A short, personal collection of cool PC games that support local multiplayer.

This list will grow over time. If you have any suggestions, shoot me an email .

Screenshot of Heavenly Bodies
Heavenly Bodies by 2pt Interactive
  • Players 1 - 2
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length 20min - 1h
  • Platforms

Experience the struggles of weightlessness in this delightful physicsy puzzle game!

Screenshot of PlateUp!
PlateUp! by It's happening
  • Players 1 - 4
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length 20min - 1h
  • Platforms

This game takes the good parts of Overcooked and adds two bags of grated cheese to it.

You run a restaurant over the course of several days, and have to manage everything from taking orders, cooking dishes, serving customers, and cleaning plates.

Between days, you can rearrange your restaurant, or buy new equipment to optimize or even automate parts of your workflow. Every couple of days, you will also get a choice of options that either add a new recipe to your restaurant's menu, or change some aspects of the game, like bursts of additional customers at specific times of the day.

The game gets more challenging every day, but it also gives you options to deal with those challenges (unlike Overcooked, which just throws you in bizarre scenarios). The fun in PlateUp! comes from optimizing your workflow more and more as the days go on, and figuring out how to fit seven conveyor belts into your tiny kitchen so that those burgers finally make themselves!

There's lots of content - versatile recipes (and even after ~20 hours we haven't unlocked all of them), meaningful upgrades to your kitchen equipment, themed decoration that give bonus effect, as well as seasonal decorative items.

Screenshot of Boomerang Fu
Boomerang Fu by Cranky Watermelon
  • Players 1 - 4
  • Modes Versus, optionally in teams, or Co-Op against bots
  • Session length 20min
  • Platforms

Slice your way through your friends and enemies in this fast-paced isometric slash 'em up.

Rounds are quick, and intense stand-offs are guaranteed. There's a wide range of power-ups that you will keep across rounds if you're quick enough to get one.

Each round of a session takes you to a new level, and the levels come with interactive elements, portals, flammable forests, and plenty of opportunities to dash into an abyss by accident.

In team-based games you can bring back your fallen partner (if you dare to stand still for two seconds). If the playing field doesn't feel level between you and your opponents, there are a couple of balancing options that you can enable to counteract that.

The characters are adorable, and there are unlockable hats!

Screenshot of Overcooked
Overcooked by Ghost Town Games
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

It's pure chaos. Everyone's screaming because we're out of clean plates, the stove is on fire (again!), and now there's a rat stealing a tomato off the counter.

Overcooked encourages teamwork and productive communication better than any other game I've come across, and it's a ton of fun! The campaign offers a lot of variety -- every level throws a new kind of challenge at you.

If you are short on controllers, two players can share one controller.

Screenshot of Wand Wars
Wand Wars by Moonradish
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Co-Op / Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

A fast-paced arena fighting game with solid controls, refreshing game mechanics, and a surprising amount of depth: A light-weight skill "tree" lets you upgrade your character in between rounds, and single-use spell gems help to get out of sticky situations.

Reflexes matter a lot, so versus mode might not be a level playing field in all groups.

Screenshot of Gurgamoth
Gurgamoth by Galvanic Games
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

A fast-paced brawler with versatile levels and crisp controls. Some rounds are quick, others end in epic, intense standoffs with the two remaining players circling around each other in a shrinking arena, chased by frizzling deadly rotating lasers.

Screenshot of SpeedRunners
SpeedRunners by DoubleDutchGames
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

A competitive platforming racing game.

SpeedRunners has a high skill ceiling, and seasoned players might have a significant advantage over new players.

Screenshot of TowerFall Ascension
TowerFall Ascension by Matt Thorson
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Co-Op / Versus
  • Session length A few minutes in versus mode. Co-Op levels take about 20 minutes
  • Platforms

An intense 2D arena shooter with crisp controls, great readability, and very pretty art. The limited number of arrows and other smart design decisions create butt-clenching standoffs, but goofy deaths out of nowhere and hilarious self-owns are just as common.

The Co-Op campaign in the base game is limited to two players, but will keep you busy for quite a while.

Once you get bored of the base game, you can spice up Versus mode by chosing from a ton of modifications to the rules of the game.

There's a paid expansion (Dark World), which we haven't played yet, which includes a four player Co-Op campaign along with other new content.

Screenshot of Duck Game
Duck Game by Landon Podbielski
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

An intense 2D arena shooter with a wide variety of weapons and hats!

Screenshot of N++
N++ by Metanet Software
  • Players 2-4
  • Modes Co-Op / Versus
  • Session length A few minutes up to an hour, depending on the difficulty of the level
  • Platforms

A challenging but rewarding platformer with very solid controls and minimalistic graphics. There are a ton of co-op levels that require teamwork, as well as a competitive mode where you race one another.

N++ is the second sequel to N, a flash game that you might have played back in 2004 but forgot about, until the iconic art style brings back memories of the dozens of afternoons you spent on those incredibly difficult little levels. The excellent gameplay of N is distilled to perfection in N++, and this game is well worth its money for the singleplayer experience alone. The included levels will keep you busy for weeks, and should you ever get bored by the pre-existing levels then you can create your own, or play the infinitely many levels made by other players. The soundtrack is epic.

Screenshot of Worms Armageddon
Worms Armageddon by Team17
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Versus, optionally with teams
  • Session length About half an hour to an hour
  • Platforms

A great classic that is still as much fun today as it used to be a decade ago.

Screenshot of Ultimate Chicken Horse
Ultimate Chicken Horse by Clever Endeavour Games
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length About half an hour
  • Platforms

Fun platformer, easy to get into, very well-balanced.

Screenshot of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes by Steel Crate Games
  • Players the more the better (but 2 - 6 is reasonable)
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

One player is trapped inside a room with a bomb. The other players cannot see the bomb, but have the manual that explains how to defuse it.

Probably the best game in this list! Print out the bomb defusion manual if you can.

Screenshot of Nidhogg
Nidhogg by messhof
  • Players 2
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

Quick swordfighting game, easy to get into.

Screenshot of Crawl
Crawl by Powerhoof
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Asymmetric Versus
  • Session length About half an hour
  • Platforms

Feature-rich dungeon crawler where one player fights monsters, and the other players control the monsters.

Screenshot of Super Hop 'n Bop Ultra
Super Hop 'n Bop Ultra by Aiden Rose
  • Players 2
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

Minimalistic but very intense head-stomping game.

Screenshot of Gang Beasts
Gang Beasts by Boneloaf
  • Players 2 - 8
  • Modes Co-Op / Versus
  • Session length A few minutes for Versus mode. Co-Op mode gets more difficult over time
  • Platforms

Fun, physics-based brawler with derpy characters. Fight your friends in versus mode, or fight off waves of computer players in Co-Op mode.

Screenshot of Magicka
Magicka by Arrowhead Game Studios
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Co-Op / Versus
  • Session length A few minutes in Versus mode. About half an hour in Co-Op mode.
  • Platforms

Hilariously chaotic spellcasting action game. Be prepared to accidentally drop a magical ice bomb on your head, while you were actually trying to cast a healing spell on your mates.

Screenshot of Spelunky
Spelunky by Derek Yu
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length For the first hour you will all die to some spikes or a bat 5 minutes into the game. As you get better the runs will take longer, maybe up to an hour.
  • Platforms

Awesome action-adventure platformer.

Screenshot of Crypt of the Necrodancer
Crypt of the Necrodancer by Brace Yourself Games
  • Players 2
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length A few minutes up to an hour, depending on how far you get
  • Platforms

Rhythm-based dungeon crawler.

Screenshot of Samurai Gunn
Samurai Gunn by teknopants
  • Players 2 - 4
  • Modes Versus
  • Session length A few minutes
  • Platforms

Cool little platform combat arena game.

Screenshot of Nuclear Throne
Nuclear Throne by Vlambeer
  • Players 2
  • Modes Co-Op
  • Session length A few minutes up to an hour, depending on how far you get
  • Platforms

Crazy post-apocalyptic shmup.


MOAR

Some handy search queries and resources where you can find more games with local multiplayer

itch.io: Games with local multiplayer that last a few minutes PC Gaming Wiki: Virtually infinite list of games with local multiplayer Steam: Games with local multiplayer Steam: Games with local Co-Op Subreddit for local multiplayer games

Others

Below are games with local multiplayer that we either haven't played yet or didn't enjoy as much as the games above.
But who knows, maybe you will!

Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time by asteroid base
Demons with Shotguns by MindShaft Games
Friday Night Bullet Arena by Red Nexus Games
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth by Nicalis
Mini Wheels by Martyn
Railroad Rogues by Adam Gryu
Dinosaurs in my house by Adam Gryu
Brawlhalla
Rivals of Aether
Battleblock Theater
Move Or Die
Concrete Jungle

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