For some players, it doesn’t matter how good a game is; if there is co-op, they're willing to deal with small gripes. For example, one of the most prominent couch co-op game series is Dynasty Warriors. It can be monotonous to slay thousands of foes alone, but it's much better with a friend nearby.
10 Most Underrated Co-Op RPGS
Co-Op mechanics aren't very common in most RPGs. These titles incorporate them in interesting and unique ways.
While co-op can make any dull game into a more memorable experience, it is great to have a collection of the best of the best on hand. Through various consoles, these co-op games are indeed some of the most celebrated, spanning a wide range of genres and franchises.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Earn Bells With Ease
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Released
- March 20, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Everyone / Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
- Genre(s)
- Simulation
- OpenCritic: 90
- Co-Op Options: Four Local/Eight Online
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the most chill games in Nintendo’s history, allowing for deep customization of the player’s island. They can explore their randomized world, gather materials, craft furniture for their house, or plant things like apple trees to turn a profit.
Players can do this locally with four other friends, or eight others online, and they can even take a trip to someone else’s island via a plane to visit, explore, and collaborate.
Stardew Valley
Pixel Perfect Co-Op
Stardew Valley
- Released
- February 26, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Simulation
- OpenCritic: 90
- Co-Op Options: Eight Local/Online
Stardew Valley is a more mechanically rich life sim than Animal Crossing, with a more simplistic art style as a throwback to the SNES days. Players can explore their farm to make room for a garden, and everything they do will level up their character in some way.
Players can collaborate with a total of eight others. It makes the mundane nature of raising animals and watering crops easier to handle with so many ranch hands helping.
Minecraft
Mountains Of Creativity
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- OpenCritic: 90
- Co-Op Options: Four Local/Eight Online
Minecraft is the ultimate crafting game with nary an NPC or story quest in sight, which is exactly the type of game some players want. Creativity is its main object, and it’s easy to understand thanks to the LEGO-like cubes players can use to build things like houses or villages.
There are local co-op options on consoles, but up to eight players can play together online. For big projects like recreating big cities, co-op is a necessary tool and one that fans are thankful exists.
Monster Hunter: World
A World Of Possibilities
Monster Hunter World
- Released
- January 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- OpenCritic: 90
- Co-Op Options: Four Online
Monster Hunter: World added a lot of quality-of-life features to the Monster Hunter formula, but it was still a challenging game while playing alone. The point of the series is to choose a weapon and then go fight giant monsters. Players will learn to harvest monster parts to create a wild variety of weapons and armor, only to then go and fight even deadlier creatures.
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Monster Hunter: World is easier to survive if players join with up to three others online, especially toward the game’s latter half. It's also just fun to embark on a hunt together, and taking down a giant beast with a well-coordinated team is extremely satisfying.
Rayman Legends
A Sing-A-Long Platformer
Rayman Legends
- Released
- August 30, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
- OpenCritic: 90
- Co-Op Options: Four Local
Rayman Legends is an underrated but strikingly beautiful platformer with multiple characters to choose from across a wide array of themed levels. There aren’t many, but the music levels are the best, including ones themed around “Black Betty” by Ram Jam and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.
Players can go into those levels and any others in four-player co-op locally for one of the best couch co-op platforming experiences found on any console and in any gaming era.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Mario Gets Weird Again
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Released
- October 20, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E For Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
- OpenCritic: 91
- Co-Op Options: Four Local
The Mario series has effectively reinvented platforming multiple times over, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the best 2D Mario game with co-op to date. Each level holds a new surprise for players, thanks to the Wonder Flower items, such as a singing flower parade or making pipes inch around like worms.
Up to four players can dive into these levels, and there’s a wide variety of characters to choose from, including classic characters like Luigi, Peach, and Daisy, as well as variations on Toad and Yoshi.
Donkey Kong Bananza
Sing It Sister!
Donkey Kong Bananza
- Released
- July 17, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- OpenCritic: 91
- Co-Op Options: Two Local/Online
Donkey Kong Bananza doesn’t have the most robust co-op, but it is still fun for anyone who wants to passively experience the game alongside the main player. DK is the star of the show, and he can use his giant fists to smash the land easily, which can hold all sorts of treasures.
As Pauline, who rests on DK’s shoulders, the second player can use her voice to attack enemies or also destroy the land. This can all be done locally or online via the best option featuring GameShare on two different Switch systems.
Split Fiction
Caught Between Sci-Fi And Fantasy
Split Fiction
- Released
- March 6, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- OpenCritic: 91
- Co-Op Options: Two Local/Online
Split Fiction is probably the best co-op game made to date, as the entire campaign was designed with two players in mind and has to be enjoyed with someone else either locally or online. As the two protagonists, Mio and Zoe, players will try to escape an AI-generated virtual reality that keeps creating wild fantasy and sci-fi scenarios for them to overcome.
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There’s something uniquely satisfying about games that are designed only for two players.
Each level is different from the last, ranging from helping dragons to racing Tron-like bikes, so there’s never a dull moment or unnecessary repetition. Players should try to find a dedicated friend to play this with before committing, as it's best experienced from beginning to end with the same partner.
Elden Ring
Behold The Pale Horse
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- OpenCritic: 95
- Co-Op Options: Three Online
Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s first and only open-world game in their series of Soulslike RPGs. The open-world design gives players more choice when seeking the easiest or hardest areas to tackle.
The world can be explored in teams of three, and co-op will be dismissed if a boss is engaged and players are either defeated or victorious. For those curious, other FromSoftware games with co-op that appear in the 90s on OpenCritic include Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and the Demon’s Souls remake.
Baldur's Gate 3
Choose A Side
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- OpenCritic: 96
- Co-Op Options: Two Local/Four Online
Baldur's Gate 3 is a bit non-traditional when it comes to co-op, similar to Donkey Kong Bananza. As a narrative-focused, turn-based tactical RPG, it’s best enjoyed as a single-player campaign for many, at least the first time through.
However, for players who like strategizing between combat and character choices with friends, the entire campaign can be played in co-op as well. It’s worth recommending playing the game alone first, as player choice is a significant element in determining how quests and the main story will play out, and that agency will be lessened with a co-op partner, but to each their own.
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