7 Best Multiplayer Games to Play with Friends: Gamer Recommendations

If I had to recommend just one multiplayer game to play with friends, it would still be Magic: The Gathering. At Axion Now Events, we see thousands of players come together for it, and the reason it endures is simple: it’s one of the few games that truly comes alive when people sit across a table from each other. In an age where most social experiences happen through screens, Magic: The Gathering offers something increasingly rare: real, human interaction. You read your friends’ expressions, negotiate alliances, bluff, joke, and share the highs and lows of the match in a way online play just can’t replicate.

Magic: The Gathering is also brilliant for mixed groups because everyone brings their own style. Some players love deep strategy, others enjoy the creative deck-building, and some just want a fun, social game. The multiplayer formats, especially Commander, make space for all of that. It’s competitive, but also communal. And at the end of the night, people usually stay to talk, trade cards, or replay a wild moment from the game, which is the beauty of multiplayer games.

If I could only recommend one multiplayer game to play with friends, it would be Rocket League. It’s chaotic, competitive, and hilarious — and it captures something that I think mirrors entrepreneurship and teamwork in real life: adaptability under pressure.

I first got hooked on it years ago during a weekend team session we organized at Nerdigital. We wanted something fun and fast-paced that would break the ice between our creatives, developers, and strategists — people who didn’t often collaborate directly. What started as a lighthearted after-hours match turned into a kind of informal team exercise. Within minutes, we had designers calling out plays, developers drawing up “strategies,” and the whole group cheering over ridiculous saves and misses. It was the most organic team bonding I’d seen in months.

What makes Rocket League such a brilliant multiplayer experience isn’t just the mechanics — it’s the mix of skill, chaos, and communication it demands. You can’t rely on brute force or perfect precision alone. The magic happens when everyone starts reading each other’s movements and reacting intuitively. That same dynamic exists in great teams at work: you learn to anticipate, to trust, and to adjust without overthinking.

I’ve seen other companies try to recreate team spirit through structured activities, but sometimes the best connection happens when people are genuinely immersed in something fun and unpredictable. After that first session, it became a bit of a ritual. Friday afternoons occasionally turned into quick “matches,” and over time, I noticed how those moments of play carried over into work — communication became sharper, laughter more frequent, and collaboration felt easier.

For me, Rocket League isn’t just a game. It’s a reminder that high-performing teams — in business or in gaming — thrive when they can mix competition with camaraderie. When everyone’s chasing the same goal, adapting to each twist, and having fun along the way, that’s when real chemistry happens.

If I could only recommend one multiplayer game to play with friends, it would hands down be Overcooked. I know that might seem odd coming from the owner of Co-Wear, but that game is a brutal, brilliant lesson in communication and process efficiency—which is essentially all of e-commerce distilled into a kitchen.

What makes Overcooked so great to play with others is its sheer demand for immediate, clear teamwork. It doesn’t rely on individual heroics or specialized roles; the second the screen lights up, the entire team fails if they can’t instantly synchronize the basic steps: chop, cook, plate, wash. It forces people to ditch their egos and communicate ruthlessly about priorities, resources, and bottlenecks. It highlights exactly who is good at spotting the big picture and who gets tunnel vision, which is a surprisingly useful insight into your friends’ (or colleagues’) working styles.

As a business owner, I love that it mimics the high-stress, unpredictable spikes we face during a holiday rush. There’s a direct parallel between managing ingredients and managing inventory. It proves that the only way to scale the chaos is through unflappable process and trust. You have to rely on your partner to handle their station perfectly so you can handle yours. It’s chaotic, hilarious, and the best $20 team-building exercise I know.

Playing Stardew Valley with friends is more fun. You begin by growing turnips. Someone is fishing, someone else is in the mines, and you are all fighting over where to place the coop. It’s peaceful, yet you can’t stop.

Everyone can play how they want, which is what makes it wonderful. It works for chill farmers, tough grinders, and hoarders. You work together to make money, so teamwork is important. But there is also room for you to do your own thing.

It’s not a race. Nobody is attempting to win. You simply create a life together. That’s what makes it work. You can play with two or four people. Not much tension, lots of laughs, and strangely emotional by year two. Stardew is the game for you if you want to lose track of time.

I personally believe that “Among Us” is the best multiplayer game to play with friends. It thrives on social interaction and strategy. You work together to complete tasks on a spaceship while trying to figure out who among you is the impostor. The suspense and deception create memorable moments. I’ve seen groups have a blast, with laughter filling the room as accusations fly and alliances form.

I’d go with Settlers of Catan. It’s simple enough for new players but layered enough to stay interesting every time. The fun comes from negotiation—trading resources, striking deals, and learning how people think under pressure. You can’t win by brute force; you win through connection and timing. That mix of strategy and personality keeps things lively and unpredictable. It reminds me of the teamwork we see when families plan out their land together. Everyone brings something different to the table, and success comes from cooperation more than competition. A game that teaches patience, trust, and a little friendly chaos is one worth playing again and again.

I’d pick Call of Duty: Warzone. It’s fast, chaotic, and somehow always different. What makes it great isn’t just the gameplay—it’s the teamwork under pressure. You’ve got to communicate, plan quickly, adapt when things go sideways. It mirrors a job site in a funny way: strategy, execution, trust.

You learn a lot about people in that kind of environment. Who stays calm, who gets creative, who panics when the plan falls apart. It’s more than entertainment; it’s a test of chemistry and leadership. And when you pull off a win with your crew, it feels earned, the same way finishing a tough project does.