In this article, we’re going to list and discuss the 8 best 4-player co-op games that are available to play in 2023.
If you are like us, some of your fondest gaming memories have come from time spent online on coms, or perched on a couch cushion, playing with friends or family.
In honor of that tradition, we rounded up some of the absolute best cooperative multiplayer games around, and we’re going to break down what they are about and what makes them successful.
These are games that are perfect for getting together with a group of friends and playing for a session, an evening, or even a recurring gaming night. All the games on this list allow four or more people to play together.
Okay, let’s jump right in.
8. Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a first-person action game created by developer Fatshark. The game was released for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation in 2018. It received a warm critical reception and was nominated for several video game awards.
If you are looking to take up arms with your friends to fight endless waves of enemies in a fantasy setting sounds like your idea of a good time, then Vermintide 2 is for you–The combat feels good, and the pace of the action is almost non-stop.
You can take on missions in a premade party of four or solo queue into a mission and be matched with other players online. The game features five playable characters for you and your friends to pick from. Each character has different weapons and abilities jump into the action, fight your way through enemies and help your team.
On top of that, each of these characters has three “careers” or sub-classes that will have different weapons and abilities to change up the style and feel of that character’s gameplay.
Although you can play solo, Vermintide 2 is the most fun with friends. Its fast-paced action, a diversity of builds, and hefty unlockable content will give you and your chosen party of four plenty to look forward to as you fight your way through the seemingly endless ranks of rat-like Skaven combatants.
7. Phasmophobia
If you and your friends are looking for a spooky good time, this game might just fit the bill. Phasmophobia is a paranormal horror game by the developer Kinetic Games. It was released into easy access in 2020 and currently holds an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ review score on Steam.
In this game, you play as a group of up to four ghost hunters who enter a haunted building looking for signs of paranormal activity. This game can be legitimately creepy, as well as having jump scares. So, whether or not that’s your thing, you’ve been warned.
You enter the haunted building at night (when else?) and have to go looking for the breaker box through dark corridors using only a flashlight and communicating with your team through crackling walkie-talkies.
The goal is to find clues to what sort of paranormal creature is haunting the area and to do so, you’ll use various equipment such as cameras, motion sensors, salt, and an EMF reader.
Phasmophobia offers an engrossing and unique multiplayer co-op experience. Part of the fun comes from developing a team strategy for finding and identifying the ghost. But what if you have to split up, and the ghost, irritated with your group’s presence, starts hunting?
Suddenly one of your friend’s coms goes silent. Are they hiding? Can you get them out? Or were they taken as another victim of the spirit realm?
It’s this sort of careful planning, meets sudden action, that makes Phasmophobia a chilling and enjoyable co-op experience.
6. Minecraft
Okay, you’ve probably heard of this one. With over 238 million copies sold, Minecraft is the top-selling video game in history. The game was developed by Markus Persson and Jens Bergensten and first released in 2011.
Minecraft is a sandbox game in which there are no set goals, and you make your own decisions on how to play. The game features procedurally generated levels and a unique and recognizable art style.
At its most basic, the game will have you collecting materials to make tools, weapons, and armor to defend yourself and create a base. You can spend your time exploring caves looking for treasure and fighting monsters, or building just about anything you can think of with the game’s simple yet expansive building systems.
As a multiplayer game, allowing for four or more players, Minecraft excels at allowing your group to tell your own stories and play however you want to play.
Each player can contribute to the group in a way that seems fun to them, going off on solo missions and exploration when they want without leaving the rest of their team in an uncomfortable or problematic situation.
It’s also a great game for a group of players of a diverse range of ages, allowing older and younger players to connect and come together in this now classic game.
5. Terraria
First released in 2011, Terraria is an action RPG sandbox game by developer Re-Logic. The game came out to positive reviews from critics and fans alike and currently ranks as the second best-reviewed game of all time on Steam.
With pixel art and a 2-D side-scrolling perspective, the game has a nostalgic and playful feel. You and up to eight of your friends can play together. You’ll start out on the surface of a randomly created world where you will explore, craft, battle monsters, and go spelunking.
The game’s classes are based on what weapon you are currently using and can be grouped into summon, ranged, melee, and magic.
It’s a great game to start out learning together or help teach to a friend as it encourages you to jump right in and figure things out but still contains a surprising amount of content and depth.
You and your friends will have numerous monsters to battle, places to explore, and secrets to find, all in a weird but light-hearted and charming world. The sandbox gameplay will let you all play on your own terms and only increase the joy of discovery.
It’s not hard to see why Terraria has become so popular, and playing with your friends only makes it better.
4. Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve Together is the wilderness survival game published by Klei Entertainment. It is a standalone multiplayer expansion of the original ‘Don’t Starve’ which was nominated for the Golden Joystick Award’s “Best Original Game” category in 2014.
You play as one of 14 plus characters that each have their own strengths and weaknesses. The art style is dark and cartoonish, with a top-down perspective and assets that look like ink-drawn paper cutouts. This distinct graphical style helps set Don’t Starve Together apart from some of the genres’ less visually creative entries.
This game throws you right into the action and doesn’t hold your hand in the meantime. It allows up to six players, and if this is your and your friend’s first time playing, you will likely fail along the way. Luckily, that’s all part of the fun.
Don’t Starve Together is an enjoyable and challenging multiplayer entry into the survival space. You’ll be tested as you try and out last hunger, wild animals, and the changing of the seasons.
This game can lend itself to longer multi-day play sessions and is great for a group that is looking to try things out for themselves, fail, learn, and try again.
3. Valheim
Valheim is a procedurally-generated survival game for 1-10 players developed by Iron Gate AB. The game is in early access but has already gained a devoted fan base and numerous awards.
You play as a Viking exploring a magical and dangerous world, and trust me, it’ll be good to have friends there who have your back. At the start, you’ll be crafting basic tools and clothes and looking for a good place to set up a permanent base.
Skills are leveled simply by using them, so feel free to try out different weapons to see what you like, but you may eventually want to stick with one or two, to get the most out of your time spent honing your moves in the game.
There are different biomes to progress through, each with unique dangers and rewards. Be prepared when you venture into one you’ve never been to before, as it is bound to contain potent and as yet unknown dangers.
Building longhouses and defenses, crafting new and powerful weapons, gardening, and setting sail as a team to bring back precious cargo are all part of the rich and varied game experience.
Valheim Is a blast to play together with a consistent group. You can still play on your own, but the further you progress into the game, the more you’ll come to appreciate and even rely on your fellow Vikings.
2. Overcooked! 2
Overcooked 2 is a cooking simulation game, for 1-4 players, developed by Team17 and Ghost Town Games. It came out in 2018 with strong reviews and won the Game Critics Award that same year for Best Family/Social Game.
The basics of the game are simple–you receive orders in a whacky kitchen and prepare it, cook it, and then serve it. The reality of the game, however, is fast-paced and delightful arcade-style mayhem.
You’ll move through the games’ more than 40 levels taking on an ever-changing and expanding set of menu options while trying to coordinate your team so that everything gets done on time. You get significantly more tips (which is important) for serving all the orders in the order you received them, so it’s all about team play and coordination.
The different, and for the most part, very well-designed levels will introduce new and varied mechanics for you to overcome along the way.
Overcooked 2 is easy to learn but difficult to master, and you have to change, and everyone will have to work together. This is a game that seems made for couch co-op, and although that is when it is at its best, it also includes online functionality.
You and your friends might just enjoy this fast and chaotic kitchen frenzy so much that once you’ve beat it and unlocked the ability to get a fourth star on all the levels, you’ll waste no time starting over and doing it all again.
1. Deep Rock Galactic
Deep Rock Galactic is a procedurally-generated FPS with destructible environments developed by Ghost Ship Games. The game was released in 2020 to very positive reviews.
You, and up to three friends, play as dwarven miners in space looking for precious minerals. The game has four classes, each with unique tools, weapons, and gameplay.
Whoever plays as the Gunner will be ready to take on the large and dangerous groups of alien bugs you’ll face. The Scout will zip ahead to light up the randomized caverns and get at hard-to-reach minerals.
Need a new escape route? The Driller will blast a path through solid stone, while the engineer throws down turrets to cover your escape.
You can make do with one or two of the classes, but this was a game designed with four players in mind, and you’ll be best off if the whole team is there.
Deep Rock Galactic feels like just the right balance of fun and challenge, with plenty of different level objectives and cave types to keep you entertained. There is a progression system and unlockable and upgradable gear for each class.
If you’re like us, you and your friends are going to want to try out all of them as you familiarize yourself with the game. This adds up to a fantastic multiplayer experience with plenty to offer and lands Deep Rock Galactic at number one on our list of the best 4-player co-op games–We highly recommend this one!
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