The best cooperative games of 2024 to play with your friends

Playing games by yourself, after a long time, can get a little lonely. Playing competitive games can get your blood flowing, but it can also make your blood Fermentation.

That's where cooperative games come in.

Good co-op games can be hard to find, but a good one can solidify itself as a regular activity with your group, or you can even make new friends if you dive deep into the community.

They want communication and attention, but skip the frustration of being flogged by the same team for 45 minutes.

In the year We bring you the killer co-op games released in 2024. They range from overhead hack'n'slash to tree-punching to cruise control and they're all a blast.

Editor's Note: All games on this list are traditional “Web2” games without crypto or blockchain integration. But you can enjoy them anyway!

empty workers

Platform: PC

Void Crew puts you and up to three other players on a spaceship, assigned to go on expeditions, take on missions, and ultimately fight a boss.

On your ship, decide on equipment and utility placement, manage your engines and energy consumption, defend your ship and don a jetpack to repair your boat and take off into the dark space to complete missions.

This game turns into something special when you have a team of four. FTL-style mission nodes allow you to move things around while spending little time between missions. Of course, there's always the risk of being knocked out of your empty tunnel and ambushed by AI enemies.

Things might start out okay, but eventually, your entire team will be working overtime to keep the mission going. It's a lot of fun to be here, especially if you have that team.

Packed

Platform: PC (PS5 + Xbox coming soon)

Survival-crafting games can be a dime a dozen, but they're often a great source of cooperative play. It's packed in early access but already offers quite a bit to do.

The core mechanics are pretty cool: collecting resources, building, upgrading, and fighting enemies. However, the game emphasizes fun combat and offers challenging yet rewarding boss battles. It's fun to cross because eventually you'll find sliders and hooks.

Another notable feature is the way it constructs padded handles. The game is smart about how it combines textures, which means you can not only place anything where you want, but also help the game look good.

Migration path 2

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

So you're tired of Diablo. That's where Path of Exile comes in. The original Poe is still alive and well with a thriving community, but the new Path of Exile 2 is here with souped-up visuals, a new campaign, and cross-platform development.

If you're familiar with Diablo, it looks red at first. There are new classes, and the class progression system is just as intimidatingly massive as ever, with 1,500 nodes to put skill points into. You can wing it, or you can use a build guide to help you get the right character.

While there is a single-player mode, of course, playing with a friend or a group of friends is where the game shines.

Helldiverse 2

Platforms: PS5, PC

It's silly to talk about 2024 co-op games without bringing up Helldiverse.

Having recently taken home two gaming awards, including Best Multiplayer, Helldiverse 2 was a huge success in the first half of 2024, thanks to the crucial combination of truly amazing explosions, a fun site level that encourages everyone to get involved, and of course, killer co-op gameplay.

If you haven't played this and have a PC or PlayStation 5—what are you doing here? It's time to defend our governing democracy and let the planet prosper.

The last ones

Platforms: PC, PS5/PS4, Xbox Series X/S

While most of this list avoids PVP gameplay, we're looking for at least one here—and The Finals, a free-to-play competitive shooter, is a good place to start.

In a team of three or five players, you do things like the mode, score control and compete for points. The endings, however, place you in a canonical fantasy environment rather than resembling the real world. When you die, you become a bunch of cubes that fall to the ground.

The biggest feature here, though, is a big deal. You can destroy the level with bombs, mines and exploding tanks, demolish entire buildings and completely change the look of some levels until the match is over. As a PVP game, things can get very sweaty – but with two friends, it offers a lot of fun.

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

The biggest draw of Return to Moria is, of course, that it's set in Middle-earth.

You and up to seven players take on the role of dwarves summoned to Moria to reclaim the dwarven ancestral home in this survival action game.

You will explore, collect and build while facing the dangers of a giant cave system that has been abandoned for years. It's a great addition to any co-op playlist.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair