Best Co Op Games for Strategy Lovers

5 August 2025

If you're the type of gamer who gets more satisfaction out of outwitting your enemy than simply blasting them to smithereens, you've probably got a soft spot for strategy games. And if you enjoy sharing the battlefield with friends instead of going it alone, then co-op strategy games are your ultimate jam. Whether it's commanding armies, building bases, or managing a dystopian empire, strategy games get even better when you bring a buddy or two along for the ride.

So fire up your headsets and gather your squad—we're diving into the best co-op games that every strategy lover should have on their radar.

Why Co-Op Strategy Games Hit Different

Let’s be real: solo strategy games are amazing, but there’s something magical about scheming and executing a perfect plan with a friend. You get to brainstorm tactics, split responsibilities, and either celebrate victories or roast each other for terrible decisions. It's like chess—but with explosions, aliens, and the occasional betrayal (looking at you, late-game "misclicks").

Whether you're into real-time chaos or prefer thoughtful, turn-based planning, the collaborative vibe in co-op strategy games makes the experience ten times more memorable. So, what are the best of the best in this genre? Let's get to it.

1. 🏰 Age of Empires IV (Co-Op Skirmishes & Campaign Fun)

Platform: PC
Co-Op Type: Online co-op against AI or custom games

Age of Empires IV brings back that nostalgic RTS magic, but with modern graphics and smart tweaks. You and a friend (or several) can team up against the AI or go head-to-head with other player duos. Coordinating army builds, resource sharing, and joint sieges brings an entirely new layer of fun when you're not just playing against someone—but with them.

It's history meets havoc—perfect for fans of both education and epic destruction.

2. 👨‍🌾 Factorio (For Logistics and Automation Nerds)

Platform: PC
Co-Op Type: Online co-op

Love crafting, optimizing supply chains, and solving industrial puzzles? In Factorio, you and your teammates crash-land on an alien planet with one goal: build a fully automated factory and eventually launch a rocket off the planet. Sounds simple? Far from it.

What makes it such a brilliant co-op is the way you can delegate tasks—one person handles mining, another works on research, and someone else is in charge of defending the base. It’s like a big, sweaty orchestra where everyone is playing a different instrument—and it sounds like success (or total destruction).

3. 🧟 They Are Billions (Together Against The Horde)

Platform: PC
Co-Op Type: Unofficial mods for co-op or turn-based AI co-strategizing

Okay, full disclosure—They Are Billions doesn’t officially support co-op multiplayer. However, many strategy fans get around this by playing in “couch co-op" mode, where two players manage the base together. The pressure is real as you try to survive waves of infected that literally come in the thousands.

Split up the jobs—someone controls military defense while the other focuses on economy and expansion. It’s a test of how well you strategize under pressure. Spoiler alert: you’ll probably fail (a lot), but that's half the fun, right?

4. 🚀 Stellaris (Space Diplomacy With Friends)

Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Co-Op Type: Online multiplayer (co-op via alliances/federations)

If you dream of ruling the stars with your friends, Stellaris is your galactic playground. This grand strategy game lets each player control their own civilization, and through alliances and federations, you can work together to conquer the galaxy—or keep it in harmony (ha, good luck with that).

The sheer depth is mind-blowing: you’ll manage diplomacy, population happiness, research, military, and even AI revolts. When you team up, things get even more intense as everyone has a say in what happens next. It’s the game equivalent of co-writing a space opera.

5. ☣️ Project Zomboid (Team-Based Survival Strategy)

Platform: PC
Co-Op Type: Online and split-screen co-op

Don’t let the pixel art fool you: Project Zomboid might be one of the most brutally strategic co-op games out there. You and your friends are stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Everything—food, water, electricity—is dwindling. How you survive comes down to clever planning.

Split up tasks like scavenging, fortifying your base, farming, and more. Make one wrong decision (like leaving the fridge door open or forgetting to close a window), and it could mean the end of your group. Trust us, this is survival strategy with the stress dialed up to 100.

6. 🪖 Company of Heroes 3 (Squad-Based WWII Action)

Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Co-Op Type: Online co-op vs AI

Company of Heroes 3 mixes real-time tactical warfare with a strategic layer of base building and map control. It's frantic, explosive, and surprisingly cerebral if you're working on flanking enemy tanks and capturing victory points with precision.

In co-op mode, you and a friend can divvy up squads and coordinate attacks. Want to try pincer tactics? One person goes left with infantry, another brings artillery from the rear. That level of cooperation is what makes each session feel like you’re directing your own war movie.

7. 🏙️ Cities: Skylines (Multiplayer Mod for Urban Strategists)

Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Co-Op Type: Unofficial multiplayer via mods

Okay, so Cities: Skylines is technically a single-player game… but with the magic of mods, you can now co-op it. Imagine building and managing an entire city with a friend. One handles infrastructure, the other focuses on zoning and public services. Divide and conquer!

It’s immensely satisfying to see a thriving city come to life when you and a buddy pull the strings behind the scenes. Just be ready to blame each other when the traffic jams start—or worse, when sewage backs up into the water supply. Oops.

8. 🛸 XCOM 2 (Pass-the-Controller Co-Op Fun)

Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Co-Op Type: Unofficial/local co-op (shared soldiers)

While XCOM 2 doesn’t have online co-op out of the box, you can still play cooperatively by assigning different team members to different players. It’s old-school, pass-the-controller style, but it works beautifully for turn-based gameplay.

You’ll need razor-sharp tactics and teamwork to survive alien invasions and complete each mission. One player might cover stealth units while the other handles heavy firepower. And when the RNG gods strike? Well, at least you can point fingers.

9. 🧩 Wargroove (Chess Meets Fire Emblem, but Together)

Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Co-Op Type: Online/local co-op campaign and skirmishes

Wargroove is the turn-based strategy game you didn’t know you needed. It’s cute, colorful, and absolutely packed with strategic depth. There's a full campaign that supports co-op gameplay, where you and a friend can control different characters and units across chunky pixelated battlefields.

It’s like if Advance Wars and Fire Emblem had a baby, and then that baby grew up loving Nintendo and war tactics equally.

10. 🧠 Outsmarting AI in Total War: Warhammer III (Team-Focused Domination)

Platform: PC
Co-Op Type: Campaign co-op and custom battles

Total War: Warhammer III is a juggernaut in the strategy scene. The game is massive. The armies are epic. And in co-op, it becomes even more brilliant. Whether you're both playing Chaos factions or mixing things up with different races, coordinating massive battles is pure strategy bliss.

There's something incredibly satisfying about launching a coordinated two-army siege with your buddy—storming castles, flanking from the sides, and watching monstrous units wreak havoc. It’s tactical, it’s beautiful, and it’s endlessly fun.

What Makes a Great Co-Op Strategy Game?

Not every strategy game is cut out for the co-op life. The best ones nail the following:

- 🧠 Depth Without Overwhelm: Enough complexity to keep things interesting, but not so much that you spend 90% of the time explaining rules to friends.
- 🕹️ Shared Decision-Making: Whether it’s splitting up tasks or making collective choices that shape the outcome, co-op thrives on teamwork.
- 🎯 Replayability: Every good co-op game needs to feel fresh the second, third, and hundredth time you boot it up.
- 📈 Progression or Customization: Unlocks, upgrades, or story advancements—something to work toward as a team.

Final Thoughts: Team Tactics FTW

Whether you're planning massive medieval battles, tweaking factory belts, or surviving zombie-infested suburbs, co-op strategy games are where brains meet brawn—and friendship meets friction. There’s something incredibly rewarding about sharing the highs and lows with someone else. Because in strategy games, nothing screams victory louder than yelling “I told you so!” when your plan actually works.

So pick your next game, grab a friend, and start plotting your path to victory. The battlefield (or factory floor, or galaxy) awaits.