The Best Games to Play with Friends Online

Even miles apart, video games allow friends to play virtually, compete, or just hang out. There are games you can play through Zoom – our list of the best jackbox games will help you do that – but we wanted this list to be less about party games and more about games that are best played with a few friends.

From visiting your friend’s island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons team up with them to shoot down badlands bad guys Borderlands 3, We have rounded up the 11 best games for friends online.

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Border areas 3

Available on: Xbox One, PS4, PC, stadiums

The ultimate looter shooter, Border areas 3 is an even bigger and deeper game than its predecessor, with multiple planets to explore and multiple classes, each using their own special abilities. It’s fully playable in single player, but bringing a friend online makes every mission more exciting and opens up strategic opportunities in combat. If one player draws fire, the other can ambush enemies who are not expecting an attack. With a loot system that allows each player to have their own drops instead of sharing them, there are no arguments afterwards either.

There are also a lot of weapons.

Read our Border areas 3 impressions

Minecraft

Available on: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Switch, iOS, Android

Why work on building a dream home in? Minecraft alone when a friend can tinker faster? Minecraft offers cross-play between almost all supported systems due to the Bedrock update. This includes Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox, PC, and even mobile devices, so gamers can enjoy the game with their friends no matter what system they’re on. The only exceptions are older platforms like Xbox 360 and PS3 that don’t support cross-play. Provided players aren’t bored, there is essentially no ending MinecraftThis makes it a perfect choice to crouch down when people can’t leave their homes for weeks.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Available on: counter

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a Nintendo Switch exclusive, and that means you have to put up with the console’s archaic friend code system to invite friends to an island. However, once this is done, appreciating the mundane is a joyful experience. Visit friends’ homes to admire their paintings and interior decorations, then venture outside and catch bugs and fish. There’s no set goal, but that’s what makes the series so special. Hanging out with friends and discovering secrets is a reward. Text chat makes it easy for players to communicate with each other without having to use the Nintendo Switch Online app. That said New Horizons has chat support through the app.

Read our full Animal Crossing: New Horizons review

Call of Duty: War Zone

Available on: Xbox One, PS4, PC

Call of Duty: War Zone is a completely free battle royale game released in 2019 Modern Warfare Universe. It supports cross-platform multiplayer for PS4, Xbox One and PC. In contrast to the smaller ones Black Ops 4 Blackout mode, War zone No additional game is required to run, and it started with 150 player battles. Friends can team up in trios and fight other squads to the death using a mix of first person shooting and vehicle combat. The unique gulag system even brings killed players back to life and motivates their teammates to keep fighting until their last breath.

Read our Call of Duty: War Zone review

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Gears 5

Available on: Xbox One, PC

Another great shooter option for Xbox One and PC gamers to play with Gears 5 entirely with a friend. The campaign is cooperative and supports up to two more. The new escape mode can only be played cooperatively. There is also the Horde mode, which is best played cooperatively to fight the waves of the swarm, and there is a powerful multiplayer option for those who want to fight with or against their friends. It also includes local cooperative gaming if you are looking for couch co-op action.

Read our full Gears 5 review

Forza Horizon 4

Available on: Xbox One, PC

Forza Horizon 4 Contains the same “Drivatar” AI system as its predecessor, but is even better in online cooperation mode. The transition is seamless, friends all ride on the same map where they can meet, and they can easily band together to attend the same racing events without leaving another player’s session. Forza Horizon 4 offers a huge number of races, collectibles and stunts and it is an absolute joy to explore the English countryside. Racing enthusiasts from one end of the map to the other only make it better.

Read our full Forza Horizon 4 review

Sea of ​​thieves

Available on: Xbox One, PC

Sea of ​​thieves Not only is it better with friends who are playing online – it’s almost impossible to play without them. Rare pirate game involves a small boat for anyone who sails alone, but it really requires a crew of at least three or four people to command the bigger ships and stand a chance against other ships. Visiting enemy locations through a chat headset and coordinating the repositioning of sails and cannons is a blast, especially when players send their friends through the air onto another squad’s deck to attack them directly. Sea of ​​thieves Rare looks back to his strange old self, and that’s a good thing.

Read our full Sea of ​​thieves review

Tom Clancys The Division 2

Available on: Xbox One, PS4, PC, stadiums

Available for just a few dollars at this time Tom Clancys The Division 2 is an excellent shared world shooter that friends can play together in their entirety. This includes the campaign missions, where agents are deployed to different parts of Washington, DC. Separate cooperative side missions are also available. If players have had enough grunts in standard missions or heists, they can venture into the Dark Zone together to fight other agents. Teamwork and collaboration are particularly important here as valuable equipment is at stake and can be lost to another squad immediately.

Read our full Department 2 review

Fourteen days

Available on: Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC, Android

Fourteen days A great choice for online games with friends as the Battle Royale mode supports cross-play from Nintendo Switch to Android phones. Epic Games’ takeover of the genre is colorful and less gory than some of its competitors, and its structural component makes it perfect for creative gamers who are tired of hiding in a bush or behind a rock. New events and gear are also added regularly to ensure friends have new content to experience together for as long as they want to keep playing.

Read our full Fourteen days review

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Overwatch

Available on: Switch Xbox One, PS4, PC

Blizzard’s hero shooter is one of the best multiplayer games ever. If you play with a friend and use voice chat, it gets even better. Teammates can coordinate with each other, pick the right characters for each situation, and call up the locations of enemies as they approach or protect a target. Any additional maps and characters added since launch are free for everyone, which means friends can play together even if one of them has just bought the game. It’s available on PC and all consoles – including Nintendo Switch – and there are so many heroes to choose from that it still feels fresh months after it’s launched.

Read our full Overwatch review

Minecraft dungeons

Available on: Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC

We could put most of the action role-playing games here, and it would still make sense. There are two things that work Minecraft Dungeons Like. First, it’s available on Game Pass. As long as you and your friends have either a PC or an Xbox One, you can play together. But more importantly, the game should be easy to understand. The hack-and-slash genre is deceptively complex, with games like Way of exile Emphasize how deep mechanics like character creation can go. Minecraft dungeons is simple and offers tons of unique loot while keeping the focus where it should be: on hacking and slashing. In addition, the first DLC pack is already available.

Editor’s recommendations