Two people finished Split Fiction, still want a game built around playing together, and need to choose the next flavor of pressure. That is a different problem from just finding anything with co-op support.
Start with It Takes Two if you want the closest follow-up: authored two-player stages, relationship comedy, constant mechanic changes, and co-op puzzles that keep both players busy. Pick A Way Out if you want a shorter cinematic co-op story. Choose Overcooked when your pair likes shouting, roles, and fast resets more than story. Choose Portal 2 if the best part of co-op is talking through a clean puzzle until the answer clicks.
The trap is buying from a generic "best co-op games" list. Split Fiction is not just multiplayer support. It is two-player design, authored pacing, and moments where both players have to participate. Use that as the filter.
Closest Split Fiction follow-up
Best cinematic story co-op
Best chaos co-op reset loop
Best pure puzzle coordination
Choose by the kind of two-player pressure you want next, not by the broad co-op label.
Pick by the co-op pressure you actually want
Most games like Split Fiction lists flatten the request into "games with co-op." That loses the important part. One pair may want another authored adventure where both players are pulled through a story. Another pair may want a shorter couch-night campaign, a pressure-cooker party loop, or strict puzzle communication.
| What you want after Split Fiction | Play first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The closest authored two-player adventure | It Takes Two | The safest first pick for constant mechanic swaps, relationship-driven set pieces, and co-op puzzles. |
| A shorter cinematic co-op story | A Way Out | Best when you want a two-player movie-night campaign with chases, stealth, and split-screen scenes. |
| Fast communication chaos | Overcooked | Best when the fun is roles, panic, mistakes, and immediate restarts. |
| Clean puzzle coordination | Portal 2 | Best when you want timing, portals, callouts, and a co-op campaign built around solving rooms together. |
If you want the closest Split Fiction follow-up
Start here if the pair wants another game that feels designed for exactly two people from the first minute. You keep the authored co-op adventure shape. You give up some novelty if you already played Hazelight's earlier work before coming to Split Fiction.
It Takes Two
Recommendation
- Best for
- Two players who want another authored adventure full of co-op puzzles, jokes, minigames, and changing mechanics.
- Why it fits
- It is the cleanest follow-up because it treats two-player cooperation as the whole game, not as an optional mode attached to a single-player loop.
- Skip if
- You already played it recently or want a less scripted, more repeatable session game.
It Takes Two is the obvious first answer, and here the obvious answer is earned. If one player loved Split Fiction for spectacle and the other loved it for the teamwork, this is the safest next purchase. The caveat is freshness: if It Takes Two was your pre-Split Fiction game, move to a different pressure instead of replaying the same lane.
If you want story co-op without the toy-box variety
Pick this lane when the shared memory is not "that one wild mechanic swap." It is sitting through a campaign together, arguing over a plan, and watching a co-op story move forward. You lose some mechanical surprise, but the pacing is cleaner.
A Way Out
Recommendation
- Best for
- Pairs who want a focused cinematic co-op campaign with split-screen scenes, escapes, stealth, driving, and story momentum.
- Why it fits
- It keeps the two-player authored structure but narrows the game around crime-story scenes instead of constant genre hopping.
- Skip if
- You mainly want playful mechanics, platforming, or a long list of different co-op toys.
A Way Out is the better click when your pair wants to finish something together over a few sessions. It is not as mechanically generous as Split Fiction, but that can be the point. The game asks you to stay in the scene instead of chasing the next gimmick.
If your pair wants chaos and fast resets
Choose this section if Split Fiction worked because the room was loud. Some pairs like co-op most when plans collapse, somebody yells a job, and the retry button is part of the joke. You give up the cinematic adventure. You get a cleaner repeatable night-game.
Overcooked
Recommendation
- Best for
- Pairs who want communication pressure, role switching, mistakes, and quick restarts.
- Why it fits
- It turns cooperation into a visible workflow: chop, cook, deliver, clean up the mess, then argue about who ignored the onions.
- Skip if
- You want story, exploration, character arcs, or a calm puzzle pace.
Overcooked is not a Split Fiction replacement in structure. It is a replacement for the part where two players have to speak clearly under pressure. If the best co-op moments for your pair are funny failures, this is stronger than another cinematic adventure.
If you want pure puzzle coordination
Pick Portal 2 when your pair wants the quiet satisfaction of talking through a problem together. You lose the genre variety and story spectacle. You gain a co-op campaign where almost every room asks both people to understand the same solution.
Portal 2
Recommendation
- Best for
- Two players who want timing, callouts, spatial puzzles, portals, switches, and clean teamwork.
- Why it fits
- Its co-op campaign is built around communication. One player rarely solves the room alone because the answer usually needs both sets of portals.
- Skip if
- You want action scenes, platforming spectacle, or emotional adventure pacing.
Portal 2 is the least like Split Fiction on the surface and one of the strongest fits underneath. It keeps the "we solved that together" feeling and strips away almost everything else.
Why generic co-op lists are the wrong default
The bad default is asking for "the best co-op games" and buying whatever has the biggest reputation. That can send a Split Fiction pair toward survival sandboxes, shooters, MMOs, or four-player party games where two-player design is not the core promise.
Ask a narrower question first: do we want authored adventure, story co-op, chaos co-op, or puzzle co-op? The answer matters more than whether the Steam page has a co-op tag.
What to play first
If you are still split, choose by what your pair talks about after a session. Did you remember the set pieces, the story beats, the shouting, or the puzzle solve? That memory points to the next click.
The safest first pick for authored co-op, relationship comedy, mechanic swaps, and both-player puzzles.
Choose this when cinematic scenes and shared story momentum matter more than toy-box variety.
The better pick for quick sessions, mistakes, role callouts, and funny pressure.
Choose this when the best part is solving rooms together through timing and callouts.
Pick the row that matches the part of Split Fiction your pair wants back.
Still undecided? Start with It Takes Two if you have not played it. If you have, pick A Way Out for story night, Overcooked for pressure and laughs, or Portal 2 for the cleanest two-player puzzle campaign.
Play queue
Play these next
Hover for trailer media, then open the game page when one looks right.
It Takes Two
Embark on the craziest journey of your life in It Takes Two. Invite a friend to join for free with Friend’s Pass and work together across a huge variety of gleefully disruptive gameplay challenges. Winner of GAME OF THE YEAR at the Game Awards 2021.
A Way Out
A Way Out is an exclusively co-op adventure where you play the role of one of two prisoners making their daring escape from prison.
Overcooked
Overcooked is a chaotic couch co-op cooking game for one to four players. Working as a team, you and your fellow chefs must prepare, cook and serve up a variety of tasty orders before the baying customers storm out in a huff.
Portal 2
The "Perpetual Testing Initiative" has been expanded to allow you to design co-op puzzles for you and your friends!