PC game recommendation for my partner and I
My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
It takes two
split fiction
These two were the top two favs of my wife and I last year. Played it takes two on our steam decks, and split fiction on our PCs. One of them is older and handled it great. Both pcs run linux.
Different vibe and very slow. The newer games are more fun in my opinion.
oooOoooo I haven't heard of that one, I'm gonna take a look, thanks!
A Way Out is still my favorite, probably just prefer more grounded games.
It Takes Two felt a bit easier/beginner friendly (and I liked the story better), but I would also recommended both of them.
Hmm. Interesting options! I'm not sure if she'd enjoy these types of games. But I can show her the trailer at least. Thanks for the recommendation!
I wish they weren't EA games. Split Fiction at least doesn't require an EA account so I'll show her that one.
Agree with It Takes Two.
The platforming can be frustrating in parts, but as she's played Mario and donkey kong, then it should be fine.
I mean the other obvious option are the various Lego games.
Lego Harry Potter etc.
Or as others have said: Overcooked
Semi-casual games that run well on older PCs and linux? Plus no launchers? Let's see.
I got a few but there may be splitscreen ones in this list too. (If that's ok)
I'm kind of going off of semi-casual meaning not high intensity shooters or things that require crazy skills. Most of these are pretty easy to pick up and are generally forgiving. They shouldn't have launchers but if they added one in a later update, then dang.
That is quite the list! I know a handful of these but most are new to me. I haven't gone through it them yet but I wanted to be sure to say thanks for the effort you put in to your reply.
I will toss in, don't starve together is very much NOT beginner friendly. Playing with someone less experienced with video games can turn into effectively playing with one hand behind your back as you try to cover the needs for both of you, the world is threatening, and the penalty for death is high. Might not be well suited to what you're looking for
Are you trying to kill him?
Playing Factorio co-op was one of the games that got my wife into gaming. She couldn't do quick reaction time shooters, but Factorio at its most basic is essentially a 'puzzle' game.
... But yeah we lost a few weekends or weeks or months to it. The factory must grow.
Don't Starve is anything but casual lol
Lovers in a dangerous spacetime was a ton of fun! Very adorable, simple mechanics, plays on one screen, and not too hard. Also came out over 5 years ago so win win
Everyone who likes couch co-op should play this one. It's fantastic.
This looks great! I hadn't considered a local co-op but I think I've got a second controller kicking around somewhere and could make that work.
Stardew valley? Farming co op game has a LAN mode so you can play together. You can do a casual playthrough to learn or try to min max like my wife does.
Haven't played that in years but a game I enjoy! I wasn't aware it had co-op, but I think that's going to be too slow and involved for her tastes though. But the suggestion is still appreciated.
Portal 2 has great puzzles for two players, but the timing can be frustrating
Portal 2 was my first thought as well. It can also work as a good litmus test for how they will respond to FPS controls. You can try kb/m or controller and see what feels natural. My partner (we found playing left4dead after portal) is an inverted controller person. Which was wild to me considering they worked in a heavy clerical field and really took to building keyboard with me. Yet, no kb/m for gaming. After that switch , they were able to enjoy co-op 1st person stuff a lot easier.
After portal we played borderlands 2 together. It’s low pressure most of the time and can be a background activity while you talk and hang out. The story is kinda cheesy but it’s fun to share the inside jokes with someone and bonded us in an unexpected way.
Hopefully those work for you!
Edit: it takes two and split fiction are really fantastic coop experiences as well. But, it take two should probably have a small warning for emotional content. Split fiction is a ton of fun but does get kinda difficult for less seasoned players. I found it endearing helping through those sections, but it could be harder for others. There are some moments that we both audibly wowed at though! That made the difficulty worth it.
Kingdom: Two Crowns is great fun in co-op.
I'm not sure I could convince her to play a tower defense style game. But it looks like MY kind of game, so thanks for the recommendation!
It's actually a mediaeval economy simulator
I don't really think I'd call it a tower defense game tbh.
I’ve posted about this somewhere else too, maybe a different account idk.
But for games to play with people that aren’t really “gamers” I actually prefer single player games with light amounts of fast paced action or none at all. The “coop” comes from taking turns with the controller.
This works well with puzzle or logic games with generous reaction time requirements (again, or none at all), as well as story based games with light action. A lot of these games also come with natural pauses in the story that provide opportunities to either swap who is driving or put the game down for the day.
I’ve had a lot of success playing through many of these titles with partners. I’m sorting these roughly by category and then how strongly I recommend them. Some of these games I haven’t actually played yet, but I know them to fit the overall vibe.
Puzzle/Logic - no reaction time required
Kind of a category within a category, haven’t played these, but they’ve been referred to as 1.5 player games.
Puzzle/Logic - aim and reaction time needed
Story Based - some action sequences requiring aim and reaction time and some puzzling
All of these that I’ve played were on either Arch (custom), Arch (Garuda), or NixOS based systems under Proton. Two of those systems were installed from scratch and they performed flawlessly, so if you’re on a system that handles all the audio and video driver installation for you things should be very smooth. The Garuda machine is a laptop from 2016 that is plugged into my TV and actually saw the most play time for these titles. It held up perfectly. The other two systems were back to back installs on my fairly beefy desktop, but installation and running the games was smooth after the initial effort to get the systems fully functional with drivers and controller support.
I really enjoyed We Were Here with a good friend. It's a coop escape room like puzzle game where you'll play in different rooms but your puzzles interact with the other room and you'll have to communicate and work the two rooms together to solve it
The sequels are also very nice!
The Past within has a similar concept and is also great!
Tick Tock:A Tale for Two is also a similar idea, but doesn't require first person navigation.
Do you like puzzle games? I played Blue Prince with my wife and that was pretty fun. She's not much of a gamer, so I just drove and she took notes. We talked about decisions/speculated on puzzles together.
Kind of? I occasionally play them but never finish.
I did take a look at a trailer of the game and it might be something she'd like.
Honestly the coop play on Lego PC games is pretty good if you can get over them being cartooney. You have lots to pick from too, so maybe your partner has movies they're a fan of that are represented in Lego games.
Yup, seconding this. The gameplay is simple enough for a first time gamer and they're funny. Lego Skywalker Saga and Lego Harry Potter were a blast, and we picked up Lego Voyagers but haven't played it yet.
My gf and I enjoyed:
Stardew Valley
Starbound
Cook Serve Delicious 2 and 3
Out of Space
Overcooked 2
Pizza Possum
PEAK
Biped
Cat Quest 2
Cats Love Boxes
Core Keeper
Temtem
These are the good ones (the ones where I felt like she was having a blast) which should run on anything. She’s also not good at games and has a fairly low-powered laptop. Looking back at them I can‘t believe we‘ve played that many lol
We‘re currently playing Schedule I but it‘s so buggy in co-op that I can‘t recommend it…
Since you mentioned platformers, Rayman Origins might be worth a look. It's a 2D platformer from 2011 so it doesn't require a lot of power, levels take a few minutes to complete which makes it perfect for short sessions and it has local co-op (up to 4 players).
I tried it recently on my desktop (Pop!_OS, ubuntu based) and Steam Deck, played without issues on both of them.
Thanks! While I've heard of the franchise, I've never actually played a Rayman game before. But a local co-op platformer sounds good.
Older games are purely singleplayer, multi is something they leaned on later on. For PC Rayman Legends also supports local co-op, I believe. This one however is only available on Steam and requires Uplay account or linking your Steam to it. Origins is available on both Steam and GOG - I can confirm the latter version does not require any additional accounts or services.
Finally, there's Rayman Raving Rabbids but that's more of a mini-game compilation/party game rather than a platformer. It also has multiplayer.
Split fiction was great fun for my partner and I, the story is mid but gameplay is probably the best action adventure coop I've played. It has so much variety to offer.
My wife surprisingly loved Divinity Original Sin 1/2 can be played on controller splitscreen or M/kb
Stardew Valley. My wife and I just started playing it together. It is a good time. Genuinely fantastic game.
I picked up gaming in 2022 (played all the Halo Games, Star Wars Fallen order and Survivor, Dark Souls) and she hasn't played anything since childhood in the 90's... We are both loving Stardew.
Abiotic Factor has been a blast with a friend. I don't play a lot of survival games (I prefer more narrative than most offer, and Grounded was a great one for that) and this one doesn't take itself very seriously (you craft weapons and armor from general office supplies a lot of the time... I've never been so excited to find a cache of staplers).
May want to turn the difficulty down if she gets overwhelmed easily, as while they majority of the game is pretty manageable, there are the occasional hard fight.
She won't like a survival crafter, but I do!
I'll take half credit! Lol. It's ridiculous in the best ways. I still have no idea how much longer we have on our playthrough but it is a pretty long game.... Or we suck, which is very plausible.
I tried to get my friend group into this and most of them bounced off. I tried to convince the “hardcore gamers” of the group that by the looks of it things get quite hard in the late game. Bummed I never really got to experience it to that point.
It Takes Two, or Split Fiction, by the same developers. Both are fantastic games, designed around couch co-op.
Since she likes puzzles, the Trine game series could be nice! I think they added coop multiplayer starting with Trine 2.
If you both like hack 'n slash then Torchlight 2 is also great fun!
I think she'd enjoy that. And good to know there are several in the series so we can pick up the next ones if we end up enjoying it. Thanks!
Trine 1 has co op. I played it 3 player
I’m in a similar situation with my wife not being particularly interested in games - I’ve had some success in playing LA Noire with her guiding the investigations and interrogations. The jazz soundtrack in particular helped convince her, funnily enough!
Not quite perhaps what you’re looking for, but may work for others with hesitant non-gamer partners.
"A Hat in Time" is an excellent 3d-platformer with local (split-screen) co-op.
"It Takes Two" is the game you are looking for.
Farm Together 2 is AWESOME
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2418520/Farm_Together_2/
The graphics are nice but don't make the game stand out which is a minor shame since this is by far my favorite "build a farm" type game.
Splitscreen co-op and multiplayer is a blast and the game flow is very chill but rewarding.
Maybe. I like a farming sims but I think it might be a hard sell. Though the cute graphics might help. How in the going in to town portion of the game? Does it have RPG elements? While I like that kind of thing, I don't think she will.
Not really though I get how the game seems like it might be like that, in fact what I like about Farm Together 1 and 2 is that they are very focused on the actual moment to moment process of a running an arcadey farm. It is almost like a realtime boardgame or simple economy simulator, which makes the core gameplay loop immediately salient to anybody. You can pick up a controller, jump in and start helping out on the farm, it is a very simple, relaxed and rewarding gameplay loop and it makes the perfect co-op game because of it. There aren't long cutscenes and lots of stuff and context you have to explain, it is a pick up and play experience.
It isn't a shallow game either, while the game by no means "hard" in the sense that there aren't really fail states, figuring out how to create an economy with your farm is a really interesting challenge and the wide variety of unlocks encourage and reward strategizing. The graphics are deceptive, there is a genuine engine building game at the heart of Farm Together 2.
Another vote for It Takes Two
Some obvious suggestions seem to be:
Sorta requires another account... technically.. .Minecraft. IDK, maybe hytale would fill that niche. There's also some FOSS options like luanti that would be nearly indistinguishable.
Some lesser known stuff:
Category suggestion: Kart racing. There are no shortage of brands of that... sonic just came out with a new one and there's a couple really good sonic kart racers already out there that are on steam and console. Played a lot of sonic and all stars racing transformed with my wife and we had fun... it goes super cheap on sales and has remote play together so you'd only need one copy for both of you... https://isthereanydeal.com/game/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed-collection/history/#price-chart:overview , mario kart, etc.
es-de is a really nice front end you can have in steam for couch coop emulation, I hear.
I know and like almost all of these games! Unfortunately I don't think she'll like any of them. Maybe some of the early levels of dungeon defenders.
RoboQuest caught my attention. While I generally don't gravitate towards roguelikes or FPS's, the combo has my interest piqued!
It's really hard to suggest games without knowing what you guys normally would play. You mention puzzle games. There are a ton of two player puzzle games that you play head to head which might be fun, but it isn't coop exactly. I highly recommend super puzzle fighter ii turbo. It's available thru emulation and I think maybe on steam via that capcom arcade thing. There are lots of games that fit into that category if it ends up appealing.
If you have access to any of the games mentioned... maybe just have her try some of them and see what clicks. I know with my wife she wasn't really a "gamer" at first... and I just let her loose on my steam games and a few that she would have never considered before became favorites like half-life, portal, l4d2. Most of the valve stuff holds up really well and makes for good primers into FPS style gaming. We also got really into coop minecraft and dungeon defenders so hundreds of coop hours have been dumped into those. I'd pick a bunch of genre styles (fps, puzzle, survival, etc) and just show her some gameplay videos if she's reticent to play them sight unseen... see if anything sparks her interest. Then pick out some of the more well regarded titles from them to dive into. There are definitely classics that are considered classics for a reason.
As for roboquest... I've enjoyed that one. The dev kept putting out content patches so it's gotten a bunch of content dumped into it. Fun solo and coop. I personally love the pop art comic style. The progression is rogueLITE... so you're slowly building up new stuff in your hub as you play, which makes for a nicer experience, IMHO. They even have a free demo on steam if you wanna try it out while you wait for a sale.
Terraria's also getting it's next major update in a week, so it's a great time to get into it.
Yeah, we saw the announcement and prompted us to reinstall it for some coop play.
Looks like it goes on sale like... every month or two. https://isthereanydeal.com/game/terraria/history/
Grabbing it for a fiver is like a no brainer if you get into the style of game. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a sale when the patch comes out to promote it.
From the top of my head I can think two:
Not sure about Linux support though, so check it out first, but both are relatively old titles so I think they have a good chance to run.
I don't have specific games to recommend because there are many of many genres. I'd instead suggest to make trying out cooperative games as an experience for you both. The fun will be in exploring them on your own. Or the frustration. He he.
Deep Rock Galactic can be played up to 4 players, but 2 is fine. There's difficulty scaling to what you want to do and you have to want to play high difficulty content to access it. You go around various biomes, mining for resources, fending off enemies. There's a multitude of mission types to play that can be fun to funny.
It was officially released in 2020 but was in early access for longer than that. It'll run well on mid range PC builds and supports Linux though with the typical warning it might be a little janky until you get the right modifications going. The DLC in the game is cosmetics and you have plenty you can earn through regular gameplay.
A racing style game that you two can play around in I believe is called Wreck Fest. It's a demolition styled racing game so crashing, smashing, and bashing are all encouraged. It has from straight racing to demolition derbies with AI.
It released in 2018 and should work fine on a mid-range PC, though might need to turn down some of the physics effects since there's a lot. Its DLC is different cars which isn't really pay to win as they have strengths and weaknesses to them. I've played it on single player and it's still fun, with a friend would be wonderful.
If you'd like a rogue lite kind of game, there's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Splintered Fate. It's a coop rogue lite where you build up power sets and see how they do. Can be up to 4 players but solo is very much viable as well.
Portal 2 coop is phenomenal.
YES FOR GOOSE GAME!!
WISH IT WAS LONGER
minecraft?
Oh Minecraft. She'd get bored with an open world sandbox. Maybe there are mods or something that are more story driven, but that'd ruin my nostalgia for the game. Bit of a pickle!
ah, usually the creative aspect draws people in but i know not everyone is that way.
I’ve recently gotten into putting together sort of silly “party” mod packs for my friend group. Things that are meant to be played as a “one shot” with everyone online. Things like full loot randomizers, or shared health and inventory. Just silly and chaotic mods to shift the focus from exploration and sandbox-y things, to “let’s try to beat the ender dragon under very adverse conditions”. So far I’ve only gotten one friend to bite, but we’ve been doing one run a night for the last week or so. Takes between 20 to 60 minutes, maybe more if we really get into it.
Could also look into mods/modpacks that add quest books. That helps take the edge off the “open world, figure it out” paralysis and give some concrete things to work towards.
You mentioned puzzles so maybe a middleground is finding some co-op puzzle maps?
Civ 6, the whole Picross lineup on the switch (emulated ofc), Cassette Beasts, Minecraft Java (which can be a pain to setup but once its good its good), Halo MCC apparently has a new split screen mod. You get a lot with a switch emulator due to all the fantastic first party games by Nintendo. Also look into Nucleus Coop.
Tl;Dr: try Cassette Beasts
Plus 1 for cassette beasts, it's insanely good. Much to the continued anger of my friends with hundreds of hours in Pokemon, I routinely summarize it as Pokemon but good having hundreds of hours in both lol
Overcooked
Super mario 3d world
Limbo
Inside
Overcooked: Looks cute, frantic, and fun!
Super mario 3d world: Feeling meh about it.
Limbo: Single player. But looks like something I might like.
INSIDE: Also single player. But somerhingt we both might like.
Yeah I should've mentioned my last 2 are single player. We took turns after each death and it was super enjoyable. Using the controller and navigating is only half the battle with those two games. The other half is just brainstorming and planning a solution to the puzzle.
Sonic Racing Crossworlds. The bots are plenty tough on the hardest difficulty. But you can make them easy too.
Here is list of some games that I enjoyed playing with my wife:
One of my favorite recent games were: Ale and Tale Tavern and RV there yet.
Here is list of other game I have played (+ or - if I recommend it). These were all I found in my Steam Library.
Single player games that can be played "together"
Farming sims:
Exploration/Story:
Action:
Puzzle:
Party:
Overcooked is ground for divorce
Valheim and Raft are both fun with two people. Raft's a bit janky but more relaxed. Valheim can be relaxing or as hard as you want to make it (there are world settings you can change and plenty of mods), and although it's technically still in early access there's a ton of content.
GRIS
I know that you said multiplayer, but if I can be one more voice on single player games that you guys may enjoy playing in turns I strongly recommend GRIS. It is so beautiful and I think it suits itself well for shorter play sessions.
My girlfriend and I have spent many fun hours playing Lethal Company. It's a real blast with an insanely high skill ceiling if that's your thing.
PlateUp! The better overcooked (this time, roguelike). Love this game. Might test your relationship a little though...
Me and my husband play this on emulator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_Legends
journey to savage planet sounds like it fits your criteria
Something you might want to consider is that often boardgames nowadays have an electronic equivalent. Case in point, my best mate and myself recently played The Dresden Files over Steam.
One I haven't seen yet is Unrailed. It's a little bit of the chaos of overcooked, but not quite as stressful.
That looks like a lot of fun! Not sure if she'll like the builder element but it looks simple enough.
I heard puzzle games and am legally obligated to shill Petal Crash (and it's upcoming sequel). It's a great accessible entry point into versus puzzles, and tbh it's practically the only good thing to happen to the genre in a decade or so.
Can also check out Panel Attack as a FOSS clone of Panel de Pon, and FightCade for emulating all kinds of classics with netplay.
That looks absolutely adorable and I think would be fun. I'll suggest it, thanks!
If you want some retro, try Dungeon Siege. Works on Linux. I played this game when it came out and recently got back into it because I never finished it there first time. Really chill dungeon rpgish game. Easy mechanics, but I haven't tested how the multiplayer works.
I do not know how well it fits your characteristics but Sea of Stars is a cool retro rpg you can play in coop.
I haven't seen anyone say Enshrouded yet. Im hosting a server on wine/linux for my group. Its like Valheim but with more direction like a quest log and lore and etc. Lots of good reccs on the thread already too.
I know its kinda crazy for me to.suggest this, but hear me out:
Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition runs nearly perfectly in emulators on pretty modest hardware. Its not very difficult, but has a Games Journalist level Easy mode as well if thats needed. Its a Musou/Warriors game, so its basically mindless button mashing with the flavor of Zelda.
Its a splitscreen game, so you only have to have it set up on one machine. The game has a story mode and a bunch of challenge modes as well to keep things interesting. Wide range of upgradeable charaacters with different weapons that change up their playstyles. And a lot of unlockable costumes.
Downsides:
Upsides:
The only issue could be if you aren't using a Nintendo controller, the buttons won't match up, but there might be a mod for that. I know there are input mods for other games.
Bokura, 2d puzzle platformer played with 2 players
::: spoiler Minor gameplay spoilers Both players are seeing a completely different world. Different art, different puzzle elements. It is about communicating exactly what is happening, and puzzle solving. :::
It requires Steam, both players need to own the game, and two separate devices to play on (one for each player). Iirc networking goes through Steam, no way to selfhost.
Try emulating Kirby and the Forgotten Land using a Switch emulator.
I recommend avoiding people's recommendations for PC-only/indie games altogether. You will be lowering your standards just to get something that 'works' rather than something that's actually worth your time.
This is a bonkers take on PC games
Only if you have low standards.