Couch co op games on game pass

Acquiring Xbox Game Pass does not solely entail solo play-time. Fun experiences are just lying in store for duos with access to the console's greatest gaming service. A decent amount of titles available on Xbox Game Pass (and EA Play) allow for the pleasure of local co-op. And as any gamer worth their salt knows, playing a game with a buddy using good old-fashioned couch co-op is one of the best joys to be had.

Whether the action occurs on a single screen or double the participation necessitates split-screen, these games ensure entertainment between friends. From sci-fi shooters to goofy physics-based playgrounds, Xbox owners can't go wrong with these fun, local co-op titles.

As Dusk Falls

If you’ve ever wanted to play a Telltale-esque game with a friend that isn’t some horror title from The Dark Pictures Anthology, then look no further than As Dusk Falls. While this thrilling narrative adventure doesn’t exactly break boundaries with its mechanics, it’s an undeniably fun experience to play with friends. You and up to seven other players can work your way through the story of a motel hold-up gone terribly wrong. Votes are taken on which dialogue options to choose and quick-time events are performed jointly, so all players contribute to reaching the outcomes they desire. It can be a tense and hilarious experience at the same time. As Dusk Falls is the perfect example of a narrative-driven game that is fantastically suited for being played cooperatively.

Escape Academy

Every cooperative title within the Xbox Game Pass library was made with the intention of allowing players to enjoy the game with a friend. But Escape Academy puts them all to shame when it comes to how much of a blast it is to solve puzzles with a buddy on your couch. It brings the joy inherent in going through an escape room right into your own home. No one (well, we assume no one) wants to play an escape room alone. The delight of finding clues and using logic to find solutions in a group setting is just too much fun, and Escape Academy captures this magic in a video game format. Go through the various schools of the academy and their themed puzzles with a partner, solving convoluted, yet intuitive problems as a team. Escape Academy is also a highly digestible offering as it only lasts a few hours before you can see it through to completion.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

If a dash of nostalgia and a jam-packed evening of beat ‘em up fun is what you want, you can’t go wrong with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. The titular Turtles are back, and they’re in top form. Playing as either Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Splinter, or April, you and up to four friends can roam the streets with the sole intention of foiling Shredder’s nefarious plans. One of the great things about Shredder’s Revenge is how easily you can devote a single evening to it. It’s not a lengthy experience that you have to dedicate an entire month to. It genuinely brings to mind the arcade cabinets of old and the delight of spending a night playing through each level. The only difference this time is that you can fight your way alongside the Turtles from the comfort of your own home now.

Nobody Saves The World

For all the fun of playing Diablo, it’s a rather gritty experience. You spend your time whomping, blasting, and slicing through hordes of undead, demons, and skeletons. Nobody Saves the World brings players a somewhat similar experience, but it ups the ante when it comes to downright side-splitting humor. While you try to save the world from “The Calamity,” you play as a morphable Nobody who can turn into various character archetypes, each with different abilities to help you on your journey.Not only is this adventure playable on your own, but you and a friend can travel together and face the hilarity and action of Nobody Saves the World together!

Pac-Man Museum+

Bring some retro vibes to your next couch co-op session by playing Pac-Man Museum+. Though not your conventional splitscreen cooperative experience, as the Pac-Man titles available in this collection entail passing the controller back and forth, watching your friend fail during their round of these arcade classics is just as entertaining. Undoubtedly, the controls for these older games have lost some of their luster over the years, especially when translated to a controller instead of a joystick, but that’s part of the fun. From the original Pac-Man to more underrated titles like Pac-Mania or Pac-Land, Pac-Man Museum+ has quite the anthology of games to revisit over and over again.

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

The goofy nature of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (or TABS) is made twice as ridiculous with a friend in tow. Pitting the creatures on your battlefield against those arrayed by your bud on the opposite side is a hilarious experience. Watch as your googly-eyed monstrosities amble, lurch, and fall over themselves as they make sad attempts to fight their opponents. Gape in frustration as ranged units miss enemies that are right in front of them. Cry out in shock as a single overpowered unit decimates a veritable army of mediocre units. TABS might be called a “totally accurate battle simulator,” but even just loading this game up and watching the main menu screen prepares you for the height of hilarity.

7 Days To Die

It’s tempting to take the easy way out with this one by saying that it’s essentially Minecraft for horror aficionados. The problem is that, really, that terse description isn’t at all far off the mark. 7DTD is in the vein of your typical post-apocalyptic zombie survival sim, replete with survival mechanics to contend with alongside the shambling hordes of the undead. However, there are two core differences that set it apart from the crowd.

The first is the most obvious — 7 Days to Diefeatures an incredibly robust building and crafting system wherein the sky’s the limit. The second is that every seven in-game days, a bloodthirsty horde of zombies zeroes in on and assaults your precise location, giving you ample motivation to make full use of said building mechanics to construct a defensible fortress. It’s a great deal of fun when played alongside friends, and while the Xbox port of this PC title suffers from the occasional performance hiccup, the addition of split-screen multiplayer gels incredibly well with this spine-tingling survival horror experience.

Spelunky 2

Tackling the cute but difficult levels of Spelunky alone can be a tad infuriating. But playing it alongside a friend turns the whole thing into a hilarious experience you’ll want/have to repeat over and over again. The traps that lie in wait for you become perfect fountains of comedic timing when your own death is prevented thanks to the handy forewarning of your friends’ demise. This game is a bit of a friendship destroyer though, especially if you take advantage of its full four-person cooperative experience. The more people you have leaping through the dangerous caverns, the more likely you’ll perish trying to navigate through the sheer chaos.And have we mentioned that friendly fire is a thing in Spelunky 2?

Halo Infinite

Is it the conventional co-op experience players fervently wish would have shipped with the campaign? Not precisely, no, but Halo Infinite does at least feature splitscreen functionality in the multiplayer suite. So while you may not be able to smash Grunts into a fine paste with your best pal, there’s something to be said about being able to pile into a Warthog together for an adrenaline-pumping flag run into the opposing team’s base alongside the person you’re sharing the comfort of your couch with. Couch co-op is part of the DNA of the Halo series. Without screen-peeking, you wouldn’t be able to call it Halo.

Gears 5

The Gears series was one of the premier line of games touting the universal appeal of local co-op, so why not try your hand at the latest entry in the series. Gears 5 is the pinnacle of everything the Gears of War franchise has achieved. Its story contains multiple callbacks to the original while still forging ahead and carving out its own chunk of the mythos. The gunplay has never felt better, and new open-world environments spice up the Gears formula. Nothing is as good as playing Gears 5 with a friend, and it supports both local splitscreen and online co-op. Kait Diaz’s journey is one of the most harrowing yet faced by a Gears protagonist, but it’s definitely an enjoyable action title for fans.

Doom

Who could forget id Software’s classic FPS title when looking at the best co-op offerings on Xbox Game Pass? Though the original Doom shows its age in every demon-filled hallway, it’s a game that has aged like wine. It’s incredible to roam through those installations with a pal, shooting every monstrosity that dares to show its face around a corner. The increased difficulty levels can also make it more of a challenge if you feel like you’re breezing through missions. Doomguy’s initial foray into the gaming sphere was iconic, and you and a friend can blast your way through it for one hell of a good time.

It Takes Two

We've all been there. Your parents are getting divorced, so they fall into a coma and navigate through a shared fever dream in which they've become miniaturized wooden or clay action figures and are forced through a series of fantastical and action-packed adventures at the behest of a sadistic anthropomorphic self-help book. Because that's how you fix problematic marriages. Everyone knows that. This is precisely the tale told in the latest and greatest from modern visionary Josef Fares of Hazelight Studios, but really, the wacky plot undersells just how good the cooperative gameplay elements are. Hazelight has essentially fabricated a deeply engaging theme park of cooperative goodness in here, and no two stages are even remotely alike save for a common thread of well-executed platforming mechanics. In a nutshell, each player is introduced to a unique mechanic that's specific to them in each level, and these mechanics have to work in tandem in order to progress. It takes two. Get it? Good. For example, where Cody's given a sticky sap launcher, Mae's given a squirrel-tech flamethrower that ignites said sap in a glorious conflagration to remove obstacles or take down killer wasps. Each new stage is almost an entirely new game unto itself, and it's an absolute delight to discover its mechanical impetus alongside a good friend. It Takes Two is likely the most innovative cooperative adventure to come out in a decade, and it might hold that title well into the next one.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is the perfect selection if you’re looking for a more low-key vibe for your co-op session. Things play out largely as one would expect — it’s the same chill, retro-styled farming simulator with a dash of dungeon crawling and a healthy bit of dating sim thrown in for good measure, but coordinating your daily activities with another player (or three) adds a delightful bit of nuance. Co-op players live in additional cabins on the farmstead, can marry one another, and some of the game’s bigger decisions (such as attending a festival) are rendered collaboratively.

Terraria

Many have described Terraria as a pixelated, 2D version of Minecraft, and while that is a severe generalization, it is an apt comparison when used to describe how much fun Terraria can be. Like Minecraft, Terraria is all about creativity and adventure. Players are dropped into the world and left to their own devices. One particular edge it holds over Minecraft is in terms of progression mechanics — Terraria very much feels and plays much closer to an RPG than Minecraft does, with somewhat traditional boss encounters and equipment systems that are sure to satisfy your inner role-playing enthusiast.

Gang Beasts

Nothing spells good co-op fun than a game where you and your friends contend with poor controls while having to toss each other off of icebergs, water towers, and power plants. That’s what Gang Beasts is all about. There is no nuance or finesse in Gang Beasts. However, this is by no means a detriment to the game’s enjoyment levels — in fact, it’s practically intrinsic to its charm. Gang Beasts shines when played with a close group of friends, provoking raucous laughter as often as it does playful competitiveness.

Quake

Quake is a literal blast from the past — this 1996 classic is easily one of the most iconic and influential titles in the FPS genre as a whole, and its recent remaster is the perfect excuse to go back and experience a definitive piece of gaming history. Make no mistake, it shows its age. The graphics are delightfully dated, but the straightforward gameplay of this explosive gothic sci-fi romp makes it a perfect pick-up-and-go title for an evening with friends, as its console port fully supports split-screen cooperative play (and deathmatch, if you’re feeling a bit more aggressive).

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

The Gears series is truly at its best when played with a friend. The serviceable campaign is made utterly phenomenal if played using local co-op, and thanks to Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, players can try out the first entry in this now iconic franchise with updated graphics and gameplay improvements. Playing as Marcus Fenix and Dom, two players can Lancer their way to a gritty victory against the Locust. The game features fantastic cover-based shooting mechanics, outrageous action setpieces, and chaotic vehicle sequences that were meant to be played by two. If you’re looking for a thrilling couch co-op experience to while away an evening (or several consecutively), you’re certainly not going wrong here.

Fable II

Although it's been some time since players have seen a "great" Fable release, the original titles still hold up pretty well. Although the second player won't be able to interact with the game world much outside of combat, it's still a blast to play through this iconic release with friends or family. Fable's "choose your own adventure" style of story can be replayed multiple times, giving each player a chance at the helm.

Fable II's graphics are a bit aged considering this release dropped back in 2008 but it's possibly the best entry in the entire series.

Golf With Your Friends

Team17’s take on digital golf is less PGA and more casual putt-putt, but therein lies its intrinsic charm. Golf With Your Friends is a party game at its heart, featuring easy-to-learn controls and mechanics. That said, the skill ceiling is impressively high — the courses themselves are fantastically designed and can grow remarkably difficult, with hazards ranging from conventional sand traps to gravity-warping black holes as you putt-putt your way through an orbital space station. Sure, it’s technically a competitive experience, but the game quickly devolves into more of a “how are we going to get through this” mentality while navigating the increasingly complex courses. Note that the local multiplayer implements a “hotseat” style of play, necessitating only a single controller to enjoy.

The Ascent

The Ascent mashes up the straightforward RPG progression elements and loot-snagging shenanigans of a Diablo clone with the frenetic, action-packed stylings of a twin stick shooter to great effect, and then wraps it all up in the neon-washed sheen of its cyberpunk setting. While it’s an entirely competent single-player outing, playing it alongside a few buddies is where it’s at its best. Cooperatively hosing down its vibrant, gritty, high-tech locales with a hail of bullets is truly delightful. Players working together can build their characters using various augmentations and skill points to better support each other during intense shoot-outs in the cityscapes of Veles.

Human Fall Flat

Goofy physics in a puzzle-platforming game should be an absolute must. Human Fall Flat pulls this off to perfection, and it allows up to four players to join in on the hilarity. Navigating through these abstract, yet familiar, dreamscapes is a riot, especially given that clambering up on ledges is connected to the controls for looking up and down.

These camera angles make the floppiness of player characters even more chuckle-inducing. Cooperative play is enhanced with having to stand on buttons, move boxes, swing from ropes, and adjust catapults in order to get partners from one side of a level to another. Human Fall Flat definitely does not fall flat when it comes to providing some good old-fashioned couch co-op fun.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

If you're looking for a bombastic first-person shooter experience to enjoy alongside a friend, it's impossible to go wrong with the saga of John-117. Comprising the entirety of four mainline Halo titles as well as spin-offs Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach, the MCC offers you some true mileage with its total of six iconic campaigns as well as the associated multiplayer offerings. And, of course, there's the true cherry on top: every single one of the titles in this collection is perfectly co-op capable. So if you're looking for a lengthy co-op experience to build a weekend couch-friendly ritual around with one of your friends, the Master Chief Collection is essentially the equivalent of smashing a Grunt with a Gravity Hammer — it's overkill in the most satisfying way possible.

Overcooked 2

Overcooked 2 is comprised of three primary ingredients: cooking, chaos, and co-op. Taking the roles of heroic chefs in the faraway fantasy setting of the Onion Kingdom, up to four players will chop, bake, and sautée their way through a myriad of creatively ludicrous kitchen settings in a desperate bid to ward off the antagonistic Unbread. Fulfilling orders can be a demanding cavalcade of coordination as the various environments foist thematic obstacles in front of the chivalrous chefs, but the chaos is intrinsic to the title's charm.

Minecraft

The perennial joys of Minecraft never cease delivering on the fun factor — and that factor increases exponentially when enjoyed with friends. Most, if not practically all, Minecraft players are perfectly well aware of its multiplayer capabilities, but its local co-op functionality is often undersung on the platforms that offer it.

And that's a shame because whether you're testing the limits of your imagination in Creative Mode or braving the Creeper-laden night in Survival Mode, there's something quite special about taking in Minecraft's classical charms with someone that's sitting right next to you. If you've got a Game Pass subscription and a willing partner, you can dive right in to see just what we're talking about.

A Way Out

A Way Out offers practically everything you could want in a co-op title with the explosive aplomb of a delightfully cheesy action flick. The narrative may be over-the-top and a bit silly at times, but really, that's almost precisely what it needs to be. Plopped into the prison-issued shoes of unlikely duo Vincent and Leo, players will cooperatively scheme, scurry, and occasionally scrap their way out of the confines of jail and into the world beyond to embark on a revenge quest that's studded with no shortage of charmingly competitive mini-games to break up the buddy-cop vibe.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service

The only reliable thing about this delivery service is the amount of entertainment to be had in the process of playing it. Up to four players can take on the role of employees of the Totally Reliable Delivery Service. Thanks to the power of awkward controls and bombastic motions, the game becomes an exercise in containing laughter. Delivery assignments require an assortment of vehicles, such as hot air balloons and go karts, but no matter what mode of transportation is used, hilarious co-op antics are ensured.

Goat Simulator

What's better than chaotic goat madness? Chaotic goat madness with a friend in tow. Goat Simulator allows local couch co-op hilarity as players wreak havoc on a town and city as unhinged goats. Physics madness ensues as players garner arbitrary points for destroying property, leaping into the air, bleating, and other normal goat activities. The lack of structure in Goat Simulator is actually one of the game's strengths. Two players can easily lose an entire day exploring the environment, uncovering secrets, and unlocking new types of goats.

Unravel Two

The quiet cooperation of Unravel Two makes for a plethora of enjoyable moments between friends. Two yarn creatures must traverse a gargantuan world using nothing but the yarn of their bodies and the cleverness of the players behind them to survive. The light puzzle-solving of Unravel Two can make even the toughest of challenges easily conquered. The game design lends itself well to an enjoyable co-op experience that never feels frantic or rushed. Found on EA Play, Unravel Two should not be skipped by those looking for a comfortable time with friends.

Minecraft Dungeons

If the laidback nature of Minecraft is too easygoing, then Minecraft Dungeons is the perfect co-op title for those cruising through Xbox Game Pass for something to play. This action-packed game is derived from the universe of Minecraft, but its gameplay clearly takes inspiration from classic dungeon crawlers. Up to four friends can play local co-op, slashing their way through various areas searching for the best loot to make the next run easier.

MORE: The Best Games On Xbox Game Pass