How to play co-op, crossplay, and use the Friend's Pass in Reanimal

Reanimal, the latest survival horror from Tarsier Studios of Little Nightmares fame, has both local and online co-op, complete with crossplay, and it only requires one player to own the game thanks to the Friend's Pass feature. That said, getting all of those to work can be a little confusing, not to mention the start of the game is very much a solo experience anyway, because the boy starts off alone, rowing a boat, for a minute or two until the second player is rescued from drowning in the water.

Here's a complete explainer on how co-op, crossplay, and the Friend's Pass work in Reanimal on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

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How to play local co-op in Reanimal

Let's get the simplest option out of the way first: local, aka couch, co-op. When you reach the main menu, select the co-op option, then choose "Local." All you need for this are two controllers connected to the same console.

Player one will be the boy — the lead character, so to speak — while player two is the girl, who plays more of a supporting role. If you want to switch characters, you can simply swap controllers.

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How to play online co-op and crossplay in Reanimal

If you're looking to play co-op online, with or without crossplay, there are a couple of different methods. The simplest is to select "Host Online" from the co-op menu, then tell your friend what the five-character code displayed on your screen is. They should be able to enter that code by selecting the "Join Online" option. When they're in, the game should start automatically, with the host of the game playing as the boy.

You can also invite a friend through your chosen platform's friends list, whether that's Steam, PlayStation Network, or Nintendo Switch Online. Below the displayed code, the option to invite a friend will be displayed. PS5 players will also have the option to scan a QR code for a link to send to that friend directly, handy if they're not on your friends list.

Crossplay should work by default, as long as you use the first option, to share the code. We've tested this between PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, and it worked flawlessly. Remember: the host of the game will start out driving the boat solo, so do not worry if player two isn't immediately able to jump in. They'll join the game after a short while.

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How to use the Friend's Pass in Reanimal

Finally, Reanimal offers players the ability to play online co-op even if only one player owns the game, using what they're calling the "Friend's Pass" system.

To do this, the player who doesn't own Reanimal needs to download the Reanimal demo on either PS5 or Nintendo Switch 2. Sorry, Xbox Series X and PC players: at the time of writing, the Friend's Pass system isn't available for you folks yet. The devs have said it should be available soon, but in our testing, we weren't able to get it to work.

When the friend has downloaded the Reanimal demo, you can follow the same steps listed above to join. The player who owns the full game must be the host, but then the friend can join via either the code or an invite. Don't get too spooked now.