27 of the best co-op games on Android for 2022 – Android Police
Tired of competitive games? Here’s more than a few quality co-op titles
When one thinks of online games, they typically think of competitive games, but co-op games also exist, and they are the perfect titles to play with friends and family that aren't interested in competition. This is why we here at AP have compiled the best co-op games currently available on Android, a perfect roundup for all of you searching out titles to play with your partner. Best of all, this is a constantly-updated list, now even larger thanks to two new games added in the latest update (changelog below). So if you've been on the hunt for some awesome co-op titles to play with your friends or significant other, then today's co-op roundup is for you.
If you're looking for older posts, here's where you can find our previous game roundups.
SMG Studio's Death Squared is a humorous and enjoyable puzzle game that's centered around coordination, cooperation, and giant explosions. You can play solo if you wish, and you can also team up with one other player to tackle the game's eighty or so block puzzles in tandem. Even better, physical bluetooth controllers are supported, so if your partner isn't a fan of touchscreen gameplay, there's a separate control option available that's a lot more tactile.
Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / IAPs $2.99 apiece
Soul Knight is a bullet hell shooter that contains a slick fantasy theme. You can play as a knight, rogue, wizard, or thief in a top-down view while trying your best to kill everything that moves. Tons of weapons and upgrades are scattered throughout the game's randomly generated levels, along with NPCs that can be recruited for a little AI assistance. Of course, you can also team up with up to three local players if you'd like to really cause some damage.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $4.99
Among Us has soared to popularity over the last year or so, so it hardly needs an introduction. Now that people have caught on that this is an enjoyable party game, I figured it's time to add it to AP's co-op list. It's a game best played with multiple friends, and so it supports 5-10 players at a time for each match, where players can cooperate to take on their hidden enemy. This isn't guaranteed, as the goal of the game is to discover the fraud in the group, but with a heavy dose of cooperation, players can better position themselves to find this fraud. All in all, if you enjoy party games where you can cooperate with friends and family, then Among Us offers tons of fun.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $24.99
Sky: Children of the Light took its time coming to Android, but the wait was well worth it. It's a third-person exploration game that's similar in style to the developer's previous work, such as Journey and Flower. This means exploration is the key to success, and thanks to the game's co-op multiplayer aspects, you can explore the title's seven levels with a buddy or two quite easily. Now, this is a free-to-play release, and in-app purchases are included, but they are hardly necessary to enjoy the game. While this can be a demanding release, you can still play on a low-end device, thanks to a bout of performance improvements that were released in 2020.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $49.99
Rocket League is a go-to competitive car-based soccer game on PC and consoles, but it also offers team-based modes where you'll cooperate with friends in order to take down other teams. Well, the developer Psyonix has launched a mobile interpretation of the game called Rocket League Sideswipe, and it's absolutely fantastic. It offers twitch controls similar to the console game, but now you'll play on a 2D plane in a bite-sized experience. Controllers are supported, and the touch controls are pretty good too, plus the game isn't even monetized yet, which means now is the best time to jump in. While this is often bandied about as a competitive game, the fact you can cooperate with friends to take down opposing teams means there is plenty of co-op fun to be had.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
DUAL is an interesting cross-device implementation of a classic space shooter. Two opponents can face off head to head through two different Android devices, or they can choose to cooperate in a separate mode to take down the game's many foes together. What's interesting is that the field of play extends across both devices, so you'll need to be within arm's length for the full experience. Just keep in mind that the local co-op mode where both players get to shoot invading aliens is sealed behind an in-app purchase for $3, which actually unlocks the entirety of the game.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $2.99 apiece
XenoShyft is a digital board game adaptation from Asmodee Digital, and I specifically picked this game from the company's catalog because its gameplay is focused on coordination and strategic planning. While you can play this title solo, it shines when playing with others. At its core, this is a card-based game for 1 to 4 players, and it can be pretty challenging, which is why teaming up is the best way to tackle this strategic base-defense deck-builder.
Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $4.99
Dragalia Lost is a fairly popular gacha game from Nintendo, so of course, it's a casual action RPG with a heavy emphasis on collection mechanics. It contains some of the best music found in any Android release, and the gameplay isn't that bad either. Journeying from one level to the next while defeating groups of enemies, to then take on a giant boss fight, is a formula many gacha fans should be familiar with, but the fact that you can team up to take down the game's many foes is what makes this a standout in today's roundup.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $79.99
The Battle of Polytopia is one of the better 4X turn-based strategy games currently available on the Play Store, and its low-poly graphics indeed provide the game with a unique look. All maps are auto-generated, which allows for endless replayability, and the majority of the title can be played for free. Really, the only downside to this release is that the co-op content is locked behind an in-app purchase, but given that it will unlock the entirety of the game, it's easily worth it.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $4.49
Mystera Legacy is an older title, but it's still active. This is a 2D MMORPG, and like any MMO, you can jump in with a few friends to grind your days away in tandem. What's exceptionally nice about this release is the fact that it's totally free. There are no in-app purchases. Everyone can jump in. So even though the graphics might not impress, there's a good bit of content here that can be played with a friend or two, which is what today's list is all about.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Much like Minecraft, Terraria hardly needs an introduction. Sadly Terraria has a bit of a bad rap on Android, thanks to years of neglect from the dev, but luckily the game was updated to v1.3 in 2019, and so it has seen much more support over the last few years. The monumental 1.3 update brought many new features, such as reworked touchscreen controls, 800 new items, an expert mode, and new biomes. And again, much like Minecraft, LAN co-op is supported, which makes this an extremely deep game to dive into if you're looking for some enjoyable co-op play in a 2D sandbox.
Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / no IAPs
The Bloons tower defense franchise has had a lot of success, and thankfully the developer Ninja Kiwi hasn't lost its touch, as Bloons TD 6 is just as great as the previous titles in the series. Sure, you're going to have to pay upfront, and there are a bunch of in-app purchases included, but I have to say the title's newly-added co-op gameplay makes it all worth it. After all, it's not like you have to sink a ton of money into this game to play casually with a partner. So if you have a hankering for some enjoyable co-op tower defense gameplay, Bloons TD 6 is currently the best choice.
Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $54.99
Do you remember the tense bomb-diffusing scenes from just about every action movie ever made? Well, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is that scene made into a video game. While the title used to only support Daydream virtual reality devices, it has been updated to support touchscreens, which means everyone can jump into the fun. Much like the game Spaceteam, one player will have to team up with at least one other so that the bomb-defusing instruction can be relayed through speech to the person tasked with defusing the bomb. Essentially this is a local co-op party game that supports two or more players, and it's a heck of a lot of fun.
Monetization: $9.99 / no ads / no IAPs
If you're big into MOBAs, then you already know this competitive genre that also offers a boatload of co-op play, where you can team up with friends and family to take on other teams. League of Legends: Wild Rift supports 5v5 battles, which means you can team up with five friends, and thanks to Riot's experience with the genre, it seems pretty clear LoL is at the top of the list when it comes to player base size and evenly-paired matches. After all, it's popular for a reason, so if you're looking for a MOBA to jump into with some friends, why not give League of Legends: Wild Rift a shot.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $2.99 – $99.99
Sentinels of the Multiverse is a turn-based collectible card game that's set in a superhero universe with art to match. Your deck is made up of a team of good guys, and you'll use their various powers to dispose of the game's nasty hand-drawn villains. Co-op is supported for up to four players, and each person gets to bring along their own deck and hero, which should allow for many different strategies when tackling the game as a team.
Monetization: $0.99 / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $24.99
EVE Echoes is one of the more popular MMOs on the Play Store, which means you can jump in with a few friends to cooperate towards your goals. Sure, this isn't a 1:1 copy of the original PC version of EVE, but that's a good thing since you can now use a touchscreen interface to play. More or less, if you're looking to jump into an immersive MMO on mobile that offers a similar co-op experience to PC, EVE Echoes is one of the few choices available that actually delivers.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $184.99
Hero Siege is a popular hack-and-slash dungeon crawler that got its start on Steam. It has a lot in common with titles like Wayward Souls, including its 2D sprite graphics and roguelike permadeath setup, though the action is much more frantic. Thankfully Hero Siege includes controller support for those that prefer tactile controls when slaying monsters. The game can be beat both in single-player and online multiplayer co-op (up to four people), plus there's a randomized mode for those that would like to continue playing after they finish the primary campaign.
Monetization: $9.99 / no ads / IAPs from $1.99 – $23.99
Minecraft hardly needs an introduction. It's an extremely popular voxel-based survival game that features tons of building mechanics, and of course, you can play with a partner locally over a LAN connection or even jump into an online server by connecting through an IP address. For the most part, this is a sandbox affair, so you are free to do as you please, whether you want to jump into the Survival mode or dive into a Creative session. It's also a live service game, which means it's still receiving updates with all kinds of new content. All around, this is a wonderfully supported game that offers thousands of hours of fun, and you can have this fun with a co-op partner any time you wish. What's not to like?
Monetization: $7.49 / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $49.99
Spaceteam attempts to recreate the frantic space battles of your favorite TV sci-fi shows… or at least, the frantic shouting that takes place on the bridge. One player will get to press nonsensical dials and switches as ordered by their partner or a group of friends. This is a great little co-op party game similar in style to Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, but of course, Spaceteam dates all the way back to 2013 on Android. In contrast, the virtual reality game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes was only updated for touchscreen support in 2019.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $2.99 apiece
Human: Fall Flat is a quirky physics-based puzzler that was ported to Android in 2020. The game features imprecise controls, and that's by design. Each puzzle in the game has multiple solutions, so it's up to the players to explore the bounds of this title. There's a solo mode for those that prefer to play alone, and there's also a co-op multiplayer mode where you can team up with up to three friends. The title is rather short, though there is a lot of fun to be had if you plan on playing with your friends online.
Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / no IAPs
Matthew is a furious nitpicker and something of a (albeit amusing) curmudgeon. A person who holds an oddly deep interest in Android and advancing the state of gaming on the platform. Some may say a ridiculous task, but it is one he is willing to take on from the comfort of his armchair.