What are the best co-op games to play on the go? Whether you want to spend some quality time with your partner, pair up with pals, or enjoy some family bonding, there are heaps of great co-op games out there. In this guide, we dive into our top picks for the best co-op games on Steam Deck, Switch, mobile, and other portable platforms, offering a little something for everyone.
If you're looking for more recommendations for what to play on all the best handheld consoles, be sure to check out our guides to the best Switch games, the best mobile games, and the best Steam Deck games.
Here are the best co-op games you can play on the go:
Terraria
Handheld platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Terraria is a beloved side-scrolling pixel adventure game where you get to dig, fight, explore, and build. Similar to Minecraft, it features a sandbox playstyle with a randomly generated world, filled with heaps of enemies, materials, and more for you to discover – and you can team up with your pals to play the whole thing multiplayer (or PVP, if you fancy).
Playing Terraria in co-op is a lot of fun, allowing you to build grand structures together, share resources, and take on the challenging Terraria bosses as a team. In fact, my partner and I spent so many hours building together in the early stages of our relationship, I credit it as being a big reason why he and I are still together more than a decade later!
If you fancy diving in, we've got a guide to all the Terraria NPCs you can meet (and what you can buy from them), as well as guides to Terraria houses, Terraria wings, Terraria armor, and more.
Left 4 Dead 2
Handheld platforms: Steam Deck and Windows handhelds
A legendary, award-winning zombie game, Left 4 Dead 2 dropped in 2009 and is still adored to this day. It's a first-person shooter set in the zombie apocalypse, and sees you and your pals take a deadly journey through the cities, swamps, and cemeteries of the Deep South, armed with a wide arsenal of devastating weapons to put the undead back in the ground.
If you're a fan of horror games or FPS games and want to enjoy the experience with friends, you've gotta give this one a try. Plus, it runs like a dream on Steam Deck and Windows handhelds, meaning you can dive in any time, any place.
Portal 2
Handheld platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Portal 2 is one of those games that can either make or break relationships in co-op – but either way, you'll have a great time. This 2011 puzzle-platformer is as iconic as they come, inviting you to design and test co-op puzzles with your pals. It's basically a science-based playground, with futuristic equipment and heaps of possibilities.
It also features both an extensive single player mode and a complete two-person co-op experience, each with their own dedicated story, characters, and gameplay, making the whole experience super enjoyable whether you're going solo or teaming up. If you haven't given it a try yet, just do it, we promise you won't be disappointed. Unless you're expecting cake, that is.
Warframe
Handheld platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
If you don't wanna splash any cash but still want a top-notch looter shooter co-op experience, look no further than Warframe. This story-driven, free-to-play action game sees you take control of a Warframe: a bio-metal suit of untold power. With the use of its powerful abilities and a vast array of weaponry, you're challenged to confront warring factions through a sprawling interplanetary system with heaps of open worlds for you to explore.
While you can play Warframe solo, the multiplayer elements are a real treat, allowing you to form squads to take on missions together via highly collaborative co-op gameplay, or even try out in-game matchmaking to team up with other players from all around the world. Warframe had a bit of a rough start back at launch, but has managed to earn a place as one of the frontrunners in the PVE FPS space, and you can play it for free right now.
Don't Starve Together
Handheld platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Okay, I won't lie to you – Don't Starve Together is a pretty hard game, and you'll probably suck at first, but that's part of the charm. A standalone multiplayer expansion of Don't Stave, Don't Starve Together is an uncompromising wilderness survival game that allows you to choose from a variety of different characters with unique skills, then drops you out in the wilds. From there, it's all up to you and your teammates.
Gather resources and food, build a home for yourselves, and explore the unforgiving world that surrounds you, doing everything you can to survive. But be warned, starvation isn't the deadliest thing out here. You'll be facing a bunch of other obstacles, too, including barbaric beasts, wicked weather, and the ever-looming threat of losing your sanity. It takes a lot of cooperation to conquer this one.
ARK: Survival Evolved
Handheld platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Dinosaurs. Need I say more? Okay, I probably do, but the dinos are a big selling point here. ARK: Survival Evolved is an action-adventure game where you must survive being stranded on a mysterious island teeming with roaming dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures, fantastical monsters, and other hazards – as well as potentially hostile human players.
Team up with other players and use your cunning to kill or tame the creatures you encounter, dominate this unfamiliar land, and, ultimately, escape. It's a truly brilliant survival game that withstands the test of time, allowing you and your friends to tame, train, breed, and ride dinosaurs in a living ecosystem. What's not to love?
ARK: Survival Evolved's full version is available on Nintendo Switch and Steam, and is fully Steam Deck verified. You can also play it on your Android or iOS device in the form of ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, which allows you to experience everything that the ARK franchise has to offer on the small screen.
It Takes Two
Handheld platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
It Takes Two is an incredibly special two-player action-adventure co-op game specifically designed for split-screen cooperative multiplayer, meaning you literally can't play it alone. It follows struggling married couple Cody and May as they find themselves trapped inside their young daughters' dolls.
Under the tutelage of a talking book, Cody and May must work together to navigate the world around them and find a way to fix their relationship in order to return to their real bodies. The game shifts between multiple genres, pushing you and your teammate to communicate in order to overcome a variety of puzzles and trials. It's a wonderfully well-crafted game and a brilliant experience, whether you're playing with a partner, a friend, or even a child.
If you want to learn more, be sure to check out our full It Takes Two Switch review. We also have an It Takes Two interview with Hazelight Studios' Josef Fares and Turn Me Up Games where we discuss the game's development, as well as the process of porting it to Nintendo's hybrid console.
Monster Hunter Rise
Handheld platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
The Monster Hunter games are easily some of my favorites of all time, and I'll take any opportunity I can to sing them praises, so of course I had to include it here. Originally made for the Nintendo Switch, Rise continues the series' long-lived tradition of handing you a giant sword and slapping you on the butt before sending you out to fight giant monsters – and I love it.
If you're unfamiliar with the series, the name pretty much says it all – you choose from the 14 different Monster Hunter Rise weapon types, grab a handful of potions, and step out into the wilds to take on increasingly larger and more powerful monsters. Along the way, you gather materials from the monsters you slay, allowing you to forge and upgrade a bunch of different weapons and armor sets with unique strengths and weaknesses, which, in turn, enables you to fight even bigger and badder beasties.
It's pure action RPG goodness, with only a little bit of story to get in your way. There are heaps of different mechanics and systems at play, and the combat certainly offers a challenge if you're new to this type of game, but don't let that scare you off.
I have hundreds of hours in both Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter World, and most of those have been spent in co-op hunts with my partner, our friends, and other hunters from around the world. Hunting is so much fun in a team, especially when you get to whip out the silly cosmetics and emotes after taking down one of the toughest monsters in town. Long live the Wiggler Warriors!
Cuphead
Handheld platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Inspired by 1930s cartoons, Cuphead is a charming little side-scrolling run and gun action game with some truly tricky trials. Taking control of the titular teacup-headed character and his brother Mugman, you make a deal with the Devil to repay casino losses by repossessing the souls of runaway debtors – but these bad guys aren't gonna be running away from you any time soon.
Instantly recognizable for the beautifully stylized animations and those deliciously difficult Cuphead bosses, this gem of an indie game is certainly a challenge, but teaming up with a pal can make victory so much sweeter (or defeat more bitter, depending on your mindset). Plus, those Cuphead characters are so endearing we're sure you'll be right alongside us hoping for a Cuphead 2 before you're done.
Stardew Valley
Handheld platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
You probably don't need me to tell you this, but Stardew Valley is amazing. This adorable, pixelated farm game has won the hearts of people all around the world, earning many awards and a near untouchable reputation in the process, and it's easy to see why.
After inheriting a farm, you move from the big ol' city out to a quaint countryside town. There, you must bring the farm back to its former glory, harvesting and selling crops, raising animals, fishing, foraging, crafting, and more. Of course, there are also plenty of Stardew Valley characters for you to meet (and maybe even fall in love with), as well as a heap of magical secrets, all waiting to be discovered.
While it's a wonderful solo experience, playing Stardew Valley co-op is also a great time, allowing you and up to seven other friends to farm, forage, frolic, and fight slimes together. Whether you enjoy adventuring together, engaging in the life sim elements, or simply obsessing over getting the perfect Stardew Valley farm layout, there's something for everyone.
If you need any more convincing, you can check out our glowing 10/10 Stardew Valley review. And, if you want a little help getting started, we've got a super thorough guide covering all the Stardew Valley fish, as well as guides to each of the individual characters such as Stardew Valley's Sebastian, Stardew Valley's Harvey, and Stardew Valley's Leah.
And those are our top picks for the best co-op games on handhelds. Looking for more fun with friends? Then be sure to check out our guide to the best multiplayer games. We've also got a guide to the best retro handhelds in case you fancy a throwback.