Co-op PC games for short sessions with friends
Co-op games that are easy to start when your time together is limited. We chose games with quick rounds or the option to save at any time.
Even when you coordinate schedules with friends, you often have only about an hour to play together. Co-op games are harder to stop midway through than solo games, so it helps to check how a round ends before you start.
How we chose the games
For this list, we count a game as co-op only if its Steam store page lists online co-op or local co-op. Being able to play in short sessions means you can save at any time or stop at the end of a round or section. We used our reviews and official descriptions to determine what counts as a round.
What to check before choosing
First, count how many people will be playing. The number of players each game supports varies, so check its store page. For paid games, also check whether everyone needs to buy their own copy. Free games are easy to start, but check the review first to see where you may be asked to pay.
Games that fit
Monster Hunter Wilds
If repeating hunts with friends sounds like a good time, this is the cheapest the entry ticket has ever been; if not, waiting for the 2027 expansion's reception costs nothing.
- News: A Switch 2 demo for Monster Hunter Wilds arrives October 20, ahead of the December 4 release
- Online co-op
- Stage by stage
PIT OF GOBLIN
- This week: On Xbox and in Game Pass from November 3
- Online co-op
- One run at a time
Elden Ring
For someone who treats failure as information, this is the open world of the decade; for someone who wants to follow a marker, it is a ten-hour wall.
- Online co-op
- Story-driven
- Save anytime
PEAK
A co-op climbing game where the till closes after $7.99, and how much of that price is returned depends on how many Steam friends share your evenings.
- Online co-op
- One run at a time
Slay the Spire 2
If spending thirty seconds on a single card choice sounds like fun, 27,000 won buys a lot of it, and if those thirty seconds feel like waiting, two runs will tell you.
- Online co-op
- One run at a time
- Save anytime
Valheim
Two or three friends are enough to get weeks out of this survival game, and Iron Gate is patching the remaining 1.0 bugs almost every week.
- Online co-op
- Open-ended exploring
- Save anytime
ARC Raiders
This week's free period lets you test the tension of heading to the surface, gathering supplies and making it back, so meet a few other Raiders before deciding whether to buy.
- Online co-op
- Match by match
- Versus
Delta Force
A shooter that lets you move between a large battlefield and a high-risk extraction run without paying to enter, and whose monthly draws never state what any of it is worth.
- Online co-op
- Match by match
- Versus
Forza Horizon 6
Nothing blocks a single $69.99 purchase from carrying you across Japan; whether the game holds you afterwards depends on how you feel about a $19.99 multiplier on progression and a car list that gains a paid entry most weeks.
- Online co-op
- Stage by stage
- Versus
HELLDIVERS 2
A four-player co-op shooter that opens completely for $39.99 with no randomised boxes, and the only spending decision left is whether to unlock a Warbond with Super Credits.
- Online co-op
- Stage by stage
Steam store data checked on 2026-11-04. Order follows recent news and our review scores.
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