Best Local Co-Op & Split-Screen Games On Xbox Game Pass

Acquiring Xbox Game Pass does not solely entail solo play-time. Fun experiences are just lying in store for duos with access to the console’s greatest gaming service. A decent amount of titles available on Xbox Game Pass (and EA Play) allow for the pleasure of local co-op. And as any gamer worth their salt knows, playing a game with a buddy using good old-fashioned couch co-op is one of the best joys to be had.

Whether the action occurs on a single screen or double the participation necessitates split-screen, these games ensure entertainment between friends. From sci-fi shooters to goofy physics-based playgrounds, Xbox owners can’t go wrong with these fun, local co-op titles.

Vampire Survivors

2022’s surprise smash-hit roguelike already had a legion of adoring fans mincing up legions of vampires and undead fiends while eating copious amounts of chicken off of the floor — but they were forced to do so in abject solitude… until 2023’s 1.6 update, that is. Now they can engage in floor chicken feasts with up to four friends! Now that sounds like a dinner party for the ages.

Vampire Survivors’ still-relatively-fresh cooperative mode is just about what you’d expect, and just a wee bit more. The core gameplay remains unchanged — idle-shoot your way through progressively difficult hordes, scoop up items to become even shootier, rinse-and-repeat until you’ve met your match or the game decides to stop you. However, the developers did include a few mode specific nuances to really make the experience shine. For example, you can elect to “pass” your level-up item selection to a cooperative partner if you happen to nab a particular item they’re holding out for.

It’s just more Vampire Survivors, but tailored to share with friends. And that’s all it needs to be.

Goat Simulator 3

You’ll notice a lot of games on this list embrace the good humor you can find in being silly with friends, and none do it quite as well as Goat Simulator 3 and its predecessor (also an inclusion on this list further down). Hilarity is the name of the game, and what makes the goat shenanigans you can get up to even better is when you throw up to three other people into the mix. Next thing you know, you have four goats traipsing across suburbia, mountains, and city streets, wreaking all sorts of mandated chaos.

That means four goats headbutting gas tanks to make them explode. Four goats wall-climbing buildings to reach air vents that will propel them further into the sky. Four goats licking pedestrians and taking them along on adventures. Four goats baa-ing and dressing up to the heights of fashion. Just four goats having a good time. Goat Simulator 3 was practically made for local co-op fun.

Party Animals

While it might take some finagling to get local co-op set up in Party Animals, once you do, you are in for some high-flying good times. Similar to Gang Beasts, you control a little figure that must kick and bop other little figures off a platform until you’re the last one standing. And just as with Gang Beasts, the physics of Party Animals is hilarious. Your character flip-flops forward and pummels with such wild abandon, just watching it attempt to make sense of your button mashing is a joy.

And that joy is tripled with a friend by your side. You can work together to be the team that survives as the map closes in around you. The cherry on top is the “group photo” everyone gets to take after a match. You can all crowd around the camera and take some of the best, most awkward victory photos ever.

Quake II

As with most sequels (the good ones, anyway), Quake II improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way, including in its co-op offerings. The sequel’s campaign missions take you through even wilder arenas, from alien-looking ziggurats to mind-boggling sewer tunnels. The more open spaces, with the ability for you and your co-op partner to attack enemies from different angles, clearly showcase the thought put into Quake II’s level design. It’s bigger in scope.

And if you and your friends are more competitive by nature, you can hop into a local multiplayer match and duke it out among yourselves. One of the things that makes Quake II’s inclusion on Xbox Game Pass even more special is that it’s not just a simple port. It’s been remastered, with a more polished enemy AI and the inclusion of previously cut content.

Cassette Beasts

Playing Cassette Beasts alone is a delight, which is not to be understated because not many Pokemon clones reach the same levels of joy and entertainment as their inspiration. But one of the other great things about Cassette Beasts is that it comes with a local co-op feature! The game’s main character is accompanied by companion characters, and if one of your buddies is interested in taking on the world of retro monsters alongside you, they can step into the shoes of these companions.

While you might have to get through the first few bits of the game solo, it very shortly deposits a cooperative vehicle for your friend in the form of Kayleigh. At that point, you can have a second player jump in and take control. You can seriously have your cake and eat it too with Cassette Beasts; it’s a superb Pokemon-like and it’s couch co-op. What more could you want?

Goat Simulator

What’s better than chaotic goat madness? Chaotic goat madness with a friend in tow. Goat Simulator allows local couch co-op hilarity as players wreak havoc on a town and city as unhinged goats. Physics madness ensues as players garner arbitrary points for destroying property, leaping into the air, bleating, and other normal goat activities. The lack of structure in Goat Simulator is actually one of the game’s strengths. Two players can easily lose an entire day exploring the environment, uncovering secrets, and unlocking new types of goats.

GoldenEye 007

If you’re raring for a classic split-screen experience, GoldenEye 007 has suavely stepped its way out of the past and into the present thanks to its inclusion on Xbox Game Pass. Don’t expect a swanky remaster; GoldenEye still shows its age. Controls feel floaty, and the graphics are definitely nothing to cry home about. That said, GoldenEye 007 also shows its timelessness. Despite the clunky gameplay and blocky visuals, playing through this hallmark of gaming history is still a lot of fun, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the split-screen multiplayer component.

Grabbing some buddies and playing against each other couch co-op style is as enjoyable as it always was. In fact, there’s something incredibly appealing about how dated the game is when you have friends by your side to experience it with you. And you should be happy to note that aiming feels (a bit) better than it used to.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

If a dash of nostalgia and a jam-packed evening of beat ‘em up fun is what you want, you can’t go wrong with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. The titular Turtles are back, and they’re in top form. Playing as either Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Splinter, or April, you and up to four friends can roam the streets with the sole intention of foiling Shredder’s nefarious plans.

One of the great things about Shredder’s Revenge is how easily you can devote a single evening to it. It’s not a long experience that you have to dedicate an entire month to. It genuinely brings to mind the arcade cabinets of old and the delight of spending a night playing through each level. The only difference this time is that you can fight your way alongside the Turtles from the comfort of your own home now.

Peggle

Peggle’s “cooperative” mode relies on passing the controller back and forth, similar as to how co-op play would turn out on an arcade machine. But given how fantastic Peggle’s base game is, you shouldn’t mind how staggered this cooperation feels. Though first released in 2007, you do not feel a single day of Peggle’s age. Its gameplay loop is still immensely satisfying, and being able to share it with a friend just heightens the experience.

Together, you and a buddy work to eliminate all orange pegs with a limited number of shots. You can play as different characters, and each possesses unique abilities to make your goal that much more attainable. One ability allows you to fire multiple balls in one shot. Another allows you to path out ricochets from peg to peg. It’s straightforward fun you simply can’t beat.

Spacelines From The Far Out

Spacelines from the Far Out is basically Overcooked in space, and if that doesn’t sell you on the premise, we don’t know what will. You and your friends play as stewardesses on these spacelines shuttling passengers from one planet to another. Your job is to make sure that everything is clean, your passengers are comfortable, and you don’t crash on the journey. A traveling health inspector, passenger accidents, and errant asteroids are all trying to stop this from happening.

It’s chaotic at times and perhaps doesn’t convey the exact same polish that you would see in a frenetic Overcooked 2 level, but it’s still enjoyable, and the humor rampant throughout the whole experience is worth it.

SpiderHeck

SpiderHeck is the neon-colored, spider brawler that Super Smash Bros. fans have been waiting for on Xbox Game Pass. But rather than picking different fighters with varying skill sets, you have laser weapons, both ranged and melee, scattered across the arena. When a round starts, you have to fling your spider to one of these weapons and get started brawling with your compatriots.

Gravity feels like it’s been reduced, so when you jump or web yourself up to a higher platform, there’s an element of uncertainty involving how gracefully you’ll get to where you’re going. You and your friends can hop into a match against each other, or you can all work together in a delightfully chaotic PvE mode against floating robot things. SpiderHeck is a blast, and it’s definitely the kind of title you can play with a friend if you want to energize your game time.

As Dusk Falls

If you’ve ever wanted to play a Telltale-esque game with a friend that isn’t some horror title from The Dark Pictures Anthology, then look no further than As Dusk Falls. While this thrilling narrative adventure doesn’t exactly break boundaries with its mechanics, it’s an undeniably fun experience to play with friends. You and up to seven other players can work your way through the story of a motel hold-up gone terribly wrong.

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Votes are taken on which dialogue options to choose and quick-time events are performed jointly, so all players contribute to reaching the outcomes they desire. It can be a tense and hilarious experience at the same time. As Dusk Falls is the perfect example of a narrative-driven game that is fantastically suited for being played cooperatively.

Escape Academy

Every cooperative title within the Xbox Game Pass library was made with the intention of allowing players to enjoy the game with a friend. But Escape Academy puts them all to shame when it comes to how much of a blast it is to solve puzzles with a buddy on your couch. It brings the joy inherent in going through an escape room right into your own home. No one (well, we assume no one) wants to play an escape room alone.

The delight of finding clues and using logic to find solutions in a group setting is just too much fun, and Escape Academy captures this magic in a video game format. Go through the various schools of the academy and their themed puzzles with a partner, solving convoluted, yet intuitive problems as a team. Escape Academy is also a highly digestible offering as it only lasts a few hours before you can see it through to completion.

Pac-Man Museum+

Bring some retro vibes to your next couch co-op session by playing Pac-Man Museum+. Though not your conventional splitscreen cooperative experience, as the Pac-Man titles available in this collection entail passing the controller back and forth, watching your friend fail during their round of these arcade classics is just as entertaining.

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Undoubtedly, the controls for these older games have lost some of their luster over the years, especially when translated to a controller instead of a joystick, but that’s part of the fun. From the original Pac-Man to more underrated titles like Pac-Mania or Pac-Land, Pac-Man Museum+ has quite the anthology of games to revisit over and over again.

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

The goofy nature of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (or TABS) is made twice as ridiculous with a friend in tow. Pitting the creatures on your battlefield against those arrayed by your bud on the opposite side is a hilarious experience. Watch as your googly-eyed monstrosities amble, lurch, and fall over themselves as they make sad attempts to fight their opponents. Gape in frustration as ranged units miss enemies that are right in front of them.

Cry out in shock as a single overpowered unit decimates a veritable army of mediocre units. TABS might be called a “totally accurate battle simulator,” but even just loading this game up and watching the main menu screen prepares you for the height of hilarity.

7 Days To Die

It’s tempting to take the easy way out with this one by saying that it’s essentially Minecraft for horror aficionados. The problem is that, really, that terse description isn’t at all far off the mark. 7DTD is in the vein of your typical post-apocalyptic zombie survival sim, replete with survival mechanics to contend with alongside the shambling hordes of the undead. However, there are two core differences that set it apart from the crowd.

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The first is the most obvious — 7 Days to Die features an incredibly robust building and crafting system wherein the sky’s the limit. The second is that every seven in-game days, a bloodthirsty horde of zombies zeroes in on and assaults your precise location, giving you ample motivation to make full use of said building mechanics to construct a defensible fortress. It’s a great deal of fun when played alongside friends, and while the Xbox port of this PC title suffers from the occasional performance hiccup, the addition of split-screen multiplayer gels incredibly well with this spine-tingling survival horror experience.

Halo Infinite

Is it the conventional co-op experience players fervently wish would have shipped with the campaign? Not precisely, no, but Halo Infinite does at least feature splitscreen functionality in the multiplayer suite.

So while you may not be able to smash Grunts into a fine paste with your best pal, there’s something to be said about being able to pile into a Warthog together for an adrenaline-pumping flag run into the opposing team’s base alongside the person you’re sharing the comfort of your couch with. Couch co-op is part of the DNA of the Halo series. Without screen-peeking, you wouldn’t be able to call it Halo.

Gears 5

The Gears series was one of the premier line of games touting the universal appeal of local co-op, so why not try your hand at the latest entry in the series. Gears 5 is the pinnacle of everything the Gears of War franchise has achieved. Its story contains multiple callbacks to the original while still forging ahead and carving out its own chunk of the mythos.

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The gunplay has never felt better, and new open-world environments spice up the Gears formula. Nothing is as good as playing Gears 5 with a friend, and it supports both local splitscreen and online co-op. Kait Diaz’s journey is one of the most harrowing yet faced by a Gears protagonist, but it’s definitely an enjoyable action title for fans.

Doom

Who could forget id Software’s classic FPS title when looking at the best co-op offerings on Xbox Game Pass? Though the original Doom shows its age in every demon-filled hallway, it’s a game that has aged like wine. It’s incredible to roam through those installations with a pal, shooting every monstrosity that dares to show its face around a corner.

The increased difficulty levels can also make it more of a challenge if you feel like you’re breezing through missions. Doomguy’s initial foray into the gaming sphere was iconic, and you and a friend can blast your way through it for one hell of a good time.

It Takes Two

We’ve all been there. Your parents are getting divorced, so they fall into a coma and navigate through a shared fever dream in which they’ve become miniaturized wooden or clay action figures and are forced through a series of fantastical and action-packed adventures at the behest of a sadistic anthropomorphic self-help book. Because that’s how you fix problematic marriages. Everyone knows that.

This is precisely the tale told in the latest and greatest from modern visionary Josef Fares of Hazelight Studios, but really, the wacky plot undersells just how good the cooperative gameplay elements are. Hazelight has essentially fabricated a deeply engaging theme park of cooperative goodness in here, and no two stages are even remotely alike save for a common thread of well-executed platforming mechanics.

In a nutshell, each player is introduced to a unique mechanic that’s specific to them in each level, and these mechanics have to work in tandem in order to progress. It takes two. Get it? Good. For example, where Cody’s given a sticky sap launcher, Mae’s given a squirrel-tech flamethrower that ignites said sap in a glorious conflagration to remove obstacles or take down killer wasps. Each new stage is almost an entirely new game unto itself, and it’s an absolute delight to discover its mechanical impetus alongside a good friend. It Takes Two is likely the most innovative cooperative adventure to come out in a decade, and it might hold that title well into the next one.