So let me assure you, I don't want this to be another "oh, just Slackur going on about multiplayer games and how much fun they all have, blah blah."  After reading previous comments and discussions, I want to emphasize that I enjoy writing about local co-op, not to brag about all the fun we have, but because I want to encourage others who would enjoy it.  I hope to encourage readers to keep at the long-term work it requires to start up this type of gaming and keep it going, especially in our weird, modern, always-connected-yet-lonely world of adult responsibilities.  I know I'm not the only one that misses human interaction as compared to social media. 




Most responses from my articles that mention local multiplayer are along the lines of nostalgia and/or lamenting how there is no one around to enjoy such experiences.  And I can completely connect to these thoughts; most of us do not have big, video game-loving families and live next to lots of friends that come over all of the time to play these games.

I know very well, because neither do we.

We live pretty far out in the country, with our nearest friends living over half-an-hour away.  Besides my Beloved and our three boys, we currently don't have any family living in the same state.  In fact, were it not for the very purposeful, careful, and intentional efforts laid down for many, many years, things would be much different.

About fifteen years ago, my wife and I moved from Mississippi to Pennsylvania.  We left everything we had, including a paid-off home, friends, and family, so that my wife could pursue her education up here.  So for the first year, it was very difficult to be social; working all of the time meant few opportunities to hang out, and we didn't know anyone anyway.  This was right after our great gaming collection theft, where a year later, all we had was a Dreamcast and three games.  So I made a determined decision and spent some of our rare extra cash on a few cheap, multiplayer games; Unreal Tournament and Virtua Tennis.  And I began spamming invitations to my work associates that I hardly knew.

It took a long time before people started coming.  After a few months though, I had two 'regulars' that would come over and stay up on Unreal Tournament.  Every Friday and Saturday, I'd remind my co-workers (even the ones that smelled funny) that we were gaming tonight, and anyone was welcome as long as they bought a snack item and tossed it into the big, Tupperware 'grub tub' as they came in.  And if they couldn't afford that, come anyway.  Most of them didn't play games or hadn't since they were kids, but eventually a few would come over for fun, have a great time, and be encouraged to come back and bring a friend or two.  This whole process took a few years to truly develop, but with persistence (and maybe a little pestering!) we started having a regular group over for the weekends.  All the while, we never stopped spamming invites, making sure there was something to do for 'non-gamers' like movies or board games, and pursuing friendships past the weekends.

And that's pretty much how we got here!  Again, many of those that come over originally had little interest in video games, or hadn't played in years, and yet a comfortable atmosphere and a few entry-level games slowly developed them into weekend warriors.  One of my best friends of fifteen years only came over for the first time because his friend was my best Unreal Tournament co-op teammate and he kept disappearing at my house every Friday.  I don't think this guy said more than a dozen sentences for the first few months he tagged along; a decade and a half (and countless Fridays) later, and I practically consider him a brother.  Even our 15 year-old babysitter, whose gaming experience could be summed up in a few iPhone apps, was eventually convinced to join our Helldivers game.  A 'hardcore,' friendly-fire, teamwork-required game like Helldivers may not exactly be entry-level stuff, to video games or co-op; yet with some patience and practice, she stuck with us until early morning, held her own, and had a great time!

As you get to these recommendations below, please don't simply gloss over and think, 'man, that would be fun, but...'.  It can take a long time, even years such as in our case, but it is worth the effort to cultivate such environments.  Many gamers don't have local friends to come over and enjoy local co-op.  And back then, neither did we.  But with a lot of work and patience, we invited, found, and developed new friendships that have now become some of the most important in our lives. 

Games, game systems, and gaming itself has really changed since we started inviting folks over.  Most great co-op experiences we grew up with are now considered 'retro' and the market prices have often risen considerably.  So, what modern games provide a great local co-op experience beyond two players?  In fact, between the PS4 and the Wii U, (and to a lesser extent for us, the Xbox One) modern consoles have brought back a feature I've missed greatly; four player couch co-op!  Really, not since the N64 and Dreamcast era have so many great four-player single screen experiences come around, and because many are smaller, digital-only titles or features on bigger releases that aren't touted as loudly, some of these have gone completely under the radar.

So, grab a grub-tub and fill it with chips and candy, nab a bunch of cold beverages of choice from the fridge, find a comfy beanbag chair/bar stool/arm of the couch, invite some family/co-workers/frienemies over, and let me tell you about some of these crazy-fun times, starting on PS4:

Minecraft
Some underground indie game nobody's heard of, but stay with me; four player split-screen on a big TV, and you have a virtual Swiss Family Robinson.  Our family is already planning this as a weekly adventure for the summer. 

Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition
The local four player works far, far better than any of us thought it would.  So much so, that every other couch co-op action RPG has faced the "man, I wish they did this like Diablo III" syndrome since it released.  I've rarely seen my Beloved be the one to keep pushing us later into the morning despite having to get up in a few hours, but this game has been the culprit so that's about the highest praise I could bestow.

Terraria
My first instinct, like many, was to classify this as Minecraft in 2D.  Many hours later, that label doesn't quite fit, as there is enough uniqueness here that generates a very different feel and play.  But one similarity is that with four folks working together, fascinating stuff happens quickly and often.

Magicka 2


Helldivers
I just didn't expect Starship Troopers; the co-op, die-every-minute-often-from-each-other experience to be this engaging, and yet this is what everyone wants to play together lately, myself included.  If you have friends, try it.

Mercenary Kings

What starts as a Metal Slug/Contra run-and-gun turns into a much more open design featuring character leveling, crazy weapon building, tough old-school bosses, and tense multiplayer teamwork.  It does get grindy and too difficult near the end, but still definitely worth a play for all it does right.

Special Mention; Towerfall: Ascension
OK, yeah, the campaign is only two-player, but just about anyone can pick up the awesome four-player versus mode, and it unlocks stuff as you play even in competition, so that kinda counts enough just to mention how great this gem is.

Not to be outdone, it makes sense that as the great grandson of the N64, the Wii U has some of the best co-op games in years:

Kirby Rainbow Curse
An admittedly divisive title, the charming clay art style is backed up with a co-op campaign that has an interesting combination of traditional platformer and Canvas Curse touch screen gameplay.  It does some really neat stuff, and is just different enough to warrant a group play-through.


Mario Kart 8
The fasted way to earn the coins that unlock more game-changing goodies is to play four player, and with the new 200cc mode, those gorgeous graphics and slick frame rate make this the best Mario Kart by far.  I can say that even though it doesn't have a real Battle Mode, which was traditionally my favorite; it's just that much fun! 

Mario Party 10
We've always tossed this series in the occasional rotation, but this one does a lot to keep it there; the new gameplay dynamics have every player riding together across the board, which streamlines the whole experience and slims the downtime.  The mini-games are good and, best of all, the new 4 Verses 1 Bowser mode is the most fun I've had in the entire series. 
As long as I get to be Bowser, of course.

New Super Mario Bros U
True, this is about as tough to play with four players as Contra was with two on the NES, but with someone on the Gamepad stunning enemies and making emergency platforms, after a bit of practice the whole thing gels into a new and excellent game design.  I think many people just goofed off for a few minutes in multiplayer (if at all) and missed what becomes a superb Mario experience.

Nintendo Land
Sadly written off by most, this has some really, really fun co-op games inside.  The Zelda-themed Battle Quest, Metroid Blast, and Pikmin Adventure all have great 1-5 player gameplay.  If you have the controllers and people for it, definitely give it some time.
 
Super Mario 3D Land
Like New Super Mario, this one takes some practice and communication before it gels into a cohesive experience instead of a frustrating and chaotic mess, but once you develop some decent teamwork, this excellent combination of Super Mario 3 and Super Mario 64 lets an entire team explore levels together.  Each character even has specific benefits, making role delineation notably easier.
 
Smash Bros for Wii U
Smash?  Co-op?  Yep.  One of the overlooked features of the 8-player Battle Mode is the fact that those 8 can consist of any combination of human, AI, and Amiibo players.  So, pit a team of four humans against a team of high level CPUs, or even better, some battle-hardened and customized Amiibos.  A team of Little Mac, Wii Fit Trainer, Marth, and Animal Crossing Villager, for example.  A very rich and frustrating example.

Special Mention; Scribblenauts (Unlimited or Unmasked)
I've brought this up a few times before, but it still remains true; even besides the multiplayer addition, the best way to play this is to have a couch-full of people all trying to out-do each other for ideas on how to solve the nifty puzzles the game presents.  The last few got pretty challenging, and hours can be whittled away just coming up with more clever or outrageous ideas and testing to see if they actually work.  This is also perfect for those board- and word-game friends who come over and wouldn't normally play a video game.  It can really appeal to all sorts of people.

I wasn't purposefully trying to exclude Xbox One, and I know many of those on PS4 are also on that or even the PS3 and 360.  Oh, the 360; that system has so many great co-op games, it could easily fill another article or two.  And despite building a 360 LAN just for the fun of getting a bunch of friends to play game together, nothing beats couch-co-op!  I'm glad that in an era of online-multiplayer focus, a few great developers are still making games where winning means giving a few real-life high-fives.


Getting a local multiplayer group does often take a lot of time, effort, and patience.  But if it sounds fun to you, it's worth it!  And you may even end up with some life-long friends as a nice side bonus.

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