Good multiplayer games for 3 people
What are some excellent games that remain excellent for a group of three?
So many multiplayer game lists include games that are only playable for 2 players (eg, It takes 2, portal 2). Best I could figure out in steam store search was to look for multiplayer games that aren't co-op, but this seems to remove many games that support 3 players.
Valheim
Left4Dead2 can be played by 1-4 players. Empty player slots are filled by AI bots.
Pills here!
Can vouch for Deep Rock Galactic, Ember Knights, Ultimate Chicken Horse, and Factorio
Edit: Pulsar: Lost Colony is also good, but you'll need to have two bots as well
Factorio is a dangerous, but very fun, suggestion =)
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is fantastic.
Came here to recommend this one too!
Me too!
Didn't realize it could do more than 2! That's wonderful!
Unsorted, quick and probably incomplete list of my personal favourites:
Dude, where Terraria, Magicka 2 and Stardew Valley at??
In your comment? ;)
I didn't realize Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime did more than 2! That's great!
Keep in mind, that whenever the Yamato Cannon is fired, all players simultaneously have to shout "YAMATOOO" :D
Astroneer, Raft, and if you like mindless indie stuff Generation Zero.
Remnant 1 & 2 if you like souls type third person shooters.
Dungeon of the Endless and the new version Endless Dungeon.
I haven't seen it mentioned, but Minecraft is also multiplayer.
As is the open variant: Minetest (Mineclone mod if you want vanilla)!
Ever heard of the Trine series? 5 games by now (can only speak about the first 4 though), and they are really fun together. Basically 2d puzzle games with 3 different characters that all have their own abilities, which leads to many different ways to solve puzzles. Highly recommended.
I also highly recommend the trine series.
For the king. Made for 3 people
Unreal Tournament 2004, with few players it turns its normal frantic and fast paced gameplay into a suspensfull slower experience which is awesome.
I think you can get it on the internet archive as it stopped being sold on gog and steam this spring.
OpenRA - Do you remember the old classic series Command & Conquer ?
OpenRA takes the old original game, updates the controls to modern RTS controls, add new ai to play against, add support for modern resolutions and adds a good internet multiplayer system, all of this for free!
OpenRA can be downloaded att https://openra.net
Nobody mentioned the finals. Free to play fps competitive shooter with teams of 3. It's been crazy addictive for my friends and I. If you like fast paced hectic fps games it's loads of fun.
Remnant 1 and 2 are both 3 players
Trine 2! It’s a side-scrolling action/puzzle platformer, and a rare game actually made for 3.
I'm in a poly throuple and we play these games:
-League of Legends
-Super Mecha Champions (It's like Apex but with bots and the real players aren't as good so we don't get absolutely crushed every time we play which is nice)
-Stardew Valley
-Eternal Return (League + Battle Royale)
-Divinity 2
-Overcooked
-Borderlands
-FF14
-Tabletop Simulator (Board Games)
does that mean a relationship between three people? that's interesting. mind me asking if that was something everyone already knew they were open to? or was it kind of like, two were together then they decided they were open to a third?
Yeah! For us it was me (male) and my girlfriend who have been together 5ish years at the time and we met a girl who we really meshed with and became good friends with. Our friends joked around that we should just all date each other since we hung out so much. One day we got drunk and admitted we'd be open to it so we asked each other out and have been a throuple since!
Most of our friend group is very accepting. Our families, however, are not lol.
Sea of Thieves
Deep Rock Galactic!
ROCK AND STONE!!!
Elden Ring with the seamless COOP mod has been very fun for my two friends and me. The experience isn’t 100% perfect (some bugs) but exploring the Lands Between with buddies and fighting the bosses together has easily been in my top 3 COOP experiences up until now.
Some of my favorites for 3 are the same for 4.
Streets of Rogue and Vagante are challenging roguelikes that scale effortlessly for co-op of various numbers of players. There's also Mercenary Kings, which I admit I enjoyed more than most, but it's like the cross section of Mega Man action with Monster Hunter structure. Much more recently, Baldur's Gate 3 probably hits its sweet spot at 3 human players, since you want to have an NPC slot around in your party of 4 for the story quests that are relevant to that NPC.
Online or offline multi-player?
As for couch coop Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends is some of the most fun I ever had with friends gaming.
Both actually! Two different groups of 3. Offline bunch has ended up doing baba is you for the last year or so (not coop, but puzzles are pretty easy to backseat game).
If you have VR headsets, Walkabout Mini-Golf is surprisingly fun. In fact, I'd argue that it only becomes fun with 3 people.
I didn't see anyone mention Stardew Valley. My two kids and I put in 100+ hours on our farm. It became a nice, zen, pre-bedtime ritual.
If you're into RPGs, both Solasta: Crown of the Magister and Balgur's Gate 3 are great coop experiences.
Divinity 2 with only 3 characters on Honor Mode is pretty fun too
Monster Hunter
Nine Parchments and Magicka 2.
Edit: also, the Trine games. And on PlayStation we enjoyed Diablo III and Alienation, both of those are three player as well.
If y’all have PS3, Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Specifically a 3 player co-op game. Like actually 3 player, not 4 player where you don’t need a 4th. I enjoyed it and have good memories playing with friends, it’s really fun and silly and the servers are still up.
Civilisation V
or VI.. I played VI as a multiplayer for quite an amount of time and I think it works splendidly if you have patient enough friends/co-players.
I really wanted to like VI but it's just doesn't do it for me.
... Just one more turn.
PlateUp! has completely consumed a couple of lan parties. Awesome Roguelite restaurant game.
A couple older games:
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. A very complex RTS with a pretty steep learning curve and advanced strategy. Awesome game but not casual.
Alien vs predator games are specifically 3 player (marine, alien , predator). Not sure if there is a modern version. Interesting because each of the 3 play differently.
I mean, love it or hate it, Destiny 2 is literally made to be played by (mostly) 3-person teams. I’ve had a boatload of fun with it over the years.
Some beat them up: tmnt, streets of rage 4
Also since you did not mention playing remotely or not (although there are ways around that: parsec, steam remote play together...) almost any couch coop game: overcooked, moving out, unrailed...
Edit: all of those I cited have a online multiplayer mode I think, for overcooked the AYCE edition contains all of the first edition content but brings online MP amongst other things
I play with 2 of my brother in laws. These are my favorites:
Elden Ring
Dark Souls 3
Borderlands 3
Ghost of Tsushima
Rocket League
Avengers
Remnant
My wife, my brother, and I like to play Hunt: Showdown.
I had to scroll way too long until I actually encountered Hunt! Teams or three or less, and a fantastic auditory shooter. Too bad it is so hard!
Stellaris allows many players if you like those types of games. Only the host needs dlc if you want to pool your cash and buy some. But yeah it can be expensive.
Since you mention Paradox titles, I'd add Crusader Kings III, Europa Universalis IV, and/or Hearts of Iron 4. Same rules apply for those games' DLC, as well.
Crawl
OP What games did you guys end up playing or selecting? Also what platform are you playing on?
Somebody dropped a fair bit of cash and got Balders Gate 3 running for everyone. It's been big enough to fill a lot of time, but probably wont solve the problem when we're not all on vacation.
Honestly playing a lot of The Finals recently
1-3 players, team based, capture the flag like, free to play, your team vs 2-3 other teams, fast paced
Yes just played with my friends and gotta say it is fun. Even though I dont enjoy fps much anymore, the parkour, destructible environment and varied abilities make it feel fresh (invis + sword stabby hehe).
Towerfall
Boomerang Fu
Hammerwatch
Splitgate
Quake Live / Champions
I'd just like to provide extra emphasis on Towerfall. One of the GOAT local multiplayer games and only gets better with a third, much like Smash Brothers, Power Stone, etc.
Fortnite supports trios.
Lego Fortnite (Minecraft) is super good and their Guitar Hero clone is also pretty decent for groups
100% orange juice is quite nice
Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 3 man team fighting game.
My friends and I recently discovered Aliens: Fireteam Elite, and the 3 person coop is a lot of fun.
Outriders and Remnant 2. Both solid games and 3p coop.
I've never tried the game, but I saw a family play Farming Simulator together on a long flight.
Takes a bit of getting used to, but Earth Defense Force 4.1 or 5.
its upcoming game, but abiotic factor seems quite good