Finding a genuinely great couch game for PS5 is harder than it sounds. The console has no shortage of multiplayer titles, but most of them are built around online lobbies, ranked queues, and live-service progression. The list of games that actually work well when two or four people are sitting on the same sofa, sharing one screen, with no headsets required, is shorter than you would expect. These ten made the cut by doing exactly that well.
How We Ranked These Games
Local multiplayer quality carried the most weight in our scoring, because a game that treats couch play as an afterthought should not be on this list regardless of how good the rest of it is. Couch play practicality came second, covering things like screen readability, how easy it is to get a second player in, and whether the whole thing actually works comfortably on one console in a living room. Fun and replay value, accessibility for mixed-skill groups, and how polished the PS5 version is rounded out the remaining criteria.
The Top 10 Best Local Multiplayer PS5 Games
These are the games worth putting on the shelf if you regularly have people to play with in the same room.
“A dazzling 2-player co-op showcase built for one sofa.”
Hazelight built It Takes Two, which is the game that got my wife to sit through an entire co-op campaign with me. Split Fiction is from the same studio and follows the same principle: every chapter introduces a mechanic you have not seen before, and by the time it starts to feel familiar, the game has already moved on. Two-player local co-op is not a mode here. It is the entire architecture. The PS5 version looks genuinely impressive on a good display. My one note is that it is strictly a two-player experience, so if you are shopping for a group of three or four, look further down this list.
“One of the best couch co-op campaigns ever made.”
I have recommended this game to more people than anything else I have played in the last five years. My wife does not play games. She finished It Takes Two. That tells you everything about what Hazelight got right with the onboarding and the storytelling. One chapter you are shrunk down fighting tools in a toolbox, the next you are piloting two halves of a broken watering can. The mechanic shifts keep both players engaged rather than letting one person carry while the other watches. It sits at two instead of one only because Split Fiction is newer and nudges the formula forward in a few areas. As a couch recommendation, though, this is still close to perfect.
“Chaotic kitchen co-op that always works on game night.”
Overcooked works on game night because the chaos is shared and the rounds are short. Nobody is sitting out. Nobody is confused about what they should be doing. The kitchen is on fire and someone needs to grab the soup right now. All You Can Eat is the right version to buy because it bundles both games and the DLC into a single native PS5 package with improved load times and four-player support. One honest warning: if your group trends competitive rather than cooperative, the stress of a failed level can tip from funny into frustrating. For most groups, though, the opposite happens. Failed levels become the stories you tell afterward.
“Six-player arcade chaos with near-perfect couch energy.”
Six local players on one screen is rare. Most co-op games stop at four. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge goes to six, and it does it without the screen becoming unreadable, which is the thing you actually need to worry about with a crowded shared display. The arcade beat-em-up format means anyone can pick up a controller and start contributing immediately. You are punching enemies left to right. It is not complicated. I gravitate toward this kind of game at group sessions precisely because it requires zero explanation and produces instant reactions. The campaign runs about three to four hours, so it is not a long-haul commitment. For a larger group that wants something loud and immediate, nothing else on this list competes.
“A bright, polished co-op platformer for nearly any household.”
This is the one I point parents toward when they ask what to buy for their kids on PS5. Sackboy handles the skill gap between adults and younger players better than most platformers because the shared screen keeps everyone together and stronger players can naturally help out without the game making it feel patronising. Four-player support means a whole family can pile in. The PS5 version holds a clean frame rate throughout and looks properly vibrant on a good TV. It is not the most thrilling game on this list if you are playing with people who have been gaming for years, but that is not who it is for. For mixed-age households, it is one of the safest buys on PS5.
“An all-time couch classic that still kills at parties.”
TowerFall is from 2014. It runs via backward compatibility. It still holds up better than most modern local versus games because the design is completely stripped back: one-hit kills, shared screen, archers firing at each other in small arenas, rounds that last about forty seconds. There is nothing to configure. You pick up a controller and you are playing. I have seen this described as the purest couch-competitive game ever made, and it is hard to argue. The lower score on PS5 polish reflects its age, which is the honest trade-off for ranking it this high. But there is no native PS5 successor that does what TowerFall does, which is exactly why it is still on this list.
“The best all-around local fighter on PS5 right now.”
Fighting games have always been one of the definitive couch-versus formats, and Street Fighter 6 is the best version of that on PS5 right now. I used to play a lot of competitive games, and I know from experience that local fighting games live or die on whether both players feel like they have a shot. Street Fighter 6 solves that with its Modern Controls option, which simplifies inputs without removing depth. A newcomer can land special moves from their first session, which keeps the match from becoming a one-sided demonstration. The PS5 version is technically excellent. If your group wants head-to-head competition rather than co-op, this is the answer.
“Car soccer remains an all-timer for instant couch competition.”
Car soccer sounds absurd until you play it. Then you lose two hours and wonder where they went. Rocket League runs via backward compatibility on PS5 rather than as a native build, and there is no pretending otherwise, but it runs well and the local mode is completely intact. Four-player split-screen works. Matches run five minutes. The concept is explainable in about fifteen seconds to anyone who has never seen it. For competitive couch sessions where you want something quicker and more accessible than a fighting game, Rocket League fills that slot better than almost anything. Fair warning: the gap between a player with fifty hours and a player with five hundred is enormous. Keep that in mind when choosing sides.
“A hilarious sofa co-op mover with instant group appeal.”
If you have already played Overcooked to death and want the same chaotic co-op energy with a different coat of paint, Moving Out 2 is the pick. You are a removal company that does not care about property damage. Furniture goes through windows. Physics objects stack in ways they absolutely should not. Four players crammed onto one screen trying to carry a sofa through a portal while someone sets off a fan that sends everything flying is the kind of moment this game generates constantly. It is slightly lighter on strategy than Overcooked, which means it works better for groups that want laughs over planning. That trade-off is also why it sits at nine rather than higher.
“Family-friendly Star Wars co-op with easy drop-in couch appeal.”
LEGO games have a specific role in a household with kids: they let a parent play through something they actually want to see without leaving a younger player behind. The Skywalker Saga covers all nine mainline films, which is a lot of content for a couch co-op campaign. Drop-in co-op means a second player can join without interrupting anything. The combat is simple enough that a six-year-old can contribute. I know people who finished this over several months of evening sessions with their kids and said it was genuinely one of the better gaming experiences they had that year. It is not deep. It does not need to be. As a family co-op campaign on PS5, it does exactly what it promises.
Honorable Mentions
These five games narrowly missed the top ten, each for a specific reason, but any of them could be the right pick depending on your group.
Boomerang Fu is six-player couch chaos with almost no learning curve. You throw a boomerang. You catch it back. You use power-ups to coat it in fire or ice. Rounds are over in seconds. The reason it missed the top ten is that it runs via PS4 backward compatibility and does not feel like a premium PS5 release, which matters when you are spending money. But if you want the lowest possible barrier to entry for a group that includes people who rarely play games, this is worth knowing about.
The list needed a kart racer and Crash Team Racing is the strongest one currently available on PlayStation for four-player split-screen. It plays faster and more technically than most kart games, which is either a selling point or a warning depending on your group. It runs via backward compatibility rather than as a native PS5 title, which cost it some points on polish, but the local racing itself holds up well. If your household has been waiting for a proper kart racer on PS5 and does not own a Switch, this is currently the best answer available.
I started Diablo IV solo and did not finish it. Played it in local co-op with a friend for a few sessions and it clicked in a way the solo run never did. Shared-screen co-op on PS5 works well, the two of you carving through demon hordes together feels satisfying in a way that is hard to replicate. The catches: it requires an internet connection even for local play, which is an annoying design choice, and the onboarding is slower than anything else on this list. If you and a regular co-op partner are looking for something to build into over multiple sessions rather than something for a casual game night, it belongs in the conversation.
Nobody Saves the World is a smaller game than most on this list but a smarter couch co-op design than several of the bigger ones. You transform between different character forms, each with its own abilities, and the co-op loop of combining those forms with a partner gives the game enough mechanical depth to stay interesting across multiple sessions. It is not a game you show off at a party. It is a game for two people who want something to work through together across a week or two of evenings. That audience is real, and for them this is an easy recommendation.
A Way Out predates It Takes Two and comes from the same director, which tells you roughly what to expect: mandatory two-player co-op, a story that moves the experience forward, split-screen kept on at all times so you are always aware of what your partner is doing. The campaign runs about six hours, which is shorter than Split Fiction or It Takes Two. It also shows its age in places, running via backward compatibility on PS5. Still, for readers who want a narrative co-op experience and have already played through the Hazelight games above, this is a natural next choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some questions that come up regularly when people are shopping for local multiplayer on PS5.
Do I need two PS5 controllers to play local multiplayer?
Yes, in most cases. Nearly every game on this list requires a second DualSense controller for a second player. A few games like Overcooked and TowerFall support up to four controllers, so check how many controllers a specific game supports before buying extras.
What is the difference between split-screen and shared-screen local multiplayer?
Split-screen divides the display into separate sections, one per player. Shared-screen keeps everyone on one view, usually by keeping the camera close enough to show all players at once. Both formats work well for couch play. Several games on this list use shared-screen, which tends to be easier to read on a TV from the sofa.
Are there good local multiplayer options for families with young children?
Yes. Sackboy: A Big Adventure and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga are both genuinely child-friendly and designed for mixed-skill co-op. Overcooked! All You Can Eat works well for older kids who can handle a bit of task pressure. All three are easy to set up and easy to understand without much explanation.
Can I play local multiplayer on PS5 without a PlayStation Plus subscription?
For the games on this list, yes. Local couch multiplayer on a single console does not require PlayStation Plus. You only need a subscription for online multiplayer. Everything here works in the same room on one console without any online requirement, with the exception of Diablo IV which requires an internet connection even in local co-op mode.
Which games on this list are best for two players versus larger groups?
Split Fiction, It Takes Two, Street Fighter 6, and A Way Out are all built specifically for two players and are best experienced that way. Overcooked! All You Can Eat, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, and TowerFall Ascension scale naturally to three or four players and are better choices if you regularly have more people in the room.
Conclusion
The best local multiplayer PS5 games do not ask you to coordinate server schedules or grind through onboarding before the fun starts. They work immediately, in the same room, with whoever happens to be on the sofa. Whether you want a full co-op campaign, ten minutes of chaotic kitchen rounds, or a head-to-head fight to settle a grudge, this list covers it. Different households will land on different entries, and that is exactly the point. Ready for more tailored picks? Try our Recommendations Engine for suggestions that match your play style.
