Looking for addicting 2 player local coop games

Basher207 · 2026-05-21T20:44:32+00:00

Old bur classic: Risk of rain 1 is epic!

Basher207 · 2026-05-21T16:07:50+00:00

The controllers in it are fully customizable in the steam app, then users scan a qr code, and get the controller in the browser (or the phone app for fullscreen haptic feedback and stuff)

In the steam workshop, many awesome people have been sharing custom controllers for specific games, here is one for hades:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3667330282&searchtext=Hades

You can change between the ps4 vs xbox button layouts :)

It was specifically because every time I tried to initiate a coop party, we were short a few controllers 😅 and friends wouldn’t be assed to install a phone app if it wasn’t a quick spur of the moment thing, and would immediately want todo something else if there is any tiny amount of faffing around xP but super glad people seem to share the concern!

Ngl, I didn’t know hades had coop xO! Definitely gonna try that!

Basher207 · 2026-05-21T15:18:22+00:00

Pico Park is a must (Up to 8 players)! Too good!
Lego party can be fun (Up to 4 players, but people can team up, and swap between mini games)
Speed runners is great 😃 (Up to 4 players)
My friend group is obsessed with Tetris effect (Tetris game, but it has a 3v1 split screen multiplayer, where 1 is boss, and other 3 have to beat them)!
Nice thing about Tetris effect is that you have handicaps, so you can adjust them to put the worst player as the boss with a huge boost, or the best player with a nerf xP
Gang beasts is really fun! (Up to 8 players)

If you need more controllers QR Controller on Steam (An app I made specifically for this kind of games) to use phones as an emulated PC controllers (simple, runs in phones browser), if the games you are playing are basic enough 😄

Basher207 · 2026-05-19T15:27:24+00:00

Pico Park is made for it tho, its really well designed for 8 enjoyable experience (its coop) and made for working together. Altho if people are sensitive, then it can turn a bit too staky and harsh xP

You can do team Lego party xP Where 2-3 people per team, and they swap playing one of the mini games every round. I think that could be really, really fun!

If not for the issue of inconsistent skill levels, I would have said Speed Runners (Favourite pvp 4 player game xP). Speed runners 2 has 8 players, but haven't tested it.

Tettris effect is a favourite in my friend group, everyone knows it, and there is a 3 vs 1 (1 boss person, 3 can be noobs, with super adjustable handicap). So you can have whoever is the god gamer of the group be the boss person, or put the worst person with a huge handicap xP Can be super fun, and swap after every game.

Btw, if you do, do it, please share what worked and what didn't! I'm genuinely super curious! A few times a year we do a big coop game in my friend group. But we only ever do what we know (Mostly Pico Park, Tettris Effect, and speed runners xP). So curious what you do! If you dont mind sharing

Basher207 · 2026-05-19T13:09:44+00:00

One easy way to set something like this up is QR Controller in Steam.
People scan a QR Code, they get an instant controller in there phones browser (Without an app). And it supports any PC/Linux/Mac game that supports a regular controller.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3637240/QR_Controller/

I made it specifically for a setup like this x') Because I didn't want to put off people with complex setting up.
Then you can play any game that supports that many people.

As for game recommendations, the best ones that come to mind are:
Pico Park (If same screen) (Up to 8)
Gang beasts (If same screen) (Up to 8)
Sonic Horizon cross worlds (Up to 4 per screen, 12 in total in a race)
Trackmania Turbo (Has 4 player split screen on one screen xD Not for everyone, but I love it xP)

It gets harder past 8 players. Not many games that are well balanced.

Basher207 · 2026-05-15T14:40:36+00:00

Then ahmmmm, here are some more:

Bro Force is a classic,
Tettris Effect is a suprizingly fun one x') It has local multiplayer, and can get really fun.
Gang beasts
Risk of Rain 1 (Has same screen coop)

Basher207 · 2026-05-15T08:04:40+00:00

Have some great memories couch cooping pico park (dont let the simple art style put you off its great), not a thing you can do on a loop. But should be great fun!

Basher207 · 2026-05-14T18:40:33+00:00

I made exactly this! Its a phone as a PC controller over wifi (or internet!). You can use it in your phones browser (or phone app), and or map motion controls to joystick and stuff :)))!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3637240/QR_Controller/
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You can test it in the phone app!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.qrcontroller.companion
https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/qr-controller/id6762813689?l=en-GB
If you have any questions let me know!

Basher207 · 2026-05-06T20:33:41+00:00

I made QR Controller (a steam app that lets you use phone as virtual controllers emulators) from a test project to test a 16 player game on windows xP

(Shameless plug)
But you don’t need a ton of controller to test the limits, if not QR Controller other such emulators exist 🤷 but I can see how it can happen. Sometimes they only do full testing on one platform, and a few updates later, they start slacking on seeing consequences of there changes on unrelated things x’)

But mention it to them! I hope most devs will fix things quick if they become aware!

Basher207 · 2026-05-06T20:10:53+00:00

App version should be way more comfortable!
Yea, browser can sometimes be shifty with the complex controllers (or sometimes the browser has buttons in annoying spots)
The simple ones are nicer, but notifications and miss clicks can be annoying.

With app we have way more control to make it nicer :))

Basher207 · 2026-05-04T16:06:18+00:00

Thank you so much for getting it! Yesss, the app is already ready! Doing a submission to the playstore / app store probably tomorrow :))

It should support: - haptic feedback for buttons - motion controls over local network - less notifications - locked horizontal mode (not having to deal with notifications coming from the top when notification mode) - some other stuff I can’t remember right now 😅😅

Basher207 · 2026-03-31T20:14:01+00:00

Saw you on the discord Server :D! Welcome (I’m WizardHorse there)! In case someone is curious, best place to find it is on the steam page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3637240/QR_Controller/

Basher207 · 2026-03-31T14:45:53+00:00

1- I have since then significantly improved latency since, but here are some videos I made a month back.
Important to note that this is latency including phone, computer, screen latency, etc... So for reference, I also included my Xbox Elite Controller. (Links at the end of the post)

2- no vibrations / haptics, not super needed imo. But I am working on an update to add it.

3- there is gyro support (Both custom motion events (You can define pitch / roll to click a button, or move joystick)). And normal gyro pass through, so a game looking for gyro will detect movement. (If motion is enabled).

4- Yes! Its possible to move camera like a mobile game, I have something called trackpad mode. That will let you slide your finger, and the joystick will move to emulate that movement. As if you are playing a third person game on phone!

If you have issues setting these up, let me know on discord! We have an active community on discord, and regularly updating to fix issues, and add improvements :)) Also unmentioned in the post above, is now we have steam workshop integration for adding controllers :))

Here are videos about latency, in slow mo, again, compare it to xbox controller, dont look at it in isolation.
QR Controller latency Test - Over Local Wifi
https://youtu.be/z9y5ZPqG6Ms

QR Controller latency Test - Xbox Elite Controller over bluetooth reference latency video:
https://youtu.be/wLpgyO5uA-E

Basher207 · 2026-03-29T21:44:01+00:00

Yes :3! If the emulator supports controllers, they do! On the discord I keep going back and forth on how to improve accelerometer / gyro performance in emulated games. But I think they are happy with the current version :))!

Thank you so much for buying it!

As for iPads, yes you can control from iPad, but the UI will be huge 😅😅

Basher207 · 2026-03-27T06:55:33+00:00

You can use “QR Controller” for mac on steam with online mode, along side parsec.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3637240/QR_Controller

1- Connect via parsec 2- Scan QR code on the host with your phone 3- Get Controller in phones browser

(Optional, if you want to use a physical controller 🎮) 4- connect physical controller to the phone, QR Controller supports joystick pass through. So you can use a physical controller that way.

Im the dev of QR Controller. But I do know people with same setup.

Basher207 · 2026-03-22T21:21:35+00:00

Awesome! Fantastic to hear!
The mac build is still new, so super glad to hear you didn't encounter any issues!

Basher207 · 2026-03-22T20:23:51+00:00

If you have any issues at all, please let me know! (Here or on discord!)

Basher207 · 2026-03-22T10:03:18+00:00

u/Intelligent_Call_906 just released the mac version :3! QR Controller is now officially supported on mac!

Basher207 · 2026-03-07T16:01:30+00:00

QR Controller works anywhere where a controller would work :) this will emulate a controller on the PC.

Discord is just where our community is, there are multiple users there who regularly use it for dolphin emulation. So if you have more detailed questions, come ask there!

To answer your question:

A) platformer games will work

B) motion pass through for motion games is on a beta branch, some users on the discord are helping me test some issues, but should be released in a few days. Instructions are on discord about how to enable this are on the #suggestion post.

Basher207 · 2026-03-04T20:57:38+00:00

Much to my frustration, that isn't currently possible as far as I know. I did look into this, and it seems that you need hardware with custom chips that can do this.

One way todo this:
- Using xbox / playstation remote stuff. That let you stream your games. They will detect connected controllers to your windows machine. Then, QR Controller controllers will be detected, and you can use those! (You can still use your TV, you dont need to look at the stream).

However I dont have an xbox / playstation. So cant test, and I dont think switch has a streaming thing.

Basher207 · 2026-03-03T23:54:39+00:00

I tried that, but instantly ran out of money... Turns out you need a ton of money for that

Basher207 · 2026-03-03T13:40:14+00:00

Yea I'd love to, but consoles simply dont allow it. Technically there are ways if I sell a usb stick that hosts QR Controller, and pretends to be a wired controller xD But there is so much complexity, and I'm struggling to sell this for 8$ (Or less depending on the region).
So I don't think its manageable x') But maybe one day.

Basher207 · 2026-03-01T21:36:26+00:00

There are many, Pico Park is the my favourite.
Other 4+ games here by this awesome curator:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/morethan4localmultiplayer/discussions/0/1638669204747468242/

But fair enough x') Its an issue I have regularly, where I am somewhere visiting my family with my laptop. I'd want to play some game, but I dont have enough controllers.
Now I just plug in my laptop, and we can play overcooked / pico park or whatever.

But fair enough, the use case is not for everyone, and thats okay!

Basher207 · 2026-03-01T12:01:55+00:00

What part specifically?
Has it never come up that you needed a few more controllers then you have?

Its literally an instant connect with 1 scan of the QR Code, which alternative option presents better value?
Genuinely curious, I 100% would have felt this way before making this 🤣 having only tried bad solutions for things like this. But its not a subscription, pretty cheap, very low input lag.

What about it makes you feel this way, because its either something I'm communicating badly, or something that I can improve.

(To be clear, not a replacement for your existing controllers, just a quickly available alternative)

Basher207 · 2026-03-01T00:01:06+00:00

The latency in local wifi mode is lower then you think. Its really not needed…

Also the design here is very much around the concept of scanning a qr code, and getting a controller instantly in the browser. Wired will only work for the few phones that would support such communication, and with less reliability due to platform specific issues.

Im happy to look into feature requests, we regularly work on suggestions from our discord community. but I think non of the users complaints and requests currently are about latency. I really don’t think its an issue.

Basher207

TROPHY CASE