19 games · updated July 2026

Best multiplayer games

Games that need other people to work.

Some games are better with friends. These are the ones that do not exist without them. Whether that is five people coordinating a push, four people arguing about who vented, or a hundred people landing on the same island, the other players are the content.

We have weighted this list toward games that are still easy to get into. A multiplayer game with a dead queue is not a game, and a few well-reviewed titles are missing here for exactly that reason.

What to expect

Healthy matchmaking, every entry still fills a lobby at time of writing.
A mix of competitive and purely co-operative play.
Cross-platform play in most, so the group does not have to agree on hardware.

Start here

Where to begin with multiplayer games

The entries we would hand someone new to the genre.

MMORPG

Old School RuneScape

A 2007 MMORPG that the players themselves refuse to let die.

9.4/10

Action

Counter-Strike 2

Twenty-five years of the same idea, refined until nothing is left to cut.

9.2/10

Sandbox

Minecraft

A block, a world, and fifteen years of people finding out what that means.

9.2/10

The ranking

All 19 multiplayer games

Ordered by our editors' score across the whole library, so positions here match the main ranking.

Old School RuneScape
9.4/10
MMORPGPCMobileFree to play2013
A restored 2007 build of RuneScape where every meaningful change is put to a player vote. Twenty-three skills, no classes, and the most open progression in the genre.
MMORPGRPGMultiplayer
Counter-Strike 2
9.2/10
Tactical shooterPCFree to play2023
Five against five, one life per round, no respawns. The purest competitive shooter there is, and free.
ActionMultiplayerStrategy
Minecraft
9.2/10
Sandbox survivalPCMobileConsoleBuy to play2011
Place blocks, break blocks, survive the night. The most-played game ever made, and still the best multiplayer sandbox.
SandboxSurvivalMultiplayer
Path of Exile 2
9.1/10
Action RPGPCConsoleFree to play2024
An action RPG that expects you to read the tooltip and means it.
Deep Rock Galactic
9.0/10
Co-op shooterPCConsoleBuy to play2020
Four dwarves, a procedurally generated cave, and a fully destructible one.
Warframe
8.9/10
Co-op action RPGPCConsoleFree to play2013
The best movement system in any free game, attached to a decade of content.
Dota 2
8.8/10
MOBAPCFree to play2013
Every hero free, every mechanic sharp, every match an hour you owe someone.
Valorant
8.6/10
Tactical shooterPCConsoleFree to play2020
Counter-Strike's economy, with abilities that change the map.
Rust
8.5/10
Survival sandboxPCConsoleBuy to play2018
You start naked with a rock. Everything after that is other people.
League of Legends
8.4/10
MOBAPCFree to play2009
The most-played strategy game in the world, for better and worse.
Stardew Valley
8.4/10
Farming simPCMobileConsoleBuy to play2016
A farming sim with four-player co-op and no clock you did not set.
Genshin Impact
8.3/10
Open-world action RPGPCMobileConsoleFree to play2020
An open world built to a standard the free-to-play model does not usually reach.
Marvel Snap
8.2/10
Digital card gamePCMobileFree to play2022
A card game that respects your time to an almost aggressive degree.
World of Warcraft
8.2/10
MMORPGPCSubscription2004
The genre's centre of gravity, twenty years on and still setting the standard for raids.
Fortnite
8.1/10
Battle royalePCMobileConsoleFree to play2017
A battle royale that turned into a platform and kept the shooter working.
Apex Legends
8.0/10
Battle royalePCConsoleFree to play2019
The best movement in the battle royale genre, attached to the best ping system.
Roblox
7.9/10
Game platformPCMobileConsoleFree to play2006
Not a game, a few million of them, made by the people playing.
Krunker
7.8/10
Arena shooterBrowserPCFree to play2018
A browser shooter fast enough to make you forget it is a browser shooter.
Slither.io
7.6/10
Arena io gameBrowserMobileFree2016
Snake, made competitive, and still the cleanest idea of the .io wave.