The internet is a wonderful thing. It allows for?? connections to be formed between people who are, geographically, thousands of miles apart. These relationships can be hard to maintain, but the world of online gaming can help. 

Whether you’re a parent with a child at college on the other side of the country, have friends who have relocated due to work, or your partner is on the other side of the world, there’s a lon?g list of games you can play together. Even if you see each other regularly, gaming is a particularly good way of spending quality time together.

My fiancé and I live 3,000 miles apart most of the time. When we’re not physically together, gaming together allows us the opportunity to occupy the same virtual space and? share experiences. As suc??h, we’ve played a lot of games together. 

I’ve thought back on all of our shared gaming adventures and scoured my Steam library, and here are 10 of the best options if you’re look?ing to bond through shared gaming.

It Takes Two

In It Takes Two, you’re playing as Cody and May, parents of Rose, who is resistant to the change. Think Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves but with the ad?ded heart??break of a marriage on the rocks. Through the game, you need to work together to overcome obstacles which can’t be faced alone, learning the value of open communication and mutual understanding. 

While It Takes Two is def?initely geared more towards those with a romant??ic connection, it’s just as heartwarming to play with friends or family, and is sure to get you emotional for a myriad of different reasons. 

Ultimate Chicken Horse

From the full spectrum of emotions to pure rage, Ultimate Chicken Horse is one to play if you’re wanting to get competiti?ve and is perfect if you’re wanting an online activity for your friend group. 

In Ultimate Chicken Horse, you can? place obstacles to cause havoc for your opponents or help each other reach the goal location. The obstacles and traps placed down by each player lead to all sorts of bizarre and hilarious consequences, and you can truly sabotage everyone around you. 

On the plus side there’s a whole bunch of new outfits and accessories to unlock for a long list of playable animal characters, but that doesn’t tak?e away from the rage you’re likely t?o feel while playing. 

Human Fall Flat

Co-operative gaming with the most insane rag doll physics, Human Fall Flat is like t??rying to navigate the world with no muscle control, after a few too many drinks. It’s incredibly easy to get distracted and regardless who you choose to play with, you’re going to need to keep their head in the game as well as your own. 

Human Fall Flat can also be played solo, but it only gets so much better when you drag your friends or loved ones along as floppy little playmates. Plus, the character customization only makes everything more hilarious and you need people around to see your bizarre choices in?? action. And who are you going to throw off the map if you’re alone?

Final Fantasy XIV

I couldn’t write this list without including FFXIV, mainly because I met my fiancé through the game and it’s remained one of our most useful time-together-even-if-we’re-apart tools for the last three years. If you need more convincing that FFXIV is a great way to build or maintain connections or relationships, just take a look at the story of Maidy and the Dad of Light. 

Whether you want to go for a father-son fishing trip, take on Eikons, or race on chocobo back, there’s no end to the a??ctivities which can be done together in Eorzea. As an MMO, it’s designed for endless numbers of people to play together and with the help of emotes and shared experiences, commun?ication comes easy. 

Stardew Valley

Nothing bonds two people together more than running a farm with shared resources and money. Stardew Valley is undoubtedly great as a single player experience, but it also excels as a multiplayer game ?as well. 

Whether you’re starting from scratch to build a new farm together, or you just want your friends to come and visit, Stardew is great. All you need to do ??is build a Cabin to accommodate your guests, and you’re ready to have visitors. Trips into the mines are far better wit?h friends. 

Don’t Starve Together

Don’t Starve, the single player survival challenge with a delightful Tim Burton-esque art style, released way back in 2013. Don’t Starve Together, the multiplayer version, rel??eased just a year later and despite its age I think it stands the test of time??.

You and up to five friends get dropped into the unforgiving wilderness, and you have to survive against the elements and enemies who surround you. While you’re completely alone in the single ??player version, having friends around you makes gathering resources and building a base much easier. 

Chained Together

I’m usually one to stay a million miles away from rage-baiting games. After my experience with Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, it’s safe to say that rage games are not a friend to me. However, if you throw friends or l?oved ones into the mix and work through the rage to??gether, it’s actually a remarkably joyous experience. 

In Chained Together, you’re trying to find your way out of Hell. Unfortunately, Hell is just an insanely tall jumping puzzle which needs to be navigated - truly my idea of Hell made reality. With moving, spinning, flinging, and rolling parts, Chained Together would arguably be easier even if you weren’t physically chained to the other people playing?? with you, but at least having someone with you lets you blame them if you fall back to the very beginning. 

Biped

Biped is specifically designed for two players to work together. With mechanics reminiscent of Human Fall Flat, such as feet that are controlled individually?? to facilitate movement and grabbing onto items within the levels, it can actually be pretty challenging to overcome some obstacles. 

There are puzzles to solve, and the controls do cause some moments of rage here and there, but these moments are far outnumbered by the sheer joy you can experience together and the elation you feel when you manage to successfully complete a level. Biped is inspired by old?-school platformers, and is filled with coins to colle??????????????????????????ct and secrets to unlock.

Escape Simulator

If you’re wanting to get into a discussion and solve some puzzles with friends or loved ones, may I recommend Escape Simulator? 

Cheaper than a real-life escape room, but no less difficult to solve, Escape Simulator is perfect if you want to work through a conund??rum together. There are multiple themed levels filled with puzzles to solve, and while you can definitely complete these solo, it always helps to have a friend to? bounce ideas around with. 

Blanc

Another game which requires two players to complete, Blanc will see one person playing as a Fawn while the other plays as a Wolf Cub. In this tale of unlikely friendship, both?? animals are trying to find their way back?? to their families and must work together to do so. 

Overcoming challenges is just one aspect of this gorgeous work of art. The monochromatic and simplistic art style is beautiful, but the lack of distractions also leaves you free to focus on the story. There’s heartbreak ahead in Blanc, b??ut also moments of joy to share with your secon?d player. ;

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Players can carry unlocks across certain platforms

Circling back on last year's port announcement, Klei Entertainment has confirmed the Nintendo Switch release date for Don't Starve Together, a challenging multiplaye?r survival game where things go bump in the night �the Switch version lands on April 12, 2022. The studio also detailed an incoming "shared unlocks" feature for current players.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=f70ho45BQEA

There's quite a bit to dig into, but the feature boils down to carrying your Don't Starve Together character skins, recipes, and other unlocks "across participating platforms," which in this case translates to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Steam, and WeGame, but not PS4 �at least ?not? yet. As Klei explains, "the requirements to get [shared unlocks] on to PlayStation are more than a studio our size can handle for such a service."

"We have been preparing for this for a long time and now that we have several platforms ready to participate, we decided to move forward," said Klei. "We understand that this is going to b??e very disappointing for some players and we want you to know that if/when we can make this happen for you, we will implement it as soon as we possibly can."

[caption id="attachment_314442" align="alignnone" width="2000"] _{For the time being, PlayStation is missing out on shared unlocks.}[/caption]

When the time comes (the current estimate is "soon"), Don't Starve Together players can "merge multiple platform accounts onto a single Klei Account and seamlessly use your items on eve??rything connected. This includes crockpot recipes, plant registry, item skins, and characters that you gained through drops including woven characters and skins."

Asked about possible duplicate character skins after merging player accounts, a developer said that there will be dupes, but there's g??oing to be a "deduplicator (useful for all accounts but es?pecially merged ones) to eliminate excess loyal items."

The topic of full-on cross-play for Don't Starve Together also came up, and that's somet??hing Klei "would love to d??o." At the moment, though, the task is too resource-intensive.

The Switch trailer from December is still worth a watch if you haven't kept up with Don't Starve Together. It's a popular game to this day �there are 8,000-some concurrent players on Steam right now as I write this article, putting the game just behind Total War: Warhammer III, Sea of Thieves, and Cookie Clicker. I never got very far, even ??if I tally up all of my various attempts, so much of the footage is new to me. What an in??teresting world.

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The Turn of Tides update is live on PC

It feels like every time we check back on Don't Starve Together, Klei has just unleashed some wild new update. The studio promised an "extensive" slate of content for the co-op survival game throughout 2019, and it continues to deliver on that front. This week, at least on PC to start, it's time for Turn of Tides – a free ??update ??in which a chunk of the moon lands planetside and forms a "Lunar Island."

If absolutely nothing else, I'm here for these animated trailers. They never disappoint. Don't Starve always had such a compelling mythos, and it's only grown stronger with Don't Starve Together.

Turn of Tides has boat-building and sailing mechanics – how else can are you going to reach (and promptly die on) the island? – and three biomes "with valuable new resources, craftables, and fearsome enemies." Klei also swapped out the Sanity meter for a new Enlightenment concept that ties into the storyline. Speaking of which, did I forget to mention that this ongoing expansion is called Return of Them and it's about an ancient being in the sky we can't fully comprehend? Whoops. Don't make eye contact!

Don't Starve Together console players will have to wait for the update. Simply put, Klei needs more time. "We expect this to take an additional 3-4 weeks (hopefully less), and we will update you with the expected date as soon as we submit to cert and ??have a better handle on what the date will ??be."

The developers also indicated that they're hoping to improve the character skin situation on PS4 and Xbox One down the road. Under the current approach, "each time we put new skins on console we have to go through the entire certification process as well as ?the process for setting up DLC, which in the past has proven to be more time consuming than we'd hoped. However, if we instead put everything up as one package and allow them to be paid for with virtual cur??rency, we're no longer so limited."

Return of Them - Turn of Tides now?? available on Steam! ??(+Hotfix notes) [Steam]

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I'm glad this series is still around

Don't Starve is a marvel. Released in 2013 it's still very much alive, as Klei Entertainment has bee?n pumping out update after update on top of several expans??ions.

Oh, and a full-on separate release came in 2015, Don't Starve Together: a multiplayer-centric version that's also still being updated. This is on top of prior releases like Invisible, Inc, Oxygen Not included and the upcoming Griftlands and Hot Lava. K??lei has been busy and deserves a lot of cre??dit for continuing to support their projects.

Anyway, praise aside, Don't Starve Together is getting an "extensive" amount of content in 2019. In "mid-April" and "every couple of months? afterward," patches will arrive, for free, no less. Characters are getting revam??ped, new faces are coming, and "new lands, biomes and creatures" are on the way.

Klei is mum on what exactly th?at all entails, but we do know it's coming. Given their prior history it shouldn't disappoint.

Don't Starve Together Roadmap 2019 [Klei]

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Weird production error

Yesterday, Klei Entertainment released the Don't Starve Megapack to retail outlets for PS4 and Xbox One. The compilation was supposed to contain Don't Starve, it's DLC and Don't Starve Together, but something went wrong. Some users on the official ??Klei forums reported that their PS4 discs are missing the original game and DLC, making it a really expensive way to get the multiplayer follow-up.

That was not the intention. It seems something went wrong with th??e production of the discs, as even Klei wasn't aware of the issue until reports came in. An o?fficial forum posts form Klei reads;

"Something happened, and it seems the disc for the PS4 version only contains Don't Starve Together, without the original Don't Starve and DLC. 

We don't know quite how this happened. We don't know exactly the extent of the issue, if it's all discs or just some; but we're talking to 505 Games to figure out exactly h??ow this happened?? and what can be done to correct the issue."

The post conclud?es with a message to hang tight while Klei gets to the bottom of things. I would imagine that a reissue will be in order, since offering a download code would defeat the purpose of this release.

Physical Megapack Disc Issues [Klei Forums]

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New single-player DLC about the Pigmen

The harsh world of Don't Starve is calling us back once more. Klei Entertainment's next excursion is Hamlet, single-player DLC?? in which Wilson "discovers a lost to??wn of aristocratic Pigmen."

A lovely little animation, as always. Don't Starve: Hamlet will have "pig shops, houses, new item?s, biomes and more," and there's even treasure to be found by th??ose who venture out into the ruins.

Klei is also adding to Don't Starve: Shipwrecked with a new content update, playable now in beta.

Don't Starve Together players also have something to look forward to this year. The studio is creating a series of events, the first of which is a six-per??son co-op challenge against the Grand Forge Boarrior.

"DST events are limited-time play modes that create a new way to play with the cast of Don't Starve. They serve as a way to mix up the experience, allowing us to try crazy new things without breaking the core game. Events are free for everyone who owns DST to play and will be coming in November."

Folks who take part in these events can earn new character skins (and a trader will set up shop in town to take duplicates off your hands, enabling you to scrap and craft new event items). "This is just the first of many experime?nts we intend to run," notes Klei, "and we would love your feedback! We have many ideas for events, and we would love to know what you would like to see."

Announcing Do??n't Starve: Hamlet, The Forge and other exciting news??! [Klei]

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And more ways to die

After months of beta testing, the meaty Don't Starve Together update "A New Reign" is ready for a full rel??ease. It's out today on Stea??m for free, bringing with it more giants like the Toadstool and Bee Queen, a desert oasis, and a nasty surprise awaiting spelunkers deep inside the ruins.

Besides bug fixes and another coat of poli??sh, you can? expect these changes:

• Search the desert for new surprises shrouded by the Sandstorm in summer.
• Pay tribute to the Antlion to prevent Sinkholes above ground and Cave-ins underground, as well as earn other rewards.
• Added Desert Goggles, a must have when walking into a Sandstorm.
• Added The Lazy Deserter, a magical device used for teleporting players to each other.
• Added /sit and /squat emotes.
• Discover the secret entrance to the new Atrium zone inside the Caves and unlock the mysteries lying deep within the Heart of the Ruins.
• Ornate Chests can no longer be destroyed, and the Large Ornate Chest now contains better loot, including an Ancient Key.
• The Shadow Atrium can now be used to resurrect Odd Skeletons. Results may vary, depending on where you attempt this dangerous ritual!
• Ruins music is back!

Klei also has a word of warning: "Please note that all the new content added as pa?rt of A New Reign will be automatically retrofitted into existing Worlds, but we cannot guarantee that this will be exactly the same as using a new Save Slot to generate a new World."

After watching the trailer, I'll go out on a limb and suggest that starving is the least of our ?concerns.

Don't Starve Together: A New Reign [Steam]

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Only on PC though

After sixteen long months, Don't Starve Together has finally shed its early access state and is now available for $15 (after 10AM PT today it will be 33% off). As a resul?t of going live, Klei has added a number of updates, including the Maxwell character, newer world generation parameters, and hidden "surprises."

As of now there are only plans to bring it to PS4 which is "coming along well" but still in development. This is one busy series, with the Shipwrecked add-on having recently launched on PC as well.

Don't Starve Together leaving Early Access [Klei]

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Assuming you own the original PC game

With more people comes more mouths to feed, but I think I'll take that responsibility over crushing loneliness in Don't Starve. A paid, work-in-progress version of the standalone multiplayer expansion, Don't Starve Together, has been available for a while no??w. It's not finished yet -- and, as such, is still listed on Steam Early Access -- but Klei is ready to put it in front of a wider audience.

Folks who bought Don't Starve before today, June 3, were given Don't Starve Together for free. Check your ??Steam library! If you m??issed out, going forward, you have several purchasing options:

• Don't Starve is $14.99
• Don't Starve Together is $14.99, and includes an extra giftable copy of Don't Starve Together
• Don't Starve + Don't Starve Together + a giftable copy of Don't Starve Together is $19.99
• Wait for a sale

"Since our Early Access launch in December, we've added new creatures, integrated the Reign of Giants DLC for free, created new games modes, added significant improvements to modding, and in general made over 50 significant updates to the game," said Klei. Looking ahead, the studio still needs to implement Caves in DST, which is proving to be "a huge technical ??cha??llenge."

I never g??ot around to trying Reign of Giants, so this seems like a good excuse to do so.

Welcome to Don't Starve Together! [Steam]

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Still isn't out of its testing phase though

Don't Starve was released all the way back in 2013, but developer Klei Entertainment still isn't done with it yet. In addition to the Reign of Giants expansion/DLC in 2014, Don't Starve Together, a multiplayer game currently only announced on the PC, is cu?rr??ently in a public alpha.

For those of you who were lucky enough to get in (or previously owned the core game prior to its announcement), you can now access all the Giants content by way of a free update.

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