The Best Online Co-Op Games for Long-Distance Friends (2026)

At some point in your 30s, the friend group scatters.

Someone takes a job in another city. Someone has a kid and drops off the social calendar. The annual “we should hang out more” text thread dies after three replies. And the friends you used to see every week are now people you catch up with at weddings and over intermittent voice calls.

Online co-op doesn’t fully solve this. Nothing does. But it’s genuinely one of the better options available for maintaining a real friendship across distance. A two-hour session in It Takes Two or Deep Rock Galactic does something that a phone call can’t, it creates a shared experience with its own internal events, jokes, and memories. “Remember when you launched me into that mine cart and I died instantly” is a better anecdote than “I told him what was going on at work.”

These are the games worth building that kind of time around.

A Note Before the List

Every game here is verified for online co-op. This isn’t the same as local/couch co-op, and the distinction matters. Some games that are excellent locally have limited or no online, Unravel Two, for example, is local-only by design. I’ve flagged everything that requires a subscription service (Game Pass, PS Plus) or has crossplay available.

For the best experience, a voice chat setup matters. Discord is free and works on any device. Most people on this list will already know that, but if you’re gaming with someone who’s new to online play, Discord voice is step zero.

The Story Co-Op Games (Best for Pairs)

It Takes Two + A Way Out + Split Fiction

All three Hazelight games support online co-op with a Friend’s Pass, one person buys it, the other downloads a free pass and plays for free. That’s genuinely one of the best deals in gaming for reconnecting with a specific friend.

The reason these work so well for long-distance relationships is that they’re not sessions, they’re events. You schedule a Friday night. You commit two hours. You work through a chapter together. The game provides the context and the momentum, so you don’t have to fill every moment with conversation. You talk while you play. That’s a different kind of reconnection than just calling.

Start with: It Takes Two if you haven’t played any of them. 12 to 15 hours across 6 to 8 sessions. Feels like finishing something together.

Subscription: Via EA Play on Game Pass and PlayStation. Friend’s Pass means only one purchase needed.

Crossplay: No, same platform only.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Online-Compatible)

Most people know Keep Talking as a couch game. It also works online, one person shares their screen via Discord, the others have the manual open. The screen-sharing setup introduces a tiny bit of lag but the core experience is the same.

For two people in different cities, this is an underrated option. Sessions run 30 to 60 minutes, no commitment needed, and it generates immediate moments worth talking about.

For the Friend Group That Used to Game Together

Deep Rock Galactic

Four players. Space dwarves. Mining missions on procedurally generated caves. Then bugs arrive. Lots of bugs.

Deep Rock Galactic is one of the most well-regarded co-op games of the past several years, and it’s easy to see why. The session structure is perfect: a mission takes 20 to 40 minutes, there’s natural end-to-end progression within each run, and you can drop in and out between missions. It works with 2 players, 3, or a full group of 4.

The game is designed specifically to reward teamwork. Different classes (Driller, Engineer, Scout, Gunner) have different roles that complement each other. A Driller who tunnels through rock enables the Gunner to hold a position that wouldn’t otherwise exist. That interdependence creates the kind of moment that only co-op games generate.

Subscription: On Game Pass. Crossplay: PC and Xbox.

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Online Co-Op, Up to 4)

You already know it’s one of the best RPGs ever made. What’s less discussed for the average gamer is how well the online co-op works.

Up to 4 players can run through the full campaign together. Each player controls their own character and makes their own dialogue choices, which creates immediate divergence and interesting roleplay dynamics. The campaign is 80 to 100 hours for most groups, which means this is a long-term commitment, but for a friend group that wants a recurring session to build toward, there’s nothing else like it.

One caveat: BG3 is not a casual game. It rewards planning, pays attention to mechanics, and has a deep ruleset. Best for gaming-forward friend groups rather than casual players reconnecting.

Crossplay: PC and PS5 only. No Xbox.

Minecraft (Bedrock Edition, Crossplay)

This one might sound too simple but hear me out. Minecraft multiplayer servers, especially a private server shared with a small group, create ongoing shared worlds that evolve over weeks and months. You log on for an hour on Tuesday, build something, log off. Your friend logs on Thursday and finds it. Leaves their own additions.

That kind of asynchronous world-building is a uniquely compelling way to stay connected with people across distance. The world becomes a shared space that accumulates history.

Minecraft Bedrock Edition has full crossplay across Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Switch, and mobile, probably the widest crossplay of any major game.

Subscription: Game Pass (PC and Xbox). Crossplay: All platforms.

Overcooked: All You Can Eat (Online with Crossplay)

The couch co-op chaos works online. The complication is that the communication gap introduced by online play actually makes Overcooked harder, not easier, you can’t read someone’s physical movement or react to their body language the way you can sitting next to them.

This is actually part of why it works for long-distance groups: the additional difficulty creates more funny failures and more genuine accomplishment when things go right. Sessions run 30 to 90 minutes and have clear stopping points after each level.

Crossplay: Available between most platforms.

For a Longer-Term Ongoing Game

Stardew Valley (Up to 4 Online)

For pairs or small groups who want something ongoing rather than campaign-based, Stardew Valley multiplayer is a slow-burn excellent choice. Share a farm. Each player contributes however they want, one does the farming, one goes mining, one focuses on fishing.

The game doesn’t demand consistent sessions. You can play every week for a month, disappear for two weeks, and come back with no penalty. The farm progresses at whatever pace you play.

For two people who want a shared ongoing thing to point to, a farm that’s their joint creation, there’s almost nothing better at this price.

Subscription: Game Pass (PC and Xbox). Crossplay: PC and Xbox only.

Valheim (Up to 10)

If your group leans more toward exploration and base-building than farming, Valheim is the long-term commitment to make. A procedurally generated Norse survival world where you build bases, craft progressively better gear, and fight large bosses that require preparation and coordination.

Dedicated servers keep the world running whether or not everyone’s online, which means the world persists and grows between sessions. Groups tend to use this as a long-term project over months.

Crossplay: PC only.

Unique Picks Worth Knowing

We Were Here series (Pure Online)

The We Were Here series is built specifically for two players online in a way most co-op games aren’t. Each player is separated and has different visual information than the other. One player is in a library with books. The other is in a puzzle room that requires knowing which books to select. Neither can see what the other sees. Communication is everything.

These are puzzle games built entirely around the experience of being in different places and having to trust each other’s descriptions. They’re free or cheap (the first game is free on Steam), and the sessions run 2 to 3 hours. Genuinely interesting design for a two-player pair who wants something different.

The caveat: these are online-only. No local co-op exists in this series by design, the asymmetric information would be ruined if players could see each other’s screen.

Price: First game free on Steam. Others $10-15. Crossplay: PC only.

Phasmophobia (Atmospheric, Up to 4)

Ghost hunting game where your team investigates haunted locations and tries to identify what kind of ghost is present before it kills you. Best played in voice chat with lights off.

Phasmophobia generates specific kinds of memories. The moments where everyone’s trying to be quiet and then something happens and everyone screams simultaneously are uniquely memorable. For a friend group that wants something different from their usual sessions, it’s an excellent occasional pick.

Be honest about the horror tolerance in your group first.

Crossplay: PC and PSVR only.

The Setup Conversation You Need to Have

Before you pick a game, have the 5-minute setup conversation with your remote friend:

Platform overlap. Do you have the same console? PC and Xbox have the most crossplay options. PS5/PC works for some games. Full cross-platform is rare for the best co-op titles.

Do they have Game Pass? If yes, your library for online co-op doubles immediately, Deep Rock Galactic, It Takes Two, A Way Out, Stardew Valley are all accessible.

Time windows. You’re coordinating across time zones and life schedules. Figure out the recurring window before you pick the game.

Voice chat. Get on Discord before you need it. The in-game voice on most consoles is fine but Discord is more reliable and works across platforms.

The Quick Recommendations

The friends who scattered aren’t gone. They’re just elsewhere. A recurring game session isn’t a substitute for being in the same room, nothing is. But it’s a way to keep something alive that otherwise just fades into “we should really hang out sometime.”

Pick something. Schedule the first session. You’ll be surprised how much the distance closes when you’re both looking at the same screen.

What’s your go-to game for staying connected with distant friends? Drop it below.

About the Author: Fred is one half of Two Average Gamers, a community-focused gaming site dedicated to helping regular folks enjoy gaming without the toxicity. He has reconnected with at least three friendships through It Takes Two and credits the Friend’s Pass specifically.

More from the Co-Op Guide

This article is part of our Ultimate Couch Co-Op Guide, the complete guide to playing together in 2026.

• Best Co-Op Games on Switch 2
• The Age-by-Age Guide to Gaming With Your Kids
• Board Games vs. Video Games for Game Night
• 8 Party Games That Make Every Gathering Better
• Best Online Co-Op Games for Long-Distance Friends

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