Video games are always much more enjoyable with friends; whether it be working together or competing head-to-head. The typical multiplayer games that some may first think of are ones that give every player an even playing ground, essentially mirroring each other's screens, giving them the exact same controls, abilities, and roles; to maintain a fair and even playing field.

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However, an asymmetrical multiplayer game is one in which players have unique abilities, roles, or powers that will give them different overall experiences. Sometimes, players will be working side-by-side, taking care of distinct jobs. Others, they will be in different areas of the map and working independently of each other entirely. The best asymmetrical multiplayer games manage to find balance, despite some of these differences.

Updated December 5, 2023, by Christine Mendoza: There's never a bad time to take a break from life and spend some time bonding with a few friends over a good game online or in person. Whether it be cooperative or competitive, asymmetrical multiplayer games offer lots of variety and allow players to have some friendly competition as well as build their teamworking skills. For any gamers looking for a fun gaming session with friends, the best asymmetric multiplayer games should help to scratch that itch.

19 Evolve

Steam User Rating: Mixed (65%)

Evolve takes place in a distant future in which humans have created the tools and technology to explore the outer reaches of space, colonizing different planets to spawn new communities for the rest of the population as well as land for further industrialization. However, as they continue to explore the distant planet of Shear, they find themselves being threatened by alien life forms that thrive off of eating local wildlife to gain power.

The game features co-op, competitive, and multiplayer gameplay; having a four-versus-one structure in which four players take control of the human team (the Hunters) while the fifth player then takes the role of the Monster. The four Hunters must track down and eliminate the Monster before it has the chance to evolve.

18 Dustnet

Steam User Rating: Positive (88%)

• Release Year: 2019
• Genre: Action, sandbox, FPS

Despite its vastly different aesthetic, Dustnet is heavily based on 2001's famous Counter-Strike. Dustnet is a sandbox FPS game that takes place in a copy of the "Dust II" multiplayer map from Counter-Strike. Dustnet's aesthetic aims for minimalism as both the guns and the environment (as well as other players) all have a geometrical wireframe, "unfinished but on purpose" visual style.

Dustnet has a typical FPS style of asymmetrical gameplay where players are separated into two teams: Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. Terrorists are the team to try to plant the bomb, while the Counter-Terrorists are to fight them off and diffuse it.

17 Identity V

Steam User Rating: N/A

• Release Year: 2018
• Genre: Survival horror, role-playing

Identity V is a free-to-play multiplayer survival horror game in which players are put into a four-versus-one situation, pitting four Survivor characters against one Hunter. The four Survivors are tasked with decoding five Cipher Machines around the map and entering the correct password in order to escape safely. Meanwhile, the Hunter player must eliminate all the Survivors using Rocket Chairs.

The Hunter wins if at least three Survivors are successfully eliminated (not rescued by fellow Survivors), while the Survivors win the match if at least three of them escape to safety. In the case where two Survivors are eliminated but two have escaped, neither party will win, and the match will go down as a draw.

16 Evil Dead: The Game

Steam User Rating: Mixed (67%)

Evil Dead: The Game is based on the famous American comedy-horror movie franchise of the same name. It embraces its roots and includes locations and weapons based on ones seen in the movies. Players either take control of a Survivor or a Demon. However, not all characters are equal and instead belong to unique classes dedicated to a specific specialty. Survivors can pick from four different classes: Leaders, Warriors, Hunters, and Supports.

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Meanwhile, the player that takes control of the Demon is also given some variety, choosing which antagonist fits their personal gameplay style. They're able to choose from playing the Warlord, the Puppeteer, the Necromancer, the Plaguebringer, and the Schemer.

15 Predator: Hunting Grounds

Steam User Rating: Mostly Positive (78%)

Based on the long-standing Alien vs. Predator movie franchise, Predator: Hunting Grounds is an FPS game that features the extraterrestrial species known as Predators that sci-fi fans all know and love. One lucky player gets to control the notorious Predator and hunt down the other players.

Meanwhile, the other four players take on the role of special operations operators who are dispatched to a remote jungle to take down a drug lord, all while avoiding (or capturing/killing) the deadly Predator. The special operations members not only have to worry about the Predator, but must deal with various NPCs that try to sabotage their mission.

14 First Class Trouble

Steam User Rating: Mostly Positive (79%)

• Release Year: 2021
• Genre: Party game, social deduction, survival

First Class Trouble is a party game that takes place on a luxury cruise in a futuristic setting where A.I. has advanced to the point of putting humanity in danger. Players are all stuck onboard as they try to shut down the dangerous rogue A.I. system that is trying to kill off all human beings onboard.

However, among the regular human passengers (the Residents) are impostors (the Humanoids) who look exactly like the other human passengers. They're tasked with flying under the radar and sabotaging the others in their endeavor to survive, a little like Among Us, or some of the many other imposter games like it.

13 Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Steam User Rating: Mostly Positive (78%)

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is an episodic survival horror game that allows two players to fight against zombies and other mutated enemies in the co-op mode. The players switch between two different scenarios; one featuring Claire Redfield and Moira Burton and another featuring Barry Burton and a small girl named Natalia.

Each player will have a different role in the game, requiring the pair to work together to make it through each level; whether that be when navigating through different parts of the map, using their unique abilities to solve a puzzle, or taking down a dangerous enemy.

12 Among Us

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (92%)

Imposter games have made a huge comeback in recent years, all thanks to the craze around Among Us. Among Us pits a player up against their friends by assigning them all different roles. The players that are given the role of impostor are to sabotage the ship and kill the innocent crewmates before having their true identities found out.

Meanwhile, the crewmates are to finish their tasks and report any dead bodies found, discussing who among the group is most suspicious and thus, voting them out. If all impostors are voted out correctly, the crewmates win. If the impostors are still alive with an equal number of living crewmates, the crewmates lose. Since the game's initial release and rise in popularity, new cosmetics, maps, and roles have been added to keep the game fresh and feeling new.

11 Who's Your Daddy

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (80%)

• Release Year: (Microsoft Windows) 2016, (Remake) 2020
• Genre: Simulation, Parody

Who's Your Daddy is a hilarious parody-simulation game in which two players are put head to head in a heated battle; one playing the role of the daddy and one playing the baby. The player that takes the role of the baby is tasked with finding dangerous objects around the house to off themselves as fast as they can while the opposite player does their best to prevent them from doing such.

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As the dad, the player is responsible for the health of their baby, sabotaging any insane, dangerous shenanigans the baby gets up to. The dad character can place locks on doors or cabinets, place safety plugs in electrical sockets, and even give the baby medicine to heal them. Discovering new, hilarious ways to sabotage one another, Who's Your Daddy makes for a hilarious asymmetrical one-on-one game for friends that is surprisingly more strategic than it first appears!

10 Secret Neighbor

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (88%)

• Release Year: 2018
• Genre: Horror, Adventure

The Secret Neighbor horror-adventure game is a spin-off of the Hello Neighbor horror-puzzle game and takes place in the same universe. The game takes place between Act 1 and Act 2 of the original game and revolves around six children all trying to work together in order to break into the Neighbor's basement. The catch is that one of the six children is secretly the Neighbor in disguise.

The disguised Neighbor is to catch all the children before they finish their task of looking for a total of six keys to open the basement door. There are six different roles that the children can choose from that grant them unique abilities. The Neighbor also has many abilities as well as power-ups that can be obtained to even the playing ground.

9 Goose Goose Duck

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (87%)

Goose Goose Duck is also a social deduction game in which players must find out which players are treacherous ducks. The geese need to complete their tasks while avoiding all the sneaky ducks. What makes Goose Goose Duck feel vastly different from other social deduction games is the wide variety of roles that come along with it. The game also relies on the in-game voice chat in order to have the complete/full experience.

Among all the roles, the Dodo is definitely one of the most interesting and unique. The Dodo Bird is neither a duck nor a goose and is playing to earn a victory on its own. Their goal is to purposely be voted out as a duck. The Dodo bird must appear and sound guilty so that the rest of the players decide to vote them out, giving them their well-earned solo victory.

8 Friday The 13th: The Game

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (80%)

• Release Year: 2017
• Genre: Survival Horror

Any fans of the classic film series should definitely give Friday The 13th: The Game a go. This multiplayer game pits a single (usually randomized) player up against the rest, taking the role of Jason, while the rest of the group are helpless camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake.

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Jason's role is as simple as one would assume: hunt down all the camp counselors and kill as many of them before the time runs out. On the flip side, the counselors must scavenge the campgrounds for useful weapons to defend themselves, healing items to patch up after taking damage, and most importantly, key items to collect in order to successfully escape the campgrounds and flee to safety.

7 A Way Out

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (85%)

Protagonists Leo and Vincent are the characters players must help in their endeavor to break out of prison in the third-person action-adventure game, A Way Out. Using either the local or online play, two players are meant to cooperate and coordinate with one another to find their way out of prison and flee from the authorities that are pursuing them. Along the way are the occasional mini-games where both players can take a break from the intense life of a convict on the run, to face off against their partner in crime.

The game presents puzzles or obstacles that must be solved by both players taking different roles. However, the game's roles for Vincent and Leo are not fixed; so if players decide to switch roles/jobs they can do so if they so want to.

6 Propnight

Steam User Rating: Mixed (68%)

Another great survival horror game that has 4 vs. 1 asymmetrical multiplayer gameplay, Propnight incorporates classic horror survival tropes and elements. One player will take the role of the killer and choose from the many characters that all have vastly different aesthetics and unique powers.

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Meanwhile, on the other side, the survivors must escape the hands of the killer, using their special ability to disguise themselves as items found around the map. They have to survive long enough to find and repair enough propmachines in order to open the doors to escape to freedom.

5 We Were Here

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (90%)

For fans of puzzle games or escape rooms, the We Were Here series is definitely a must. Much like real-life escape rooms, We Were Here is best with a buddy to play with (in fact, it's the only way to play). In this cooperative puzzle game, two players must communicate via walkie-talkies and help each other solve puzzles that require both parties to relay information back and forth between each other.

While many cooperative puzzle games involve both players working on the same exact puzzle at the same time, We Were Here changes things up and separates the players into different rooms, making communication the key to success.

4 Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes

Steam User Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (97%)

For anyone who is on the lookout for a relaxing game to play with a good friend on a lazy afternoon, this game may not be the best pick. Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes is an intense co-op game that involves both parties working together to defuse a bomb before the timer runs out.

However, only one player gets direct access to the bomb and is allowed to interact with it physically to inspect all the modules that need to be solved. The other player has access to the bomb defusal manual with all the answers to each module's puzzle. The tricky part of this asymmetrical co-op game is that neither player can see the other's screen and can only successfully defuse the bomb by communicating the answers to one another.

3 Dead By Daylight

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (80%)

Another fantastic option for a 4 vs. 1 survival horror game is Dead By Daylight. Although initially released back in 2016, the game is still very active today. Dead By Daylight takes on the typical "killer vs. survivors" gameplay style, offering a wide variety of both unique survivors and killers to choose from.

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What kept the game relevant for so many years after is Behaviour Interactive's continuous support; constantly releasing new maps, survivor characters, and killer characters. Since 2021, Behaviour Interactive has released a total of 26 different DLC packs, including many collaborations with other games, films, and television shows to create one big melting pot of horror.

2 It Takes Two

Steam User Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

While both players are working together in the miniature world of It Takes Two, each person has unique powers and a specific role in each level of the game. It Takes Two is an adventure platforming two-player co-op game that allows each player to take on new exciting powers or weapons between each level that is unique to their own character.

The use of unique abilities allows the game to test each player separately and in different ways; whether it be testing someone's timing or challenging their platforming abilities. In some events, the pair is expected to do the same job and clear a course or force the two to split up and use both technical skills and good communication in order to keep pushing through.

1 Spy Party

Steam User Rating: Very Positive (81%)

• Release Year: 2018
• Genre: Stealth, deduction

While many asymmetrical multiplayer games expect players to work together in order to win, Spy Party is the complete opposite. Spy Party has two separate roles that aren't on a team, but instead act as direct enemies. One player takes the role of the spy and controls one of the many unsuspecting NPCs in the party that also serves as the game's main stage. The spy must act as casually as possible and fly under the radar while completing all their tasks in order to win.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the opposing player takes the role of the sniper and must carefully observe all the members of the party, and successfully identify and shoot the character they suspect is the spy. If the spy completes all their tasks before the timer runs out or if the sniper shoots the wrong person (a civilian), then the spy is successful. However, if the sniper takes the shot and takes out the opposing player, then the sniper takes the win.

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