🎧 Best Games to Play Online With Friends

Cross-platform co-op that works when everyone owns something different.

The hard part of playing with friends is rarely the game — it is that one of you is on PC, one on PlayStation, and one only has an hour free.

Everything here is either cross-platform, cheap to get everyone into, or short enough to finish in a single evening call.

Best for a group of four

  1. Deep Rock Galactic

    2020 · PC, PS5, Xbox

    Four dwarves mining caves with class roles that genuinely need each other. Missions run twenty to forty minutes, so nobody has to commit to a whole night.

  2. Helldivers 2

    2024 · PC, PS5

    Chaotic squad missions where friendly fire is always on and half the fun is the arguing afterwards.

  3. Left 4 Dead 2

    2009 · PC, Xbox

    Still the cleanest four-player co-op ever designed. Campaigns run about an hour and it runs on anything.

  4. Sea of Thieves

    2018 · PC, PS5, Xbox

    A shared pirate ship where the crew jobs are real jobs. Cross-play means it is easy to get everyone aboard.

Best for two friends

  1. It Takes Two

    2021 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch

    Built exclusively for two, and one copy invites the other player free. Constantly changes its own genre so it never drags.

  2. Lethal Company

    2023 · PC

    Scavenging on hostile moons while your friends panic over the radio. Funniest with people you know well.

  3. Portal 2 Co-op

    2011 · PC, Xbox, Switch

    A whole separate campaign of two-player puzzles that only works if you can explain your thinking out loud.

  4. Stardew Valley

    2016 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch

    A shared farm you both keep chipping at. Ideal for low-pressure calls where the game is background to the conversation.

Best when everyone has an hour

  1. Rocket League

    2015 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch

    Free, cross-platform and five minutes per match. The lowest-friction way to get a group into the same game.

  2. Fall Guys

    2020 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch

    Free party chaos that requires no skill overlap between players, which matters in mixed groups.

  3. Overcooked! All You Can Eat

    2020 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch

    Kitchen panic in five-minute levels. Test your friendships responsibly.

  4. Among Us

    2018 · PC, Switch, Mobile

    Works with anyone who owns a phone, which is the entire argument for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best cross-platform co-op games?

Rocket League, Sea of Thieves, Fall Guys, Deep Rock Galactic and Fortnite all let PC, PlayStation, Xbox and in some cases Switch players share a lobby.

What can four friends play together?

Deep Rock Galactic, Helldivers 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Sea of Thieves are all designed around a squad of four rather than scaling up from two.

Do we all need to buy the game?

Usually, but It Takes Two includes a friend pass, and Rocket League, Fall Guys and Among Us are free or very cheap to get a whole group in.

What works with a mixed-skill group?

Party games like Fall Guys and Overcooked, where chaos flattens the skill gap, or co-op games with role variety like Deep Rock Galactic.

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