5 Couch Co-Op Games to Play With Your Boo This Valentine’s Day

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Are you sick of celebrating Valentine’s Day the same way every year? Is a hollow gift of flowers along with a card and a meal out not making the cut? If you responded yes to the above, why not order in some pizza and grab a couple of controllers? Try spending some quality time with your SO playing some couch co-op games. If a good old gaming night is just what you and your partner need, I have collated 5 couch co-op games to play with your boo that should help to set you off in the right direction.

I can say with some confidence that the following games will make for an entertaining and memorable night. What I cannot testify to is a relaxing and stress-free experience. I refuse to be held accountable for any gamer rages that may occur over the course of your evening. Proceed with caution.

5. Portal 2

For those unfamiliar, the Portal games are first-person puzzlers. They see the player navigating their way through levels, or test chambers as they are known. Players are equipped with only a portal gun allowing them to teleport between two points of their choosing. To progress, they must navigate test chambers of increasing difficulty. There is also an overarching ‘corporations-are-bad’ plot and cake. Got it? Good.

Portal 2‘s signature gameplay translates perfectly to its fully-fledged co-op campaign. Whilst there are some 2-player games that don’t heavily rely on teamwork, Portal 2‘s co-op missions require constant communication to complete. The incredible mission design encourages experimentation in the way you and your partner play. This freedom makes for some ridiculous and hilarious solutions that more often than not go wrong. However, when a horrendously convoluted plan somehow works, the satisfaction shared is hard to beat.

The only reason it is placed lower on the list is due to it being tied to older consoles and PC. As a result, the game may not be readily available to everyone anymore. However, if you have the means to play it, Portal 2 makes for a brilliant and wholly unique co-op experience that shouldn’t be missed.

4. A LEGO Game

At this point, it is hard to find an entertainment franchise that hasn’t had some involvement with the toy giants. Luckily this statement applies to video games as well. From Gotham to Mordor, many fictional universes are readily available to explore across a plethora of LEGO games.

It may have been a minute since you last played a LEGO game or you may have never played one. Allow me to put your mind at rest; these games are still as charming as ever. Romping through some of entertainment’s most iconic locations with a friend or loved one evokes pure childhood joy that only LEGO can provide.

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Almost all of the LEGO video games are fantastic so pick a franchise that is close to your heart and have a blast recreating some of your favourite scenes with your co-op partner. None of them are particularly challenging either so if you are just looking for something easy and fun to play together, you can’t go too wrong with a LEGO game.

3. A Way Out

Easily one of my favourite games released in 2018, A Way Out is the most fun I have had playing a co-op game. Period. Only playable with a partner, the game sees both players attempting to escape a prison and follows their life on the run.

The developers clearly had a lot of fun designing the levels around co-op. The game constantly asks players to work together in interesting ways that allow for some extremely funny moments. Both me and my buddy cracked up on multiple occasions. As well as this, there is a fun and over-the-top plot with some light dialogue choices that ties everything together. A Way Out is a blast from start to finish and the perfect game to settle into for the night.

2. Cuphead

I previously warned that some of these games may be a cause of tension between yourself and your partner. This game is the reason for my warning. Cuphead is a deceptively simple 2D platformer that is fully playable in co-op. Each of the painstakingly hand-drawn levels offers challenges different from the last. The varied level design helps to keep the game fresh and the classic Disney art-style of the world and characters makes for one of the most visually iconic games in recent years.

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Cuphead is a cripplingly challenging game that will more than likely cause some form of argument. But it is also a brilliantly clever and gorgeous labour-of-love that when conquered, provides for shared moments of pure elation. As previously mentioned, proceed with caution.

1. Overcooked 2

The most chaotic game on the list and my personal number 1, Overcooked 2 sees up to 4 players madly attempting to run a kitchen together. The second entry in the franchise improves upon almost everything the already brilliant first game introduced and is still receiving regular updates 2 years on from its release.

The game has players working together to prepare and cook various meals for a wide range of customers in all kinds of exotic locales. Whether it be chopping tomatoes or throwing plates to one another across the room, the simple yet charming animations and bouncy physics make every action a joy in itself.

Its mechanics are introduced wonderfully in the opening levels and taught to players in a way that anyone can grasp. This makes it a perfect game to hop into right away with a partner who may not usually play video games. Overcooked 2‘s well-tuned difficulty curve and its introduction of new mechanics at regular intervals prevent it from ever feeling stale. As well as this, if you and your partner really enjoy it, the game offers a vast array of levels that will keep you playing for many more Valentines to come.

A Night Of Romance Is In Store

Whilst I don’t claim to be a love-guru, I can’t imagine much else shouts romance like an evening sharing some of the aforementioned games with a loved one. So light a couple of candles, put on some Marvin Gaye and settle in for a night of passionate fun on your couch.

If there are any other couch co-op games that you and your partner love that we didn’t mention, let us know below!

Joehenry Cummings

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