8 Co-Op Games to Play With Your Family Over the Holidays

[n0e]

8 Co-Op Games to Play With Your Family Over the Holidays

'Tis the holiday season of too much food, sports and family time. But why waste it on watching TV together when you can, instead, play against, or with, your family in some great co-op games?

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[Geisterkarle]

I normally prefer non-electronic family games, when we play on holidays!

But other fun multiplayer games:
I heard http://gangbeasts.game/ is quite fun
And what about the "classics": Rock Band and Guitar Hero?

 

[Cowabungaa]

Some 4-player max 'core' games over the freakin' Jackbox Party Packs?! Now that's real family stuff.

 

[American Fox]

You don't know the difference between a fighting game and a beat em up?

And no newer games? Like Overcooked?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Fun as the Borderlands co-op is, I don't know if I would describe it as family-oriented.

 

[bluegate]

Just stick with Wii Bowling, as it's easy to pick up and play relatively well, or just table top games.

Games such as Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, Madden 17 aren't that fun to play with people who aren't already familiar with the games. For you, the experienced player, you're either holding back for sake of your family members or you roflstomp them, either of which put your family members in a shitty position, and for your family members, they are constantly in second place because they've just been thrown into a game without any prior knowledge or feel for the controls.

 

[Dr. Thrax]

I wouldn't really include Borderlands 2 on this list. Not only is it not really "family-oriented" in the traditional sense (My family - which consists of my mother and her fiance - would be fine with it), it also requires the use of 3rd party tools to play co-op on a single PC, or you'd need multiple copies of the game and multiple systems to play it on.

Smash Bros and Mario Kart is good to play if your entire family are gamers, otherwise you'll either curbstomp them or have to restrain yourself. Madden seems to be that way as well, but I don't play sports games, so I wouldn't know for sure. Super Mario 3D Land would be great for the early levels, which aren't too complicated, so non-gamer family members can still enjoy it. The difficulty spikes up, though at later levels.

I personally would have gone with board/card games.
There are plenty of games out there that even newbies can get into. Ascension, Pandemic, Gloom, Mysterium, Ticket to Ride, even Roll for the Galaxy.

 

[The Enquirer]

I'm going to call BS on Mario Cart. That game doesn't just break friendships, it shatters them entirely.

 

[SmugFrog]

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime! Excellent coop game with a thumping soundtrack, and they patched it after release to make it 4 player! I highly recommend it, but the quick reflexes might make it harder for younger gamers.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

I'm going to call BS on Mario Cart. That game doesn't just break friendships, it shatters them entirely.

Although Mortal Kartbat is pretty bad, that honor clearly goes to Mario HellParty. More random chance than MK will ever have which is even more infuriating.

 

[Clankenbeard]

Fun as the Borderlands co-op is, I don't know if I would describe it as family-oriented.

Borderlands II is the only 4-player game that my family of four (me, wife, daughter & son) has played all the way through. Its story and villain were enough to keep everyone's interest where so many other games have failed (I'm looking at you Pre-Sequel). My daughter and I have played together all the way up through OverPower 8. Sure, we've Minecrafted for hours at a time. But that's more "look what I can do" and less "4-player coop".

OT: Smash Brothers set my teeth on edge. I still don't get the allure of this game.