With a near-endless selection of online games and blockbuster titles vying for your time, it can feel a bit overwhelming to choose what you and your buds are gonna play next. How do you choose? Start with a helpful guide like this, of course!
This is a list of the best online games you can find today. We did our best to whittle the list down to a manageable 10 suggestions (since we know your time is finite), and, since prices vary depending on platform, we’ll give you an idea of how much it’ll cost.
Whether you’re looking for free-to-play games to kill some time or a new virtual life to lose yourself in for 100 hours, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so without further delay: here’s the best online games for you and your friends to check out in 2024.
The Best Online Games to Play With Your Friends
1. Among Us
Genre: Party
Platforms: Android, iOS, Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/SeriesX/S
Players: 4 – 15
Price: ~AUD$10
How much do you trust your friends? If one of them was a killer, do you think you could figure it out? That’s the premise for Among Us, which pits you against your friends in a whodunnit, where the who in question is still doing it.
You take on the role of a group of astronauts who are stationed in various space-themed places (a space station, a space base, etc), and must go about your jobs to keep the facility in question running smoothly. Fail to do so, and the game will be lost. However, there is one player chosen randomly at the beginning of each match to be the Imposter: a killer!
The Imposter’s job is to kill crew members without anyone seeing or suspecting them. It sounds easy, but crew members can stay in regular communication with one another through proximity-based chat, or through calling emergency meetings which give everyone a chance to share information. Crew members can then vote to eject someone into space if the evidence starts stacking up – guess wrong, and the killer keeps killing.
It’s a lot of fun, and pits you against your friends in a way that doesn’t cause much friction. Matches are quick, usually lasting around 5 to 10 minutes, and people usually end up laughing their ass off when their little astronaut is beheaded because they trusted you.
2. Deep Rock Galactic
Genre: First-person shooter
Platforms: Steam, Playstation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Players: 1 – 4
Price: ~AUD$45
Deep Rock Galactic answers the classic question of, ‘what if space dwarves mined asteroids?’. Up to four players take on the role of space Gimli in this game, landing on a procedurally-generated map (that means it’s different every time) to mine for specific materials based on the mission they take on.
The goal is usually to get a bunch of rare metals, or some alien eggs, and then deposit your payload in your extraction device, which is then sent back to a nearby ship. This makes quite a bit of noise, though, and draws hostile aliens to our intrepid heroes as they wait for their escape shuttle to arrive.
Sometimes unrelenting, Deep Rock Galactic is a tonne of fun. There are a few different classes to play, such as a Driller, a Gunner, or an Engineer, which each bring new play styles to each mission, and can make each player in a team feel unique and helpful. As you progress you can unlock new weapons, armour, capabilities, and can take on new missions: which feature new enemies. It can easily eat up hours of your life if you let it, which you should.
3. Final Fantasy XIV Online
Genre: MMORPG
Platforms: Steam, Windows, macOS, Playstation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Players: 1+
Price: Free*
Okay, hear me out. Yes, this is a game from 2010. Yes, it will require hundreds of hours to catch up on 14 years of expansions. Yes, it requires players that are into the later stages of the game to buy the ability to play for a few months at a time. All that said, you can play the entire base game and the first few expansions for free, for an unlimited amount of time.
If you’re looking for a sign that it’s time to finally jump into the critically acclaimed game, this is it. Last year, Final Fantasy XIV released the ‘Endwalker’ expansion, which finally concluded the main storyline that has been brewing for over a decade. Now, with the release of ‘Dawntrail’, a new story is beginning. Do you have to play through all of the prior four expansions to get to that new story? Unfortunately, yes. Will you have a great time doing it? Fortunately, yes.
Final Fantasy XIV is probably the one massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) that you can rely on for its writing. Characters are fleshed out, motivations make sense, and the stakes are constantly being raised. And, as a bonus, the game is really fun to play. If you’re able to come in with a team of four friends, each willing to experiment with different jobs and roles (Tank, Healer and DPS), you’ll have a fantastic time moving through the games’ combat and boss scenarios. If you’re playing on your own, it’s still fun, but you’ll spend a lot more time waiting in dungeon queues.
If you’ve ever been interested in trying out an MMORPG but don’t know where to start: start here.
4. Fortnite
Genre: Third-person shooter, Battle royale
Platforms: Windows, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S
Players: 1 – 4
Price: Free
Fortnite is an interesting game, because not only is it incredibly popular, it’s also evolving beyond just being a battle royale murder simulator. You can go to concerts in Fortnite now, and race cars, or play a survival game as a Lego figure. It’s getting weirder with every new season (which tend to last around three months each), but thankfully the basic act of dropping out of the battle bus, scavenging for weapons and teaming up with your friends is a lot of fun.
Fortnite’s main difference from its competition is that you can build defensive structures almost instantly, provided you have the resources. There is also a zero-build mode if, like us, you’d rather just scope out the competition mano-a-mano. Or, if you’re like me specifically, you can let your teammates do most of the killing while you hide in a bush.
The one thing to keep in mind with Fortnite is that if the season doesn’t jive well with you, you’re stuck with it for months (I’ll have nightmares about Ang from Avatar for the rest of my life, I swear), and the game can be a bit slow to nerf things that are problematic. That being said, each update tends to totally change the experience, so if you don’t like where the game is now, in a few months it’ll be very different.
Plus, since it’s free, you can drop in and out as you see fit!
5. Grand Theft Auto Online
Genre: Open world, Third-person shooter
Platforms: Windows, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S
Players: 1 – 30
Price: ~AUD$50
Did you ever wish, as a kid, that you could explore a Grand Theft Auto game with your friends? Me too, and thankfully you now can. GTA Online is the kind of incredibly freeform experience the series is known for, with the added benefit of having your friends along for the ride.
Want to steal a sports car and go cause some mischief? Sure, go for it. Want to rob a bank? You can do that too. You want to play table tennis? Sure… you can do that. There’s more interesting things to do. But don’t let us stop you.
You’ll need to pick up GTA V to get access to GTA Online, but honestly that game is great anyway and often on sale, so it’s not much of a barrier to entry. The one thing to note is that GTA VI is coming out in 2025, and it will most likely bring a revamped version of GTA Online with it. So, if you and your friends are going to jump into Los Santos together, try not to get too attached to your characters, as you probably can’t bring them with you if you migrate to the new game.
6. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
Genre: Racing
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Players: 1 – 8
Price: ~AUD$60
Mario Kart is a classic series that has been bringing people together (to compete, of course) for years, and the latest iteration on the formula is near perfect. An incredibly colourful and vibrant game, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe is still one of the best selling games on the market, despite being a re-release of a Wii-U title.
Whether you’re putting the pedal to the metal or tossing a blue shell out to ruin your friends’ record lap, Mario Kart is an incredibly accessible game – and is also probably the least violent on this list, if you’re playing with some younger folk. Mario Kart (along with most co-op Nintendo games, actually) is best played as a couch co-op title, as they can be very chaotic when things start clicking into place.
It’s honestly one of the best reasons to own a Nintendo Switch, and has been improved upon with extra tracks and characters as the years have gone by. It’s hard to recommend a game more than this, so just play it.
7. Minecraft
Genre: Survival
Platforms: Android, iOS, Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/SeriesX/S
Players: 1 – 30
Price: ~AUD$30
If you haven’t played Minecraft yet, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s one of the most influential games of the past decade-and-a-bit, and still holds up very well. You can essentially play it on everything, it’s relatively cheap, and gives you a level of freedom that few other games can offer.
But how is it as a multiplayer game? We think it’s even better to play the game with friends.
Minecraft is one of the few games on this list (and, more generally, honestly) that really allows players to exist in the world together, while not tethering them together. If you and your buddy want to play in the same world, but do totally different things, that’s absolutely possible. If you have a dedicated server, you can even play in the same world at different times. You might log in to see that your friends finished building a cabin nearby, or that you suddenly have a whole farmstead ready to be tended to.
Plus, you can split bigger jobs up into smaller parts and make progress together. One player might be in charge of taking care of the animals, while another is building out a bigger house. Another might be mining or smelting new equipment. Put them all together, and you can make progress faster, which also keeps the game from feeling like you’re just ticking boxes on a never-ending to-do list.
8. Palworld
Genre: Survival, Action adventure, Monster taming
Platforms: Steam, Xbox One/Series X/S
Players: 1 – 4
Price: ~AUD$50
We like Pokémon as much as the next person, but have you ever wondered what it’d be like to see a Pikachu use a sniper rifle? Or a Squirtle build a house? We hadn’t really, until we first saw Palworld, which combines the monster-taming adventure of a Pokémon game with the open-world survival of something like Valheim (we’ll get to Valheim, don’t worry).
In Palworld, you’ll be exploring the Palpagos Islands, which are teeming with Pals. You have to survive the open world, while also capturing Pals using Pal Spheres. A captured Pal can be summoned in battle to protect you, but they can also be used as manual labour – manning factories, farms, or scavenging the world for items for you to use. It’s Pokémon, if they weren’t treated with respect.
What makes it different, though, is that up to 32 people can be playing in the same world at one time, meaning things can get pretty chaotic. But you’re into that, and if you’re also a bit tired of what Nintendo and Game Freak are pushing out, Palworld might be right up your alley.
9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Genre: Fighting
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Players: 1 – 8
Price: ~AUD$70
Speaking of Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is still one of the most popular games on the ageing Nintendo Switch, and for good reason. In what other game can Mario and Solid Snake beat the shit out of Cloud Strife?
Other fighting games bring a level of sweaty competition to the fore of a lot of people, where those who have mastered the art of frame traps, aerial punishes and have a strong neutral game can generally clown on less experienced players. In Super Smash Bros., though, the skill gap is smaller. Yeah, someone who knows how to utilise the game’s cast of 70+ to its fullest will have an advantage, of course, but newer players can put up more of a fight.
Learning the game is simple, and playing it is a blast. The first time you get your hands on a home-run bat and knock a player out of the ring is always something to remember, and with characters coming back into the fight within seconds, the pressure never really lets up. You can play with up to eight friends at a time if you’re having a pizza party, or duel your main rival in a final-destination-no-items fight to the death.
10. Valheim
Genre: Survival
Platforms: Steam, macOS, Xbox One/Series X/S
Players: 1 – 10
Price: ~AUD$30
When Valheim dropped in 2021, it surprised a lot of players with just how robust an experience it offered while it was still in early access. Cut to 2024, and, well, the game is still in early access, but it has been improved and expanded on immensely.
The game sees you take on the role of a Viking exploring the purgatorial realm of Valheim for Odin, who has tasked you (and your friends) with defeating creatures across the game’s hostile biomes. You’ll need to survive the wilderness, gather ingredients to build a homestead, and forge new weapons and equipment to help you enter more deadly regions – which of course offer better materials for crafting. It’s the tried-and-true survival game formula, but executed incredibly well.
Plus, even though the game doesn’t push the most photorealistic graphics known to man, it’s pretty and it’s atmospheric. The first time you attempt to circumnavigate an island using a rickety raft, it begins raining, and you see some movement in the water, you’ll probably think you’re playing a survival-horror game. Valheim can be punishing, but if you master its systems and remember to keep your shield up, you’ll be clearing out new islands in no time.
But Wait, There’s More
We put in a lot of effort to cut the list down to only 10 entries, but there are so many great online games out there that we want to shout some more out, so here are some honourable mentions!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons: A cutesy life-sim found exclusively on the Nintendo Switch, Animal Crossing: New Horizons saw a lot of people through the pandemic and, honestly, it hasn’t lost any of it’s charm.
Destiny 2: One of the best feeling first-person shooters on the market, but stumbles with its writing and overall world. Whole segments of the story have been removed and new expansions have added little content, leaving it a difficult title to get into today. In saying that, this is just about as fun as shooting aliens can be.
The Forest: A pretty macabre survival game, where you and your friends play as survivors of a plane crash on a seemingly deserted island. You’ll soon discover that you’re not alone, and that the only way you’re going to survive is by exploring dark caves, deadly forests, and delve into the secrets of the Island.
G.T.F.O.: A fast-paced horror shooter where you play as a team of special operatives tasked with getting in, and getting out, of creature-infested areas. It’s gory, and tense, but an experience you can’t get elsewhere.
Phasmophobia: A supernatural deduction game, where you and your buds play as ghost hunters trying to diagnose what kind of spirit has settled in a house. Learn the different types of ghosts, and how to spot them, before they spot you.
V Rising: It’s like if Castlevania and Diablo had a baby, and that baby played a lot of survival games. Chop wood, mine ore, and suck blood as prospective vampire lords.
Worms: W.M.D.: For a series that hasn’t changed much since the early ’90s, Worms is still a tonne of fun, doesn’t need twitch reflexes, and, best of all, can be played on a spotty internet connection. If you’ve always wanted to throw an exploding banana or sheep at your friends, Worms fits the bill.
