The best games to play with your significant other

Co-op games have become hugely popular, and there are few better ways to experience the best of them than by playing a game alongside your significant other.

There are plenty of games out there for you and your partner to dive deep into for a great time. Here are some of the best games you and your partner can experience together.

It Takes Two

We have and always will sing my praises on 2021’s Game of the Year. For the uninitiated, It Takes Two is a co-op action-adventure game following the story of a couple going through a divorce. It sounds depressing but their story takes you through a magical restoration of their failing relationship.

This game is an absolute masterpiece. While the premise is depressing, it brings out the best in both of you. Work with your partner to overcome unique puzzles and experience an adventure like no other.

Minecraft

Minecraft is about as cute as it gets when it comes to gaming with your significant other. Enter a world, and build whatever you both dream of. Make that dream house, fill it with furniture you’ll never sit in, put your beds next to each other, and carve a statue with your initials; that’s Minecraft for you.

If you and your significant other are looking for a first game to dive into together, Minecraft is about as welcoming as it gets.

Overcooked 2

While Minecraft is a calming multiplayer experience, Overcooked 2 is one of the most hectic experiences of them all. As the name implies, you are a cook who’s racing against time to make the best food in the area. It starts off relatively easy, but as you continue to perform well, the difficulty ramps up.

There’s a lot of fun to be had with up to four-player co-op and plenty of chaos. Plenty of cooks in the kitchen just make sure you’re patient. Nobody likes an angry chef.

Double Fine plays Overcooked

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is one of the most critically acclaimed indie games of all time for good reasons.

The story is simple: you move to your deceased grandfather’s farm and are tasked with rebuilding it. While you’re doing farmer things, you’ll meet villagers whom you can befriend and explore for hidden treasures.

Everything in the gameplay loop can be done solo or with up to two more players. Bring your partner in and rebuild your grandpa’s estate together. Chill music and a relatively simple yet engaging gameplay loop; it’s a great time for you and your partner.

Portal 2

Portal 2’s co-op mode invites two players to help the previously dormant GLaDOS, making it a great potential option for couples to play together.

The cooperative game takes place after the main storyline concludes and gives players two fun new robots to interface with. As test subjects, they self-destruct after every level until they accomplish their final objective.

Developer Chet Faliszek said the mode was purposefully designed to give duos time to react to GLaDOS for the best shared experience. The game’s trademark humor is present here, along with some mind-bending puzzles that require players to work together with fine precision.

Portal 2 is great for players who love puzzle games and want to hold hands while role-playing as a delightful pair of robots.

Spiritfarer

Spiritfarer is a relatively short game, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take players through a roller coaster of feelings.

A duo can play local co-op as Stella, a ferryman for lost souls, and her excitable cat Daffodil. Spiritfarer combines several factors of traditional cozy games, with activities ranging from cooking and mining to advancing an emotional storyline.

The goal here is to make your ship’s passengers happy as they finish out their lives, and you should be prepared to shed a few tears at numerous points in the game.

Widely considered one of the best games of 2022, Spiritfarer is a must-play for any couple not afraid to engage earnestly with themes of grief and death.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

Space is dangerous, but it’s better when you have your loved one right next to you – and when you’re both safely ensconced at home.

Defeat the Anti-Love robots threatening to take over the universe in Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, a brightly-colored space shooter. Players need to work together to control their ship and navigate its various battle stations to avoid a tragic fate.

Along the way, they can also collect gems to upgrade their ship and space-rabbits for, well, just the fun of it, really.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime can also be played with up to four local players, meaning that two couples can join up together here if you’re looking to play with a bigger crowd.

A Way Out

A Way Out has a grimmer tone than some of the other games on this list, but players consistently recommend it as a great game for couples to play together.

Unlike Spiritfarer or Portal 2, A Way Out is designed from the ground up to be a two-player co-op game. But this time, players need to break out of prison and fight for their freedom all while sharing a split-screen view of the action. They can also look forward to several interesting minigames and narrative cutscenes that flesh out the story.

The two characters featured in A Way Out may start out as strangers, but they need to trust each other and work together to make it out of their hairy situation free and alive. And isn’t building trust what any relationship is about?

Split Fiction

For those who have already finished It Takes Two and A Way Out, they should check out another exciting addition to the Hazelight Studios co-op collection: Split Fiction.

This 2025 game takes the split-screen model and adds science fiction and fantasy elements to the previous action-adventure style of game established by the previous two multiplayer games from the developer. Split Fiction jumps back and forth between two speculative worlds created by the game’s central characters, balancing different themes and locations to add variety and constantly change things up.

Each player has access to their own individual character mechanics, and the two have to work together to complete the levels and their challenges. They can also take on side stories that add even more content to the jam-packed game.

Duos who loved the mechanics of It Takes Two and want to play through a new and fresh story would do well to invest in Split Fiction.

Competitive multiplayer games

When co-op games fail to scratch the itch in your relationship, try loading up a competitive game.

Whether it be Valorant or Overwatch, where your partner is your pocket healer or hard-carry, you’re bound to have a good time. Fortnite is always good time with all of the extra modes. Load up Creative and build something cool, do a deathrun, or play Team Rumble.

Or if you’re looking for something a little more casual and chaotic, consider the old stand-by that is Mario Kart.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remains hugely popular on the Nintendo Switch 2, and Mario Kart World launched on the Switch 2 to rave reviews from most players. You can’t go wrong either way.

So long as your partner won’t get mad at your for launching a blue shell into them right before they cross the finish line.