Two-player games on one keyboard or one screen

Sometimes the best opponent is the person sitting next to you. Every game on this list has a mode for two people on the same device, with no accounts, no lobbies and no internet matchmaking. We have checked each one, and noted which ones share a keyboard, which ones are made for a shared touch screen and which ones pass the device back and forth. All of them also have a computer opponent, so you can practise alone first.

PUCK BLITZ

PUCK BLITZ is neon air hockey, first to seven. Its 2 PLAYERS mode is built for a phone or tablet laid flat between you: each finger belongs to whichever half of the table it touched first, so both players can play at the same time, and on an upright phone the GOAL! messages appear twice, one facing each player. A match lasts a minute or two.

The downside is that on a computer the mouse always controls the blue mallet, so this one really is a touch-screen game for two. Tip: hit through the puck rather than at it. The speed of your mallet at the moment of contact is what the puck gets, so start your swing a little way back.

SUMO SLAM

SUMO SLAM is a party brawler for four glossy sumo blobs on a ring floating in the sky. Hold to charge, let go to dash, and try to be the last blob on the ring. The edge crumbles after 4 seconds, the ring starts tilting after 6 and it collapses at 48, so no round lasts a minute. First to three rounds wins.

Two people can share one keyboard: player 1 uses W A S D and Space, player 2 the arrows and Enter, and the other two blobs are bots. The two-player mode is hidden on touch screens, so you need a keyboard for it. Tip: when the ring tilts, dash so your target is between you and the low side. The slope finishes the throw for you.

TURBO GOAL

TURBO GOAL is football with rocket cars, seen from the side. Two-minute matches, one giant ball, boost, double jumps and flips, and golden-goal overtime if the score is level. You can drive up the curved walls and along the ceiling, and a supersonic hit demolishes the other car for just over two seconds.

In two-player mode blue uses W A S D, Space to jump and Left Shift to boost, and orange uses the arrow keys, Enter and Right Shift. It is the most competitive game on this list once both players learn to flip. Tip: jump, then press jump again while holding towards the ball. A flip hits far harder than just driving into it and can score from midfield.

TANK DUEL

TANK DUEL is turn-based artillery. Two cartoon tanks sit on rolling hills, and you take turns pulling back like a slingshot to lob shells through the wind. There are twelve weapons, from a shell that never runs out to cluster bombs, a digger, napalm and one Nuke per match, and the ground is fully destructible. First to three rounds wins.

Because it is turn-based, two players simply pass one device back and forth, which makes it the most relaxed pick here and a good one for a phone or tablet. Tip: blow up the hill your opponent is standing on. Tanks drop into craters, and a fall can cost up to 25 health on top of the blast.

ROOFTOP DUEL

ROOFTOP DUEL gives each player two buttons and one wobbly voxel fighter. You do not aim: your gun sways on its own, and you choose when to pull the trigger. Every hit pushes your rival back, and whoever goes off the roof loses the round. The weapon changes every round, and after 32 seconds high winds start pushing both fighters outwards.

On one keyboard, player 1 uses W to jump and D to fire, and player 2 uses Up and Left. On a phone, two-player mode puts four buttons on screen. Two-player matches are first to five. Tip: do not jump all the time. A bad landing knocks you over, and a fighter on the floor is an easy target.

GETAWAY FLOP

GETAWAY FLOP is a heist race drawn like a 1930s rubber-hose cartoon, with film grain and flicker. Four crooks hop across the rooftops to the getaway car, grabbing popguns, blunderbusses and cream pies to knock each other off on the way. First to three getaways wins.

The two-player mode puts both of you on one keyboard with two bots joining in: player 1 hops with A and D, player 2 with Left and Right. Your crook is wobbly, and landing at a tilt makes you flop, which is half the fun with a friend watching. Tip: short, controlled hops keep you upright. Save the mid-air second hop for wide gaps.

QUICKDRAW

QUICKDRAW is a western duel fought one shot at a time. You hold the pointer in the holster box, wait for the word after a random delay, then pull clear and fire. Damage is counted limb by limb: a headshot ends it, an arm hit takes that arm out of the fight, and a leg hit puts you on one knee. Once you are hit, you have a quarter of a second to answer.

In two-player mode the left gunman uses the mouse and the right gunman aims with the arrow keys and fires with Enter, so it is an odd but tense split. Money only comes from one-player duels. Tip: never guess the word. Leaving the holster early is a false start, and a third one in a fight costs you your gun for the next volley.

SPIKE

SPIKE is volleyball between two jelly slimes, first to eleven. There is no touch limit, the net is solid, and the whole game is learning the bounce: take the ball on the crown of your head and it goes up steeply, on the shoulder and it goes out flat and long. It is simple enough for anyone to understand in one point.

Pick TWO PLAYER on the home screen and the left slime uses A, D and W while the right slime uses the arrow keys. Two-player matches do not go on the high-score board. Tip: get slightly behind the ball before you touch it. Stand right under it and it goes straight up and lands on your own side.

For a quick laugh, start with SUMO SLAM or GETAWAY FLOP. For a real rivalry, TURBO GOAL rewards practice more than anything else here. If you only have a phone, PUCK BLITZ and TANK DUEL are the two that work best on one shared touch screen.