Like It Takes Two

You finished it. Now what?

It Takes Two spoils you. Once you have played a game where every single level is built around two people doing different things at the same time, ordinary co-op - where both players do the same thing with two controllers - feels thin. The bad news is that almost nothing else is exactly like it. The good news is that a few games get close, and each one gets close in a different way.

The closest match by a distance is Split Fiction. It is from the same studio and the same director, uses the same two-player-only asymmetric design, includes the same Friend's Pass so only one of you buys it, and adds full crossplay that It Takes Two never had. If you liked It Takes Two and want more of that exact feeling, this is the answer and you can stop reading. We break down the differences in It Takes Two vs Split Fiction.

After that you are choosing which part of It Takes Two you want to chase. A Way Outis the same studio's earlier game - split-screen, two players only, Friend's Pass - but a grounded cinematic thriller rather than a whimsical fantasy. Portal 2 chases the puzzle design: two characters with different tools solving problems neither could solve alone, and it costs almost nothing. Overcooked and Moving Out 2 chase the frantic-cooperation feeling without the story.

What actually made It Takes Two work

It is worth naming, because it tells you what to look for. Three things: asymmetry (you each have different abilities, so you need each other), constant novelty (mechanics are introduced and discarded rather than repeated), and a single shared goal (no scores, no competition, no way for one player to win). Any game with all three will scratch the itch. Most games have one.

Ranked by how close they actually are

Split Fiction - very close.Same studio, same designer, same structure, same one-copy Friend's Pass. The genuine successor, and the crossplay makes it the better pick if the two of you are on different platforms.

A Way Out - close in structure, different in tone. Two players only, permanent split-screen even online, one purchase covers both. It is a single playthrough with no reason to replay, so treat it as one very good evening rather than a game you return to.

Portal 2 - close in puzzle design. The co-op campaign is a separate mode built specifically for two, with each player holding half the solution. No story spectacle, but the cooperative problem-solving is the best in the genre and it is frequently a few dollars.

Overcooked and Moving Out 2 - close in feeling, not in form. Both are about two (or more) people coordinating under pressure and laughing when it collapses. Both scale past two, both have crossplay, and both are much cheaper. Neither has a story worth mentioning.

What to avoid if It Takes Two is your reference point

Skip anything described as "co-op" that is really a single-player game with a second controller attached - drop-in helper modes where player two has less to do. And be careful with four-player co-op shooters: they are excellent games, but the design goal is different, and a pair playing a four-player game often feels like two people short rather than a duo experience. Our 2-player page filters to titles genuinely built for a pair.

Why there aren't more games like this

It is a fair question, and the answer explains why this list is short. Asymmetric two-player design is extraordinarily expensive. Every chapter needs two sets of mechanics built, tested, and then discarded rather than reused - you are effectively building a dozen small games instead of one large one, and you cannot amortize any of it across a longer runtime.

On top of that, the audience is structurally halved: a two-player-only game cannot be sold to someone who wants to play alone, and it cannot be sold to a group of four. Very few studios will take that on, which is why the closest matches on this page all come from the same one. It is also why the Friend's Pass exists - giving the second player a free copy is how the format stays viable when only one person in each pair buys.

What to do when you have exhausted the list

Realistically, after Split Fiction, A Way Out, and Portal 2 there is no fourth game that delivers the same thing. At that point the better move is to change what you are looking for rather than keep hunting for a copy of it.

Two directions work well. Keep the pairing, lose the structure: Stardew Valley or Minecraft give you an open-ended world for two with no ending to reach - a different pleasure, but one that lasts far longer. Or keep the intensity, add people: Overcooked, Moving Out 2, and Deep Rock Galactic all deliver cooperative pressure with three or four, which is the closest emotional match once you accept the two-player format is exhausted. Our 4-player page covers the second route.

If there are more than two of you

It Takes Two is strictly two-player - there is no three-player mode and no way to rotate people in. If your group has grown, Overcooked, Moving Out 2, and Human: Fall Flat all scale up while keeping the cooperative spirit, and the co-op hub ranks the full list by group size.

If the group is exactly three, that is the hardest number in co-op - most designs target two or four. Elden Ring Nightreign is built for precisely three, and Deep Rock Galactic and Helldivers 2 both scale down to three comfortably. Anything on this page will leave one of you out.