UNIFICATION JAZZ
In an age where almost everything is filtered through ideology and identity, even the most personal experiences risk being turned into battlegrounds. It is exhausting to witness, and even more exhausting to participate in. Sometimes, the healthiest response is simply to step aside.
That might be why it feels so refreshing to play It Takes Two, the cooperative action-puzzler from Hazelight Studios. Much like its outspoken creator Josef Fares, the game is loud, imaginative, and unapologetically sincere. Where so much modern discourse pulls people apart, It Takes Two is explicitly designed to bring two players together.
Fares, who began his career as an acclaimed filmmaker in Sweden before pivoting to game development, has always chased one specific experience: shared play. Couch co-op as a social glue. His recent games are built around that idea, and It Takes Two is its most fully realized expression.
The game is openly aimed at couples. Its story revolves around Cody and May, a married pair on the brink of divorce, and their daughter Rose, who desperately wants to fix what is breaking. After overhearing her parents argue, Rose turns to a magical self-help book — The Book of Love — and unwittingly traps her parents’ souls inside two small dolls.
What follows is a forced collaboration. Stranded as miniature people in their own gigantic home, Cody and May must work together to return to their human forms, guided (and frequently berated) by the Book of Love, an aggressively enthusiastic relationship guru. The metaphor is unsubtle, but intentionally so.
I played the game with my younger brother. On paper, that sounds like an awkward mismatch given the romantic framing, but in practice it wasn’t. Fiction remains fiction, and It Takes Two is far more about cooperation, communication, and timing than romantic identification. Any two players willing to engage with each other can enjoy it fully.
Mechanically, It Takes Two is a third-person, split-screen adventure that constantly reinvents itself. Each of its seven long chapters introduces new mechanics, tools, and visual themes: from tool-based combat and platforming to racing segments, puzzle solving, rhythm-based mini-games, and even brief genre detours into flight simulators or top-down action-RPG territory.
The perspective — tiny dolls navigating oversized household environments — allows for clever level design. You traverse ventilation shafts, gardens, snow globes, and surreal abstract spaces like a kaleidoscope world. Some levels are grounded and tactile, others borderline dreamlike. Despite the variety, the game remains approachable even for less experienced players.
Its pacing is exemplary. No mechanic overstays its welcome. You barely have time to master one idea before the game reshuffles the deck and introduces another. This keeps the experience constantly fresh, though occasionally exhausting — It Takes Two is energetic almost to a fault.
The puzzles are built around asymmetry: each player is given unique abilities that must be combined. One player might manipulate magnets while the other controls polarity; one shields against sound waves while the other calms hostile microphones through song. The metaphors are obvious, sometimes painfully so, but they are woven cleanly into both gameplay and narrative.
Communication is essential. Without talking to each other, progress grinds to a halt. That is the game’s true engine. The controls are responsive across genres, though I did encounter a few moments where hitboxes felt unforgiving or puzzle solutions overly opaque — one railroad-based challenge in particular tested our patience.
Occasionally, the balance between players falters, with one person carrying the more active role while the other waits. Fortunately, roles can be swapped freely, and the imbalance tends to even out over time.
Visually, the game is charming and expressive, though its relentless forward momentum means many environmental details and musical cues pass by unnoticed. Larger hub-like areas allow for brief moments of exploration, revealing optional mini-games that introduce friendly competition — snail races, tug-of-war, snowball fights — welcome breaks in a game otherwise obsessed with togetherness.
Despite its breezy tone, It Takes Two is surprisingly long. Our playthrough clocked in at around fifteen hours, aided by generous checkpoints and forgiving difficulty. It is rarely frustrating, often funny, and never rote.
It Takes Two may not leave behind a profound or lingering emotional scar, but that does not make it shallow. In a climate where people are often incentivized to search for flaws rather than common ground, this game is openly constructive. It argues — sometimes clumsily, often joyfully — for cooperation, patience, and mutual effort.
Few creators are willing to risk sincerity in a cynical medium. Fares does, repeatedly. It Takes Two encourages not only collaboration within the game, but a broader appreciation for shared experiences outside it. It is not just an excellent cooperative game — it is a rare one with a clear, benevolent intent.
That it won Game of the Year feels entirely deserved.
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