My friends and I have been exhausting our current library of games and are looking for suggestions. It tends to be pretty hard for us to all meet at the same time. Usually we prefer to do stuff that we can finish in one session on the weekends because one person might have to leave as another person joins. Don't mind if its new or old, but id prefer it not to be $60 if its going to be a 2hr stint
Valheim is good even if you can't be on at the same time. Just slowly build out a world as you would in Minecraft and save the biome raids for when you can get the party together. It's flexible.
PULSAR is pretty amazing if you have a few friends to play with. It really feels like actually running a spaceship together. You can shout things like "Divert all power to main turrets" and actually mean that.
Golf with Friends is casual and at times frustrating fun. Don't have to wait for each person to hit the ball before you hit yours either, so the games courses don't drag on.
Starship Troopers: Extermination is PvE wave/extraction shooter, from the company that developed Squad. Looks pretty fun but if you are not into that universe nor have enough friends you'd need to rely on other players as well.( basically max 12 players in 3 teams atm.) Warning: early access so if you are not tolerant to EA type of development/update cycle just avoid.
There is a couple other PvE wave/extraction shooter as well, so give them a try.( Just google that term, usually around $30 and could go on sale.)
Rocket League, this one I played since launch and really good game to start before your group all come online and then move on to other games.(since it supports up to 4v4, but usually people only queue 2v2 or 3v3 matches.)
I'd recommend 9 parchments if you just want to play together. My roommate's got a play list similar to yours and he's obsessed with it right now.
I'm not one for multiplayer, but if you ever do two player my favorite is wizard of legend. I usually play solo. If you play with friends it's fun though since you can design complimenting loadouts and you get different dungeons.
Trine is a puzzle platformer that's fun but can be frustrating if you've got a "smash everything" friend with you. It's 3 player IIRC.
Me and my wife have been really enjoying Bread and Fred. Your two oenguins tied together who have to use your momentum to climb a mountain. It's in the genre of "getting over it" where you can fall at any time and lose all progress. Two player only, it's more a couple game.
I don't see overwatch 2 on the list. I think the game gets an unfair amount of hate, it's one of my favourite games. One of the few games that is competitive but nit Grey army colours. Community is toxic, and it takes a long time to learn though. It can be an exceeding satisfying game, but unfortunately I think it only really gets fun at Plat and higher elos (similar to csgo in that regard)
Stardew valley is a great vibe game that I don't see listed. One if the best games for casual chat and play imo.
We had a lot of fun with V Rising. It's a bit like Diablo I'd say, but with base building and crafting and the level is based entirely on gear, so if someone misses a few sessions you can just craft one extra set of the latest armor you unlocked and they are on your level instantly.
For the King (and coming soon, For the King 2) has been a go-to coop game with one of my buddies. It's a turn based, low poly dnd-esque game with a handful of different campaigns. FTK 1 has 3 character parties, so one of us will just play 2 characters, but otherwise it's pretty perfect for 2 people.
If you like horror Outlast Trials is pretty good. It's a little short on content (there are 9 unique missions) but the experience is well worth the money, I'm hoping they add new content soon.
What do u think about League of Legends? It's lots of fun with friends & u can queue in parties of 5 (the team limit across the game) maximum. Should u not have a full party, u can queue with whoever's ready to play and have randoms autofill.
I really like playing League and especially with friends. If everyone's a total newbie to the game then it's better to make friends with someone who can coach you .. or just play customs v bots 😄🧡
I've had lots of fun playing the game over the years and don't mind playing alone or teamed-up 😁 Takes some getting used to if* u aren't acquainted with mobas but trust me when I say it's a world of fun once one gets the hang of it (ime & mi mates' anyway).
I've over time moved on to playing aram (a single-lane accelerated mode). It's more chaotic haha but also sweet for learning how to dodge and read through the fow 🌁
I haven't played it just yet, but people have been praising Crab Champions a lot.
Also if it's just you and one mate, and you'd like to enjoy an experience together in one session and be done with it, try A Way Out but make sure to not Google a single spoiler.
I can always recommend Guild Wars 2. It is f2p but the base game still has alot of content with some restrictions to not get overrun by bots.
Big detailed world to explore together and do stories which you get every 10 levels. If you pick different races and decicions at character creation, it all converges after lvl 60.
You also unlock all waypoints for every starter zone from the get go, so you can play together immediatly.
It can feel very easy there so you might want to tackle zones above your level, but the game gets harder in the 80 zones, group content and the expansions.
Especially in Heart of Thorns, where the whole jungle tries to kill you.
It has no subscription which makes it perfect to play and then take breaks and even if you outlevel your friends you get downscaled and still get loot, so you can help or the other way around.
It's a ghost investigation game that's easy to pick up, and has some really awesome scary moments. It's only about $14 and it's got an overwhelmingly positive rating on Steam.
Streets of Rogue. It's a top-down roguelike with many different characters and items. You can do the missions in different ways playing solo, but co-op opens even more possibilities.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a local co-op where you share the controls of a spaceship. Your goal is to save the space bunnies. Not quite the same style as the games on your list but it's inexpensive and cute.
Not sure if it's been mentioned, but Hunt Showdown is a blast with a friend. Me and my buddy have played it a long time. They're always patching and adding content here and there. :)
Based on your played games you would probably all enjoy World of Warships. It’s F2P, possible to play and enjoy without spending money (though of course spending money does allow you to get more stuff), has deep gameplay and large learning curve but matches are all less then 20 minutes.
It may not be something you can complete in an evening, but Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a cross platform co-op game based on the ruleset of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition.
It's available on game pass, and has bee a ton of fun for my friends and me.
Outlast Trials is the big coop fun surprise of the year for me. You can also still buy it 25% off on epic for like 20€ until today.
People should not ignore this game cause it is from the outlast series. This game has way less jumpscares and its more about the tension of being chased all the time. Also way less scary in coop than in solo. It's more like Deadbydaylight meets L4D2 mobs. Level and Character Design reminds me off Bioshock. The coop fun is comparable to Phasmophobia, just less scary but more tense
Foxhole seems really great when playing with multiple friends. If you're two, I loved playing Portal 2 in coop. I'm currently playing Hunt Showdown with my friends.
DayZ can be fun. Building up a base and trying to survive together. A bit of a learning curve but a very social game. Especially if you find a good private PVE server.
I don't know how much you'd like it since the shooters on your list aren't super similar, but Xdefiant should be releasing soon and is f2p. I really enjoyed the closed betas. There's an open one June 21-23 if you want to give it a try.
Also if you enjoy roguelites, Crab Champions is cheap and very fun. It's in early access, so there's still a lot more content coming.
Insurgency Sandstorm is my go to. 8 player co-op vs ai bots, but with a degree of realism. A well placed headshot will drop an enemy instantly but the same can happen to you.
This is an odd one, but Powerwash Simulator has been an blast for me and my wife. We used to play a lot of Overwatch, but didn't like the new direction with 2. It somehow manages to scratch some of the shooter itch while being really chill.
Saving this post because it's right up my alley so now I have many new games to check out. Project Zomboid is still going strong for us, but here are some others that our group has enjoyed:
Heave Ho: super crude 2D graphics, but absolutely hilarious gameplay
The Ascent: beautiful cyberpunk-themed isometric shooter
Broforce: very entertaining pixel-art 2D platformer/shooter - we played this through to the end, which is rare for us
Overcooked: very entertaining 3D game, not sure what I would even call the genre - a "work" game?
Unrailed: similar to uncooked, but a different kind of "work"
I feel like there are too many to list, but an obvious one that I don't see mentioned is Halo. The Master Chief Collection is pretty great, and has a ton of content that can all be consumed in short sessions (except for certain levels on legendary difficulty).
I've had a lot of fun playing Grounded. Both with friends and solo. Someone needs to host the session but it is a shared save file that keeps up to date very well. So, any individual can play at any time or up to 4 can play online together.