When you’re making a coop game, there’s two ways to ensure that I’ll enjoy my time. You can either make the game so laughably stupid and irreverent that I can’t help but laugh my way all the way through it, intentionally or not, or you can smartly design engaging, varied gameplay across multiple facets of the adventure. Hazelight Studio’s previous title, A Way Out, squarely fell in the former category. The schtick of both players having independent gaming states from each other (e.g. having one player stuck in a cutscene while the other is free to goof around in the meantime) makes for a gimmick that, while unintentionally humorous, takes away from any seriousness that could be conjured up.

It Takes Two on the other hand, I think managed to find this beautiful balance of earnest fantasy-level silliness, replete with talking books and jarhead squirrels, while still maintaining narrative cohesion. There are no gimmicks here beyond an abundance of mini-games, as at its core It Takes Two is just another coop puzzle-platformer. The Pixar-esque story makes it so we don’t have to spend too much time investing in the characters backstories themselves, and instead focus on the antics we can get up to after having transformed into little clay and wood dolls.

The premise still tugs on your puppet-strings a fair amount, the story of a tumultuous marriage with a child in the middle is bound to, but it feels more like a catalyst for the gameplay than an unwanted and over-present detour. I made the mistake of assuming the story would be a ruse, as it almost felt too sincere in its outlandishness. But nah, it’s very much what it presents itself as on the surface. Which isn’t a problem per se, just comes as a bit of surprise for someone that’s used to third act twists. That’s likely just a me thing though, and to be honest, I kind of respect them more for not pulling any Shyamalanian twists.

I also loved how fantastical they got with the locales. A space-themed station with a monkey boss, a colorful plush kingdom modeled after your daughter’s bedroom, and a frozen wonderland were just some of the genuinely pulchritudinous sections of the game that I was excited to explore. And explore you are most definitely encouraged to do. Ignoring the main objectives, there’s a wide range of thematic minigames to determine who’s the real gamer among you and your coop partner. Of course, it goes without saying competitiveness really is a satisfaction multiplier here, which shouldn’t be an issue if you know who you’re playing with. Look no further to see how quickly civilization would collapse under pressure than to observe the sudden competitiveness summoned when someone feels the NEED to win in ice shuffle boarding.

And kudos to how many classic games are represented in It Takes Two. Sure, some are janky or one-and-done in terms of replayability, but some of the better ones could easily steal a good chunk of time when you’re in the midst of riffing with your plus one. And man is this game great for riffing. While I think part of this is owed to the very nature of having two people playing who have rapport with each other enhancing your enjoyment and relaxation, I stand by the fact that this game is positively hilarious. Be it the funky running cycles you both have, random platforming fails, the suddenness in which death sometimes anticlimactically graces you, or the absurdity of the objective itself, it’s not hard to have a good time here. I can count at least a handful of times where I was borderline crying-laughing at the situation unfolding.

Granted the game is quite long, it took me and my brother around 13 hours to complete, but I think it’s an accomplishment when by the end, I was a little sad it wasn’t longer. Highly recommend this to any duo gamingly adept enough to hold a controller.