A game they'll actually play - with you.
By Stephen V., Founder & Editor · Last updated August 11, 2026 · How we pick
The short answer first. Tap any row for the full write-up; the price button goes straight to Amazon.
| # | Game | Best for | Crossplay | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Kart racing | A Switch group that wants instant, everyone-can-play racing. | No - Switch only | $41.99 |
| 2 |  It Takes Two Co-op action-adventure | Two people who want one story built entirely around working together. | No - same platform only | $33.00 |
| 3 |  Overcooked! All You Can Eat Party co-op | A group of 2-4 that wants controlled chaos and a lot of yelling. | Yes - full crossplay | $23.40 |
| 4 |  Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Platform fighter | A Switch crowd that wants an 8-player couch brawl. | No - Switch only | $54.28 |
| 5 |  Split Fiction Co-op action-adventure | Two players on different consoles who loved It Takes Two and want more. | Yes - crossplay + Friend's Pass | Check price |
| 6 |  Super Mario Party Jamboree Party board game | A group of four that wants a full board-game-plus-minigames night. | No - Switch only | Check price |
| 7 |  Stardew Valley Farming / life sim | A calm group on the same system that wants to build a farm together. | No - multiplayer is same-platform only | $33.99 |
| 8 |  LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Family co-op action | A parent and kid, or two friends, on the couch. | No - local co-op only | $24.88 |
Gifting a video game has one failure mode that dwarfs all the others: buying it for the wrong platform. A PS5 disc is useless to someone on Switch, and unlike a jumper it cannot be exchanged for the right size. Before anything else on this page, confirm what they actually own. If you cannot ask them directly, ask someone who plays with them - it is worth the small loss of surprise.
Once you know the platform, our top pick is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for anyone with a Switch. It is the safest gift in gaming: virtually nobody dislikes it, it needs no explanation, it plays four people on one console, and it stays in rotation for years. If they already own it - which is genuinely likely, it is one of the best-selling games ever made - Super Mario Party Jamboree is the natural second choice.
For a gift you intend to play with them, It Takes Twois the strongest pick on this page. It is built for exactly two players, and the Friend's Pass means your copy covers both of you - so buying it for them is genuinely buying it for the pair of you. Split Fiction is the same idea with crossplay, which matters if you are on different systems.
Physical is the better gift when it needs to be wrapped and handed over. It is a real object, it works without knowing their account details, and it can be resold or lent. This is the right choice for a birthday or Christmas present.
Digital is better when they are far away or the occasion is remote - a gift code arrives instantly and there is no shipping. The catch is that digital gifting is region-locked and storefront-specific, so a code bought in one country may not redeem in another. Check before buying for a friend abroad.
The best-selling multiplayer games are best-selling for a reason, and a regular player probably has Mario Kart, Smash Bros., and Minecraft already. The safest way around this is to gift something aimed at playing together - a two-player co-op game they would not have bought alone - or to pick a recent release rather than an evergreen one.
One to skip
EA Sports FC and other annual sports titles are the classic gift mistake. They are superseded every year, so a gift bought a few months late is already the old version, and the online modes for the previous edition wind down. If they want the football game they have almost certainly bought it themselves the week it launched. Pick something evergreen from this list instead.
Best for: A Switch group that wants instant, everyone-can-play racing.
1-4 local, up to 12 online · Kart racing
The easiest 'everyone grabs a controller' game on Switch - four-player split-screen locally and up to twelve online. Zero learning curve. Switch-only, so it does nothing for a mixed-console group.
Facts verified via Nintendo store page.
Also a top pick in Best Games to Play With Friends and Party.
Best for: Two people who want one story built entirely around working together.
2 players, online or split-screen · Co-op action-adventure
The gold standard for two-player co-op: every mechanic is designed for two, and the Friend's Pass lets a second player join free. Split-screen the whole way through. Skip it if you're a group of three or more - it is strictly two.
Facts verified via EA official page.
Also a top pick in Best Games to Play With Friends and Co-op.
Best for: A group of 2-4 that wants controlled chaos and a lot of yelling.
1-4 players, online + local · Party co-op
Both Overcooked games remastered with full crossplay across every platform - genuinely the easiest way to get four friends on four different systems cooking together. Local and online. It will test friendships; that's the point.
Facts verified via Steam store page.
Also a top pick in Best Games to Play With Friends and Party.
Best for: A Switch crowd that wants an 8-player couch brawl.
1-8 local, online · Platform fighter
Up to eight players locally makes this the party fighter for a full room. Deep enough for veterans, button-mash-friendly for newcomers. Switch-only and online can be rough - it shines on the couch.
Facts verified via Nintendo store page.
Also a top pick in Party and Large Groups.
Best for: Two players on different consoles who loved It Takes Two and want more.
2 players, online or split-screen · Co-op action-adventure
The follow-up from the It Takes Two team, and this time crossplay is in - one of you on PS5, the other on PC, no problem. Friend's Pass again means only one copy is needed. Two-player only, so it is not a party game.
Facts verified via EA official page.
Also a top pick in Co-op and Split-Screen.
Best for: A group of four that wants a full board-game-plus-minigames night.
1-4 local, up to 20 in some modes · Party board game
The newest Mario Party with the biggest board and minigame set yet - a full evening's entertainment for four on one Switch. Some modes stretch to twenty players. Switch-only; expect a couple hours per board.
Facts verified via Nintendo store page.
Also a top pick in Party and Large Groups.
Best for: A calm group on the same system that wants to build a farm together.
1-4 players co-op (same platform) · Farming / life sim
Four-player co-op farming that is the antidote to competitive stress - everyone shares one farm. The catch: multiplayer is same-platform only, so everyone needs to be on Switch, or everyone on PC. Not a crossplay pick.
Facts verified via Stardew Valley official site.
Also a top pick in Best Games to Play With Friends and Switch.
Best for: A parent and kid, or two friends, on the couch.
2 players local co-op · Family co-op action
Drop-in, drop-out two-player couch co-op across all nine Star Wars films - genuinely all-ages and hard to get stuck on. It is local co-op only (no online), so it is a same-room pick.
Facts verified via LEGO official site.
Also a top pick in Couch Co-op and Switch.
A family with kids, on Switch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe first, then Super Mario Bros. Wonder or LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. All three are four-player or two-player local, all are genuinely all-ages, and none require anyone to be good at games. See games to play with family.
A group of housemates or friends who game together. Overcooked! All You Can Eat or Super Mario Party Jamboree - both are designed for a room full of people, and both create the kind of evening people remember. Our party hub has more.
A couple. It Takes Two, comfortably. One copy covers both players and it is built from the ground up for exactly two. More options on our co-op for couples page.
Someone who plays alone and you wish would play with you.Split Fiction - crossplay plus a Friend's Pass means you can gift it and immediately play it together regardless of what each of you owns.
Someone who wants to relax. Stardew Valley. No fail state, no pressure, hundreds of hours, and it is inexpensive enough to pair with something else.
If you are buying for someone else's child, check the rating and check with the parent. Everything in the family section above is rated for all ages. Several excellent multiplayer games elsewhere on this site - Mortal Kombat 1, Call of Duty, GTA Online - are emphatically not, and gifting one of those without asking puts the parent in an awkward position.
This is the most rewarding version of a game gift and it deserves its own thinking, because the usual advice does not apply. You are not trying to guess their taste - you already know you want to play it with them. What you need is a game where your buying it actually enables that.
The Friend's Pass titles are perfect for this. Buy It Takes Two or Split Fiction, and your single copy covers both of you - so the gift is genuinely a shared evening rather than an object they have to reciprocate. Split Fiction additionally has crossplay, so it works even if the two of you are on different systems, which makes it the safer of the two when you are not certain what they own.
The one thing to check is that they want a co-op campaign at all. Someone who only plays competitive shooters may find a twelve-hour cooperative story slightly beside the point. If in doubt, the free crossplay games cost nothing to suggest and you can find out without spending anything.
This page is the games-only list. Our gift guide hub goes wider - gear as well as games, sorted by budget (under $25, under $50, under $100) and by recipient (couples, families, and the gamer who has everything). If the occasion is in December, read the Black Friday and Cyber Monday page first.
Spending very little. Portal 2, Human: Fall Flat, Terraria, or Stardew Valley all sit at the budget end and none of them feels like a cheap gift - they are genuinely well-regarded games that happen to be old or small. Our budget picks page covers this tier properly.
Mid-range. Overcooked! All You Can Eat and Super Mario Party Jamboree are the strongest gifts for a household or a group, because both create an evening rather than a solitary activity.
Full price. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe holds its value and rarely discounts deeply, which is worth knowing rather than waiting indefinitely for a sale. It Takes Two and Split Fiction do discount regularly, so if the occasion is not urgent, wishlisting and waiting is sensible. Prices in the table above are live from Amazon.
If you genuinely cannot determine what they own or what they have played, a store gift card for their platform is not a cop-out - it is the option with the lowest chance of being wrong, and it lets them buy during a sale when it goes furthest. Pair it with a note naming the game you would like to play together and you keep the thought without the risk. Prices on this page update live from Amazon, so check the current figure before you set a budget.
Who are you buying for, and what do they play on? Start there.
The sweet spot: a full game, or a piece of gear they will use every day.
A gift for two. Several of these only need one copy.
What actually goes on sale, what to buy now, and what to wait for. Live deals posted here in November.
Four honest ways to halve the cost of playing together.
Two Mario Party games, one right answer for your group.
Games the whole family can actually play together.
A room full of people and one screen. Make it loud.
Two of you, one couch. Games that pull in the same direction.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the safest gift for anyone with a Switch - four players on one console, no learning curve, and it stays in rotation for years. It Takes Two is the best gift if you want to play it with them, since one copy covers both players.
Physical if it needs to be wrapped and handed over, since it is a real object and needs no account details. Digital if they are far away, but be aware that gift codes are region-locked and tied to a specific storefront.
Assume a regular player already has the evergreen best-sellers like Mario Kart, Smash Bros., and Minecraft. Gift a two-player co-op game aimed at playing together instead, or pick a more recent release rather than a classic.
It Takes Two or Split Fiction. Both include a Friend's Pass, so one copy covers both players - gifting it genuinely buys it for the two of you. Split Fiction also has crossplay, so it works if you are on different platforms.
Ask, or ask someone who plays with them - buying for the wrong platform is the one mistake that cannot be fixed. If you truly cannot find out, a store gift card for their platform is the lowest-risk option and stretches further during a sale.