PC is arguably the best gaming platform since it’s the most open and less restrictive to play on. From obscure indie releases in Early Access to the latest Triple-A releases, there’s so many exciting experiences to choose from – most are even better when enjoyed with a friend. That’s why we thought it worthwhile to rank the 10 best 2 player PC games… those special titles that you can play online together and jump into a true adventure. There’s lots more choice compared to what you’ll find on Xbox or PlayStation, hence why this 2 player list might be more of use to you than ever.
Our list of the 10 best 2 player PC games is strictly focused on online co-op, seeing as hooking up two gamepads on the same laptop or desktop can often be quite cumbersome. However, in all of the following titles all you need is an internet connection, a game, and a buddy, to instantly lose hours to some of the best co-operative experiences out there. So, without further delay, here’s the absolute best 2 player games on PC.
10. Gotham Knights
Batman is dead, but Gotham City is still in need of a hero. How about four? That’s the prospect at the heart of Gotham Knights, an entirely fresh take on the caped crusader’s dark and broody universe, where you and a friend can fight crime as any two of the following heroes: Red Hood, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin. It’s a totally new narrative inspired by DC comics like Court of Owls, Death in the Family, and more, all made playable in glorious two-player co-op. You needn’t experience this story alone, for the very first time in a big-budget Batman game.
The primary thrust is to solve Batman’s last case, cracking down on the streets of Gotham whilst brushing up with familiar villains like Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and more. Doing so involves acquiring resources to better level up your chosen hero, breaking up crimes during night patrols, and taking down drones to ease up fast travel. Gotham Knights has been structured to be experienced in co-op, making the case for it being one of the 10 best 2 player PC games.
9. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
One of 2022’s breakout co-op surprises was none other than this Dungeons and Dragons-themed Borderlands spin-off, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Swapping out planets for continents and bombs for spells, this is a cell-shaded FPS that gives you and a friend the same core “shoot-and-loot” gameplay loop, but with a new range of classes to play as and characters to hang out with. Though some of the voice actors and principles remain the same, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is its own standalone experience, requiring absolutely no knowledge of the main series to allow both new and veteran fans to jump into the co-operative comedy fun.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is one of the best 2 player PC games because jumping into a game and completing quests is completely seamless. Smart, adaptive level-scaling means that you and a friend can be at different strengths, but you’ll both feel like your contributing in a session as you shoot endless skeletons, ghosts, and other mythical creatures. If you’re looking for a fun and breezy shooter you can enjoy alongside a friend on PC, this fantasy-set Borderlands spin-off more than has you covered.
8. Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Techland’s follow up to its 2015 zombie-slaying hit certainly took its time getting here, but similar to how the first was made much more enjoyable through the addition of full campaign co-op, Dying Light 2: Stay Human also benefits from jumping around this playground alongside a buddy. This is an entirely standalone sequel that doesn’t require any knowledge of the first game, set in the entirely new city of Villedor. It’s much more diverse and multi-layered compared to the previous game’s open world, giving you even more methods in which to lop off zombie heads.
Crafting the right weapon is still as crucial as ever in Dying Light 2: Stay Human, especially since guns have been entirely scrapped for this sequel in favour of melee instruments that will break over time. This helps bring a bit of tension into combat, though, keeping the action fresh as you and a friend constantly create more tools of destruction over time. Overall, the zombie game genre might now be less popular than it once was, but Dying Light 2 more than keeps its creative spirit alive with a fun location, inventive weapons, and seamless co-op.
7. It Takes Two
Building off the co-op framework first established in 2018’s prison break simulator A Way Out, game director Josef Fares blew expectations out of the water with It Takes Two. There’s a reason it’s become the must-play co-op experience for many, and it all stems from an ingenious idea. Whether it’s in the platforming, puzzle-solving, or boss battles, co-operative gameplay is woven into the very fabric of this shrunken down adventure – to the extent that it can only be played with another person. There is no single-player option to speak of.
You’ll play as either May or Cody, two parents who are growing apart and thinking about divorce, much to the dismay of their daughter. Suddenly, however, they’re shrunken down to the size of ants and forced to work together, tasked with exploring an oversized world that takes them from garden to treehouse to bedroom to kitchen and back again. Each environment offers a completely different type of co-op experience, constantly changing up the mechanics to keep you and a friend communicating every step of the way. It Takes Two is an absolute treat, and therefore one of the best 2 player PC games out there.
6. Portal 2
It would have been enough for developer Valve to follow up one of the greatest first-person puzzle games of all time with another single-player adventure. That’d be too easy, however, so Portal 2 raises the stakes significantly with the addition of a full-fledged co-op mode sitting separately from the main campaign experience. In it, you and a friend play as Aperture Science robots ATLAS and P-Body, exploring the depths of the labs while completing a whole new series of physics-based puzzles.
The co-op campaign in Portal 2 is now thought of equally as highly as the single-player portion, tasking you and a friend to work together in ways that will test your mind differently. The core act of shooting portals in various locations to pass through spaces remains the same, but now you have an extra layer of challenge present now that two players have the power. Portal 2 leaves players aching every day for a potential third sequel, and a co-op portion is similarly desired. It’s easily one of the best 2 player PC games even if it is over a decade old now. You're best off picking this one up directly from Steam where it is often on sale.
5. Gears 5
Gears of War might be a series most people are familiar with seeing on Xbox, but as Microsoft increasingly chooses to align itself with PC players just as much as those on console, almost all of the series entries are now available to play on both platforms. That includes the glorious Gears 5, the second instalment in this new era that developer The Coalition has created, which focuses on the next generation of COG soldiers. It’s of course fully playable in two-player co-op, too, meaning that you and a friend can grind up Locust and Swarm enemies using your chainsaw lancer side by side.
Undoubtedly Gears 5 plays like a dream, with tight-feeling cover-based shooting that makes popping off heads and limbs from afar a breeze. However, as well as being one of the best 2 player PC games outright, it’s also one of the best-looking co-operative shooters out there. From the sand dunes of the desert to the frost of the snow, Gears 5 takes our heroes on a globe-trotting journey to prevent the next threat, letting you jump into an action-packed adventure that is best experienced in co-op.
4. Far Cry 6
What? Another Far Cry? Yes, we know, the series has been put through the ringer by this point, but believe us when we say that Far Cry 6 makes some smart alterations to the formula that makes it worth a look for co-op players. Set in the fictional, Cuba-inspired city of Yara, you and a friend must take down the heartless dictator (played by Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito) by wreaking havoc and liberating the freedom fighters situated across the land.
It's a near perfect version of the popular Far Cry formula that will you see you and a buddy take down towers, slay the local wildlife, and liberate various camps. New this time, though, is the addition of ammunition types, bringing a sense of strategy to firefights for the very first time. Couple this with a genuinely nuanced story about fighting back against oppression, and in Far Cry 6 you’ve easily got one of the most bombastic and best 2 player games on PC
3. Monster Hunter: Rise
Just when you thought that the Monster Hunter series couldn’t get any better after World popularized the long-time cult classic series around the world, Capcom goes ahead and perfects it with the addition of… rideable wolves. Originally a Nintendo Switch exclusive, Monster Hunter: Rise then came to PC with improved graphics and an even more streamlined form of co-operative online play. True, it’s a far more bite-sized experience compared to its aforementioned big brother as a result, but this makes it one of the best 2 player PC game that’s perfect for short play sessions.
Before whaling upon these monsters used to take an exorbitant length of time, with much of the joy players felt coming from this slow drip of health coming off. However, Monster Hunter: Rise expands the appeal of killing vicious beasts and harvesting their parts to a much broader player base, letting you zip around locations using your wirebug and making traversal much more of a breeze thanks to the addition of Palamute companions that you can ride to find your target monsters quicker than before. The game has also had a paid major expansion with Monster Hunter: Rise Sunbreak that thoroughly expands the end-game content and gives players tonnes of new exciting monsters to hunt. There's plenty of game to sink your teeth in here if you and a friend enjoy the proven formula of hunting and forging the best gear.
2. Deep Rock Galactic
Blasting your way through asteroids and planets as a band of mining space dwarves might seem a bit far-fetched, but it’s a concoction that Deep Rock Galactic manages to make endlessly fun thanks to an addictive gameplay loop and procedurally generated levels. There are four distinct classes of dwarf to play as, each with their own specific abilities that makes getting around, shooting alien spiders, and digging out ore a unique experience every time. Deep Rock Galactic appears extremely challenging at first seeing as every location you visit is random, but this is what keeps you and friends on your toes.
The Gunner, Driller, Scout, and Engineer can all be upgraded back at base to make their traits far more useful on each new expedition. Deep Rock Galactic is light on story, it’s true, but this is more than made up for by the personal stories you and a squad of up to three friends will have after barely escaping the Sci-Fi horrors with your life. For all these reasons and more making it back to your ship with enough time to spare always feels like a triumph, rendering this one of the 1 best 2 player PC games that no co-op fan should miss out on.
1. Divinity: Original Sin II
Craving a deep story to embark on? Then you can’t go wrong delving into one of the deepest isometric CRPGs ever created in Divinity: Original Sin II. Larian Studios truly outdid themselves when releasing this sweeping journey in 2017, so much that it still stands strong as one of the 10 best 2 player PC games out there – easily topping our list. Set in the fantasy world of Rivellion, your party will set off to find the source of a dark energy that threatens to invade and torture all life in the land. This sets the stage for an in-depth RPG where every choice, decision, and action you take matters.
Fully playable in online co-op, you and a friend will create their own party members and bicker over almost every important decision. It’ll either bring you closer together or further apart, but one thing’s for certain: Divinity: Original Sin II will adapt, affecting the relationships and environments around you. If you’ve ever had a Dungeons and Dragons session and wanted it translated into a video game, this is the closest its ever come. Until developer Larian Studios pour their efforts into the final release of Balder’s Gate 3. For now Divinity: Original Sin II ranks top of our list of the 10 best 2 player PC games.
So there you have it, our picks for the best 2-player experiences on PC! Let us know below what you think belongs on this list.
