Co-op Browser Games for 2 to 4 Friends (No Download)

The co-op browser games on Pixaplay put two to four friends on one team, each with a real job. Rogue Defenders, free to try, has up to 4 heroes holding off monster waves. Hearthfall, early access with the Pixaplay Pass, has each of you running part of a village. Pecking Order's rope modes are free and silly.

Co-op is the kindest kind of game night. Nobody loses to a friend, the quiet one in the group still saves the day, and "I've got the left side!" becomes the most romantic sentence you'll hear all week. Here's what each game feels like with your crew. Want versus games too? Our main guide to browser games to play with friends has both.

The co-op picks at a glance

Rogue Defenders: back to back around the crystal

How it feels. Up to four heroes guard a glowing crystal against 20 waves of monsters across 4 realms, with a boss every fifth wave. Lose the crystal, or lose every hero, and the run is over. Each time the team levels up, every hero picks one of three new powers, so no two runs go the same way. Loot comes home with you between runs.

What you do. Pick a hero with a role. Free for everyone: the Warrior (tank), the Mage (big hits), the Archer (range) and the Cleric (healer). The Pass adds the Engineer and the Assassin. Go down, and a teammate brings you back just by standing beside you.

Why it needs a team. Some waves set a team goal that rewards splitting up. Lighting a pylon in Channel the Pylons takes about 45 seconds alone, about 20 with two heroes and about 12 with four. Twin Seals needs two heroes on two seals at the same moment. Cue a lot of "go, go, GO!"

One friend short? Bots take the empty seats. Left on Auto, they cover what's missing in order: a tank first, then a healer, then damage. They'll also follow quick messages like Defend the crystal! for a while.

There's couch co-op on one screen for up to four, and Crystal Clash, a 1v1 or 2v2 lane battle, for when the group fancies a scrap. Play Rogue Defenders, or read the Rogue Defenders guide.

Hearthfall: one village, four jobs

How it feels. By day you build a medieval village together. At dusk the bell rings, monsters pour out of their lairs and march on your Keep. Hold the wall till dawn and you breathe again; lose the Keep and the run ends. Every run is a new valley with a new foe.

What you do. Each of you holds a duty, and only that duty can do its work:

• Steward: farms, mills, mines and the market. Keeps everyone fed and paid.
• Marshal: the army: barracks, archers, knights, clerics, siege engines.
• Master Mason: walls, gates and towers, the only one who upgrades buildings or orders repairs.
• Warden: the wilds: outposts, scouting, traps and new regions.

That rule is the whole fun of it. The Marshal can't build a wall, so the Marshal has to ask nicely, or shout. A Tasks board turns asks into one-button jobs, but a voice call is quicker still. With two or three of you, the duties nobody picked are shared by everyone.

How long it takes. Day 1 lasts 200 seconds, later days 150, and a night at most 5 minutes. A run spans many days, so save it from the menu and carry on another evening. Everyone in the run gets a copy.

Does it get harder with more friends? Yes, fairly. Each night's attack grows with the players: about 1.05 times the base for one, 1.55 for two, 2.55 for four. Solo, you hold every duty and each day lasts a quarter longer.

Hearthfall is in early access for Pixaplay Pass members, still growing. See the Hearthfall guide, or play Hearthfall if you have the Pass.

Pecking Order's rope modes

Pecking Order is mostly a free-for-all chicken party, but two of its seven modes tie you to a friend:

• Chicken Chain: teams of 2, roped together over the void. One of you hits a trap, you both splat. It sounds stressful. It's mostly laughing.
• The Pecking Peak: climb a mountain with just 3 flaps in the air (they all come back when you land), then leap into a haystack. Solo or roped in pairs, with a new endless tower every week.

Both are free, and a group can play them in pairs in one room. Play Pecking Order. Love rope climbs? Pecking Order's page on games like Chained Together is for you.

Which co-op game should your group pick?

• Two of you, quick fun tonight: Rogue Defenders with the free heroes, bots in the spare seats.
• Three or four who like action: Rogue Defenders, one hero each, one of every role.
• Three or four who like planning out loud: Hearthfall, if your group has the Pass. The free week is a good way to try it.
• A duo who'd rather laugh than win: Pecking Order's Chicken Chain.
• A duo who prefers words to monsters: Codenames Duet. Its publisher runs an official free web version with no accounts or downloads (CGE). We don't make a word game, so that's the honest pick.

What makes a co-op game fun with friends?

Three things we build for, and you can look for in any co-op game:

1. Everyone has a job nobody else can do. Hearthfall's duties and Rogue Defenders' roles both give each player their moment.
2. The team can bounce back. Revives, a crystal that heals between waves, a dawn that patches everyone up. One slip shouldn't end the night.
3. An empty seat isn't a dead end. Bots in Rogue Defenders and shared duties in Hearthfall keep things going when someone heads to bed early.

How do you start a co-op game with friends?

In Rogue Defenders and Hearthfall, one of you makes a room and gets a 4-letter code. The rest type it in, or tap Join from Pixaplay's friends list. A Pixaplay party is even easier: it follows its leader into the game. The step-by-step is in how to join a friend's game. If some of you are on phones, check games phone and PC can play together, and if you're eyeing Hearthfall, see what the Pixaplay Pass gives you.