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.
Do What You’re Good At
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.
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What
Take Turns
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!
Play Two Different Games
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.