In the game pass on PC and Xbox, there are some top -class games that you can enjoy together with friends.

Why do you always have to fight against each other in multiplayer games? Can’t you just work together for goals? Fortunately, there are enough titles in which that is possible. It is not as if co-op games are a rarity or only recently popular. Just think about how old Left 4 Dead is now. Or Diablo 2. or Secret of Mana! God, that was almost 30 years ago. And probably it wasn’t even the first co-op game. Anyway, what we want to say: Coop titles are not a young trend, but today there is of course more than ever. And quite a few of the absolute highlights are included in the Game Pass. Reason enough for us to put together a list with the best recommendations for moody co-op evenings.

A Way Out

genre: * action game
 Developer: Hazelight Studios
 Publisher: Electronic Arts
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One

We start directly with a game that you can only play in the co -op. A way out only works if you are in pairs. The good thing is: even if you have not bought the game, but play over the game passport (consoleros need the Game Pass Ultimate because it is an EA play title), you have a friends pass. Thus, the teammate can download a free trial version and enjoy the adventure with you with the help of this pass.

Top 10 NEW CO-OP Games of 2021
A Way Out tells the story of Vincent Moretti and Leo Caruso, who get to know each other in prison. They decide to break out together and then an exciting, well staged interactive thriller, which draws enormous benefits from it that you can only experience it in the co -op. If you play a way out, you will find after a short time that it would not have worked as a single player title in the form. It may not be perfect in terms of play, but the approximately six hours long campaign is varied enough and the story is so stirring that you like to go over it.

Deep Rock Galactic

genre: * ego shooter
 Developer: GHOST SHIP Games
 Publisher: Coffee Stain Studios
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Hand on the table: Deep Rock Galactic is currently the best co-op shooter that you can play. So all the more great that the thing is included in the game pass. You slip into the skin of dwarfs here, but with classic fantasy the whole thing has nothing. Instead, you are on the go in the underground of a foreign planet, always looking for valuable mineral resources. Just stupid that in the sometimes very large caves nasty aliens who want you to the beard, uh, on the leather.

Deep Rock Galactic is a little reminiscent of Left 4 Dead, but goes his very own way with his unusual setting, the low-poly look and the destructible surroundings. The game also offers enough content for a number of hours. For each class you can unlock alternative weapons and other upgrades, there are various types of mission, biomes and the developers deliver free extensions with every new season. Oh yes, and you can tip over beer between the missions, while you swing your legs or headbanging too cool music. In this sense: “Rock and Stone!”

“Gears of War” series

genre: * third-person shooter
 Developer: Epic Games / The Coalition / People Can Fly
 Publisher: Microsoft
* Platforms: PC (only part 1, 4, and 5), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Unfortunately, PC players still have to be satisfied with a part of the “Gears of War” series. Microsoft still does not seem to be intended to donate new editions to part 2 and 3 and Judgment, which then also appear for Windows. But if the story of the series is not so important to you or you play on one of the consoles anyway, you should not ignore this franchise if you are in the mood for hearty co-op action with plenty of splatter. It’s just a shame that you can’t play all parts of four. Then you have to choose between friends with whom you potentially kick the Locust horde into your butt.

When it comes to third-person shooters, there is hardly anything better than the “Gears of War” games. Even the first three parts that have been published for the Xbox 360 are still very good today. But the newer titles that come from Epic Games, but The Coalition, also cut a good figure. And Gears 5 in particular is optically a real treat.

Halo series

genre: * ego shooter
 Developer: Bungie / 343 Industries
 Publisher: Microsoft
* Platforms: PC (everything up to part 5), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Anyone who says Gears of War also has to say Halo. The second large Microsoft brand, when it comes to baller action, is considered the Xbox train horse par excellence anyway. Well, at least that was the case at the time of the first Xbox and the 360. With the departure of the original developer Bungie and the associated change to 343 Industries, the series went downhill. Halo 4, 5 and most recently Infinite did not arrive as well as the previous parts. At this point you can still delete Infinite from your “co-op games that I want to play” list anyway, because the multiplayer option for the campaign is still a long time coming.

If you don’t know a single part, you don’t need to wait for the corresponding update. After all, the entire Master Chief Collection is available. Only PC players still have to do without Halo 5: Guardians, but as I said: that doesn’t have the best reputation anyway.

It Takes Two

Genre: * Action Adventure
 Developer: Hazelight Studios
 Publisher: Electronic Arts
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Hazelight on the second: Not only a way out can be played over the game pass, but also the second work of the Swedish studio, it Takes Two. The name is the program here, because just like the prison eraser thriller, this game requires that you play it in pairs. Here, too, there is conveniently the friends pass, so that your teammate neither has to make a purchase nor have a game pass subscription.

It Takes Two has been awarded several times as the best game of 2021. In contrast to A Way Out, everything is really true on a playful level. What looks like a typical 3D Jump-and-Run at first glance turns out to be a colorful bouquet from different gameplay systems on closer inspection. Yes, a lot is run and hopped, but sometimes puzzled, hit or driven a race. IT Takes Two only sprouts from creative ideas that the surprisingly long campaign (at least twelve hours) never gets boring.

Minecraft

Genre: * Sandbox game, survival game
 Developer: Mojang
 Publisher: Microsoft
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One

Since Minecraft can now be played with a game passport (which was not surprisingly not the case for a long time), this list should not be missing. Perhaps you don’t think of the mix of Survival and total sandbox directly in the term “co-op games”, but of course playing together and, above all, are expanding a large part of the fascination.

The great thing about Minecraft: You are theoretically not limited in how many friends want to explore the world together, create buildings and conquer the end dragons. You only need a sufficiently large server. This is associated with additional costs, but if you have a very large circle of friends that consists of Minecraft fans, it is worth it. But of course joy comes up if you only host your PC locally and with two or three or four colleagues researched the block world.

Overcooked! 2

genre: * simulation, cooking game
 Developer: Ghost Town Games
 Publisher: Team17
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Overcooked! 2 is the slightly different cooking game. This is not primarily about priority to serve as delicious dishes and therefore pay attention to the correct preparation type and ingredient quantities, but to discuss well with your kitchen colleagues so that there is no confusion. After all, the fate of the world depends on you. A new threat in the form of the hungry unrestrained rises and you have to ensure that the lively bakedware is served so much delicious food so that it does not spread to the population.

The campaign missions of Overcooked! 2 are held together by a world map. There you travel from location to the scene. Sometimes you cook in a sushi restaurant, sometimes in more unusual places like in a mine. At work, you always have to pay attention to where which ingredients are and who does what. A clear distribution of roles in virtual cuisine is extremely important, otherwise you will not get anything in line. Fortunately, there are ways to make the job a little easier, for example by using teleporters or the ingredients at each other. Overcooked! 2 is extremely funny, especially when not everything goes according to plan. Common failure is clearly part of the game concept.

Sea of Thieves

genre: * action game
 Developer: rare
 Publisher: Microsoft
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Similar to Minecraft, Sea of Thieves is not a pure co-op game, after all, PvP plays a not insignificant role in the world populated by pirates. Since the cooperation between the members of a ship crew is so incredibly important, exercises their own fascination and is a lot of fun, we cannot simply leave Sea of Thieves outside.

When the title came onto the market in 2018, it had relatively little content to offer and quickly became boring. In the four years now that the lake of the thieves is now open to you, however, a lot has happened. Sea of Thieves is almost a kind of second No Man’s Sky, only that its developer Hello Games puts a lot of more energy into new updates than rare. However, this should not put the efforts of the British about what it should have been from the start, not put it in a bad light. The many story content that Sea of Thieves now offers and all of whom have found their way into the game by free updates are terrific and the fabric for the best co-op entertainment. It is not without reason that we added the title to our list of the best online games ever.

Snowrunner

genre: * simulation
 Developer: Saber Interactive
 Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Snowrunner is a special game. Here you drive with thick trucks through rough terrain in Alaska, Russia and other regions of the world, where paved roads are roughly as rare as PS5 consoles in the wild. Rapen quickly through the area? Is not here! Snowrunner is a very leisurely game, but this does not mean that it does not offer any tension. And especially when you take tours through the deepest mud and snow together with friends, this is great fun.

Now the title has now received a lot of DLCs that expand its scope enormously, but are not part of the Game Pass. And buying extensions for a game that is not an integral part of your own library may not be the very best idea. But the main game alone also maintains for several hours. It offers more than enough maps and vehicles and since you can upgrade and modify them in a comprehensive way, the progression is very motivating.

Stardew Valley

Genre: * Farm game, life simulation
 Developer: Concernedape
 Publisher: Concernedape
* Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Cloud

Hach, how beautiful is the farmer’s life! Admittedly, in most cases it is certainly not as relaxed and harmonious as in Stardew Valley. But the indie hit by solo developer Eric Barone alias Concernedape has not been committed to being a realistic simulation of the farmer’s life.

In a charming retro pixel look, you get the farm of your deceased grandfather back on shape, get to know the residents of the neighboring city of Pelican Town and may even start your own family. Since the update 1.3.27, you can not only play Stardew Valley alone, but also in the multiplayer with up to three friends and run a farm together. Thanks to the gigantic scope, you are busy for weeks and months.