Hacking Co-Op: How to Play Co-Op When You Can't Play Co-Op

If you have more than one person, you can make it happen

Awe yeah. Your friends, family, significant other, or super awesome crush is over and it’s time to game. But wait… your second controller just broke! Or you can’t find that awesome co-op game you’ve been aching to try! No matter. Some of the best co-op experiences are made when you're doing something you’re not supposed to be doing.

When I was younger, I was a huge fan of the Silent Hill franchise. On weekends, my friend Michael and I would stay up all night and crank through these games together. Obviously, these games are a single player experience, so we used the skills we had to co-op through the story. I was great at the combat, but terrible at the puzzles. For some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around the challenges, but taking out enemies was easy as pie. Luckily, Michael had the brains but lacked combat skills to take on foes. When it was time to fight, I’d take the controller. When it was time to think, it was all Michael.

What

Sounds so simple, but you can have a lot of fun with it. In games like Sports Champions you have two options, play against each other or play alone. A little competitive fun is no problem, but in order to unlock outfits, maps, etc. you need to go through tons of matches solo. Here’s the fun: make a team of two (or more) and swap who plays each match or turn, no matter what. Doesn’t matter if you need a game point and your second player is terrible, you gotta switch!

Another way to do it with almost any game is by setting a timer, though it really shines when playing a turn-based game. Put 10-20 minutes on the clock and start playing. Then, no matter what is happening when the timer dings, switch without pausing. This creates an additional challenge in passing the controller without dying/crashing/losing.

It's like your character has multiple personalities, with different skills!

What? How is that co-op? How is that possible? Whip out the handheld and enjoy the experience by rocking two games of the same franchise: Assassin’s Creed III on the console and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation on Vita, Farming Simulator on PC and Farming Simulator on the 3DS. If the games tie into each other, you can share by pausing the experience on one and watching the cutscenes on another together.

Staff member Jason Love contributed this idea for sharing a controller in Dr. Mario:

“A few years back we were over at a friend's parents' house and 7 of us all wanted to play a game together. He had brought his Wii with him so we hooked it up and looked through the games list. I'm not quite sure how it came up, but Dr. Mario piqued everyone's interest. One problem: it's just 1 v 1. That's when the idea hit me: why not co-op the controller? One person would control the movement of the pill on one half of the controller, while the other person controlled the rotation of the pill. The result? Marriages that are still together, (fortunately) and a lot of laughs.”

Dr. Mario is a great title for controller-sharing, but give it a shot with other games and I think you’ll have a good time. Imagine two people playing a racing game with one controller.

It's possible

Story driven games like Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy that rely heavily on player choice can be just as exciting for the viewer as it is for the player. In games like these, there aren’t parts of the gameplay that are unengaging. There are no 20-minute duck and cover shootouts with no dialog, there’s not farming materials or grinding kills, it’s all involved and crucial to the plot. The game becomes an interactive movie that you can watch with other people, and to increase activity you can have other people tell you what paths to take.

Kids are smart, but sometimes they’re not ready to pilot a game. If you do happen to have a second controller lying around, turn it off and hand it to your son, daughter, niece, nephew, sister, brother – you get the picture. Tell them they are helping you win, - controlling your friend or someone else on the screen. Not only will they have some fun, but also it will be a great bonding experience. Be careful, eventually they’ll reach an age and see beyond your tricks, and then you’ll have some explaining to do.

Yes, we’re sure you’d probably prefer traditional co-op, but when the occasion calls for it, it might be worth thinking outside the box to play together. Have you ever hacked a game to make it a co-op experience? Share your stories in the comments!