These are some of the best times of the year to reunite with family, meaning they’re also a great time to play with them with the intention of totally wrecking them, or simply taking them on a cool adventure. Let’s look at the best co-op games currently out there.

Split Fiction

Very few developers have the guts to make a AAA campaign focused on co-op. It’s understandable, as a lot of potential players don’t have someone readily available to go through an entire game with them. You can’t blame Hazelight for lack of courage, though, as their games are always co-op, and they don’t stop getting better and better. Hazelight’s philosophy of “f*ck sh*t up” is on full display here, as every segment of the game takes players to wholly new places, featuring entirely new gameplay mechanics that never stop bringing the fun.

Sadly, Split Fiction was mostly ignored at The Game Awards, a very weird decision considering it’s even better than its predecessor, the spectacular It Takes Two, which took GOTY home back when it came out. We won’t forget it, though, and here’s the highest possible recommendation to play the most inventive and possibly most fun and funny co-op game of recent times.

Peak

PEAK is one of the surprise hits of 2025, and it’s greatly deserved. It tasks players with going on a climbing adventure, an idea which, for a gamer, at least, can sound boring. That’s not the case, however, as Peak truly shines in having people work together to overcome its verticality, and it gets even more enjoyable and amusing as it also allows (and perhaps even encourages) a certain degree of treachery among your team.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 was arguably the best, and certainly the biggest game of the past few years. So vast, in fact, that you don’t have to feel bad if you still have a lot to do in your game. And, the best news is that you should totally invite your loved ones to join you on your quests, as Baldur’s Gate 3 is possibly the most D&D-based fun anyone can have in a video game.

Portal 2

While Portal 2 is mostly known for its stupendous single-player campaign, it’s so much more than that. Portal 2 is home to one of the best co-op campaigns of all time, one that doesn’t feature the same kind of narrative gravitas seen in the main one, sure, but that more than makes up for it with its added level of challenge in a gauntlet of rooms that will have you pushing your and your friends’ brain capacity to their limits to beat.

Any Souls game with Seamless Coop

The main reason why I’m recommending you play this together via a mod is that these games are already highly nostalgic for so many people, which makes them the perfect choice for this festive time of the year. Still, if you want something that’s meant to be fully co-op from the ground up, then you can just play Elden Ring: Nightreign. It’s also damn awesome.

Gang Beasts

Did you ever want to fight your family in a way that’s competitive, but also too funny for anyone to leave the battlefield with their ego bruised? Then Gang Beasts is definitely the game for you. Gang Beasts physics and wacky levels ensure that no two fights are the same, and that there’s not one single fight that won’t have everyone laughing out loud.

Minecraft

This one probably won’t surprise many people. Ever since it came out, Minecraft has been one of the best co-op games out there. Pick up not just one friend, but as many as you can, and go explore, get materials, and create as much as you want. Or simply get your armor and weapons on, and go on an epic dragon-slaying quest. Minecraft has had it all for so long, but it never stops adding new stuff, so the Holidays are always a fantastic time to go back and find everything you’ve missed throughout the year, if you’ve ever stopped going there at all.

A Way Out

A Way Out tasks players with getting out of prison with their best friend, and hopefully staying out. It’s a Hazelight game, so you know it never gets boring by constantly introducing cool new stuff to do, and it also has a pretty interesting story that will grip players till the end.

A Way Out is easily Hazelight’s most mature title to date, so this is the one you have to pick to play with younger family members if you wanna prove you’re the cool badass uncle or aunt.

Left 4 Dead 2

Zombies have likely been the most popular enemy in video games for nearly two decades now, and Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the main reasons why. Also, while many pioneers end up being outdone by their successors, there simply is no successor to this one. And it’s not as if many haven’t tried.

L4D2 simply remains the most fun you and three of your friends can have against various hordes of the undead across a simply unforgettable set of maps.

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