Playing games against your friends in local multiplayer games always brings out the competitive nature in everyone. It’s even better if you can rub it in their face from the comfort of a couch.
As someone who always loves playing split-screen games with friends, I always found it hard to continuously find new games to play. While FIFA, Mario Party, and Super Smash Bros. are great games, they do get a bit repetitive over time.
There are so many local multiplayer games on the market, but here are some certified winners bound to spark controversy with friends.
If you’re looking for a specific game, or like the sound of a particular title, then click on any of these links to be brought directly to their description. The titles are in alphabetical order.
List of Games
This list of multiplayer couch co-op games will constantly be updated, so make sure to check back in regularly to see if any new games have been added. Also, let us know your favourite multiplayer games in the comments below!
Gang Beasts – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Gang Beasts is arguably one of the most popular games on the list, and most people have either heard of it or probably played a game or two. However, if you haven’t then you’re in for a treat.
Gang Beasts is an incredibly silly local multiplayer game with characters that are hard to control. Fortunately, that’s half the fun. You’ll take on your friends in brawls across a barrage of ridiculous locations, from the top of a train to two parallel elevators. The game can also be played alone with bots, but it doesn’t quite offer the same experience as seeing your friend’s reaction as they are taken by a giant octopus!
Players: 1-4 players local (up to 8 online), with bots if you want to play solo.
Platform Links: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
It Takes Two – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
It Takes Two is a narrative-based local multiplayer game that you and a friend can experience in around 10 to 12 hours.
It puts players in the shoes of Cody and May, a married couple who are planning to get a divorce. After informing their daughter, Rose, that they are breaking up, she takes matters into her own hands. Rose takes two hand-made dolls that resemble her parents and wishes upon a relationship therapy book.
Overnight, Cody and May are transformed into dolls by the therapy book-turned-love guru, Dr Hakim, sending them on a rigorous journey in the hope of fixing their relationship.
It Takes Two is a brilliant game that even managed to win Game of the Year in 2021 at The Game Awards. It’s definitely worth checking out!
Players: 1-2 players in local multiplayer
Platform Links: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, Mobile, VR
Unless you’ve invested in a virtual reality headset, this game probably isn’t on your radar. However, its incredibly distinctive gameplay demands your attention.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes will put you and whoever is in the room under extreme pressure. One person wears a VR headset, while any number of people sit in the real world and look on the screen at a 23-page “bomb-defusal manual”.
The person in the VR headset will see a bomb in front of them, which can only be defused by disarming various modules on the bomb itself. The catch is that the player in the headset is the only one who can see the bomb, and the rest of the players are the only ones who can see the manual.
Players in the headset must describe what they are seeing, and players in the room must tell them how to defuse it. On top of all this, the bomb timer is slowly ticking down, so you don’t have much time before it explodes.
This game can also be played by only allowing one person to see the screen at a time, but it’s definitely more fun in VR.
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, iOS, Android, HTC Vive, Oculus Quest
Players: 2+ players (however many you can fit on the couch)
Knowledge is Power (Series) – PlayStation
If you’re looking for a quiz game for the couch that isn’t as challenging as Trivial Pursuit, then you’re in luck. Knowledge is Power and its sequel, Knowledge is Power: Decades, are great quiz games for the whole family.
Both games are only available on the PlayStation due to the platform’s PlayLink feature. While the game is played on PlayStation, players must use an app on their phones or tablets to join in on the fun.
Each game typically lasts between 30-60 mins, and if your friend or family member is answering one too many questions correctly, you can sabotage them with a Power Play.
Knowledge is Power: Decades is the second game in the series. This one focuses on pop culture and entertainment from the last four decades.
Knowledge is Power
Platforms: PlayStation
Players: 2-6 players
Knowledge is Power: Decades
Platforms: PlayStation
Players: 2-6 players
Moving Out – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
If you wanted more of the chaotic, stress-filled co-op gameplay that Overcooked provides, then look no further than Moving Out.
This game is hard not to compare to Overcooked, but instead of racing against the clock as a chef, you’ll be seeing how quickly and efficiently you can move a couch while arguing with friends on the couch.
As you complete jobs, you will gain Reputation, allowing you to take on more challenging levels. Moving Out is a hilarious game, and I recommend everyone grab it any time there is a sale.
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-4 players
Move Or Die – PC, PlayStation
Move Or Die is pretty straightforward; You must move, or will you die. If you do stop moving, your character will explode.
There are 20 seconds per round, and in every round, the rules change. It is a quick and easy game to pick up, which will literally have you yelling at the screen in confusion. A quick example of what you can expect is a minigame called “Chainsaw Backstab’. To earn points, you must kill players from behind, and everyone has a chainsaw — Quite self-explanatory.
Move Or Die has been around since 2016, but it is still receiving new updates to keep the local multiplayer game fresh.
Platforms: Steam, PlayStation
Players: 1-4 players, with bots if you want to play solo.
Mount Your Friends – PC
Mount Your Friends is definitely the most inappropriate game on the list, but if you can look past its NSFW nature, then you’re in for a treat.
Players must use WASD to control their character and try to climb the goat or other players to be the highest player. It’s fairly straightforward, but that doesn’t make it easy.
Navigating your limbs with the different keys (or four buttons on a controller) can be challenging at first, but that’s half the fun. Mount Your Friends is a great competitive local multiplayer party game that’s equally as frustrating.
Platforms: Steam
Players: 1-4 players
Overcooked! – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Overcooked is a cooking game that allows up to 4 players in the kitchen via local multiplayer. It is, simply put, chaotic, and arguably defines the term “couch co-op”.
You must work as a team to prepare, cook and serve up various dishes to earn enough money from the sales to complete the level. As you go into each level, each player will fill a role in the kitchen. This will create a production line, and if the player before you is not pulling their weight, make sure you yell at them to let them know. That is what happens in Gorden Ramsey’s kitchen, so it only makes sense to scream intensely.
The Overcooked series contains Overcooked, Overcooked 2 and Overcooked: All You Can Eat, which is a combination of the two.
Overcooked
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-4 players
Overcooked 2
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-4 players
Overcooked: All You Can Eat
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-4 players
Pummel Party – PC
If you have ever played Mario Party then this one will seem all too familiar. Pummel Party is an online and local multiplayer party game that supports up to 8 players.
Each player will take turns rolling the dice and moving around a board game while playing minigames in between the rounds. What sets Pummel Party apart from other board game-based party games is its wide variety of ludicrous items which you can use to attack players.
From the Remote Controlled Eggplant that explodes on the player of your choice to the simple but effective Shotgun, there are plenty of unique items for every player. Furthermore, the minigames, on offer, are definitely a class above any other board game-based party game.
I highly recommend checking Pummel Party out!
Platforms: Steam
Players: 1-8 players, with bots if you want to play solo.
Screencheat – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Have you ever played a local multiplayer game of Call of Duty or Halo and everyone is looking at your screen to try and kill you? Well, that can get pretty annoying. Fortunately, Screencheat is designed to be played this way.
Players will compete in a first-person shooter where everyone is invisible. Therefore, they must use the other screens to find other players and kill them. Hence the name, Screencheat. While this might sound hard, I’m sure people would have had plenty of practice growing up — everyone has screen-created at least once, right?
There are eleven different maps, ten different weapons, and nine different game modes to play with your friends. You can also play offline with bots if your friends aren’t available.
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-4 players, with bots if you want to play solo.
The Jackbox Party Packs – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
The Jackbox Party Packs include five different party games in each instalment, and you must use your phone or tablet as a controller. Each game needs at least two players, and some need even three or four. However, on the newer packs, you can have up to 10,000 players involved in the games.
There are currently nine different Jackbox Party Packs, with the 10th coming out later this year. Sometimes games are redone with new features in the later packs, but there is plenty of variety for everyone. My personal favourites are Trivia Murder Party and Quiplash.
Jackbox Party Pack
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 2
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 3
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 4
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 5
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 6
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 7
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 8
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Jackbox Party Pack 9
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: Varies Per Game
Tricky Towers – PC, Switch PlayStation, Xbox
Tricky Towers is a local multiplayer party game that is basically racing Tetris. It has all the ingredients to be the perfect couch co-op game; frustrating, hilarious and magic powers.
Players must stack bricks and reach the finish line without their tower falling. Magic powers can also be used to either aid you or sabotage up to three friends in local co-op. It seems easy but there is nothing more aggravating than your tower crumbling right before the finish line.
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-4 players
What The Dub?! – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
In What The Dub, players must type on their phones and dub missing dialogue from terrible B-movies or old public service announcements with whatever they want. Players then vote on their favourite answer. The person with the most points at the end of five rounds (default) is the winner.
If you have ever played any of the Jackbox Party Packs then the game is played in a similar way. What The Dub requires at least three players to play, and works on the basis of the more people, the better. Up to six players can write their answers to the video clip, but 12 additional players can join in on the voting.
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 3-6 players, with 12 additional audience members.
Worms W.M.D – PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Worms is a hilarious competitive multiplayer game that is built on complete destruction. While most people have heard of the game, considering it has been around since 1995, it is not included regularly enough in local multiplayer games nights with friends.
If this is your first time hearing about the Worms series, then you’re in for a treat. Worms is a turn-based artillery game presented in a 2D or 3D environment. Each player controls a worm or several worms and players take turns in eliminating the other worms with whacky weapons and tools. The goal is to be the last worm standing.
While there are plenty of games in the Worms franchise, Worms W.M.D is the latest game in the series (ignoring Worms Rumble for obvious reasons), and, if you fancy the classic experience, Worms Armageddon is a must-play.
Worms W.M.D
Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Players: 1-6 players
There are plenty of other co-op games that aren’t included in this list. So let us know your favourite in the comments below, and we will check them out and add them to the ever-growing list.