Gaming

Saving this post because it's right up my alley so now I have many new games to check out. Project Zomboid is still going strong for us, but here are some others that our group has enjoyed:

Heave Ho: super crude 2D graphics, but absolutely hilarious gameplay

The Ascent: beautiful cyberpunk-themed isometric shooter

Broforce: very entertaining pixel-art 2D platformer/shooter - we played this through to the end, which is rare for us

Overcooked: very entertaining 3D game, not sure what I would even call the genre - a "work" game?

Unrailed: similar to uncooked, but a different kind of "work"

SWAT 4: old 3D FPS, but still good

Starship Troopers: Extermination is PvE wave/extraction shooter, from the company that developed Squad. Looks pretty fun but if you are not into that universe nor have enough friends you'd need to rely on other players as well.( basically max 12 players in 3 teams atm.) Warning: early access so if you are not tolerant to EA type of development/update cycle just avoid.

There is a couple other PvE wave/extraction shooter as well, so give them a try.( Just google that term, usually around $30 and could go on sale.)

Rocket League, this one I played since launch and really good game to start before your group all come online and then move on to other games.(since it supports up to 4v4, but usually people only queue 2v2 or 3v3 matches.)

Squad! super fun game to play with friends. It's an FPS that isn't as hard to learn as Arma and more milsim than an arcade shooter like battlefield.

PULSAR is pretty amazing if you have a few friends to play with. It really feels like actually running a spaceship together. You can shout things like "Divert all power to main turrets" and actually mean that.

Golf with Friends is casual and at times frustrating fun. Don't have to wait for each person to hit the ball before you hit yours either, so the games courses don't drag on.

You could try dead by daylight

Based on your played games you would probably all enjoy World of Warships. It’s F2P, possible to play and enjoy without spending money (though of course spending money does allow you to get more stuff), has deep gameplay and large learning curve but matches are all less then 20 minutes.

Check out Phasmophobia.

It's a ghost investigation game that's easy to pick up, and has some really awesome scary moments. It's only about $14 and it's got an overwhelmingly positive rating on Steam.

I once did a weekend on the campaign of Borderlands 2 with friends, it was awesome. Also, PlateUp is a nice coop game to play over a WE

Last games I had fun with co-op :

• Rocket League (free)
• Overwatch (free. Still my main game solo)
• Gloomhaven (boardgame adaptation. I'm a boardgamer so I may be biased but it's just a good turn by turn with cards for abilities. It's hard :))

The Dead Island games are great for co-op

• I'd recommend 9 parchments if you just want to play together. My roommate's got a play list similar to yours and he's obsessed with it right now.
• I'm not one for multiplayer, but if you ever do two player my favorite is wizard of legend. I usually play solo. If you play with friends it's fun though since you can design complimenting loadouts and you get different dungeons.
• Trine is a puzzle platformer that's fun but can be frustrating if you've got a "smash everything" friend with you. It's 3 player IIRC.

Ready or Not is fantastic in co-op

My friend I have been playing Children of Morta and it's a pretty fun coop experience.

For the King (and coming soon, For the King 2) has been a go-to coop game with one of my buddies. It's a turn based, low poly dnd-esque game with a handful of different campaigns. FTK 1 has 3 character parties, so one of us will just play 2 characters, but otherwise it's pretty perfect for 2 people.

I don't know how much of a good fit it might be but maybe Divinity original sin 2?

Pummel Party: it's basically a Mario Party clone for PC.

Try Factorio!! It’s got a demo you can try to get a taste as well. I spent ~20 hours in the demo itself before I bought the game. Looooved it.

Streets of Rogue. It's a top-down roguelike with many different characters and items. You can do the missions in different ways playing solo, but co-op opens even more possibilities.

It may not be something you can complete in an evening, but Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a cross platform co-op game based on the ruleset of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition.

It's available on game pass, and has bee a ton of fun for my friends and me.

I would recommend Vermintide, its like left 4 dead but you're bashing rats

Spiritfarer is a very sweet cartoon game about death where you can play couch co-op with your other player being a kitty. HIGHLY recommend this game, but don't be surprised if it makes you bawl your eyes out.

Try Overcooked, cheap and fun, also might get mad at each other

We had a lot of fun with V Rising. It's a bit like Diablo I'd say, but with base building and crafting and the level is based entirely on gear, so if someone misses a few sessions you can just craft one extra set of the latest armor you unlocked and they are on your level instantly.

I don't know how much you'd like it since the shooters on your list aren't super similar, but Xdefiant should be releasing soon and is f2p. I really enjoyed the closed betas. There's an open one June 21-23 if you want to give it a try.

I don't think Barotrauma has been mentioned yet? Survival in a submarine, as far as I know. Haven't played it, but it reviews well.

Ark and other survival/crafting games like 7days to die and Raft are great fun. Persistent worlds for collective fun.

There's a new Starship Troopers co-op shopter out with 16 simulataneus players kilming bugs.

And Legion Td2 for a co-op campaign/bots experience.

Warframe is weird and generally best if you have a buddy that's already in the game. But it's really fun with something for everyone, and really great if you aren't all able to play at the same time frequently. The multiplayer is a similar structure to DRG, squads of 4 with 5-60 minute missions.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but Hunt Showdown is a blast with a friend. Me and my buddy have played it a long time. They're always patching and adding content here and there. :)

Not sure what the price is unfortunately.

Barotrauma! I even set up a lemmy community for it.