The rest of the list, by the kind of couple
A couple who shout at each other in a nice way. Overcooked! All You Can Eat. Two chefs, one kitchen, a timer - the game is famous for testing relationships and it has never actually ended one that we know of. Four-player too, for when friends come over, and it has full crossplay. Moving Out 2 is the same energy applied to furniture removal, for when they have exhausted Overcooked.
A couple who want something calm. Stardew Valley. A farm you build together across hundreds of hours, with no way to lose and no pressure to play well. It is the game couples play in the evening with the television on. Multiplayer is same-system only, so for two homes both need a copy - and it is inexpensive enough that two copies are still a reasonable gift.
A couple who like puzzles, on PC. Portal 2. The co-op campaign is a separate set of puzzles that need two people and cannot be brute-forced by one, and it is still the standard other co-op puzzle games are judged by. It is usually the cheapest thing on this page. PC through our link; if they use Steam, gifting it there directly is clean.
A couple with a kid, or a gentle pair who play in the same room. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. Two-player local co-op on one screen, long and forgiving, and new enough that they will not own it. Local only - there is no online mode, so this is for two people on the same couch.
The gear: one more controller
Every split-screen game on this page runs from one copy on one console. What it needs is a second pad, and this is the thing to buy alongside the game if you are not sure they have one - it is often the cheaper part of the present and the part that makes it work. For a PC or Xbox couch, the Xbox Wireless Controller; for a PS5 couch, the DualSense. A Switch already has two Joy-Con in the box, so a Switch couple need nothing extra for two-player games. Our second controller guide goes deeper.
Gifting a game you intend to play with them
Wrap the game, and put a date on the card. The problem with a co-op game as a gift is that it needs both people free at the same time, and without a plan it sits on the shelf until it becomes a small source of guilt. Naming the evening turns it back into a gift. And pick the Friend's Pass titles - It Takes Two or Split Fiction - so that your one purchase covers you both and nobody has to buy a second copy to accept the present.
If you are not certain they want a co-op story at all - someone who only plays competitive shooters may find a twelve-hour cooperative campaign beside the point - the free crossplay games cost nothing to suggest first, and you can find out without spending anything. Our co-op games for couples page ranks the full list, and games to play with your partner covers the situations where one person is a much more experienced player than the other.
