Build a game where a jump is harder than it looks because the other player has to be in the right position first. One player holds the button that raises the platform. The other crosses while they hold it. Then they switch. Co-op platformers are fundamentally about designing for the relationship between two players, not one.

Summer Engine helps you build those cooperative mechanics through conversation. Describe the mechanic interactions between the two players: shared movement, one player opening paths for the other, carrying mechanics, ability combinations. The AI sets up the local or online co-op framework while you design the interactions.

The best co-op platformers create moments that only work because two specific people played together. The laugh when one player drops the other. The satisfaction when a difficult sequence finally clicks. Designing for those shared moments is the creative challenge this genre presents.

• Developers building specifically for two-player couch co-op or online co-op.
• Designers who want to design for relationships rather than individual players.
• Teams inspired by It Takes Two, A Way Out, or Trine who want to build cooperative experiences.
• Anyone building a game for couples, siblings, or friends to play together.

• Couch Co-Op Experience

  Build a local co-op game where both players are on the same screen, with the camera managing to keep both visible through level traversal.

• Asymmetric Co-Op

  Design a game where the two players have different abilities that require cooperation to apply. One controls platforms, the other crosses them.