Best Co-Op Puzzle Games For Two Players (2024)

Video games are best when the experience is shared, but depending on what type of gamer a person is, this may not always be the case. Co-op games that rely on communication and teamwork can be stressful for people who like to be in control. However, if a team makes it through the game, their bond will only become stronger.

Co-op puzzle games fit this category perfectly. Some co-op puzzle games rely extensively on communication between the players, while others could technically be solved alone if only the other player would stop touching things. The ebbs and flows of co-op games often make the experience worthwhile. Puzzle co-op games are sure to test any relationship, whether it be with a partner or a friend, and will leave players laughing and sighing with frustration all at once.

Updated on June 7, 2024, by Michael Colwander: Summer is here! That means there's no better time to play co-op games with friends and family! Some of the best co-op games are puzzle games where all players must work together to find a solution. More co-op puzzle games have been added.

25 It Takes Two Is A Great Game That Is Perfect For Couples

It Takes Two is an emotionally-driven co-op game developed by Hazelight Studios, the makers of another great co-op experience in A Way Out. It Takes Two lives up to its name as it's a co-op-only game that takes two players.

It Takes Two is a great puzzle co-op game for couples as it tells a story about a marriage that has begun to fail. Cody and May are on the verge of a divorce. Their daughter, Rose, doesn't take the news well, and in seclusion tries to repair the marriage by play-acting with her dolls. Cody and May are transported into those dolls and have to use their individual abilities to work together so they can make it back to Rose. It's easy to see why It Takes Two won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021.

It Takes Two

Embark on the craziest journey of your life inIt Takes Two, a genre-bending platform adventure created purely for co-op.

Released

March 26, 2021

Developer(s)

Hazelight Studios

Publisher(s)

Electronic Arts

Genre(s)

Action , Adventure

Engine

24 Captain Toad Treasure Tracker Was A Mini-Game That Got Its Own Spinoff

Captain Toad had humble beginnings as the subject of a mini-game in Super Mario 3D World. The mini-game proved so popular that Nintendo turned it into a full-blown game in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Much of what made the mini-game so good remains here. Captain Toad and Toadette must make their way through a 3D level in order to reach the Star at the end. Neither can jump, so they must explore and utilize the environment around them to find a path around obstacles and enemies. Co-op was added in the Switch re-release originally as just a second player serving as an unseen assist player, but later true co-op was included. It may be a little annoying having two players control the lone camera, but Captain Toad is still a fun puzzle co-op game.

23 Process Mail In Hilarious Ways With KeyWe

Utilizing birds to make deliveries is far from anything new. Carrier pigeons have historically been used to deliver messages while storks have, fictionally, been used to describe where babies come from before a child is ready to learn about the birds and the bees. But what about flightless birds? Can't flightless birds handle postage all the same? That's the premise of KeyWe.

In KeyWe, players play as Jeff or Debra – two kiwis who process mail at the Bungalow Basin Telepost Office. Players will need to work together to sort and prep mail for shipping to ensure it makes it to its destination. KeyWe is a charming and funny puzzle co-op game that's nowhere near as tedious as processing mail normally sounds.

22 Knights And Bikes Will Make Players Feel Like Kids Again

Knights and Bikes has an impressive lineage behind it. It's developed by Foam Sword who are made up of former staff from Media Molecule, the creative studio behind LittleBigPlanet and Dreams. It's also published by Double Fine Productions, which is headed by Tim Schafer. Schafer is known for his adventure games full of clever writing and puzzles in games like Day of the Tentacle and Broken Age.

Knights and Bikes is an imaginative adventure starring two friends, Nessa and Demelza who along with their pet goose, Captain Honkers, explore an ancient island to solve puzzles and the greater mysteries of the island. Knights and Bikes will easily get players feeling nostalgic for their own outdoor childhood adventures.

21 Biped Will Test Coordination For The Simplest Tasks

Biped is a cute co-op game where plays play as two bipedal robots. Players control each of their respective robots with the left and right analog sticks. The left analog stick moves the left leg while the right analog stick moves the right leg. Even simply walking can be an adventure.

Biped features a variety of different puzzles and environments that require the utmost coordination, both in the co-op sense and in the hand-eye coordination sense. Along the way, players collect coins, which they can use to purchase adorable hats to customize their robots.

20 Unrailed! Is A Frantic Race To Build Train Tracks

Unrailed! is a race against time as players frantically work to build train tracks for a moving train. Players will have to amass resources from the environment and build as they go, which makes the Minecraft-like aesthetic fit all the more perfectly. Players need to work together to manage resources and clear out room for the slow-moving train. At every train station, players can make upgrades to improve efficiency.

To anyone concerned the novelty will wear off quickly, rest assured that Unrailed! utilizes procedurally generated maps, so the experience never ends. Unrailed! also features numerous settings, so players can find the right difficulty and speed to best suit their group.

19 Shift Happens Is An Entertaining Puzzle/Platformer Hybrid

Shift Happens is a fun two-player puzzle game where each player can shift their character's size from big to small and back. Players will need to figure out when to be big and when to be small as they try to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles across numerous thematic worlds.

Shift Happens takes plenty of cues from LittleBigPlanet in its puzzles, platforming, and floaty jumping controls. Not to mention the fun backstabbing hilarity of "accidentally" pulling the wrong lever. Shift Happens is fun enough while playing alone, but it really shines with its two-player co-op, especially locally.

18 The Escapists 2 Tasks Players With Escaping Prison

The Escapists series is among some of the deepest strategy games around, but it's still a fun strategy series for beginners. Players will coordinate their escape from a maximum security prison. Players spend each and every day going through their daily schedule, building relationships, and amassing resources in order to plot their escape. While first The Escapists doesn't have multiplayer, its sequel does.

The Escapists 2 is very open-ended in how players approach their escape. It also rewards co-op players with an even greater amount of options and strategies. Whether playing with two, three, or four players, The Escapists 2 offers plenty of replayability with new and fresh ways to play based on the number of players.

17 Escape A Very Different Prison In A Way Out

If by some chance The Escapists doesn't cut it for co-op prison escapes, A Way Out may do the trick. Unlike The Escapists, A Way Out is fully 3D. Not to mention A Way Out is designed completely for split-screen cooperative play, so whether playing locally or online, both players' actions will be in view.

In A Way Out, players control either Vincent Moretti or Leonard "Leo" Caruso as they work together to find a means to escape prison. Each player attempts to fulfill their individual objectives in pursuit of their escape as well as survive on the run. It may not be as puzzle-heavy as many other co-op games, but A Way Out is still an innovative game with an engaging story that is sure to keep both players invested.

A Way Out

Prison inmates Vincent and Leo initially clash, but after Vincent helps Leo win a fight, they warm up to each other and decide to escape together.

Platform(s)

PC , PS4 , Xbox One

Released

March 23, 2018

Developer(s)

Hazelight Studios

Publisher(s)

Electronic Arts

Genre(s)

Action , Adventure

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

Mode

16 Death Squared Tasks Players To Overcome Increasingly Complex Obstacles

Death Squared may seem simple on the surface, but its puzzles involve a lot of experimentation and trial and error. In Death Squared, players control a colored cube. Their goal is to reach an endpoint that shares the same color as their cube.

Of course, this isn't always easy as obstacles will steadily be added as players progress levels. An example of this can be a level where a player who, as a green-colored cube, can spawn spikes when they're at its endpoint that knocks out other cubes when they go over it. So the green-cubed player will need to step off their endpoint so other cubes can pass.

15 Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together! Should Make The Cut For Charming Cooperation

The Nintendo Switch is one of the best places to play any sort of co-op game. Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together was one of the Switch's earliest puzzle co-op games released as a launch title in 2017. In the craft-like Snipperclips, players each control a shaped character.

Up to four players will need to work together to clip each character to an appropriate shape to solve each level. To make these precise cuts, characters will need to overlap their bodies. Then, one player snips another throughout the overlapped section. Snipperclips is adorable and fun without being overly complex.

14 BoxBoy + BoxGirl! Adds Co-Op To An Unexpected Nintendo Success Story

BoxBoy! is one of Nintendo's most surprising success stories. Developed by Hal Laboratory, the BoxBoy! series initially began as an experiment during the development of Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Nintendo later green-lit full development of this minimalistic puzzle series, which has since spawned three sequels, mostly on the Nintendo 3DS.

The latest in the BoxBoy! series is BoxBoy + BoxGirl!, which adds a co-op layer to BoxBoy!'s box-chaining gameplay. BoxBoy + BoxGirl! shows that two boxes are better than one with engaging puzzles that previously weren't possible in solo BoxBoy! outings. BoxBoy + BoxGirl! is the first, and so far only, BoxBoy! entry released for the Switch.

13 Heave Ho Is A Hilarious Game That Isn't As Simple As It Looks

Trial and error is a staple of puzzle games, and in few games is this more prevalent than Heave Ho. Released for PC and Switch in 2019, Heave Ho tasks players with making it from point A to point B. That sounds all well and good, but Heave Ho's physics and controls make reaching the end goal a complex and hilarious experience.

In Heave Ho, players only control their character's arms and hands. Heave Ho's level design often leads to intense scenarios where a player can't remember which button goes with which hand, especially when holding onto another character. Heave Ho is a great game that is sure to provide no shortage of laughs as players try to plot out their pathway to the end.

12 Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes Is A True Test Of Communication

Communication is key, and no game tests a pair's communicative abilities like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. In Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, one player faces a ticking time bomb. The other player has an instruction book. The player with the bomb must describe to the other player the inner workings of the bomb, while the other must frantically find the solution to each puzzle and relay that to the bomb defuser.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes was originally released as a VR game in 2015. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes eventually made its way to non-VR systems. VR is still the most engrossing way to experience this explosive title, but it's an amazing experience regardless of the system.

11 Never Alone Is A Masterclass Of Puzzles And Education

Never Alone, or Kisima Inŋitchuŋa (meaning "I am not alone"), is a rare game that educates players just as much as it tests them. Based on the Iñupiat story "Kunuuksaayuka," Never Alone was developed as an opportunity to highlight the Alaskan Native culture, which is severely underutilized in gaming and other media. Never Alone also includes behind-the-scenes documentary videos for players eager to learn more.

In Never Alone, co-op players control Nuna, an Iñupiat girl, or they control an Arctic fox as they make their way through a treacherous and snowy journey. Never Alone later received an expansion DLC titled Never Alone: Foxtales and a sequel was announced in 2022.

10 Escape First 3 Can Be A Competitive Or Casual Escape Room

Escape First 3 is the third installment in the series by OnSkull Games, known for its very affordable escape room games. Escape First 3 has improved upon the first two installments, and it isn't necessary to play those before enjoying the third game.

Escape First 3 can be played alone or with up to six people. It even has a versus mode where players are locked in rooms alone and must escape before the others do. There are three escape rooms to choose from and all have a slight horror atmosphere, which adds a little extra fun for those playing the game in VR. While Escape First 3's gameplay may be a little clunky, its puzzles aren't.

9 Ibb & Obb Sees Players Take Turns Being Upside Down

Grab player two's virtual hand and bring them along in Ibb & Obb, a two-player cooperative online game by Sparpweed. In Ibb & Obb, players will find themselves in control of the titular Ibb and Obb, two little blobs with feet, who each view gravity differently at times.

Ibb & Obb starts simply enough, but as the challenges grow, so does the frustration. As players navigate the terrain, they'll want to keep an eye out for the secret rooms. Ibb & Obb is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, PlayStation, and Switch.

8 Curious Cases Is A Detective Game Where Players Test Their Sleuthing Skills

Curious Cases is another OnSkull Games puzzle game and continues OnSkull's escape room style. This time, players find themselves to be detectives solving curious cases no other detective can solve. Similar to other OnSkull games, Curious Cases can be played alone or with up to six players and includes a versus mode. Fans of true crime and detective games should give Curious Cases a whirl.

Curious Cases puzzles are challenging but far from impossible to solve, making them perfectly suitable for casual puzzle players. Like other OnSkull games, Curious Cases is available for both desktop and VR, as well as on the Nintendo Switch.

7 Human: Fall Flat Will Have Players Fighting Physics And Their Own Laughter

Fall flat with friends in this light-hearted puzzle platformer that can be played solo or with up to eight players. In Human:Fall Flat, teamwork makes the dream work. Puzzles often have multiple solutions as diverse people come up with diverse solutions to the obstacles presented in the game.

Laughter is almost guaranteed when setting out on the journey of getting each character to do what players intend, as the characters at times can feel like they lack bones. Solving the puzzles in Human: Fall Flat is rewarding and encourages players to be creative.

6 Unravel Two Is A Beautiful And Positive Experience

Unravel Two is different from what most people think when hearing co-op because it's only available for local co-op or single-player, and online players can't use PlayStation's Share Play feature. Made by the Swedish studio Coldwood Interactive, Unravel Two is inspired by real Scandinavian locations.

Featuring beautiful scenery while players try to figure out the challenges and how to progress, Unravel Two includes more storytelling than typical puzzle games and focuses on positivity when faced with challenges and uncertainty. Unravel Two is available on Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch.