Steam is full to the brim with amazing games, including a boatload you can play with your friends, and they’re usually at a nicely discounted rate, especially if they’ve been around a while. If you’re one of the many who is on the lookout for a game to play with friends, or even strangers, then we’ve got you covered. Here is the list of the best multiplayer games that are available on steam.
Team Fortress 2
This game perfected the team-based shooter formula and is the blueprint most other team-based shooters copy, including Blizzard’s Overwatch. While Team Fortress 2 only has nine classes, each one can be customized with numerous weapons to allow for different strategies and counter-strategies.
Team Fortress 2 demonstrates that quality beats quantity when it comes to online multiplayer.
Rocket League
Sometimes the weirder the game concept, the better the game. Nobody could have predicted a game where teams of players launch RC cars at soccer balls would turn out so well, but Rocket League did just that.
Depending on the skill level of gamers, matches can either consist of rocket-propelled cars effortlessly passing the ball past the opposition or players gloriously exploding and screwing up in fantastic ways. Regardless, the result is always entertaining.
Path of Exile
Blizzard’s Diablo franchise is a master class of dungeon delving and loot drops. It’s a shame the game isn’t on Steam, but that’s where Path of Exile comes in. Path of Exile has everything that makes Diablo great and then some, since forming parties in Path of Exile is not needlessly convoluted.
Plus, Path of Exile is completely free, so gamers who want to raid a dungeon or ten with friends for a staff of +10 rat squashing have literally nothing to lose save for hours spent enjoying a fantastic game.
Garry’s Mod
Garry’s Mod is a sandbox game in its most pure form: you have to make your own fun in the game, but it is filled with possibilities and potential.
Gamers and their friends can mess around with the Source engine to create all sorts of strange contraptions, or they can download unique fan-made game modes, such as the popular Prop Hunt or Murder. The fun never ends in Garry’s Mod.
Warframe
Ninjas are cool. Hi-tech, superpowered space suits are cool. Parkour is cool. All those together in one package is mega-cool And, teaming up with friends and completely wrecking house with superpowered, hi-tech ninja space suits is uber-mega-cool.
If anime has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t go wrong with a team of ninjas.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Battle Royale has been done before, but PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds does it better than most. It’s every man and woman for him or herself against tons of opponents. Alliances will be made and broken, and friendships will be formed and tested.
You’ll rage when another player snipes you two minutes into the game, and you’ll jump for joy when you outlast the competition and win the coveted chicken dinner. There’s a reason why every game studio seems to want to copy this game.
Castle Crashers
Side-scroller beat ’em-ups realize that sometimes simplicity is best. All players do is move from left to right, destroy every enemy they find, and repeat. Lesser beat ”em-ups can get boring, but Castle Crashers remains fun and hilarious from beginning to end, even more so when played with friends.
Beat ”em-ups are at their best, most hectic, and most rewarding in multiplayer, and fewer are more hectic than Castle Crashers.
ARK: Survival Evolved
Survival games are a dime a dozen, but ARK: Survival Evolved has one thing others don’t: freaking dinosaurs. And yes, players eventually get to domesticate and ride them.
But, the meat of the game lies in making allies and teaming up with them to achieve what can’t be achieved alone, from waging war on rival groups of players to fighting (and taming) dragons. It’s a dangerous world out there, especially when alone.
SMITE
SMITE isn’t content with being a regular MOBA; it sets itself apart from the rest of the genre in spectacular fashion.
While SMITE features some of the MOBA standards, such as three lanes, defense towers, and minions, it literally adds a whole new dimension to gameplay by letting players steer with the keyboard. Gamers who wanted to get into MOBAs with friends but never could acclimate to the click-based game mechanics probably should try SMITE out.
Portal 2
Lightning struck twice with Valve’s classic puzzle franchise. Not only did the company create a single-player campaign that was superior to the already great original, but it also added a secondary multiplayer mode that isn’t merely tacked on.
Portal 2’s multiplayer mode will test players’ cooperation and puzzle-solving skills like never before, all while making them laugh with the series’ unique sense of humor.
Cuphead
Called the Dark Souls of platforming in jest by many gamers (and in all seriousness by a few), Cuphead is undoubtedly a difficult game. It will test a player’s patience and reflexes and is best played with a friend.
Even though Cuphead scales its already insane difficulty to the presence of a second player, it is well worth it for the ability to save your friend when he or she’s about to die. While the game has local multiplayer instead of online multiplayer, who in their right mind would want to play this game with a total stranger online?
Dota 2
Dota popularized the MOBA genre, so of course, Valve was going to hire the people who made that game to develop a sequel. Compared to other MOBAs, Dota 2 is more chaotic and punishing, but it also makes gamers feel as though they’ve earned their victories.
More importantly, Dota 2 doesn’t lock characters behind a paywall or rotation; every character is available from the start.
Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 is what you get when you mix class-based shooting games with RPG leveling and dungeon-crawler loot mechanics; think Destiny 2 done right and with a surprisingly clever sense of humor.
Borderlands 2 is designed with multiplayer in mind, as some bosses and challenges are literally impossible to beat without teaming up with friends. But, the game is also made to challenge that friendship, especially when teammates grab all the best loot and leave you with trash. Consider Borderlands 2 a trust exercise in video game form.
Outriders
Unlike most multiplayer games currently on the market, Outriders solely focuses on getting together with a friend and doing some damage to A.I. You and your friends can choose between four classes, each containing its own unique perks and advantages.
Using these powers and the guns you unlock along the way, you’ll battle hoards of enemies, including plenty of awesome bosses. This is definitely a game you’ll want to try out with your friends if you want to experience some fun PvE gameplay.
Payday 2
In movies about bank heists, characters always emphasize the importance of teamwork and timing. Those factors are front and center in Payday 2, as players need to function like a well-oiled machine to complete missions.
Gamers can go in with guns blazing or sneak in and out without anyone knowing. But, regardless of the strategy, victory is solely dependent on the skills and cooperation of the players; all it takes is one wrong move for a mission to go sideways. However, banding together to make the best of a bad situation is also part of the fun of Payday 2.
Screencheat
On the surface, Screencheat looks like a regular FPS game with split-screen multiplayer, but then you realize every player’s character is invisible, the only way to determine another player’s location is to look at their screen.
This would be considered cheating in any other game, but in Screencheat it’s an intended game mechanic. When in Rome, do as the Romans did.
Rainbow Six Siege
While Rainbow Six Siege might look like a pretty standard 5v5 shooter, anyone who has actually played the game knows that it is much more intricate than that. The game has each side choose from a number of different operators, each of which have unique and awesome abilities.
Use one character’s shield to hide from bullets and another’s mirrors to help locate enemies safely. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself yelling back and forth with your teammates, trying to coordinate a strategy that’ll help you all survive and win.
It Takes Two
Regardless of whether you’re a couple, friends, or even two people who met up online, you’ll find fewer multiplayer experiences that are funnier than It Takes Two. This game challenges players with working with a partner, as they control two characters, May and Cody, each with their own unique, level-specific abilities.
To traverse the seven levels that make up the game, you’ll need to communicate, time jumps, and reach levels by combining each player’s skills. There are also a boatload of fun and competitive minigames you can play against each other along the way.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
When you think of a story-driven, tactical turn-based RPG, you don’t think of online multiplayer, but Divinity: Original Sin 2 bucks all the trends and provides a robust multiplayer mode without any sacrifices. The single-player story and mechanics are all intact in multiplayer, but now each player controls only one character, which cuts down on the busywork and creates a more accessible experience.
Making an intentionally difficult game feel more welcoming to newcomers is always a positive.
Final Fantasy XV: Comrades
Multiplayer and JRPGs go hand in hand like baking soda and vinegar: you can make something spectacular if you know what you’re doing, but most people just end up creating a mess. Final Fantasy XV: Comrades takes the main game’s fantastic combat and dials it up to eleven with tough battles and an excellent character creator system.
If you ever wanted to feel like a badass monster slayer who swings a sword in one hand and shoots lightning out the other, gather your comrades and play this game.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Calling Warhammer: Vermintide 2 “medieval Left 4 Dead 2” would be a disservice. Sure, players still have to team up against overwhelming hordes of enemies, some of whom possess special abilities that can instantly take players out of the fight, but Vermintide has so much more to it.
This includes unlockable skills and classes, epic loot, and Twitch integration that lets viewers help or screw over the players. Not many games let audience members join in on the fun as this game does.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat
The Overcooked! series is known for its chaotic multiplayer fun, as you and your friends have to traverse a slew of creative levels and fulfill orders through communication and teamwork.
With Overcooked! All You Can Eat, which includes Overcooked! 1 & 2, you and your friends can enjoy Enjoy 200+ levels and 80+ chefs, all with a shiny 4k 60FPS upgrade to boot.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
This is the de facto multiplayer game on Steam. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive requires speed and patience, and it ensures all players are on an even playing field. Matches are won and lost on player skill and cooperation.
The closest the game has to progression is earning, trading, or purchasing weapon skins, but those are only good for bragging rights and offer no gameplay advantages.
Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight is survival horror meets asymmetrical multiplayer. Four players who control humans are pitted against a supernatural monster controlled by a fifth player, and from there it’s a game of demon cat and defenseless mouse.
Human players need to work together and remain as quiet as possible, while monster players are all about scaring their opponents to death, sometimes literally. Dead by Daylight is neither for the faint of heart nor for those lacking heart. Much like in slasher movies, gamers who don’t believe in teamwork will die first.
Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite spells the return of one of the most popular multiplayer shooters to ever grace PC. Players can head solo or in groups into the game’s multiplayer, which features a boatload of different playlists, events, and rewards to help incentivize you to keep playing.
If nothing else, the gameplay itself speaks volumes about why you should keep playing, as Halo Infinite features some of the best competitive combat ever seen in the series.
Back 4 Blood
There really is nothing like combating a hoard full of zombies and surviving the apocalypse with friends, is there? Just like Left 4 Dead before it, Turtle Rock Studios has managed to encapsulate everything that is fun about killing zombies in Back 4 Blood.
One of the key differences in this title, though, is that players must collect and use playing cards to help give them the advantage in the fight – or disadvantage to get some better rewards.
Published: Mar 16, 2023 11:24 am