The Best Games To Play With A Partner To Save And End Relationships

Both Portal games are always a joy to rediscover, even if you’ve already played them countless times. Portal 2’s co-op campaign, Cooperative Testing Initiative, is no different. It’s a fantastic series of puzzles along five official testing courses, each with its own number of testing chambers, that lose none of the mainline Portal puzzles’ charms. Instead, the sequel’s co-op campaign deftly weaves in two-player gameplay mechanics in increasingly complex ways. Each course focuses on a specific testing mechanic, all seen in Portal 2, but reimagined with co-op play in mind.

Portal is also an excellent choice because it’s so approachable. It doesn’t take too long to get the hang of the movement and physics, so even if your partner (or you!) isn’t a “Gamer,” they can still have a ton of fun with this pickup.

You can play local or online co-op, as well. It’s available on PC and Nintendo Switch (and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, if you’ve still got those plugged in).

I did, several years back, call this a game to break up to. Between point bubble hoarding, someone falling off during a no-death-run attempt, or the slaps, oh god, the slaps, Sackboy: A Big Adventure can be a frustrating co-op experience.

That all said, it sure is fun, has a killer soundtrack, and captures what many of us loved about the LittleBigPlanet games, which is the original series the eponymous Sackboy comes from. Those games were full of whimsy as you traverse through differently-themed worlds. They also inspired a ton of creativity as players could make their own levels, though those have unfortunately been largely lost to time. And, hey, my relationship survived.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is waiting for you to test your relationship on PlayStation 4 and 5 and PC.

The Ikea furniture building of games. The ultimate test. Such is Overcooked! 1 and 2. These games, which have you put together elaborate meals in impossible restaurants, are almost infamous for enraging partners, friends, and family members alike. Communication is essential, as is timing, and going in with a plan. You have to trust your kitchen mates. And you must return their trust in you. That might not be enough even still.

And yet, Overcooked! is so addicting, a delightful game to devour. Go ahead, see how strong the relationship is. Give yourself a reason to start couples therapy. The ultimate test awaits in both games on PS4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, Switch, and PC.

Be warned, a central premise of this game is divorce. And, I’ll be honest, it doesn’t handle the subject with the nuance it deserves. You’re also accompanied by an incredibly annoying caricature of a book that may drive you insane.

However! The co-op mechanics are delightful. They feel fresh and unique, and the worlds you’ll visit in this game feel magical. The gameplay more than makes up for the missteps in a certain NPC or a theme that feels more wishful thinking than rooted in honesty.

There are also fun Easter eggs for anyone familiar with Hazelight Studios, creators of A Way Out and plenty of unrelated fun details to explore even if that doesn’t specifically excite you. Available on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and PC, you can play split-screen, online, or wireless local (think both of you with your own Switch consoles playing side-by-side on the couch).

Another selection where communication is key, especially when it comes to sharing what you’re doing and when. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime evokes thoughts of Asteroids, reimagined with co-op and new mechanics, like shields, neon graphics, and upgrades. And if your relationship is already on the rocks from a game like Overcooked!, you can take a break from co-op and play solo with an AI space-pet by your side.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

Halo 2 offers a classic split-screen first-person shooter where both players can customize how hard or bizarre their campaign will be by turning on different collectible skulls, like the Happy Birthday one that makes enemies’ heads explode, as Kotaku writer Isaiah Colbert puts it. It also gives couples the chance to judge each other’s piloting skills and roll up on fools in a warthog. How else are you meant to know if they’re the one?

Even though it came out nearly 20 years ago (I know, try not to think about it), you can play Halo 2 on Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC, thanks to Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

This dungeon crawler ups the ante not necessarily by testing your communication skills or the limits of your patience, but instead by increasing the actual difficulty. After all, having a partner would simply be too easy. But Minecraft Dungeons also gives better rewards to compensate. See? It pays to have someone to share in the glory. Like Sackboy also on this list, you’re tethered to your partner, so you can’t go it alone. And even though each player finds their own equipment, you can gift resources. And isn’t sharing what cooperative play is all about?

Take the crawl together on PS4, Xbox One, Series X/S, xCloud, Switch, and PC.

Let us know what your favorite games to play with a partner are!