What can I play with my girlfriend online?

Hello, dear couples. Happy lockdown lift! While most are probably reunited with their SOs by now, some may still be resigned to the world of online dating (hey—international flights are pricey, okay?). Either way, no matter how “LD” your “R” is, it’s always fun to look for new ways to spend time with your partner (especially if the LD is… significant).

Without further ado, let me introduce you to online dating like never before; it’s 100 per cent effective because you’re already dating. Playing games online is a great way to bond and spend a little quality time together from afar, and you don’t even have to be good at games to enjoy it (just take it from me)!

However, co-op games that are both easy to pick up and playable remotely are pretty few and far between. Luckily, there are a bunch out there that are a genuinely good time regardless of your gaming abilities; so, without further ado, here are my personal picks for the best co-op games to play online with your long-distance partners and pals. You don’t necessarily need something sophisticated like a Nintendo Switch, a PS4, an Xbox, or a gaming laptop to play a lot of these either—a regular laptop or a smartphone will suffice just fine.

Note: This doesn’t include couch co-op, only games that you can play from a significant distance.

Behold, here is a game that any couple can play and thoroughly enjoy. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that this is the best co-op game for any couple looking for an immersive, fun experience together. The premise is simple…ish. You and bae (or whoever you happen to be playing with) are a married couple named Cody and May whose relationship is on the rocks. You tell your young daughter, Rose, that you’re planning on getting a divorce and she takes it rather badly.

Rose then cries on two small dolls that she has made in your likeness, along with this self-help book, which somehow transports your souls into these little dolls. I won’t spoil too much, but in short, to become human again you both must reconcile your differences.

As the name would suggest, It Takes Two… takes two. To progress the story and complete each level, you and your boo have to co-operate with one another.  If you’re concerned about your skill level, fret not—this is a game that requires virtually none and offers an excellent introduction to the mechanics of game playing. Conversely, if you’re now worried about getting bored because you’re too skilled as a gamer, there’s no need to worry on that front either—while It Takes Two is easy to play, it’s also an incredibly engaging game (plus, your partner’s skill level may complicate things for you).

Aside from the main storyline, you will also find little minigames that allow you both to compete directly against each other in a range of different game genres. That’s actually something the game does very well—it seamlessly transitions between genres, from Tekken to flying simulators and more, again making it a great introduction to gaming. Overall, my only critiques of the game are that it goes through Origin and that it ends. Other than that, It Takes Two is one of my personal favourites, and though it does cost a pretty penny (and a whole bunch of hard disk space), I think it’s a ridiculously fun game that is well worth it.

PS: Only one of you has to buy it in order to play it!

Find it here on Steam, here on Origin, or on your PS3 and Xbox 360.

It’s an old game, for sure, but it’s still a critically-acclaimed classic. Portal 2 was the very first game I ever played with my boyfriend, and one of the very first games I had played… ever. It’s a great game to teach novice players the basic mechanics of game playing, and it also has incredible storylines in both the single and co-op campaigns. In fact, when my boyfriend pitched this game to me, he said that: “No respectable person would ever argue the Portal 2 isn’t the best co-op game in existence.” Granted, this was before we had discovered It Takes Two and Stardew Valley, but even after playing that I think Portal 2 still holds up.

The general premise for the co-op campaign is that you and your boo are two biped bots in a run-down training facility who are trying to navigate through the test chambers as set by the facility’s supercomputer GLaDOS. You’ll go through the game, solving the puzzles in each test chamber by interacting with the environment and each other (teamwork is a necessity for this and it will really bring you both together). The controls are really easy to get the hang of, and as long as one of you is good at problem-solving, it’s a really fun game.

Find it here on Steam, or on your PS3 and Xbox 360.

Before you say that farming simulators are boring, hear me out. In this game, you’re more than just a farmer: you’re a craftsman, an artisanal dealer, a miner, an adventurer and, most importantly, a friend.

In the game, you inherit the farm from your late grandfather, who (as it turns out) must have been a terrible farmer, because the state that the land is in is a complete nightmare. Eventually, though, you build the farm to your liking and along the way you start getting more and more quests that expand the large scope of the world. The game is so expansive with so many different features and storylines that it is genuinely difficult to get bored of playing it.

The best part is the multiplayer feature, meaning your partner (and two other friends) can join in. The feature works consistently and smoothly, allowing you and your partner to explore the world, tend to your crops and even get married and have babies (so cute)!

On top of that, the game’s creator ConcernedApe (AKA Eric Barone, the sole developer behind the world of Stardew, FYI) has just released the biggest update yet—Stardew Valley 1.5. With new NPCs to interact with, an entirely new map to explore, and a revamped endgame, the game is better than ever.

As a whole, it is an impossibly fun game, but the real pull factor is how much of an escapist experience it is. You’ll forget that you’re a real person once you start playing. If that’s not enough to sell it, it’s also really affordable and it’s often on sale.

Find it on Steam, the App Store and Google Play or on your PS4, Switch or Xbox One.

I’ll level with you: I don’t really know what’s going on in this game. There is a title sequence that supposedly explains the premise, but I never watch it because I… don’t have the time. What I do know is that it’s a really great game that supports up to four co-op players.

You can pick between a few different characters, unlocking more and more as you keep playing. I always choose the Huntress—with her, you don’t have to aim (ideal for me), and her special attacks are super useful when it comes to mobs. The only downfall is that she’s kind of weak—however, that’s easily remedied with the help of bae as any one of the other stronger (but less nimble) characters. Alternatively, you can just obtain a few items. “What items?”, you say?

In the regular game, at each level, you earn money as you kill more enemies and you can use that money to open chests to get items. It’s kind of a bargain, and some items are more useful than others. You can also buy drones and turrets which can either heal you or fight for you. Collecting items is a must if you’re looking to win the game as it essentially gives you 1-ups as enemies get harder. That said, it’s also super easy to become ridiculously overpowered—something I particularly enjoy about this game.

Once you get bored of the normal gameplay, you can switch it up with the expansion, or simply switch out your game mode. Not to mention—this game has a banging soundtrack. 10/10.

Find it on Steam. 

“Start as a viking, end up as Bob the Builder. Great game.”—Steam user Greep3r

This one is for those of you who have a grasp of basic gameplay but are still not looking for anything too challenging. The premise of Valheim is simple—it’s a survival game where you’re a Viking, and the Valkyries have ferried your soul to Valheim, the tenth Norse world. These worlds are filled with beasts and creatures feared by Odin himself, and it is up to you to prove that you are worthy by slaying said beasts and creatures, as well as their big bosses.

Fighting isn’t all there is to the game, though (if it was, I probably wouldn’t be as into it as I am)—in addition to taking out a few monsters, you can also build houses, cook food, tame wolves and boar, craft goods, sail the oceans, and generally, just have a good time… that is until your server crashes or your FPS slows to near zero because you haven’t cleared drops.

There are five different biomes to explore: Meadows (where you’ll start the game), Black Forest, Swamp, Mountains, and Plains. Each of the game’s five bosses reside in each biome, and it is up to you to figure out where their altars are to summon them. If you’re lucky, they’ll all be relatively close—if not, then good luck with Sea Serpents.

To be honest, the bosses are easy. They definitely look cool, but the AI is kind of dumb overall. I’d also chalk the lack of difficulty up to the fact that I play in a group of five, so there’s always enough manpower to go around. I don’t really mind the easy bosses, though—despite being a bit disappointing, I’m very content to keep playing mainly because the rest of the game is so much fun (and because I don’t like challenges. Valheim is my escape from stress—I’m fine with an easy ride). Plus, I’m sure that a lot of the AI kinks are a symptom of the game still being in early access.

If you do find that the game doesn’t pose enough challenge for you, however, there is the option to mod it out. Now that I’ve completed the game, I’ve modded it out to increase the difficulty of enemies, improve my armour, and generally improve the quality of life. It’s a great way to keep the game interesting! Unfortunately, if you do decide to go down this route, just make sure you work quickly—any update from the devs can render your mods completely useless.

Yes, Valheim is still early access, so there are still a few kinks for the devs to work through, but as a whole, it is one of my favourite games.

Find it here through Steam on early access.

I’ll level with you—it took me a while to warm up to Minecraft. Art style aside, I’m the kind of person that requires direction in their games; I need to be given objectives to work towards. So, with Minecraft being the expansive, tutorial-free world that it is, I found it very frustrating to play initially. It didn’t help that I was the only one in my group that was inexperienced with the game: I currently play in a larger group of six, and before I’d even figured out the point of Minecraft, our base was built and fully up and running. I’m not kidding—I logged off the game one night and came back on a week later, only to find that we had a self-sufficient farm for pretty much everything (iron, bees, animals, trees—you name it).

While this is convenient in the sense that all my building materials are now readily accessible and I no longer have to fight mobs in our well-lit village (I am terrible at combat), it did mean that I basically contributed nothing to any of it. Feeling sort of meh and directionless, I was close to giving it up when my SO suggested that I build us a house (everyone else in our group has one), so I set out to make the single most obnoxious structure in our medieval-themed village. After watching a bunch of gameplay videos on YouTube, I spent hours mixing concrete in every shade of the rainbow, glazed the terracotta that my beau brought home for our floors, and built a wall out of watermelon just for kicks. My house… slaps. It looks so good. It is so at odds with the aesthetic of our village but I am really proud of it.

Anyway, as it turns out, the point of the game is to build things. Said point has me hooked. I love how cooperative it can be (i.e. I build and bae collects materials for me to keep building while everyone else does their own thing) and how immersive it is. I’m even getting better with combat and I’m gearing up to do a little more exploration moving forward. Overall, while more inexperienced gamers may need a walkthrough prior to playing, it is a great co-op game to play with your SO.

Find the Java version here.

Listen—if you’re looking for a game that marries the 8-bit art style of Stardew with the open world of Minecraft, this is the game for you. Terraria is by no means a new game, but it’s new to me and I can now confirm—it’s officially a banger.

Like Minecraft, you’ll have to find shelter ASAP, because once nightfall comes you’ll be swamped with zombie folk and the like. And, when you’re just starting out and with nothing in your arsenal, this is a certified bad time. As you progress, however, you’ll dive deeper and deeper into the earth, killing enemies, collecting ores, coins, and gear… yeah, it does sound just like 2D Minecraft, huh? Well.

Just joking, it’s different to Minecraft in a lot of ways, too. The point of the game goes beyond building a base and exploring the world—you’ll also be building up your community of lovable NPCs (eventually attending their birthday parties!) and also squaring off against the many horrific bosses that inhabit the world’s biomes, with each boss taking you closer to hard mode. The highlights? My pics include Big Bloody Eye, Wall of Flesh, Awful Terrible Stinky Skeleton, and my favourite—pretty fairy who will one-shot you with her cosmic beam of light.

My favourite part of this game, though, has nothing to do with the bosses or the building mechanics nor the cool gameplay—it’s to do with the sick outfits. Do you want be a Minecraft Creeper? You can (and yes, it is on the nose). Oh? You want to be the literal Grim Reaper? Go for it. I, personally, prefer the more refined costumes on offer in the game. I am… the Silly Sunflower. Yeah, I love this game.

Find it here on Steam, here on Google Play, and here on the App Store. More info on the game at their website here.

“shark”—Steam user @revps

“boat go zoom”—Steam user @Pears

This game is great… as long as you’re not easily stressed. I play Raft in a group of five (bae included, of course), and we’ve finished the game so far—something I would not have been able to say had I been playing on my own. The premise of the game goes like this: The world is largely underwater, and all you have left is your raft. Collect materials from the big ol’ sea and expand your new home, explore islands (and abandoned settlements), and try not to get eaten by sharks.

TIP: For some reason, in this game, sharks are relentless and they have a real taste for driftwood and milk bottles (they eat your raft), so you’ll want to craft a spear at your earliest convenience.

I was more of a homemaker in this game (say what you will about female stereotypes; I just like low-risk tasks), so I was predominantly in charge of cooking, farming, and repairing/expanding our raft. Spoiler alert: We have built a most wonderful raft home, decked out with a bedroom, a dance hall, an animal coop, a recreation room, a cellar, a storage area, a tree farm, and a kitchen/dining area. It almost brings me as much pride as our