Some co-op games are about teamwork, but these ones are about barely being able to walk.

SHARED BODY GAMES

Most co-op games give each player their own character, but this group of games everyone just shares control of a single body. And that goes about as well as you’d expect.

Octodad: Dadliest

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is kind of the classic example. One player might be controlling a leg, another an arm, and in the game you’re all trying to convince the outside world that you’re a completely normal dad, when of course you’re actually an octopus. Duh. Even just getting across the room feels like a huge accomplishment.

Manual Samuel

Manual Samuel. If Octodad wasn’t frustrating enough, this game makes you control pretty much every part of the human body. Walking, breathing, blinking, things most of us take for granted suddenly become major responsibilities. And it’s one of those games where even if you lose, it’s still just a lot of fun to play with your friends.

Limbbot

Limbbot is an upcoming game that takes the shared body concept and does it a little differently. Players work together to control a giant cardboard robot, with each person responsible for different functions. The demo is already available, and if you’re a fan of those awkward, chaotic co-op games, this is definitely one worth keeping an eye on.

TIED TOGETHER GAMES

In all of these games you’re actually physically tied together, so you have to communicate and figure out how to coordinate through obstacles and environments.

Phogs

The first one is Phogs. You and a friend each control one end of a stretchy two-headed dog. This one is definitely a simple idea, but it’s a lot more difficult than you might expect, since it’s going to take a lot of communication to solve some of these puzzles while you’re literally attached to each other.

Heave Ho

Heave Ho might be one of the purest examples of what a physics co-op game actually is. You grab walls, you grab platforms, and most importantly, you grab each other. The goal is simple: just reach the exit. But the actual experience is mostly just yelling at each other while your partner accidentally lets go.

Flying to the Finish

Fling to the Finish. Imagine a racing game where both players are connected by an elastic rope. Eventually you learn to use that rope to launch each other across obstacles. Before that happens, you’ll probably spend a lot of time running into walls. And you can just stop imagining that, because that game exists and it’s called Fling to the Finish.

Chained Together

We have to talk about Chained Together. This is one of the biggest physics co-op hits in recent years. Players climb enormous vertical levels while literally being chained together. The objective is to try to get as high as you can, and you’re literally trying to get out of hell. If anyone makes a mistake, you can drag your whole team all the way down, so you definitely want to get some players close to the same skill level. You can play this one with up to four players and local split screen.

Friendly Steps

Friendly Steps is another upcoming game that takes the idea of cooperative movement and makes it intentionally awkward. Even just walking around is kind of difficult, especially when you’re playing with friends because you need to sync up and try to walk together. The idea is you’re supposed to be drunk, so the controls are intentionally really awkward, using the left and right trigger for each leg to move. I briefly tried the demo and that version doesn’t have split screen capabilities yet, so this one is pretty much like Chained Together if you were drunk and could barely even walk.

Stuck Together

Stuck Together is about two toys that are literally stuck together. You’re mainly just going to be climbing, and in a sense it plays very similar to Heave Ho because you’re swinging back and forth to gain momentum to climb higher. Each player is able to grab on with their left hand and their right hand, and that’s how you do all your movement. The main challenge of this game really isn’t the obstacles or the level design. It’s just going to be who you’re playing with.

An extremely hard game

An extremely hard game comes out later this year, and this one takes the climbing and coordination formula and adds a very fragile egg into the mix. While you’re already trying to navigate these environments, you have an egg in the middle of both players, so you really have to be in sync and talk things out so you don’t crack the egg.

PHYSICS CHALLENGE GAMES

These are games where the world itself is kind of the challenge.

Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies is one of the most unique games on this list. You play as astronauts performing maintenance work in space, and the catch is that every movement follows the rules of zero gravity. Something as simple as opening a hatch can quickly turn into a disaster. I played this game with my daughter and my girlfriend, and we did have a lot of fun, but the majority of the time we were just trying to figure out how to do the basics of moving through the environment, and I don’t think any of us really got a good grasp on those basics.

Snipperclips

Snipperclips is a Nintendo Switch launch title that still feels unlike anything else. The main gimmick is that you are literally cutting pieces out of each other to solve puzzles. Sometimes you just have to fit a certain shape, sometimes you have to cut pieces out in order to move an item into the goal, and sometimes you need to cut a specific shape so it’s kind of like a hook or claw to flip a switch or move something. Snipperclips is great. It’s still one of the best co-op puzzle games ever made.

Good Job

Good Job is another game that came out exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. You have these basic normal office jobs, moving a projector, delivering a package, connecting wires, and you could do this normally, but sometimes these tasks aren’t quite as straightforward as you’d think, and doing it peacefully isn’t an option. As you get going, things become more and more chaotic, and you really start destroying the environment as you try to accomplish these jobs. That’s the fun thing about this game, just destroying everything in sight.

Untitled Goose Game

Untitled Goose Game was already great, then they added a second goose so you could play it in two-player co-op. This is a great example of a single player experience becoming a lot better by making it co-op. The main idea is you’re just these geese, and you go around terrorizing everyone in sight, solving really basic puzzles. For the most part this game is pretty easy and relaxed, though there are some later parts we got a little frustrated with, but it’s still a great co-op game.

The Stretchers

The Stretchers is another one that only came out on the Nintendo Switch. You play as emergency responders transporting injured civilians, and the problem is that controlling the stretcher is often more dangerous than whatever injured them in the first place. You can drive around the ambulance for fun, go off crazy jumps, clap and sing for no reason, but the main focus is picking up civilians and bringing them into the ambulance, navigating various obstacles along the way. You can do this individually by just dragging them, but the faster and more efficient way is to pull out the stretcher, one of you on each side of it. That’s when the real co-op gameplay comes into play.

Moving Out

Moving Out. If you ever moved furniture with your friends, you already understand this game, except now the physics are actively working against you. Some doors are just too small, furniture is always going to get stuck, and windows become shortcuts, though not always the easier route. If you liked Overcooked, this is very similar, but I feel like it’s a lot less stressful than those games.

All Hands on Deck

All Hands on Deck is a co-op puzzle platformer where you use rock, paper, scissors, and various items to solve puzzles. You play as these two hands, and when your hand is in the paper formation, wide open, you’re able to grab things and high-five. You turn your hand into scissors to cut a pathway or into a rock to punch or move certain things. Pretty much anyone can play this one, but it does get more and more difficult as you go.

Paddle, Paddle, Paddle

Paddle, Paddle, Paddle. As the name implies, there’s a lot of paddling in this game. Each player gets one paddle, and you have to paddle together and communicate to go the way you want to go, around all these crazy obstacles. There’s a lot of lava, a lot of rocks in your way, and sometimes you’re not always in a boat. This one’s really weird, and it definitely has a low-budget vibe. Well, it is only $4.99 on Steam, but it’s actually a lot of fun.

PHYSICS SANDBOX GAMES

These are games that do have various puzzles and obstacles to navigate, but the environment is a lot more open, and a lot of times the fun is just messing around in the world.

Human: Fall Flat

Human: Fall Flat, for a lot of people, is the game that defined physics co-op. The wobbly movement, the creative puzzles, and the unpredictable interactions are what made this one of the most popular games in the genre. I played it quite a bit with my daughter when she was younger, and we didn’t really even do a lot of the puzzles, we kind of just messed around, and that’s what I love about it. You can just grab each other and jump off a ledge, climb around, and mess with each other. This one is just good dumb fun.

Wobbly Life

Wobbly Life is a lot like Human: Fall Flat, but in an open world environment. There’s jobs, vehicles, mini games, plenty of missions, and a lot of opportunities to mess around, just like Human: Fall Flat. This is another one that’s really great to play with kids.

Amazing Frog

Amazing Frog is one of the weirdest games on the list. You play as frogs in a weird open world, with stunts, explosions, and all kinds of nonsense. I’m not sure how else to describe this game, but it is actually really fun.

Watch Out for Goblins

Watch Out for Goblins hasn’t come out yet, but there is a demo available, and I actually played this on a live stream with my friend Shawn. Just like these other games, this one is really just about messing around in a fun world. You start out as a goblin with nothing but a pair of underwear on, and you can go around and grab different pieces of clothing and wear them. Moving around just feels weird, you’re very wobbly, and when you jump it feels like you’re launching yourself into the air. You can just go around and slap each other and other goblins. We didn’t really accomplish anything when we played this game, but we still had a lot of fun just jumping around and ramming into each other. So when this game does come out, I imagine we’ll probably give it another try.

Goat Simulator 3 and Goat Simulator Remastered

And we have Goat Simulator 3 as well as Goat Simulator Remastered, the games in the series that actually have local co-op. I feel like this is probably the game that kind of started this whole genre, whatever it’s called, physics-based sandbox game. It just takes that idea of being in a big environment and running around creating chaos, not really knowing exactly what the point of the game is. Of course there are objectives if you want them, but I think most players are just seeing what you can break and what you can climb up on. I remember when I first heard about Goat Simulator, I think it was from my nephew when he was a little kid, and I didn’t understand anything about this game, it just looked really dumb. Since then I’ve played it a little bit more, and I still don’t understand anything about it. But I don’t have to, because it’s fun.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So there’s a bunch of weird physics-based co-op games. I’d say the main theme between all of them is they don’t really take themselves too seriously. It’s the perfect kind of game to casually play with your friends or any partner at any skill level, because you don’t have to be good at these games. You don’t have to master the controls or the gameplay to actually enjoy it and laugh at it and have fun with your partner. And those are some of the purest co-op experiences you can possibly have.