The Best Free Games To Play With Friends in July 2024

When you’ve had enough of all that summer sunshine, online games with your friends are a fantastic excuse to crawl back inside without seeming like a totally unsociable jerk. Best of all, you can game with your buddies for almost no cost, because we’ve scoured the likes of PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass, and Steam to find and test the best games to play for free with your friends in July. And this month, those seeking co-op companionship have plenty of excuses to avoid sunburn.

Borderlands 3

Players: 1-4
Available for free on: PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus subscribers at all tiers can download Borderlands 3 at no extra charge this month courtesy of the July PS Plus games lineup. You’ve got until August 6 to add it to your library, after which it’ll remain available for as long as you have a subscription.

If you’ve yet to try Gearbox’s looter-shooter series, the most recent iteration is basically the ideal co-operative switch-your-brain-off FPS. There is a story here about vault hunters and streamer cults on an alien planet, but you really don’t have to pay attention to it. Nor do you need to worry about jumping straight into the third act. You’re primarily here to tear about the planet, shooting almost everything in sight with as many ridiculous guns as possible.

You can buddy up with your pals right from the start of the game (there’s cross-platform support too), grab some guns, and start unloading on bandits in a matter of minutes. From there it’s just guns, guns, some vehicles, and more guns. Borderlands 3 is a great time in co-op, even with just two players. It’s worth downloading for a brief burst of boom-laden action, but if your party enjoys it, the campaign will keep you all occupied for more than 20 hours.

A bandit in a mask poses like a religious figure before a wealth of guns and above a bed of roses

Borderlands 3

Release Date: September 13, 2019

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles grapple with enemy goons in a back alley. A large rhino man holds an unknown device behind them — TMNT: Shredder's Revenge co-op supports up to six players
©Tribute Games

Players: 1-6
Available for free on: Xbox Game Pass

Recently added to Xbox Game Pass, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge brings retro beat-em-up action in a brilliantly vibrant pixel-art package. You and up to five mates – yes, Shredder's Revenge supports an impressive six players in co-op – can pick from your favorite turtles (April O’Neil and Master Splinter, too) and take the fight straight to Shredder’s goons.

Excellently old-school, Shredder’s Revenge is straightforward and simple: you walk sideways, baddies arrive on screen, and you batter them back off again. Anyone can dive in and begin spinning nunchucks or a bo staff within minutes. There are some great combo moves to discover, and you can even high five to share health when someone’s running low. Blitzing through the story mode will only take you a few hours, so find a spare evening, ensure everyone involved has a supply of pizza, and enjoy some turtle time for free in July.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Release Date: June 16, 2022

Honorable mention: Chained Together

Two players attempt to balance on a precarious bone structure high in a hellish landscape — The more players you have, the harder Chained Together gets.
©Anegar Games / Restart

Players: 1-4

Available (almost) for free on: Steam ($5)

One of the weirdest things about us over-evolved primates is that we love to drive ourselves to near insanity through intentionally frustrating challenges. Cryptic crosswords have been around for nearly 100 years for good reason. Chained Together taps into that self-destructive directive through a 3D co-operative platformer in which you attempt to escape Hell with your friends. How? By clambering up increasingly complex platforming puzzles, of course!

As the name suggests, there’s a catch: Everyone in your group of 1-4 players is chained together, either in a straight line or, for true sadists, a loop. Attempting to scale Hell’s heights while tethered demands expert synchronization as you leap between increasingly hazardous obstacles. Should one of you stumble, the rest might be able to pull them back up again. But more likely than not, you’ll all go tumbling back down to the start.

Chained Together is a cheap, unpolished experience. Don’t expect high quality environments or assets here. It's a bit like Bread & Fred, but in 3D and without any charming pixel penguins. But for $5? A handful of challenge-craving compatriots can have a hell of a lot of fun (and fury) on their platform-hopping path to redemption.

Still to come: Flock

Two flocks of alien bird creatures soar over a patterned landscape towards a forest of trees — We'll be flocking to this one when it arrives.
©Hollow Ponds

Longing for a more laid back game to enjoy with your friends this summer? Flock, which arrives on Xbox Game Pass on July 16, could fit the bill precisely. Several bills in fact, because this is a chilled-out game about collecting unusual birds. Riding on the back of an avian, you loop lazily around an alien world, discovering other unusual critters and whistling to encourage them to join your feathered herd. Flock promises to support some very serene multiplayer, and you can read more about it in our hands-on Summer Game Fest 2024 article here.