I wanted an It Takes Two horror game on PS5. Here’s what exists

Everybody has seen those clips of streamers playing horror games with friends and screaming at each other while everything goes wrong. They are everywhere, so you assume there must be plenty of games like that.

When my friend came over, we started talking about those clips and decided to find something similar on PS5. We thought we would have loads to choose from. Instead, most were single-player, online-only or on Steam. I know PC is where a lot of these games live now, but come on, we had a PS5 and two controllers. It should not have been this difficult.

We wanted the old setup: one console, two controllers, same screen. Something with the easy sit-down-and-play feeling of Black Ops Zombies, but built as a proper horror campaign with cooperation closer to It Takes Two.

After digging through the PS5 catalogue, I found one game that comes close, a few older options that still work and several popular recommendations that do not solve the problem at all. The selection is much thinner than it should be, but there is enough here for a good night if you know what each game is offering before you pay.

Quick answer

REANIMAL is the closest thing to an It Takes Two horror game on PS5. Both people play the full campaign together on one console with two controllers, and the shared camera makes it feel designed for the sofa rather than adapted for it later. Its main weakness is length. You can finish it in one or two evenings, and the puzzles are nowhere near as varied as those in It Takes Two.

If you want both players controlling characters at the same time, the next best choices are Resident Evil Revelations 2 and Resident Evil 5. If your group is happy to pass one controller while everyone argues over the decisions, The Quarry and House of Ashes are stronger horror-night games. Phasmophobia and Little Nightmares III may look perfect in clips, but both require a separate system for co-op.

The PlayStation scores were checked in August 2026. Our score is narrower than a normal review rating: it measures how well each game fits one PS5, two people in the same room and a preference for horror over another generic action campaign.

1. REANIMAL is the closest thing

REANIMAL comes from Tarsier Studios, the team behind the first two Little Nightmares games, and it feels as if somebody at the studio understood the exact gap we had run into. The full campaign supports local two-player co-op on PS5. Both characters stay inside one shared camera, so neither person gets a private screen or wanders off to do their own thing while the other deals with the scary part.

That shared view is one of the reasons it works. When the camera pulls back, both characters look small and exposed. When it closes in, both players are trapped in the same ugly situation. The game uses its framing well, and playing beside somebody does not completely destroy the tension in the way co-op often can.

Player reviews on PlayStation are very positive about the atmosphere, creature design and cinematography. The repeated complaint is that the campaign is short and the puzzles are simple, which matters when the standard edition costs $39.99. Some buyers say they finished it in roughly four or five hours. Online players have also reported connection problems, although that should not affect two people playing locally on the same machine. The PlayStation Store confirms full local and online co-op and has a free demo, so there is no reason to buy it blind.

Classic Co-op reached a similar verdict: excellent atmosphere, a good length for one or two sessions and a few clumsy interactions. That is probably the fairest description. REANIMAL gives you the shared horror adventure, but it does not keep reinventing itself every twenty minutes like It Takes Two. Download the demo first; if both of you like the movement and camera, this is the easiest recommendation in the article.

2. The Quarry is the best option if passing one controller is fine

The Quarry is not split-screen and both people will not be controlling characters at once. Its local mode lets the group assign nine camp counsellors between them, then the game tells everyone when to pass the controller. I would normally see that as a fairly generous use of the word co-op, but it suits this kind of game better than expected.

The inactive player still has plenty to do because most of the fun comes from judging the characters, arguing over decisions and watching somebody destroy a perfectly sensible plan by missing one quick-time event. It plays like a long interactive slasher film with a cast of teenagers who keep giving themselves fresh opportunities to die. The pace can drag during exploration, and anyone expecting two controllers to remain busy will feel misled, but as a social horror game it works.

The PlayStation Store describes the local mode clearly: each person controls assigned counsellors rather than playing simultaneously. Choose this when the group cares more about the story, deaths and bad decisions than mastering a combat system. If the whole point is for both people to play at once, skip it and move to Revelations 2.

3. Resident Evil Revelations 2 is proper local co-op with unequal roles

Resident Evil Revelations 2 is an older PS4 release running on PS5 through backward compatibility, yet it remains one of the better answers because the campaign supports two-player split-screen. It also has far more survival-horror DNA than Resident Evil 5: ammunition matters, dark rooms still feel dangerous and the game does not immediately turn every problem into a shooting gallery.

The catch is that the roles are deliberately unequal. Claire and Barry use most of the firearms, while Moira relies on a flashlight and crowbar and Natalia can sense enemies or find hidden objects. That setup creates useful cooperation because the second player provides information and support instead of becoming another person with the same gun. It can also be annoying if your friend expected to shoot monsters and discovers they have been appointed official flashlight manager for the evening.

Talk about the roles before starting, or switch between chapters. With the right pair it is more interesting than giving both people identical abilities; with the wrong pair somebody will be bored within half an hour. The PlayStation version supports one or two local players, and the first episode is free, which makes it easy to test. Co-Optimus also explains how the two character abilities work together.

It looks and feels older than REANIMAL, but it is cheaper, longer and more demanding. If the age does not bother you, this is probably the smartest second choice.

4. House of Ashes is the strongest Dark Pictures game for the sofa

House of Ashes uses the same pass-the-controller system as The Quarry. Up to five people choose characters and take control when the story changes perspective, so it works better as a group horror night than as a traditional two-player game.

The story follows soldiers who fall into a buried Sumerian temple during the Iraq War and find creatures waiting below. It moves faster than several other Dark Pictures games and spends less time forcing everyone to walk slowly through empty corridors while pretending the tension is building. There is more action, a tighter cast and enough bad decisions to keep the people without the controller involved.

PlayStation lists support for one to five local players and two online players. I would choose House of Ashes over The Quarry if you want monsters, military tension and a shorter campaign. The Quarry is better for a longer American slasher night with more characters and more room for the story to go wrong.

5. Resident Evil 5 is great co-op and barely horror

Resident Evil 5 is still one of Capcom’s best two-player campaigns. Both people have proper combat roles, manage their own equipment, rescue one another and spend an unreasonable amount of time arranging tiny inventory boxes while enemies wait nearby. The split-screen version remains fun because neither player feels like the assistant.

The problem is simple: it is not very scary. Most of the game takes place in daylight and prefers crowds, explosions and Chris Redfield solving structural problems with his fists. If you want a strong action campaign with horror imagery, it is an easy recommendation. If you want the quieter feeling that opening the next door may have been a terrible idea, REANIMAL and Revelations 2 are much closer.

The PS4 version supports one or two local players and runs on PS5. Its 4.56/5 player rating is the highest of the five main games here, and I understand why. The co-op is excellent. Just do not buy it expecting two controllers and sleepless nights.

What about Phasmophobia?

This was one of the first games we thought about because the clips look perfect for two friends. You enter a haunted location, collect evidence, try to identify the ghost and listen to everybody’s confidence disappear when the lights go out. It has an excellent 4.58/5 score from more than 28,000 PlayStation ratings.

Then you open the product page and find the problem: Phasmophobia supports one local player and up to four players online. There is no couch co-op or split-screen. Two people need separate systems, screens and copies of the game, with PlayStation Plus required on PS5.

It may be the best game in this article for a group playing online. It does nothing for two people sitting beside each other with one console, which is why putting it into a normal list of PS5 couch co-op games would waste your time.

Little Nightmares III has the same problem

Little Nightmares III looks even closer to the game we wanted. Two small characters move through a disturbing world, solve environmental puzzles and survive creatures that appear specifically designed to ruin somebody’s sleep. On paper it sounds like an obvious local co-op game.

Bandai Namco chose online co-op only. The studio’s developer Q&A confirms that couch co-op is not supported, so two people cannot play the campaign together on one PS5. That decision feels especially odd now that REANIMAL, made by the studio behind the first two Little Nightmares games, supports local and online play without making you choose.

Directive 8020 and Outbreak: two more options with serious caveats

Directive 8020 arrived in May 2026 and lets up to five people use Movie Night mode, assigning crew members and passing one controller while a shape-shifting alien hunts them aboard a colony ship. The setup is suitable for a group, but the early response is mixed. Its PlayStation rating currently sits at 3.73/5, while TechRadar praised the performances and visuals but criticised predictable stealth, shallow puzzles and a lack of serious scares. Unless you strongly prefer science-fiction horror, House of Ashes is the safer purchase.

Outbreak: Shades of Horror has the feature everyone keeps asking for: up to four-player local split-screen across the campaign and bonus modes, according to Co-Optimus. It also has a 2.97/5 PlayStation rating, with 40% of players giving it one star. Somebody is at least trying to build a modern local survival-horror game, but I would not spend $29.99 on this one without watching plenty of current gameplay first.

The PS2 already had the right idea

The shortage is strange because ObsCure explored this idea on PS2 more than twenty years ago. Two people could move through the same survival-horror campaign, use students with different abilities and keep going even if individual characters died. ObsCure II also allowed a second player to join the game, and its PC release still has an 81% positive score from more than 1,500 Steam reviews. The Steam page continues to list its two-player mode.

Nobody expects a modern PS5 game to copy a 2004 release scene for scene, but the basic appeal has not changed. Put two people in the same room, give both of them a controller and make them depend on each other. Online co-op is useful, yet it cannot replace the feeling of being beside the person who has just wasted the last healing item or opened the door you both agreed to leave alone.

Modern horror games have better cameras, audio and animation than anything the PS2 could manage. The missing part is the simple one we already had: sit down, connect a second controller and start.

What I wish somebody would make next

The ideal game would take the cooperation of It Takes Two without trying to copy its constant comedy or turn every chapter into a new minigame. Give us a focused six-to-ten-hour horror campaign where both characters matter, the roles change and neither person spends half the night following the stronger player.

One chapter could send a player into the building while the other controls cameras, lights and locked doors from a security room. Later, reverse the roles. Give each person different information, cut the radio at the worst moment and force both players to describe what they can see instead of following the same glowing marker. A shared camera could split when the characters separate, then close again when they find each other.

Co-op horror will always become funny when two friends start shouting over it, and developers should work with that instead of trying to prevent it. The game only needs to keep enough information hidden that being together does not remove every surprise. No seasonal shop, no fifty-hour progression system and no second console requirement. A proper campaign, two controllers and enough confidence to let the idea carry the game.

Final verdict

REANIMAL is the closest answer on PS5. It gives two people a complete local horror campaign, keeps both players inside one shared view and feels designed around cooperation. The campaign is short and its puzzles are simple, so it does not reach the variety or scale of It Takes Two, but it is the first game I would download. Try the free demo before paying $39.99.

Resident Evil Revelations 2 is the better budget choice if both people want to control characters at the same time and do not mind unequal roles. Resident Evil 5 has stronger action co-op but very little fear left in it. If passing one controller sounds fine, The Quarry is the best social horror night, with House of Ashes close behind.

The bigger conclusion is less flattering for PS5. We are six years into the console generation, and the closest thing to a proper It Takes Two horror game is one short 2026 release surrounded by old PS4 games and online-only recommendations. REANIMAL proves the idea works. Now somebody needs to build the larger game that should already exist.

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest horror game to It Takes Two on PS5?

REANIMAL is the closest match. It supports two-player local co-op throughout the campaign, uses a shared camera and requires both characters to move through the story together. It is much shorter and mechanically simpler than It Takes Two.

Can two people play Phasmophobia on one PS5?

No. Phasmophobia supports one local player on PS5 and up to four players online. Two people need separate systems and screens to play together.

Is Little Nightmares III couch co-op?

No. Little Nightmares III supports online co-op but has no local couch mode. Two people cannot play it together on one PS5.

Can two people play The Quarry on the same PS5?

Yes, but they pass one controller. Players assign the counsellors between them and take control when their characters appear; they do not control two characters simultaneously.

Which PS5 horror games let both players use a controller?

REANIMAL, Resident Evil Revelations 2 and Resident Evil 5 support two active players on one PS5. REANIMAL uses a shared camera, while the two Resident Evil games use split-screen.