It Takes Two Review

The two-player benchmark, and who should still buy it

Short verdict: if there are exactly two of you and you have not played It Takes Two, buy it. It remains the most complete two-player co-op game available, only one of you needs to pay for it, and nothing in the years since has replaced it - the closest thing is its own sequel. The one genuine reason to hesitate is platform: it has no crossplay, so you both need to be on the same system.

It Takes Two is a co-op action-adventure built for two players and only two players. There is no single-player mode and no way to add a third. You play a separating couple turned into dolls, working through a series of fantastical worlds, and the entire game is constructed around the pair of you holding different abilities at the same time.

What it actually does differently

Most co-op games hand both players the same toolkit and let you tackle the same content twice over. It Takes Two almost never does this. In one chapter one player controls time while the other moves through the world; in another, one has a magnet and the other a nail. The abilities are introduced, used for a chapter, and then discarded for something new - which is why the game never feels repetitive across its length, and why it cannot be played alone.

The practical effect is that neither player can carry the other. A more experienced player physically cannot do their partner's half of a puzzle. For a mixed-skill pair - which is most pairs - that design choice matters more than any amount of polish, and it is the main reason we recommend it for couples and for anyone playing with someone who games rarely.

The Friend's Pass: one copy, two players

This is the part that changes the buying decision. It Takes Two includes a Friend's Pass: one player buys the game, and the second downloads a free companion client and plays the entire campaign with them online. There is no trial limit and no reduced version. For a two-player night, that halves the cost outright and it is why the game appears cheaper in practice than its shelf price suggests.

The catch is that the Friend's Pass does not cross platforms. The second player has to be on the same platform family as the owner. If the two of you are on a PS5 and a PC, you are out of luck - which brings us to the sequel.

Who should skip it

Anyone on different platforms from their partner.No crossplay is the single biggest limitation, and it is not fixable. Split Fiction is the same studio's follow-up and does have crossplay - if your pair is split across a PS5 and a PC, buy that instead.

Anyone hoping to play alone. There is no solo mode. The game does not function without a second player.

Anyone who wants a game to return to for months. It is a designed arc of roughly twelve to fourteen hours with a clear ending, and very little reason to replay. That is a feature - it does not overstay - but if you want something you dip into weekly, Stardew Valley or Minecraft is the better purchase.

How it compares

vs Split Fiction.Same studio, same director, same asymmetric design, same Friend's Pass. Split Fiction adds crossplay, which is the deciding factor for mixed-platform pairs. If you are both on the same system, you can start with either. We break it down properly in It Takes Two vs Split Fiction.

vs A Way Out.The studio's earlier two-player game - also split-screen, also Friend's Pass - but a grounded prison-break thriller rather than a fantasy. Shorter, and genuinely a single playthrough with no replay value. Take it as a second purchase after It Takes Two, not before.

vs Portal 2.The cheap alternative, and not a lesser one. Portal 2's co-op campaign is a separate two-player mode built on the same idea of each player holding half the solution. It has no story spectacle and far less variety, but it costs a fraction of the price and the puzzle design is superb. If budget is the constraint, start here - see our budget picks.

Playing it split-screen or online

The game is presented in split-screen at all times, including online - so each of you sees both halves of the screen whether you are on one couch or in different cities. That is unusual and it is a deliberate design choice: seeing what your partner is doing is part of how the puzzles communicate. Local split-screen needs one copy and one console; online needs the Friend's Pass. Our split-screen page covers the format more widely.

Pacing: why it never repeats itself

The structural trick is that mechanics are disposable. A chapter introduces a pair of abilities, builds three or four encounters around them, and then throws them away entirely for the next chapter. Nothing is reused. That is enormously expensive to build and it is why the game runs about twelve hours rather than forty - but it also means there is no point at which you are going through the motions, which is the failure mode of most co-op campaigns.

It also means the difficulty stays gentle throughout. You are constantly learning something new, so the game cannot afford to also be hard. Deaths are cheap and checkpoints frequent. If you want a co-op game that tests you, this is not it - Portal 2 or Elden Ring Nightreign would suit better.

Playing it with a non-gamer

This is the use case we recommend it for most often. Three things make it work: the forgiving difficulty, the constant novelty (nobody has a skill advantage in a mechanic introduced sixty seconds ago), and the asymmetry that stops the experienced player taking over. Add the Friend's Pass and the less invested person does not even have to buy anything to try it.

The one thing to manage is the controls. Someone who has never used a controller will need the first half hour to get comfortable with two sticks, and that is true here as anywhere. Start on a quiet evening rather than at a party. Our co-op for couples page covers this scenario in more depth.

Cost per player

Because of the Friend's Pass, two people pay for one copy - so the honest per-player price is half the figure shown. For local split-screen it is one copy regardless. That makes a premium co-op game one of the better-value purchases on this site, and it is worth remembering when comparing it against two copies of something cheaper. Live prices update from Amazon in the table above.

Verdict

It Takes Two is the game we recommend most often on this site, and the recommendation comes with exactly one condition attached: check that you and your co-op partner are on the same platform before you buy. If you are, it is the best two-player purchase available and only one of you pays. If you are not, buy Split Fiction and get the same experience with crossplay. Either way, see our full 2-player list for the wider picture.