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14 games about teamwork to play in lockdown (Playlist video)
🕑 Added 2020-07-31 10:00:04 +0000 UTCHello!
So, I'm doing something a bit different this month for the playlist. Usually I talk about the games I've been playing but with the game jam taking up the majority of my time in July, I haven't had much of a chance to play the new releases outside of about half an hour of Ghost of Tsushima.
So instead, and in light of the fact that most of us are still spending the majority of time at home - I wanted to offer some suggestions of games that you can play with a partner, or sibling, or room mate.
All of these are games that me and my fiance have personally played and enjoyed, so I can attest to their quality. And as she's not a massive hardcore gamer or anything, they should be suitable for just about anyone.
Also, only about half of these games are actually co-op. Some are single player games, but they're all suitable for pass-the-controller type play - as you will see. I'll let you know which are which as we go.
You can watch the video above, or read it as an article down below!
So first up is Baba is You, the mind-bending puzzle game where you get to rewrite the rules. this is a singleplayer game, but we enjoyed taking it in turns to solve the levels, and because the game is so hard at times, it's nice to have a second person to bounce ideas off of. when your partner is playing the game, you get a chance to think - and then yank the controller away and say "hold on! I've got it!". Except you haven't got it. And now you look like a jerk. Whoops.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is a co-op game, though unfortunately you have to play through the first 40-60 minutes in singleplayer before you unlock this mode. But it's worth the wait. This game is funny, inventive, and endlessly entertaining. Also, the two characters - Luigi and Gooigi - have unique abilities which mean you'll need to work together to solve puzzles. And those puzzles are great: they're all about observation and fiddling with things and generally wrecking the level. The combat isn't too tough so it's fine for a less experienced gamer, but to be honest we both struggled with the final boss. Finally, there's a lot of content in here, especially if you go for the gems which I would recommend.
Donut County is what we call a "noodle em up". A puzzle game that isn't that involved or perplexing: you just kinda noodle about and eventually the solution will come to you. If you haven't seen it, you play as a giant hole that sucks things up. The more you suck, the bigger you get. It's a singleplayer game but, especially on iPad, fine for two people to poke and prod at different intervals. Also, the story is bonkers and nonsensical but we enjoyed doing the voices for the characters. It's not the best game ever made but it's worth a shot if you're after something fresh.
Overcooked 2 is the premiere co-op game. It's great for two players, but even better if you have three or four people in the room. Here's the concept: you've got to make the customers' meals by bashing together ingredients, cooking them, and delivering them to the restaurant floor. Simple enough, but the crazy level layouts, the complexity of the meals, and the need to divvy up tasks like washing up, will absolutely require communication and cooperation. This one will really test your team work and the strength of your relationship. And the game is enormous: between two games - the first one is great too - and endless DLC, this could keep you going for the rest of the year.
There are some other Overcooked-style games. A recent one was Moving Out which is okay - but more slapstick physics fun. Like Overcooked mixed with Octodad. I can't give it a huge recommendation: it didn't have nearly the same staying power as Overcooked for us. But if it looks like your jam, it's worth a shot.
Machinarium is a singleplayer point and click adventure with gorgeous hand-drawn graphics and pretty good puzzles on the whole. It's got no words, so you'll have to figure everything out based on pop-up pictograms and in-world clues. Which actually works well: figuring out puzzles works really well as a team, but we often find that clicking through dialogue is less enjoyable when playing as a duo. The developers have made lots of games, and we enjoyed Botanicula and Samorost 3, but were less into the comedic Chuchel, and the new puzzle platformer Creaks.
Next up: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. The Switch remake, that is. This is a special case: Link's Awakening, the Game Boy game, is one of my favourite all-time games, so it was really fun to introduce it to my fiance who actually really enjoyed it. And got very good: she beat most of the bosses and solved a lot of puzzles. So consider this one the "introduce your partner to your favourite game" slot.
Florence is an adorable storybook game with clever mini-game vignettes that explain and drive home the emotions of the characters on screen. We balled our eyes out at times, as the game depicts a couple falling in love. This is a really sweet, short-lived, and easy-going game that you can play together, both poking at the same touchscreen.
Little Nightmares is a singleplayer puzzle platformer type thing. It's clearly made in the same vein as Limbo and Inside, but with more of a horror aesthetic and some light stealth mechanics. It's weird and gruesome and the puzzles are mostly pretty good. We enjoyed getting sucked into the world and were both curious about what was next. There's also a bunch of DLC available which doesn't bring a whole lot new to the table but extends the super short runtime of the game somewhat.
Animal Crossing New Horizons is a bit of a different one. For the most part, you'll play the game on your own - but as you both share the same island, you'll be working together on building projects and museum collections and what not. But then you can come together and go on a little co-op date to the museum, or show each other your house design. There's a clever system for switching the dominant player, for controlling the camera and whatnot. To be honest, we've both fizzled out on the game but we enjoyed our brief time with it.
Song of Bloom is a really inventive and engrossing puzzle game for mobile. I really don't want to say too much about it because similar to games like The Witness, a lot of the fun comes from the thrill of discovery. So if you're up for a trippy, surprising, and original puzzle game it's worth downloading and jumping into.
Return of the Obra Dinn is probably the single best game we've played together. It's singleplayer, but as the majority of the game is simply about puzzling out clues and detective deductions, it's perfectly natural to play with a partner. In fact, one person can focus on driving the character and the other can take notes. This is a game we absolutely dove head first into and played all day long. If you need more detective games to scratch that itch, Her Story is also fun and Tangle Tower - while way less challenging - is also a good time.
Ring Fit Adventure is the Switch's new exercise game and while it's singleplayer, you can both encourage each other to keep at it and stick to the routine. You get to see each other's profile before you start, which I find is a nice motivating factor: oh my god, she's on a higher level! Heey, he's boosted the difficulty! And so on. Just in general, this is a really nice and pretty effective exercise game. Though, I've fallen off the wagon with it. I'll try and get on it today, promise.
And finally, the actually co-op Snipperclips. This is a game about two… shapes, I guess, who can use themselves as scissors to cut chunks out of each other. So one player might cut a hole in the other, so that they can collect a ball in it. Or you've got to snip each other to bits to form a shape on screen. Stuff like that. It's silly and funny and this reminds me that we totally need to go back to it.
And there we have it! Hopefully that was useful. If you have any recommendations or suggestions, please leave them below! Have a happy lockdown, and I'll talk to you soon!
Comments
Thomas Bickley
My girlfriend is also a gamer, so the things we've played together have mostly been a bit further along the difficulty curve (although Overcooked 2 had been a long-running double-date activity that we've been very much missing during lockdown). One thing we did really enjoy that think might be worth a look though (especially if you've already gone through Link's Awakening) is The Swords of Ditto. Adorable Zelda-esque, rogue-like fun, with a surprisingly compelling plot hidden under the surface, and now that the Mormo's Curse update has removed the permadeath, I think it should be pretty accessible to less experienced players as well. (Side note for anyone playing with a partner who is also a gamer: we absolutely love Enter the Gungeon, and are currently really enjoying Children of Morta. The co-op in Hyper Light Drifter also worked really well, and we've been going back to Tricky Towers for a quick match every so often for well over a year now).
Sergio Buenaventura
My girlfriend also does not play games and the only game that she finished with me, other than overcooked of course, is Castle Crashers, a classic of couch co-op
