Split screen gaming is the most fun way of playing games with your friends. Though we tend to get online coop a lot more these days, a few games keep the split screen tradition alive with their excellent local coop features. This guide looks at the best split screen games you can currently play on the PS5.
We’ve included games from a multitude of genres to make the list as flexible and accommodating as possible.
Rocket League
Genre: Action/Sports/Cars/Indie
Rocket League can be downloaded from the PS Store for free and is an exceptionally fun split screen game where you control cars to score goals on a soccer field. This is one of the best free split screen games on offer for the PS5 right now.
And it’s not just football either. You can also play hockey and basketball-styled minigames. Rocket League is easy enough to learn within a few sessions. But it has a learning curve with a high ceiling that takes years and hundreds of hours to master.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Genre: Dungeons and Dragons / Turn-Based / Action / Adventure
For all our Dungeons & Dragons lovers out there, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the perfect game for you this holiday season. This game has previously been included in our Best Couch Coop games list for the PS5 as well.
You can play BG3 in 2-player split screen mode from start to finish and experience a completely different way of unfolding the story. The second player can follow you around or pave their own way and make entirely different choices.
The sheer depth and attention to detail in this game made it win the GOTY award this year, and we’d say it deserved it.
Stardew Valley
Genre: Indie/Life Simulation/ Strategy/RPG
Stardew Valley is a relaxing game where you start by inheriting your grandfather’s old farm and must use your planning and wit to turn this farm around and make a living out of it. This game can be played in split screen mode with a coop partner.
You can also marry your coop partner and start a family with them. The game seems pretty basic on the surface, but once you start getting further in the game and have a well-established farm, you’ll start exploring the caves around you and encounter monsters aswell.
A lot of fun awaits you in Stardew Valley. If you and your friends like to farm and strategize, this is going to be the best game for you this holiday season.
Goat Simulator 3
Genre: Sandbox/Adventure/Casual
Hmm, how should we pitch Goat Simulator 3 to you? It’s a game where you and 3 other friends can link up in online/local coop and even play the game in split screen and wreak havoc across the sandbox.
You can compete in minigames, roam around, destroy stuff, drive stuff, throw stuff, and do a whole lot more while controlling a goat. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? You can play this light-hearted game to zone out and have a good laugh – A perfect setting for split screen gaming.
It Takes Two
Genre: Puzzle / Platform / Action
This one is for the couples. It Takes Two is an adventure platformer where two players control a husband and wife who have turned into dolls and navigate levels while solving puzzles and defeating bosses with cooperation.
It’s a mildly challenging game that is perfect for people of all ages, and the vibrant aesthetic of the game and easy controls make it perfect for kids as well.
Each level you go through will assign both characters random abilities, such as the ability to pull magnets or shrink the other character, etc. Definitely check it out if you are looking for a fun game for 2 in split screen mode.
Dont Starve Together
Genre: Indie/RPG/Fighting
Don’t Starve Together is a completely different experience from Stardew Valley. Where SV is a game about peaceful farming and not dying…DST is the complete opposite. The prospect of death always lingers above your head.
You have to worry about gathering food and other resources all the time while fending off enemies and monsters. Oh, and… Don’t Starve Together has a permadeath mechanic where you lose everything if you die and have to start from scratch (unless you have the means to resurrect).
If you are ready for such a challenge and want to experience this game with a friend, then you’ll be glad to know that Dont Starve Together can be played in split screen mode as well.
Fortnite
Genre: Battle Royale
Fortnite is a free-to-play battle royale available on the PS5 and almost all other platforms that can be played in a horizontal split-screen mode as well. You can play the duos and squads mode online while playing in the split screen mode.
I don’t think Fortnite needs a long introduction. You build, break, shoot, run, slurp, and slide your way to victory by staying inside the storm walls and killing other players. The last one standing wins.
Lego: Star Wars – The Skywalker Saga
Genre: Action/Adventure
If you want to experience all 9 major Star Wars movies in a Lego world with another friend, Lego: Star Wars – The Skywalker Saga is the perfect game for you. The entire game can be played in coop with another friend.
Starting a coop split screen session is as easy as it gets. The other player just needs to connect their controller and press join to start controlling any other member in your party.
Once done with the session, simply go into the menu and select the DROP OUT option to end the split screen session and return to singleplayer.
This was our list of the 8 best split-screen games you can play with your friends and family on the PS5. We tried to include games from all genres and for all age groups to relate with as many players as possible.
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