Gamers love competitive shooters—that much is obvious from the popularity of games like Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Fortnite.

Cooperative games are often overlooked, though. They aren't quite as popular and can get washed away in the mix of ultra-popular competitive shooters and high-profile single-player games. But they offer an alternative to either staying offline or going online and getting stomped by people who have much more time to get good at the game than you do.

They offer the connection of online games, without that sweaty competitiveness. And if you’re looking for a good way to game with family or pals during the holidays, we’ve rounded up our favorite cooperative games that dropped in 2025.

The first game on our list has a PvP element, but even that one has a rep for being one of the friendliest games around right now. Otherwise, every game on our list is strictly cooperative, whether your enemy is a sheer cliff face, idea theft, or Fulghor, Champion of Nightglow.

While you're at it, don't forget to check out our 2024 list of great cooperative games—they're still a blast, and given their relative age, you might find some stellar deals at this point.

Editor's note: All of the games on this list are traditional "Web2" games without crypto or blockchain integrations. But you might enjoy 'em anyway!

Arc Raiders

(PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)

ARC Raiders is the latest PvPvE extraction shooter—that is, you're trying to get loot and get out of the zone, while facing off against both enemies and other players. Think Escape from Tarkov as one prominent example. ARC Raiders is seen as a much, much friendlier version of that, where it's worth trying to ally with other players rather than shooting them on sight.

We'll see how that holds up as the meta shifts, but even with that aside, this is a blast for you and two friends to go in, shoot robots, and get out. The game has a great visual style, too, which helps it stand out from so many other multiplayer shooters.

Borderlands 4

(PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)

Borderlands 4—it's a Borderlands game. What more is there to say? Dive in with a team of up to four players and get a-lootin'. Borderlands 4 brings new customization options to weapons, with things like brand synergies in the mix to make you get creative with your weapons.

This entry is viewed as a course correction for the series by many fans and critics, after the hit-or-miss Borderlands 3. It has its share of issues, including an incredibly clunky UI, but that doesn't spoil how good it feels to pick up new loot and watch numbers go up.

Donkey Kong Bananza

(Nintendo Switch 2)

Donkey Kong Bananza's cooperative element is built right into the main game, and it's a great way to share the Switch 2 adventure with a younger or otherwise less-skilled gamer. While one player will play as DK and handle general movement and environmental destruction, a second player can take control of Odd Rock and fire concussive shouts.

There's no rate limiter on this, and that's good or bad depending on your level of patience. It's so powerful that it can genuinely trivialize boss battles in the game, but it also means that your second player can hammer the shout button nonstop, filling the screen—and your ears—with shouts, which is very funny if you're four years old… or really high.

Elden Ring Nightreign

(PC, PS5/PS4, Xbox Series X/S + One)

Elden Ring was all about making your own character from the ground up and using that hero to travel all the way to the end, defeat the Elden Boss using your particular style, and take all the time in the world to do it.

Elden Ring Nightreign is kind of the opposite. It's still absolutely a Souls-like game by From Software, but you'll pick from a selection of pre-built characters, and you have three in-game days to defeat bosses in a team of up to three players.

This is a strictly co-op game with no PvP elements, and the bosses alone provide plenty of challenge—even if you know what you're doing.

Peak

(PC)

Even with all the safety precautions you can take, climbing is a dangerous and potentially lethal experience. Games have tried to recreate the thrill of climbing a sheer cliff face, but none quite nailed it until Peak.

In Peak, you and up to three friends (or more if you use mods) are scouts who crash-landed on a deserted island and who—instead of going all “Lord of the Flies” on each other—decide to attempt to scale the massive mountain at the center of the island. You'll cross through five different biomes as you climb, with each offering its own challenges.

Peak's slightly janky climbing mechanic gets closer to the unpredictability of mountain climbing than anything before it, delivering close calls, triumphant moments, and hilarious failures in equal measure. There’s a reason why it’s been a big livestreaming hit.

R.E.P.O.

(PC)

Taking stuff from people is bad. Taking stuff from abandoned places full of nasty monsters, though, is an absolute blast. In R.E.P.O., you and up to five friends can venture into places like an old mansion, an arctic facility, or a wizard's tower with the goal of stripping it of all its valuables.

That's harder than it sounds, though, because the nasty monsters—like a knife-wielding frog chef or a melty laser clown—want to make sure stuff stays there. R.E.P.O. builds on games like Lethal Company for a more compelling experience, where you have to balance avoiding those monsters while trying to get valuables out without damaging them too much.

That requires coordination, which makes noise… which also attracts monsters. It's an excellent balance, but it never keeps the game from getting silly in the blink of an eye. Proximity chat will have you asking "Uh, hey, are you guys there? Hello?" with genuine trepidation.

RV There Yet?

(PC)

If you've ever been lost on a road trip, then you know how quickly things can get heated while trying to find your way back to civilization. RV There Yet? tasks you and up to three friends with getting back to the highway in your recreational vehicle.

As you navigate your way out of Mabutts Valley (seriously), you'll have to work through hazards like skinny mountain roads, ultra-tight turns, bears, chasms, and getting stuck on a tree. Your RV is repairable, but it's as fragile as a real one—though, admittedly, we're not taking RVs off huge ramps in real life very often.

You and your friends all look the same: a bunch of stocky little potato guys with circle-frame sunglasses, vests, and hats. You can find new hats and glasses as you explore, and chill out with a beer and a cigarette (yes, this game lets you smoke) as your compatriots try to navigate a particularly harrowing turn.

Split Fiction

(PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2)

Split Fiction is the latest in Hazelight Studios' ongoing quest to rethink cooperative games. This time, you play as two authors—one fantasy, one sci-fi—who end up trapped in a machine that is purportedly meant to let them experience their stories in virtual reality, but which is actually designed to steal their ideas.

They have to work together, going through each other’s disparate story ideas, to make it out with their ideas and selves intact. Split Fiction must be played cooperatively, but you don't need to buy two copies—each copy lets your co-op partner download a version of the game that only works when they're playing it with someone who owns the game.

Split Fiction's 14-ish-hour duration is full of creative ideas, ensuring that you're always doing something new as you play, and each of those ideas finds ways to make co-op matter.

This is a game you have to play together, not just at the same time.

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