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Two-Player Browser Games That Settle the Score in Under 10 Minutes

There is something about squeezing two people onto one keyboard that brings out the competitive side in people. You open a browser, load up some two-player games, find your game, and within minutes someone is convinced they were cheated out of a win. Here are three worth loading up.

Temple of Boom

Temple of Boom is a two-player platformer shooter from Colin Lane Games where both players fight through enemies in Campaign mode or go head to head in local versus. Player 1 uses WASD to move and C to shoot, Player 2 uses the arrow keys and K.

The biggest mistake is ignoring the environment. Each arena has interactive traps that do the work for you when timed right. The lever near the suspension bridge drops the floor, the oil tank button sends fire up from the ground. Fight near the traps and let the arena finish the job rather than scrapping over weapon pickups in the middle of the map.

Never stay loyal to your starting gun. Floor pickups are almost always an upgrade, and the double jump is how you escape corners when your opponent has you pinned.

Stickman Battle

Stickman Battle from EasyCats is a local two-player physics brawler on a shared keyboard. Player 1 moves with WASD, jumps by holding W, skill - your regular special ability, with E and super - a powerful special move, with Space. Player 2 uses arrow keys, up arrow to jump, Shift for skill, Enter for super. If you have been getting into fighting games lately, this is a low-barrier way to bring a friend into that headspace.

Platform height wins fights more than reflexes. The player above almost always wins the exchange because attacks angle downward and clean upward hits are hard to land. If your opponent has the high ground, jump past them and reposition rather than fighting upward into it.

Supers are chronically underused because new players cancel them during the charge. Sit on them. A well-timed super ends rounds cleanly, and swapping characters between rounds is worth doing since each carries a different skill that shifts the matchup.

House of Hazards

House of Hazards from New Eich Games is the funniest of the three. One player completes household tasks with WASD, the other uses JLIK keys to trigger hazards. Falling lamps, flying toast, spraying faucets. It sounds gentle. It is not. For more of this kind of chaotic local play, the Couch Co-Op Hall of Fame is worth a read.

Do one round of Time Trial each before going head to head. It saves you the humiliation of being knocked flat by a kitchen cabinet while your opponent laughs. The hazard timings become readable quickly without the pressure of competition.

On trap duty, patience wins. Triggering too early gives your opponent time to walk through the gap. Wait until they are committed, then fire. And keep moving even when getting knocked around as the active player since your completion percentage determines your slice of the lucky wheel that sets punishments for the next round.

Grab a Friend and Find Out

All three are free, load in seconds, and will produce a firm opinion about who is actually the better player in the room!