It Takes Two

It Takes Two won Game of the Year back in 2021, shocking a bunch of people, myself included. In retrospect, it wasn’t that much of an impossibility. It Takes Two is, for what it’s worth, still the very best co-op game I’ve played. So many experiences are made better by just having another person or two around, but Hazelight Games went the extra mile to make a game catered to co-op and ingenuity. Across the span of the game, you play as a miniaturized couple on the cusp of divorce who have to learn to overcome their differences in order to make it back to their normal life and daughter. The wonderfully fantastical journey they go on transforms It Takes Two from just another 3D platformer into so much else.

At one point, It Takes Two jokingly becomes a 2D fighting game. At another junction, it becomes a third-person shooter. At yet another, it’s a decently compelling top-down ARPG like Diablo. You ride frogs throughout one level, and skate across an icy landscape in another. It Takes Two is constantly reinventing itself over the course of a playthrough, and crafts situations that test both players in unique ways the entire time. There is not a more diverse co-op offering out there, and you can have It Takes Two for just $14.