Every couple has their own “thing” that they like to do together. For my husband and I, it’s gaming. We love finding cooperative (co-op) games to play together. I also don’t think you have to be a “gamer” to enjoy a co-op game with your friends or significant other. Some co-op games really make you work together and figure things out. It can be fun to do together 😀
I wanted to give video game recommends once in a while, and I was actually going to start with a different theme. However, with Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought I’d start with a few of my favorite co-op games, specifically ones that use pairs 🙂
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (XBLA, PSN, Mobile, PC)
Sypnosis: Two thousand years ago, Totec (guardian of light) managed to imprison Xolotl (keeper of darkness) in the mirror of smoke. Knowing this legend, Lara sought out the mirror and found it, but is unfortunately followed by a band of mercenaries. Their improper handling of the mirror releases Xolotl, and the stone statue of Totec comes to life to help Lara stop Xolotl.
My Thoughts: We were pleasantly surprised by this one. This game is not meant to be part of the Tomb Raider series, and it plays much differently from it. It’s in an arcade style where the view is sort of top down; one controls Lara and the other Totec. They each have different skills, and the game makes you heavily depend on each other to solve puzzles and get through the map. Teamwork is stronger in this game than most other co-ops I’ve played, and I think that’s why we enjoyed this one so much.
Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Sypnosis: Chris, who is now with BSAA instead of STARS, is dispatched to Kijuju, Africa to work with Sheva on stopping a bio-organic weapon from being sold on the black market. However, they find that the locals have been infected with a parasite and that the other BSAA team has been killed.
My Thoughts: Though from the Resident Evil series, I actually view this as more of an action-packed game and not much of a survival horror. It’s not a scary game, but it does play really well as an action co-op.
Chris and Sheva are pretty much equals, so it doesn’t feel like you’re playing an add-on character, and it’s fun to mow down enemies together. There are still a lot of Resident Evil-feeling elements to it, so if you ever wanted to play a Resident Evil game cooperatively, this is the one to try. (Rather than that Raccoon City game, which has not been well received.)
Orcs Must Die! 2 (PC)
Sypnosis: Though the War Mage and Sorceress were enemies in the first game, they team up in the sequel to fight orcs. Rifts have been opening up by their master, and the two must work together to defend them.
My Thoughts: The Orcs Must Die games are tower defense but in a different style. You control a single character who runs around to place the traps, weapons, etc. The second game introduced cooperative play where you can play as the Sorceress from the first game.
The two start with different skills but then have the same selection afterwards. They really toss a lot of enemies at you! It’s important to coordinate with your partner to make sure all paths are taken care of and to communicate when something gets through. I’m normally not into tower defense, but the co-op puts a more interesting spin on it, which is why I really liked this game.
And that’s it for now 🙂 There were other co-ops I wanted to cover too, but I’m limiting it to 3 at a time. Hopefully I’ll remember to do this again because there a ton of games I love. If you’re interested in recommends from another theme, I’d like to know what the theme is!
Ooooh! These sounds really fun and interesting to play!! Unfortunately I don’t have a significant other to game with me 🙁 I’ll try to recommend one to a friend and see if they’re interested to play it since I don’t like playing 1-player games. ehehe.
Thanks for sharing!
Great post! My fiance and I are always looking for new games we could play together on the Wii or PS3, so we’ll definitely check out Resident Evil 5. Since neither of us are hardcore gamers (aka we’re pretty bad), we tend to stick to games like Mario Kart, Super Mario, Wii Sports, and any Lego series games.
The Lara Croft game is great too! You can buy it on PS3 through Playstation Network 😀
Haha, I love that you posted this. I was telling my husband the other day that he should play more games with me. I am not a big gamer, but he is and so I really want to try and do things he wants to do! Plus, all we ever do is watch movies together hahaha. I am going to tell my hubby about these ones and maybe he will want to play! Thanks!!
I would love to say that I plan on trying out these recommendations but A. I don’t have the right consoles/systems and B. I don’t have anyone to play with! Maybe someday when I move close enough to my friends to hang out on free days. Someday. Someday.
But I remember when I was a kid and turned Super Smash Bros Melee into a two-player adventure with my friend. We’d team up and defeat the other characters in matched pairs.
hahaha this is a really cute post!
i think doing anything which involves working with another person is a lot of fun! i love playing mario with my friends or significant other.
I’ve never played any of these games before. I remember playing one of the Resident Evil games when I was younger with my cousin and we always died instantly while shrieking as the zombies killed us, fun times 🙂
It’s not really co-op but I love playing Super Smash Brothers with my siblings on team battle. It’s hilarious and always great fun. We get super hyper and are always screaming and shouting at each other.
It’s awesome how you and your husband love finding co-op games to play together! The point is to work to gather and have fun. Skill mostly comes handy if you’re playing solo in a multiplayer game like call of duty XD.
At first when I read Lara Croft and the Guardian Light, I thought it was associated with Tomb Raider. This idea of needing the other person to be successful in the game is really great for anyone going for a 2 player. It helps when you play a game and the characters are equal and one isn’t better than the other. Maybe Mario is a bad example, but I feel that Luigi is an add-on because we all know that Mario is the main character (but that’s just me :P).
Orcs Must Die! 2 sounds like a nice game with a strategic twist to it since you have to plan things out. I remembered about your post where you and your husband play mine craft together! I think that’s cute too :3. I haven’t gotten a chance to play a game with my boyfriend because he primarily uses a mac and it’s limited when it comes to gaming.. Hopefully this won’t be a problem when one of us gets a console.
Take care 🙂
Given that the theme of these games is multi-player function, it’s no wonder good 3DS games didn’t make the list. Even though 3DS games have that option, they simply don’t compare to the ones that are more intimate. Bah, maybe next time.
It’s nice that you and your husband enjoy that hobby together. 😀 I can only imagine the nuanced dynamics of couples gaming together. You see the best and the worst of each other, but in a fun and constructive ways! I think that’s a great way to spend time together. 🙂
I originally had a DS game on the list actually! I took it out because it supported up to 4 players, and I wanted to focus on 2 player games 🙂 I’m saving it for another entry, but it’s called Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. I also hear good things about the Monster Hunter game on 3DS which supports co-op. (We have it but haven’t played it yet.)
For Valentines day we are going to play the new Moxxi DLC on Borderlands 2!!
Right now we have been playing Bravely Default and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords – it was free for 3DS users!!!
My husband would love for me to be that kind of wife but I refuse until he can stop being so competitive! lol
I’ve never heard of Orcs Must Die. It looks really fun and interesting! I’ll have to check it out.
I’m not that big on any games beyond handhelds, but we have a gaming bar in Fal where you and your friends can play PS3/4, Wii, XBox etc and any of the games in their catalogue. Playing with others was even rarer for me, so imagine how amazing it was to finally do that with an entire party of people!
We only played Super Mario 3D World and Street Fighter though, but it was great. ;____;
That’s awesome! I would love to try that Tomb Raider one because I LOVE Tomb Raider! We don’t play too many games together because I am not very good but I did have fun playing Gears of War with him when we still had it. We used to play a lot of sports games together and that was pretty fun. We got competitive but it was fun!
I like how you guys have your “thing”. That’s what makes every couple special in their own way. Maybe if I was better at playing video games, maybe we would play together LOL. For now I just watch him play because it’s like I’m watching a movie as I see him progress throughout the game.
AHH you two are so adorable!! I loveeee it. My boyfriend isn’t really into playing games, so I wouldn’t be able to get him to play Left4Dead2 with me or anything of that sort, but I did get him into Plants vs. Zombies 2, which is a tower defense game. The fact that you mentioned a co-op tower defense game makes me interested in maybe introducing that to Josh, except………..it’s on a computer, & it’s easier to get him to try to play an iPad game with me. So we’ve got Words with Friends & QuizUp. Do you have any recommendations for more action packed games on a tablet that is a co-op, but also good for casual gamers like Josh? Nothing says bonding like game play hahaha. Seriously though, as a gamer, I support the relationship gaming. I think it really brings in another dimension & dynamic to your relationship if it didn’t already exist.
Resident Evil. Hm. I’ve never played the games, but I admit that I’m a huge fangirl over the movies even if they’re really bad. I just love zombie movies & watching Alice kick asssss is my jamzz. I’ll keep it in mind if I can turn him onto a computer game!
The Lara Croft game is available for iOS and Android! I’m not sure how good it is on tablet though. (We played it on the Xbox 360.) We haven’t played tablet games together, so I don’t really have recommends unfortunately =/ Minecraft isn’t really action-packed, but it’s available on tablet. We had a lot of fun playing that together on PC, and it’s something casual gamers can get into 😀
I really like the Resident Evil games! I especially like 4 and 5, though 4 is a single player 🙂
I love this post! My boyfriend and I are always looking for good co-op games to play together. Lately we’ve been playing Diablo III and loving it. He plays as a barbarian while I’m a demon hunter, and it’s a combo that works really well. We played Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and really enjoyed it for all the same reasons you listed. I like how much you have to depend on each other to get through all of the different challenges.
We played through Diablo III together too! I think we used Barbarian and Wizard 🙂 I hope to have another co-op game post later!
I tried Resident Evil 5 and wasn’t impressed. Co-op is nice though, I think anything with Co-op is nice. I highly recommend to you, Puppeteer. That game is designed like you’re part of a play and that there is a real audience and you have two players in that game too. It’s shaping to be my favorite. I need play that Lara Croft game. Reminds me a lot of Diablo style. Lol
Thanks for the recommendations!