Family Guide to It Takes Two (PEGI 12)

31/03/2021

There are many different ways to play video games together in the family. Co-operative experiences are relatively common. Less common are those where each player has a different role to play.

It Takes Two is a running, jumping and exploring game that tells a story of a young girl, Rose, who's parents are divorcing. The girl creates two dolls to represent her parents, which unexpectedly trap the clashing-couple in them. You and a friend co-operate as the dolls, each with unique abilities, to solve puzzles and help them work together, rather than pull in opposite directions.

The style of play changes as you progress. But throughout, it is set in a larger than life world from the perspective of the two dolls. Whether it is puzzle solving, action focused or platforming, the game leverages these interactions as metaphors for the reluctant couple saving their fractured relationship.

Costs

The game is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC. It costs about £34.99 and doesn't include an in-game purchases. To play together on the game you each need a controller.

You can play online with a friend even if the other person doesn't own the game. The Friend's Pass feature enables them to join for free.

Age Rating

It Takes Two is rated PEGI 12 for moderate violence and use of bad language. Violence is non-realistic, and no blood or injuries are shown. While some enemies can be blown up, they merely disappear in the explosion without any gory details. When the players’ characters are hit, they fall over, and stars appear before they get up again. If they are defeated, they simply break apart into particles before reforming at the last save point.

Sometimes the players’ characters can be pinned down by their enemies. In one scene, they are briefly held captive and are repeatedly jabbed by wasps armed with spears. They wave their arms and shout, while breaking apart and repeatedly reforming until their captors call off the attack.

In one scene, the player characters are required to harm and kill another toy character. They do so in order to further their mission of attempting to escape from the fantasy world in which they’re trapped. While the violence has a purpose in the game’s narrative, and the violence is unrealistic in nature, featuring as it does toy characters, younger children may find the toy character’s frightened reaction (and powerfully-voiced response) to the violence upsetting.

Other Games

If you enjoy collaborating to complete It Takes Two, this list of co-operative games is a good place to find your next challenge. There are also lots of games where novice and expert players can work together.

Other games with a similar narrative focus and co-operative play include:

Andrew Robertson

Andy Robertson is the editor of AskAboutGames and has written for national press and broadcast about video games and families for over 15 years. He has just published the Taming Gaming book with its Family Video Game Database.