussion and knowledge about what your fellow prisoner is currently up to.

12

Labyrinthine

split image of circular maze gate and dark shack with ghost bedsheets in Labyrinthine

One for horror fans, Labyrinthine is unique. It combines fan-favorite survival horror with some classic puzzle-solving as you seek to escape a creepy children’s hedge-maze together and hopefully survive the bloodcurdling horrors calling it home.

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Labyrinthine was built for cooperative play between four players and plays like a classic puzzle-solver. Everyone must know what they’re doing and work together to uncover the dark secrets lurking around every corner and escape the maze in one piece.

11

DYO

DYO Cover and Gameplay

Platforms

Number of Players

1-2 players (local co-op only)

A journey for two players, Dyo has you assume the role of two Minotaurs both trapped on either side of a split-screen who must work together to escape the cursed labyrinth they’ve been trapped within.

You each need to control your Minotaur and use your ability to hop over the split-screen to mix up and manipulate levels, working together to solve platforming puzzles and carve out a path to your freedom. There are no enemies and no time limits, so sit back, get puzzling, and try not to yell at each other as you both attempt to solve this maze’s tricks and traps together.

10

Tick Tock: A Tale For Two

split image of lanter, letter, key, and clock in Tick Tock a Tale for Two

Platforms

Number of Players

2 players (local, online, or local wireless)

Tick Tock: A Tale For Two is a game where playing solo is not an option, as you’ll need both of you working in unison to escape this escape room-style game together.

The story is based on Scandinavian folklore, creating a beautiful, if not slightly eerie, setting. The key to freedom is in cooperation, with you both needing to share information to get the full picture of what’s going on and solve the story’s mysteries in tandem.

9

We Were Here Series

We Were Here Cover and Gameplay

We Were Here

Platforms

Number of Players

2 players (online co-op only)

We Were Here Too

Platforms

Number of Players

2 players (online co-op only)

We Were Here Together

Platforms

Number of Players

2 players (online co-op only)

We Were Here Forever

Platforms
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5

Number of Players

2 players (online co-op only, crossplay allowed)

We Were Here is unique, having you and your partner separated and needing to work on puzzles both independently and together through your communicative walkie-talkies in order to work out your locations and (hopefully) escape.

We Were Here plays as an immersive first-person cooperative adventure, with both of you needing to discover useful items and communicate well in order to solve each other’s puzzles and reach the end. It’s great for those looking for a short escape room style of adventure game, and with a trilogy and fourth game due to be released, there’s no time like the present to be picking this title up.

8

Portal 2

Portal 2 Atlas and P-Body Co-Op Mode

An older entry in the cooperative puzzle genre, but one still going strong as a two-player co-op adventure for you and a friend to spend hours upon hours puzzling over.

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Portal 2‘s cooperative mode offers an entirely separate campaign mode with a unique story, portal mechanics, and two new characters to play as. The trick to success is teamwork, as in working together, you’ll discover new ways to use portals and hopefully create a means of escape from the test chambers before Glados turns you against one another.

7

Ibb and Obb

split image of red and green blobs in platforming states in Ibb and Obb

Platforms
  • PlayStation 3
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5
  • Microsoft Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux

Number of Players

2 players (local, online, or local wireless)

Ibb and Obb is a delightfully cute and creative cooperative puzzle game using gravity-changing mechanics to have you working together to move past obstacles and have some innovative level-solving fun.

With stylish art and sound, it’s great for an easy game to play together on the couch, and will keep you coming back again and again with some tough and challenging puzzles – but nothing your teamwork can’t solve.

6

Unravel 2

Unravel 2 Cover Art and Gameplay

Unravel 2 is arguably perfection in couch co-op, needing you and another player to solve platforming puzzles in order to progress through the stages and save two children running away from unreliable adults looking to hurt them.

The game is beautiful, with breathtaking scenery and gameplay surrounding a sad but enlightening tale. The puzzles featured in the game vary from needing to escape a crazed pheasant, using objects to get to hard-to-reach places, and most of all, making sure to never leave one another behind.

5

Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies - promo image of an astronaut in a shuttle next to an asteroid

Heavenly Bodies is a wonderful game about space exploration where you play as cosmonauts! (Did you know that a person who travels to space from America or the rest of the western world is known as an astronaut, while one who travels from the Soviet or Russian space programs are known as cosmonauts? If they were launched from China, they’re called taikonauts.)

In space, you’ll need to help people on the ground by installing and maintaining solar arrays, doing research, and building telescopes, among other things! It’s not quite like any other game you’ve played before; the physics in space are unfamiliar and you’re performing fairly precise tasks, so it’ll take some practice before you’re perfect.

4

Untitled Goose Game

Untitled Goose Game Cover and Multiplayer Gameplay

The world’s (least) favorite goose is back, and this time he’s got company. The incredible open-world cooperative game for two players, Untitled Goose Game co-op allows for two geese to travel through the village’s story together; solving problems, chasing villagers and of course, endlessly honking.

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This is a great relaxing game for two, with you able to work together to solve your list of errands without a time limit. So whether it be chasing a boy into a phone box, wearing a fancy bow, or stealing an old man’s slipper – why not do it together? Just don’t forget to HONK.

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