Video games can be fun on their own, but they are even more enjoyable when shared with a friend or a loved one. Many games even offer a co-op or multiplayer mode where you can play either alongside or against other players locally or online, though there are still plenty of single-player titles out there to experience.
A majority of multiplayer games typically fall under the same genres such as beat 'em ups, shooters, and MMOs. If the game you want to play is outside any of these categories, it can be a bit difficult to find the right one to play with your friends. Or is it? It turns out that plenty of single-player games can easily be played by more than one person with a bit of communication, sharing, and cooperation.
Updated September 9th, 2022 by Kyle Chamaillard. As the number of single-player games increases over time, it's become much easier for us to find new ways to share our adventures with close friends and loved ones. Whether they are providing commentary or simply watching, the experience of playing through a riveting campaign with someone else by your side can help make it much more memorable and enjoyable. We've decided to update this list with even more games that were designed to be played by one person, but can be much more fun with a little help from your friends.
15 Slay The Spire
It's hard to ignore the immensely popular roguelike deck-building genre that has been taking over the industry with excellent games like Monster Train, Inscryption, and the outstanding Slay the Spire. Each one requires you to build a deck capable of defeating random enemy encounters and difficult bosses that change during each playthrough.
Slay the Spire is one of the easier games to pick up and play, so why not have someone by your side to help you make the perfect deck? You'll need to make important decisions like which paths to take and which cards to use, and having someone to discuss the pros and cons of each choice can help remove some of the pressure. You can also trade the controller back and forth between battles, to see how far you can bring the deck that you built together.
14 Detroit: Become Human
Detroit: Become Human is set in the not-so-distant future where technology has created the "perfect" android, meant to serve humankind. However, a group of androids become "Deviant" and start exhibiting behavior that alludes to them becoming sentient. You'll play as three different android protagonists: Kara who escapes her abusive owner to protect a young girl, Markus who fights to free androids from servitude, and Connor, an android created to hunt those that turn Deviant.
Each chapter of the game switches between a character's perspective and requires you to make important choices that affect the outcome of the game. There are a ton of different endings and scenarios to discover, making Detroit something you can play over and over again and always see something new each time. Detroit is great to have someone watch you play, but you can also pass the controller between chapters for even more fun.
13 Catherine
Catherine follows the story of Vincent Brooks, a man who is plagued with supernatural nightmares where he's forced to escape a crumbling tower of blocks. His real world isn't any easier, as he finds himself torn between the relationship with his long-time girlfriend Katherine and a woman he has an affair with, named Catherine.
The game is part platforming puzzle-solver and part social simulator as you have to navigate Vincent through both the "Nightmare" stages and the awful situation with his love life. Not only can two players take turns tackling the puzzles (the levels get harder as the game goes on), but they can also help influence which ending Vincent receives. Check out Catherine: Full Body for even more fun and a new love interest for Vincent named Rin.
12 The Evil Within Series
In The Evil Within series, you play as Sebastian Castellanos, a detective investigating the scene of a brutal mass murder inside a hospital. He finds himself thrown into a dark and twisted world filled with monsters and deadly traps along with his partner Joseph and Junior Detective Kidman. While fighting off dangers and trying to find a way back to reality, Sebastian uncovers many truths about the world he is in and even himself.
Both The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2 are pretty long for single-player games (roughly over twelve hours each) and certain fights are ridiculously tough, even in normal mode. Sometimes it's nice to have someone close by to tap in for you when you feel burnt out or simply want to watch them suffer for a bit while you catch your breath.
11 Return Of The Obra Dinn
Return of the Obra Dinn is a unique puzzle game created by Lucas Pope, who also developed the stellar Papers, Please back in 2013. You play as an insurance inspector sent to investigate the Obra Dinn, a ship that suddenly reappears after being gone for five years. It will be up to you to figure out what exactly happened to the boat and its crew members in a monochromatic adventure unlike anything else.
Return of the Obra Dinn only provides you with a few tools, like a notebook, to help solve each mystery, and it can be a lot to take on at once. Having someone by your side to either help take notes or remember certain elements not only makes the game a bit easier but also makes discovering the dark secrets of the Obra Dinn more exciting.
10 The Silent Hill Series
The Silent Hill series has been scaring survival horror fans since 1999. There are eight main games in the series and each stars a seemingly "average" person who is put through unusual and often terrifying situations. Whether it's the power of Silent Hill itself or something else otherworldly, the protagonists find themselves trapped in a world made from their psyches, suffer delusions, and battle creatures symbolic of their unconscious minds.
Each Silent Hill game is also notorious for having some pretty difficult puzzles in them, especially the original and Silent Hill 3. Playing through them with a friend is a great idea, so you have someone to help you out with the challenging puzzles, or to look up strategy guides on the side while you work away.
9 The Life Is Strange Series
One day, Max Caulfield has a vision of a tornado destroying a lighthouse and after a traumatic event, discovers she has the ability to rewind time. After reconnecting with her childhood friend Chloe, the two use her powers to uncover the secrets of several people in town. They also learn that her vision of the storm foretold the destruction of the town and must figure out a way to save themselves and everyone around them.
That's the basic premise for the first Life is Strange and both of its sequels offer fascinating narratives with new characters confronting their superpowers and how it affects the people around them. The choices you make throughout each adventure will significantly change the story and the character's fates. Being a superhero is a lot of responsibility, so why not share the burden with someone else?
8 Until Dawn
Until Dawn is a survival horror game where your choices shape the fate of each character. A year after the prank that sent his two sisters missing, Josh Washington invites his friends back to his family's lodge on Blackwood Mountain. A night that was supposed to be filled with fun is quickly replaced with terror as the group faces several horrors that lead to clues about their friends' disappearance and several other mysteries that surround the mountain.
Every choice you make has a "butterfly effect", which can result in unforeseen consequences and changes the character's relationships with one another. Two players can work together to make these crucial choices easier, and it doesn't hurt to have another set of eyes looking out for clues, totems, or the next jump scare.
7 The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you control Link as he awakens after a 100-year slumber with no memories of his past. He's guided by a mysterious voice that seems familiar, and it slowly guides him to uncover his destiny which is to defeat the evil known as Calamity Ganon before he destroys the world.
Breath of the Wild is an open world and has non-linear quests and objectives. You can have fun either playing through the main storyline or battling in shrines to earn Spirit Orbs to level up Link's health and stamina. Breath of the Wild also has two DLC bundles that add more challenges, game modes, and items, including ones themed after older Zelda games. It's an incredible world to get lost in, and it's dangerous to go alone.
6 Hitman 3
While Hitman 2 introduced a proper co-op mode with its Sniper Assassin missions, its sequel unfortunately only contains single-player content to play through. Fortunately, it's incredibly easy to turn Hitman 3 into the perfect couch co-op game by getting creative with friends and seeing who can finish a contract the fastest.
You can create custom rules like only being able to use certain weapons to make it much more fun and continue passing the controller around to see who is the ultimate assassin. Even if your friends don't want to compete against you, it can be incredibly helpful to have someone close by to help plan out the hit and keep an eye on the map while you hide bodies and change disguises.
5 The Last Of Us Pt. I & Pt. II
Decades after the outbreak of mutant fungus devastates civilization, survivors live day by day under the threat of the Infected and hostile humans. The Last of Us Part 1 follows Joel, a smuggler who's tasked with escorting Ellie, who just might be the key to a cure. The sequel follows Ellie on a brutal quest to seek revenge on a group of people that attack her and Joel.
You could take turns controlling the heroes as they stealth past terrifying creatures, or fight them using limited supplies and ammo. There are a few puzzles to solve in both games, and plenty of collectibles to find as well. Both games offer compelling narratives in incredibly dense worlds that can easily capture the imagination and interest of anyone watching, whether they are into video games are not.
4 Resident Evil 1-4, 7-8
Resident Evil is a long-running survival-horror series that has become infamous for its gripping gameplay, the iconic cast of characters, and unpredictable stories. While you could play the action-focused Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 with actual co-op, it's much more fun to play through one of the single-player entries together with someone who can help calm you down after a haunting chase sequence.
Each one of these Resident Evil games is filled to the brim with creepy monsters and the perfect balance of suspense and action. Whether your friend is rooting for you as you confront a boss or watching you navigate narrow hallways through their fingers, it's always great to breathe a sigh of relief with someone else every time you take a few steps without a jump scare.
3 Immortality
The FMV genre has been around since the early 80s, but very few games from it have broken into the zeitgeist and received as much critical acclaim as Immortality. Created by Sam Barlow, who also developed popular FMV games like Her Story and Telling Lies, Immortality contains an excellent mystery that's even better to solve with someone else by your side.
Your main objective is to figure out what happened to Marissa Marcel, an actress who has gone missing. She appeared in three films, and you will need to sift through scenes from each one to unravel what really happened to her by clicking on objects and people. Once you start Immortality, it becomes hard to stop playing, and playing it with a friend feels like playing through a mesmerizing interactive film.
2 L.A. Noire
This Rockstar game follows detective Cole Phelps as he starts as a uniformed patrolman and rises through the ranks of the LAPD. Phelps has to search for clues at crime scenes and interrogate witnesses and suspects, which is one of the main focuses of the game. Sometimes it's hard to tell when someone is lying, so having backup is never a bad idea.
Interrogation follows the "Good Cop, Bad Cop, Accuse" system. Play Good Cop when you believe what the person is saying, Bad Cop to coax more information out of them when they're withholding, and Accuse when you know they're telling a lie. A friend can help you solve each case and make your life as an officer much easier.
1 The Witness
If you and your friends love puzzles, then The Witness is a perfect choice. It has over 500 puzzles that range from easy to extremely difficult. It's a first-person game that takes place after you wake up alone on a strange beach, and you must solve a series of puzzles to figure out your identity and how to get back home.
The beach is made up of several stunningly vibrant environments that are a delight to just walk through and take in the atmosphere. It's really fun to just walk around and explore, and The Witness is one of those games that doesn't give you any directions. How you and a friend go about solving the puzzles is purely up to you, so you can craft your own unique adventure within The Witness' lush world.