Games where everyone wins together — or loses together. No backstabbing, pure teamwork.
Cooperative games are underrated. Instead of eliminating each other, everyone works toward a shared goal — which creates a completely different social dynamic. There's no runaway leader problem, no one sitting out early, and no sore losers. Great for families, mixed-skill groups, and anyone who prefers collaboration over competition.
The cooperative game that defined the genre. You're a team of specialists racing to cure four diseases before outbreaks cascade out of control. Pandemic is tense, thematic, and brutally punishing — in the best way. Every game tells a story of near-victory or spectacular collapse. Essential.
The perfect entry point for cooperative gaming. You're treasure hunters trapped on a sinking island — tiles literally disappear as the game progresses. Forbidden Island is fast, tense, accessible to anyone 10+, and cheap enough that it's a no-brainer purchase. Plays great with kids.
One player is a ghost communicating through surreal dream cards; the others are psychic detectives solving a murder. Mysterium is creative, atmospheric, and generates the best table conversations of any game on this list. Great for groups who like a little mystery with their strategy.
Technically cooperative — two teams, each with a spymaster giving one-word clues to guide teammates to secret agents on the board. Fast, clever, and infinitely replayable. Codenames is the rare game that works for both casual groups and competitive thinkers, and it's consistently one of the most-played games at any table.
Social deduction at its purest. The village must identify the werewolves hiding among them before being picked off one by one. Werewolf requires zero strategy knowledge — just observation, persuasion, and the ability to lie convincingly. Works with almost any group size, which makes it uniquely valuable.
A tighter, more mechanical take on social deduction. Resistance players vote on missions and try to deduce who the spies are without any elimination — everyone stays in until the end. The deduction is sharper and the lying is more calculated than Werewolf. Great for groups who want less randomness.
The ultimate cooperative experience — an entire group storytelling together, with a Dungeon Master guiding the adventure. D&D is as cooperative as games get: you literally cannot win alone. The Dragon of Icespire Peak starter set is the best entry point, giving a full adventure with pre-made characters.