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A red dragon and a blue dragon approach an enormous doorway. In another game, a tiny woman fights hostile plants while her partner helps as a walking cactus.
Both images make a convincing argument for spending an evening with one particular friend. Both also come from Hazelight games designed around two people. The useful choice is less about which one has enough co-op and more about which adventure you want to share.
Start with Split Fiction if science fiction, fantasy and changing worlds excite both of you. Start with It Takes Two if familiar household surroundings transformed into strange problems appeal more, and you are interested in its story about a separating couple. Then try the relevant free opening together before deciding how well the partnership feels.
The first choice is the world you want to enter
Split Fiction’s official introduction describes an adventure alternating between science-fiction and fantasy settings. Our dragon field note shows a particularly appealing example: small companions develop into creatures that carry the players through the environment.
The showcase moves between a neon city, an oversized fantasy creature and very different ways of getting around. That range is a reason to choose it if both of you enjoy discovering the next setting. It does not establish how frequently every change happens during ordinary play; the trailer has selected its moments.
It Takes Two starts from something more recognisable. EA describes Cody and May as a separating couple who become dolls. A garden or a household object can then be both familiar and impossibly large. The personal story gives the changing abilities a domestic setting to play against.
That premise deserves a conversation before buying. A strained relationship may be a story you both want to follow, or something you would rather leave out of a recreational evening. Cute characters do not make the subject irrelevant. You do not need to be a couple to play either game; you do need a partner interested in the same adventure.
Both make your partner’s view useful
In the dragon sequence, Split Fiction places two approaches to the same doorway beside each other. In It Takes Two’s garden, one half of the screen shows May close to the hostile plants while the other shows Cody firing needles as a cactus.
The second scene is especially clear about complementary abilities. Two people are helping with the same problem through visibly different actions. Elsewhere in the official footage, Cody’s yellow sap marks a target before May’s weapon supplies the ignition. Our It Takes Two field note examines that preparation-and-response relationship.
I would avoid choosing from those clips by declaring one game easier. They do not show inexperienced players learning the controls or repeating a difficult section. What they do show is the appeal of attending to your partner: noticing where they are, what they can do and when their action creates an opportunity for yours.
For the free opening, a useful test is whether both of you enjoy the moments when the other person needs a little more time. That matters more to the evening than which game wins a trailer comparison.
Check the current setup, especially older consoles
Both games support an exactly-two-player adventure locally or online. Their current platform reach differs:
| Your setup | Split Fiction | It Takes Two |
|---|---|---|
| PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S or Nintendo Switch 2 | Supported, with cross-play | Supported, with cross-play |
| PS4 or Xbox One | Not listed as supported versions | Supported and included in the current cross-play list |
| Original Nintendo Switch | No native version listed | Supported, with separate compatibility rules |
Use the official Split Fiction Friend’s Pass guide and It Takes Two setup guide for the details. It Takes Two’s current cross-play guidance supersedes older advice that limits it to the same platform family. Original Switch does not simply join the wider cross-play group; Nintendo edition and connection details matter.
Both offer a free opening through Friend’s Pass, and one full-game owner can invite a partner to continue. Online account and console subscription requirements still apply. Neither pass means two independent copies of the full game.
Make it a shared choice
My preference would be to send your partner one scene from each, then ask which world they want to see more of. Choose Split Fiction for the fantasy-and-science-fiction journey, or It Takes Two for the household transformed into a shared obstacle course. Use the free opening to judge your pair’s comfort with the actual controls.
If you also need room for a third friend next week, widen the search. Our two-player shortlist includes games that accommodate a pair within a larger group, rather than requiring exactly two.
Platform and setup references checked October 15, 2026. Scene observations use official promotional footage, not a hands-on comparison. This website is not endorsed by or affiliated with EA or its licensors.
Check the pair side by side.
Put Split Fiction and It Takes Two next to each other: players, platforms, compatibility and the kind of evening each offers.
Compare these two gamesThese are editorial starting points drawn from our linked scene analyses and official game information. We have not assigned review scores or claimed hands-on testing. The individual game pages identify recording dates, creators, source types, rights notes, check dates and limits. Our editorial method.
