13 Co-op Games Like It Takes Two to Play on Steam

The best co-op games like It Takes Two do what Hazelight’s adventure does so well: they hand each player a different job, make you talk to each other, and change the rules before either of you gets bored. If you finished Cody and May’s story with a partner and the couch suddenly feels empty, the 13 Steam picks below are grouped by what they share with it, from story-led adventures to puzzle duos and pure kitchen chaos.

What makes It Takes Two the game to beat

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It Takes Two is a genre-bending platform adventure made purely for co-op. You play Cody and May, a couple whose marriage is falling apart, turned into dolls by a magic spell and forced to work together to get home. It came out on Steam on Mar 25, 2021, from Hazelight Studios and Electronic Arts, and its store page notes it won Game of the Year at the Game Awards 2021.

What people remember is the variety. Each level gives the two of you different, connected abilities, so one player might rewind time while the other makes copies of herself. Between those puzzles you fight gangster squirrels, pilot a pair of underpants, DJ a nightclub and bobsleigh through a snow globe. There is no single-player mode: it needs two people, online, on a shared/split screen, or through Steam’s Remote Play Together (which streams a local co-op game from the owner’s PC to a friend over the internet).

It also uses a Friend’s Pass: one person owns the game and invites a friend to play the whole thing with them for free. That made it an easy game to share, and it is worth checking for a similar option before buying any of the picks below.

So when you look for co-op games like It Takes Two, you are usually chasing one or more of these:

• Asymmetric roles: each player does something the other can’t.
• A shared story: characters you care about, played side by side.
• Constant switch-ups: new mechanics before the old ones get stale.
• Partner-friendly pacing: quick respawns and challenges that reward talking rather than reflexes alone.

No other game on Steam ticks every box, so the list is grouped by which box each one fills best. If you want an even wider spread, our main list of games like It Takes Two covers more ground.

Hazelight’s other co-op games like It Takes Two

Start here. These two come from the same studio, and they share its belief that co-op should be built in from the first frame, not bolted on.

Split Fiction

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If you loved the constant switch-ups in It Takes Two, Split Fiction is the most direct sequel in spirit, even though the story is new. Mio and Zoe are two very different writers, one of sci-fi and one of fantasy, who get hooked up to a machine built to steal their ideas and end up trapped inside their own stories.

What you do: jump between sci-fi and fantasy worlds, mastering new abilities as you go. The store page promises taming dragons one minute and fighting as cyber ninjas the next, escaping trolls and dodging hover cars thrown by a robotic parking attendant. It is the same rhythm of surprise set pieces that made Cody and May’s journey so memorable.

Who it suits: any pair who finished It Takes Two and want more of exactly that. Steam lists Multi-player, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Cross-Platform Multiplayer and Remote Play Together. It released on Mar 6, 2025, from Hazelight Studios and Electronic Arts.

A Way Out

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A Way Out is Hazelight’s earlier game, and like It Takes Two it must be played by two people. You each control one of two prisoners, the hardened Leo and the newly arrived Vincent, in a reluctant alliance to break out.

What you do: plan and pull off an escape, and then deal with what comes after, as a breakout grows into an emotional story. It leans more grounded and serious than It Takes Two, with less cartoon whimsy, but the same focus on two characters who need each other.

Who it suits: duos who enjoyed the story side of It Takes Two and want something with a harder edge. Steam lists Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together, and its store page specifically mentions playing with Remote Play Together. Released Jun 18, 2020.

Puzzle co-op where you have to think together

These co-op games like It Takes Two pick up its best puzzle moments, the ones where neither player can solve the room alone. Expect more talking and less action. For solo brain-teasers, see our best puzzle games on Steam.

Portal 2

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Portal 2 belongs on any list of two-player games like It Takes Two because its co-op mode is a complete, separate campaign with its own story, test chambers and two new player characters. Valve’s pitch is that you need to think cooperatively, not just act cooperatively, and that is exactly the feeling of It Takes Two’s best puzzles.

What you do: place portals, fling yourselves across test chambers and combine your two sets of portals to solve rooms that one player alone could never crack. There is also a full single-player campaign with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer, plus a level editor and Steam Workshop for more puzzles.

Who it suits: duos who liked the puzzle side more than the combat. Steam lists Single-player, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together, on Windows and Linux. Released Apr 18, 2011.

Biped

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Biped is built around moment-to-moment collaboration between two players, which is the closest any small game here gets to It Takes Two’s constant teamwork. You play Aku and Sila, two little robots on a bonding journey.

What you do: control each robot’s two legs with the two sticks (or the left and right mouse buttons), which makes walking itself a small skill, then use that to slide, operate machinery and cut wood across forests, waterfalls and icy mountains. You can also dress your robots in matching goofy hats.

Who it suits: couples and families who want something charming and low-stress. Steam lists Single-player, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, a level editor and Remote Play Together. Released Mar 26, 2020, from NEXT Studios.

We Were Here Together

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It Takes Two often splits you up and makes you describe what you see. We Were Here Together turns that into the whole game. You and a partner start at an Antarctic base camp, answer a distress call and end up separated inside a haunted medieval castle with nothing but a walkie-talkie each.

What you do: describe symbols, rooms and clues to each other so the other person can act on them, while uncovering the story of a sinister figure called the Jester. Good communication matters more than quick fingers.

Who it suits: talkative pairs who enjoy escape rooms. Note that Steam lists Online Co-op only, with Cross-Platform Multiplayer, so you each need your own setup. Windows and macOS. Released Oct 10, 2019, from Total Mayhem Games.

Operation: Tango

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Operation: Tango opens its store blurb with “it takes two to save the world,” and the comparison is fair. One of you is the Agent, the other the Hacker, and each sees different information on missions across a high-tech near-future world.

What you do: investigate, hack and infiltrate, combining two points of view to get through puzzles that focus on communication rather than difficulty. A free update added a Challenge mode with new puzzles.

Who it suits: duos who play apart. It is online co-op only and needs a microphone, but the store page says it has a Friend Pass, so a friend can join for free, and cross-platform play is enabled. Released Jun 1, 2021.

Platformers built for a pair

If the jumping, swinging and climbing were your favourite part, these keep the platforming front and centre.

Unravel Two

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Unravel Two is the calm cousin on this list. You play two Yarnys, small creatures made of yarn, travelling through landscapes and towns inspired by real Scandinavian places, and the theme of friendship and support echoes It Takes Two’s softer moments.

What you do: solve physics puzzles and traverse worlds together, helping each other across gaps and obstacles. Solo, you control both Yarnys yourself.

Who it suits: partners with different skill levels, or anyone who wants a gentle evening. Steam lists Single-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together, but no online co-op, so it is best on one couch or streamed. Released Jun 4, 2020, from Coldwood Interactive.

Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince

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Trine 4 gives you three heroes with very different tools, which brings back the fun of combining abilities. Amadeus the wizard conjures and levitates objects, Pontius the knight fights with sword and shield, and Zoya the thief grapples across gaps and shoots arrows.

What you do: chase a haunted prince through 2.5D levels, solving physics puzzles built on fire, water, light, magnets and electricity. Most obstacles open in more than one way, and puzzles adapt to how many players you have.

Who it suits: two players who like experimenting, with room for a third or fourth. Steam lists 1 to 4 players in online or local co-op across the whole campaign. Released Oct 8, 2019, from Frozenbyte.

Bread & Fred

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Bread & Fred is two penguins tied together, climbing a snowy mountain. Because you are attached, every jump depends on your partner: one anchors while the other swings, and if neither holds on, you both fall, sometimes a very long way back down.

What you do: time jumps, cling to walls and use each other’s momentum to reach platforms neither penguin could reach alone.

Who it suits: pairs who enjoy a challenge and can laugh off a big fall. Steam lists Single-player, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together, on Windows and macOS. Released May 23, 2023.

Cuphead

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It Takes Two’s boss fights are some of its best moments. Cuphead makes boss fights the main event. It is a run and gun action game drawn in the style of 1930s cartoons, with hand-drawn animation, watercolour backgrounds and original jazz recordings.

What you do: play Cuphead and Mugman, collect new weapons and super moves, and battle bizarre bosses to pay back a debt to the devil.

Who it suits: duos who want a real test of skill. It is far more demanding than It Takes Two, so it suits pairs who are similarly skilled. Steam lists Single-player, local Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together, on Windows and macOS. Released Sep 29, 2017.

Couch chaos for when you just want to laugh

These party-style co-op games like It Takes Two trade the story for the loud, laugh-out-loud teamwork of its sillier set pieces. More ideas live in our list of co-op games like Overcooked.

Overcooked! 2

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Overcooked! 2 is a cooking game where the kitchen fights back. Up to four chefs prepare sushi, cakes, burgers and pizzas while kitchens shift, platforms move and teleporters send you somewhere new.

What you do: split jobs like chopping, cooking and serving, throw ingredients across the room to save time, and somehow keep the orders flowing. There are also competitive modes if you’d rather race each other.

Who it suits: couples and friend groups who don’t mind a bit of shouting. Steam lists Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, PvP and Remote Play Together, on Windows, macOS and Linux. Released Aug 7, 2018.

Moving Out

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Moving Out is a physics-based moving simulator where you work for a removal company in the town of Packmore. It captures It Takes Two’s sense of silly, physical comedy.

What you do: get furniture out of houses as fast as possible, carrying sofas between two people and smashing through windows when the door is too slow. Jobs grow increasingly precarious and fantastical.

Who it suits: casual players and families. Steam lists Single-player, Shared/Split Screen Co-op for up to four and Remote Play Together, with no online co-op listed. Released Apr 28, 2020.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime puts everyone inside one neon battleship. Nobody flies alone: one of you steers, another mans the turrets, someone raises the shields, and you are constantly running between stations.

What you do: explore a colourful galaxy, rescue kidnapped space-bunnies and upgrade your ship with gems. Randomized level layouts keep each run fresh.

Who it suits: two to four players who like shared panic. Solo, you play with an AI space-pet. Steam lists Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together, on Windows, macOS and Linux. Released Sep 9, 2015.

How to choose the right one for your duo

Most mismatches with co-op games like It Takes Two come from setup, not taste. Work through these questions before you buy.

1. Where will you play? On one couch, almost everything here works. Apart, check for online co-op: Unravel Two, Moving Out and Cuphead rely on local play or Remote Play Together.
2. Do you both need a copy? It Takes Two’s Friend’s Pass spoiled many of us. Operation: Tango mentions a Friend Pass on its store page. For local-only games, Remote Play Together lets the owner host.
3. Story or laughs? For story, start with Split Fiction or A Way Out. For short sessions, Overcooked! 2 and Moving Out are easier to dip into.
4. How evenly matched are you? Cuphead and Bread & Fred punish mistakes. Unravel Two and Biped are kinder to a less experienced partner.

A worked example

Say you and your partner live in different cities, one with a gaming PC and one with a laptop, and you loved the story more than the combat. Split Fiction is the obvious first stop. After that, Portal 2’s co-op campaign gives you puzzle time without fast reflexes, and We Were Here Together turns your voice chat into the main mechanic. Overcooked! 2 is your backup for nights when you’re both too tired for anything heavy.

Common mistakes

• Treating Remote Play Together as online co-op. It streams the host’s game, so the guest’s experience depends on the host’s connection.
• Forgetting the microphone. Operation: Tango requires one, and We Were Here Together is unplayable without talking.
• Expecting another epic from a party game. Overcooked! 2 and Moving Out are built around levels and scores, not a long story.
• Starting with the hardest game. Opening with Cuphead can sour a new player on co-op entirely.

Want more? Our best co-op games on Steam covers bigger groups, our best story games on Steam suits anyone who came for the narrative, and the games like hub collects every list of this kind.

Questions and answers

Is there a new 2-player game similar to It Takes Two?

Yes. Split Fiction comes from Hazelight Studios, the team behind It Takes Two, and Steam lists it as released on Mar 6, 2025. It follows two writers, Mio and Zoe, trapped inside their own sci-fi and fantasy stories, and it keeps the same habit of throwing new abilities and set pieces at you. It supports online co-op, shared/split screen, cross-platform multiplayer and Remote Play Together.

What are some good one-player games similar to It Takes Two?

It Takes Two has no solo mode, so look for co-op games that also support single-player. Portal 2 has a full single-player campaign alongside its separate co-op story. Unravel Two lets one player control two Yarnys, Trine 4 lets you switch freely between three heroes, and Biped can be played solo. Each keeps the puzzle-platforming feel without needing a partner.

What are good 2 player co-op games?

For story, A Way Out and Split Fiction are both built for exactly two players. For puzzles, Portal 2's co-op campaign, Biped and We Were Here Together reward talking things through. Bread & Fred ties two penguins together for a tough climb, while Overcooked! 2 and Moving Out are lighter, chaotic picks that work well for two and scale up to four.

Is Unravel 2 or It Takes 2 better?

They suit different moods. It Takes Two is louder and more varied, with new abilities in every level, combat, boss fights and a comedic relationship story, and it needs two players. Unravel Two is calmer and gentler, a physics platformer about two yarn creatures crossing Scandinavian-inspired landscapes, and it can be played solo. Pick Unravel Two for a relaxed evening, It Takes Two for a spectacle.

Which co-op games like It Takes Two work best for couples?

Split Fiction is the most direct follow-up for a couple who loved Cody and May. Unravel Two suits partners with different skill levels because it is gentle and supports one player. Biped is relaxed and charming, while Overcooked! 2 and Moving Out bring laughs and a bit of friendly shouting. If one partner gets frustrated by difficulty, save Cuphead and Bread & Fred for later.