10 Best Two-Player Games to Play Today On PS5

While the PlayStation 5 is most known for its massive single-player games, it still houses some incredible co-op experiences. For gamers looking to play with a friend, family or partner with in a couch co-op experience, these are the 10 best two-player games on PS5.

Borderlands 3

While the Borderlands film more than disappointed most audiences in 2024, this is still one of the best co-op series that players can have fun with. This looter-shooter franchise has players exploring beautiful sci-fi worlds in a gorgeous cell-shaded art style as they defeat enemies and unlock unique weapons.

The Borderlands franchise’s natural chaos, unserious tone and wacky weapons have long made it a blast to play in two-player co-op. However, the action has never been smoother than it is in Borderlands 3 on PlayStation 5. The PS5 version of this hit game runs exceptionally smooth, whether players split the screen with two players or up to four. Borderlands 3 supports drop-in drop-out gameplay so having a partner enter or leave a session is seamless. For shooter fans looking for a blast of a couch co-op experience on PS5, Borderlands 3 is where to find it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

While the Call of Duty series now has several entries that play natively on PS5, Black Ops Cold War still remains supreme for co-op fans. CoD has long offered two-player split screen (and more in some cases) in its Multiplayer modes, but what makes Black Ops Cold War stand out is its excellent Zombies mode.

Playable in two-player split screen co-op on PS5, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War features one of the franchise’s best Zombies mode. Cold War innovates upon the classic round-based Zombies formula which drew players to the Black Ops sub-series in the PS3 generation. However, this 2020 title was designed to be approachable, yet has added depth to its progression and customization. Duos looking for an excellent co-op shooter can have endless amounts of fun with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies mode as they unlock new weapons and discover new strategies to survive into higher rounds.

Black Ops Cold War is getting a follow up to its Zombies mode in Black Ops 6, which looks like a true return to form for the series after Vanguard and Modern Warfare 3 underperformed. Since its mechanics will be fairly similar, now is a great time to get into Black Ops Cold War to prepare for Black Ops 6 Zombies.

Fortnite

Fortnite needs no introduction. The massive Battle Royale game has taken the world by storm (no pun intended) for the last 7 years. While the game is most famous for its massive online multiplayer matches, it is lesser known that the game can be played in couch co-op.

You and your favorite player two can jump into Fortnite matches with two-player split screen, and it is as seamless and smooth as ever on PS5. While Fortnite’s Battle Royale gameplay loop is likely familiar to most gamers, playing with a duo next to you in split screen adds a whole new spin on gameplay. The highs and lows of Fortnite’s compelling last squad standing matches hits even harder when your teammates are live in-person with you, and being able to see your squad mates screen at all times can help streamline communication in tense matches.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged

While Nintendo platforms dominate the arcade racer genre with the ever popular Mario Kart series, the PS5 still had some contenders for excellent racing games. Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged follows up on the sleeper hit with loads of new content and ways to play the game, including a campaign mode.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 has some addicting racing gameplay, which is an extremely and fast-paced way to compete against a friend in its Quick Play mode. this game also has a ton of charm visually, with the aesthetic of the iconic cars and tracks in levels which make use of the brand for unique settings.

It Takes Two

It Takes Two won game of the year in 2021, and for good reason. Sure, it may have released at a perfect time when folks were locked in the house and looking for ways to pass the time, but It Takes Two still deserves your attention in a post-pandemic world.

This 3D platformer sports an adorable hand-crafted art style, compelling puzzles, platforming, and various minigames to tell a heartfelt story of a struggling couple working to make family life work. The game at times is shockingly emotional, but still has a feel-good upbeat tone and wonderful gameplay which will have you and a partner laughing and smiling more often than not.

What makes It Takes Two such an incredible two-player experience is that co-op is not simply a mode in this game. Rather, the entire experience was designed around two-player co-op. Each player has meaningful but often different ways to engage with the game in tandem, with each character having unique gameplay experiences which feed into eachothers. This unique feature makes It Takes Two worth playing at least twice to fully experience each perspective.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Traveller’s Tales LEGO Games are perhaps the GOATs of couch co-op, and none of their titles have reached the scope and scale of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The title features the three trilogies of the Star Wars Saga, allowing players to dive into the trio of eras in whichever order they please.

For Star Wars super-fans, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a must-play. The title retells the nine main Star Wars films with the LEGO games’ clever humor and adorable charm, with more depth than ever before. Outside of its main missions which retell The Phantom Menace through The Rise of Skywalker, this game also has loads of iconic Star Wars worlds to explore, with tons of easter eggs and collectible characters ranging from the franchise’s most memorable to its incredibly obscure. Better yet, all of this can be done with another player with the LEGO games’ seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op.

Minecraft

Minecraft has stood the test of time, still ongoing with a strong community over a decade after launch. After all a game doesn’t become one of the best-selling of all time without having some universal appeal. Minecraft’s crafting and survival elements are still intact after all this time, but updates have added so much more variety to gameplay and building in the years since the game launched.

With its two main modes – Survival and Creative – Minecraft brings nearly infinite content with its procedurally generated worlds. In Minecraft, there is always something to explore, discover, gather or build. With all that said, this game delivers one of the grandest adventures players can have in split-screen co-op on PlayStation 5 or any platform. There’s something so satisfying about seeing a world evolve over time as you and your preferred player two craft it together, whether you do so in spite of Survival’s challenges or unleash your creativity with the game’s sandbox of blocks and mobs.

Minecraft also now has some signature crafted experiences, where players can spend money to acquire new experiences and expansions. Some of these have shocking depth and differ vastly from the main game, including a Star Wars experience where players assume the role of a Jedi in training during the Clone Wars in Minecraft: Star Wars Path of the Jedi.

Currently, Minecraft runs via backwards compatibility on PlayStation 5, but a native PS5 version is just over the virtual horizon, promising enhanced visuals and better performance.

Overcooked: All You Can Eat

Overcooked is one of the most hilarious couch co-op games out there. The series is deceptively simple at first, with cutesy cooking challenges for two to four players which progress throughout several worlds into the absurd. Overcooked is adorable, and its progressively more chaotic kitchens make the perfect recipe for laugh out loud gameplay with a partner in two-player co-op.

While the main gimmick may seem like more of a mini-game at first, there is so much variety in the challenges, and so much for players to unlock by mastering them. Whether you’re looking for bite-sized matches to make a duo laugh out loud or to become a master chef completionist, you’re going to get a lot of fun out of Overcooked. As an added bonus, Overcooked can be played with up to four players.

The Overcooked: All You Can Eat bundle packages together Overcooked and its sequel, as well as the expansions and additional content of both for a complete experience.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure

While most of the PlayStation 5 first party suite consists of narrative-focused games with cutting edge graphics, Sackboy: A Big Adventure focuses on crafting a joyful 3D platformer. Fans of Astro Bot will feel right at home here with much of the collect-a-thon focused gameplay on offer. However, unlike Astro Bot, Sackboy allows players to bring in friends for local or online co-op for two to four players.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure has a lot of the adorable aesthetic which made Little Big Planet such a hit in the PS3 era, but removes the community-created elements for a focus on crafted 3D platforming levels. Many of them are synched up to some incredible pop songs, where the stage becomes like a rhythm game as the beat of the music affects how platforms and enemies move.

There’s also lots of side content here. Sackboy: A Big Adventure has tons to unlock and explore, allowing players to find secret levels, fill up their sticker book, and unlock items to customize their Sackperson to their liking.

The Quarry

Fans of horror games like Until Dawn will feel right at home in The Quarry. This choose-your-own-adventure narrative game has excellent cinematics, emulating the feel of some of the best summertime slashers.

The way The Quarry brings a second player into the fray is truly unique, and adds another layer of interactivity to the title. Instead of having traditional split screen co-op, players are able to assign themselves to specific members of the cast, swapping over control when their characters are up to bat in the story. While it isn’t as direct of a way to play two-players as games with drop-in, drop-out co-op, this unique mechanic keeps both players engaged throughout this excellent horror story, and adds even more reasons to replay the The Quarry.