It Takes Two is the perfect example of why co-op games will simply never die as they can create unique experiences unlike anything else. If you’re craving another adventure as a dynamic duo, then here are nine games like It Takes Two that should fit the bill.
An epic single-player game can bring great solo thrills and an online multiplayer game provides intense gameplay with many other players, but you’re still pretty much on your own. There’s something genuinely cool about the tangible buzz between two people sitting next to each playing the same game.
You feed off each other’s energy and it makes the whole experience more wholesome and engaging. It Takes Two was considered to be 2021’s Game of the Year for many and it even featured on our best games of 2021 list – and rightly so.
Hazelight Studio’s epic tale about a failing relationship took more twists and turns than a speeding rollercoaster and had more variety than a Christmas selection box. If it left you wanting more, we’ve got nine games like It Takes Two that you need to play.
The more serious It Takes Two.
A Way Out
An easy one to start off with as it’s also made by Hazelight Studios and the similarities are rather obvious.
Before It Takes Two came along, A Way Out was trendsetting in the local co-op department by giving players control over two characters whose story is completely intertwined. The budding duo of Vincent and Leo work together to achieve their shared agenda and do so through clever sequences and puzzles.
It has far fewer Moon Baboons and elephants than It Takes Two, mostly because it’s a more serious story than its successor, but it works very well.
After a while, yeeting dough to your partner will become second nature.
Overcooked
From prison to a kitchen, the Overcooked games are the first games on this list that fall into the “will seriously test your friendship/relationship” category.
Team 17’s Overcooked is a sumptuous recipe of cooking, co-op, and chaos. Each game consists of umpteen levels in which you must navigate your kitchen and cook food to serve hungry customers. The only caveat is that your work environment can range from a traditional open-ended restaurant to having to use teleporters to traverse upper and lower floors in a castle.
The lengths Overcooked will go to throw you off is admirable and you’ll have to be on top of your teamwork to succeed!
Brothers often throws up some entertaining scenarios.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Although not developed by Hazelight Studios, the project is led by director Josef Fares — the mind behind A Way Out and It Takes Two.
If you’re playing this after the latter, then you’ll recognize this is basically a game like It Takes Two and can sense the seeds being planted for future innovations. Its co-op element is not fully realized here as Brothers is technically made for single-player, as you can only use one controller, but if you huddle together close enough, then local co-op is easily achievable.
If you can persevere, then there’s a truly emotional and heartwarming story to be played out here, held together by many intuitive puzzles that require timing and lateral thinking.
If you enjoyed playing It Takes Two together, then Sackboy shares lots of the same variety and novelty.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Let’s face it, everyone loves Sackboy as he’s utterly adorable!
The LittleBigPlanet games were always harmonious experiences that were very versatile in the way you could approach them, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure is no different. It gets rid of the crafting and creating that made the original LittleBigPlanet games so endearing and channels its focus into delivering a fun but deviously tricky platformer.
Throw in a second pair of hands and you can have tons of fun exploring and traversing weird and wonderful levels together.
In Moving Out, it’s fair to say that it takes two to successfully move furniture without breaking it constantly.
Moving Out
If you’ve ever experienced the torturous act of moving house in real life, then you already know the pure pain and punishment that you’ll endure while doing so – but Moving Out somehow manages to make it fun.
We think this is easily a game like It Takes Two because teamwork is paramount and at the forefront of the game’s core fundamentals. You need to strategize which items to move where, and you need to both be in perfect synchronicity with one another to ensure you’re moving items as efficiently as possible.
You also need to do your best to not throw your controller at the wall. It will get frustrating, but as with any difficult task, the euphoric feeling of satisfaction when you’ve moved furniture well enough is rewarding and ultimately makes Moving Out worth moving into.
If you enjoyed Cody and May being represented as all sorts in it Takes Two, then two characters being yarn isn’t much different to be fair.
Unravel 2
Another ideal two-player adventure, this time featuring two anthropomorphic creatures made of yarn, because why not?
All the usual tandem tropes are featured here as a litany of interactive obstacles stands between you and your goal. You’ll never guess what the overriding focus is here, either… teamwork!
The platforming is on point and it’s a great example of the genre – leaving us yarning for more.
You’ll be fine jumping into any of the Borderlands games or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
Borderlands / Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Borderlands 1, 2, 3, The Pre-Sequel, or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – take your pick as any could be considered a game like It Takes Two pretty much.
Gearbox Software’s insane looter shooter series has captivated players for years with its exhausting list of amazing characters, its bazillions of guns, and WUB WUBs and DUB DUBs.
The best thing of all? You can be sat next to the partner of your choosing as you undertake all of these hours of gameplay. The most recent entry into the franchise, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, goes overboard on the craziness and is a more than acceptable starting point into the franchise if your badonkadonk so desires.
The world is your oyster in Kirby and The Forgotten lands…so eat it.
Kirby and The Forgotten Land
30 years of Kirby later and the world is not even close to being sick of him yet, which is some achievement.
2022’s Kirby and The Forgotten Land is even more impressive when you consider that decades later our little pink pal is finding new ways to reinvent himself and cater to new audiences. This is none more evident than how seamlessly the game works as a coherent co-op endeavor.
Easy hop in and hop out local multiplayer is extremely accessible and allows you to inhale the world together.
Cuphead is certainly harder than It Takes Two, but the feeling of overcoming is therapeutic.
Cuphead
If by now you somehow haven’t stumbled across the charming and cartoonish nature of StudioMDHR’s Cuphead, then this might either be the best or worst day of your life.
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Despite its endlessly engrossing personality and charming hand-drawn visual style, Cuphead is unbelievably difficult if you’re not prepared for it. If you are, then it’s downgraded to just very difficult.
The game is an exercise in patience as you battle to take down bosses and stress-inducing, one-shot run and gun missions where one mistake can be the difference between success and failure. We’d recommend you max out your friendship or relationship level before attempting Cuphead.
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