7 articlesWhile Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is primarily meant to be a single-player game, you can also play co-op with others.
However, it’s not so easy to just engage in jolly cooperation from the start of the game. The feature itself has to be unlocked by progressing through the game! This goes for both local and online multiplayer modes. Plus, there are some key limitations you should be aware of if you primarily wish to play this game for co-op.
In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Fantasy Life i’s co-op modes.
How to Play Co-Op | Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
You can play both Local and Online co-op, as we’ve mentioned before. However, both co-op modes unlock at different points in the game’s main story, as follows:
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How To Get ” Excellent ” Hit Every Single Time in FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals TimeMay 27, 2025- Local – Unlocks once you complete Chapter 1-9: Talk to Auntie Anne. This is right after you reach Fledgling Rank with your first Life. You’ll need to sleep at an Inn after that point in the story, Local Co-op will unlock right after sleeping.
- Online – Unlocks once you reach Chapter 3-7: Return to the Present. A new Guild Office will be erected at your Base Camp at this point, which hosts the online multiplayer feature.
Now that you know how to unlock both co-op modes, let’s go over how to start them!
Local Co-op
Once you’ve unlocked Local Co-op, you can start it at any time by using a second controller. The player using the second controller just needs to press the button shown on the prompt in the bottom right of the screen, as shown above. The second player will get to take control of Trip to aid the main player.
For PC players, note that the local co-op functionality seems to be a bit wonky currently. It seems to work best when using two controllers, as combining Keyboard + Mouse and Controller causes issues. However, some players report issues even when using two controllers. We hope these kinks are ironed out soon via patches!
Online Co-Op
As for Online Co-op, you just need to go into the room in the back of the Guild Office in your Base Camp. Talk to Colm there and select to start Online Play.
You can then select Recruit Members to invite other players to your party, or Head Out to join another player’s party. Up to 4 players can be on the same party at a time and they get to use their actual main characters in this mode.
Do note that console players will need to have an active subscription to their respective console’s online: Nintendo Switch Online, PlayStation Plus, and Xbox Game Pass. You also can’t invite friends directly, instead having to use a password system. On the upside, the game has cross-play across all platforms!
Now, it’s worth noting that the multiplayer works somewhat uniquely in this game. Essentially, you get to select specific timed quests to head out on with your party. You don’t get to join each other’s worlds directly. It’s similar to the mission select structure of games like Monster Hunter. However, as of version 1.1.3, you can also progress your Life Challenges while doing these multiplayer quests.
That’s everything you need to know to be able to play co-op in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. While it’s definitely a shame that it’s so limited, we hope the multiplayer gets expanded via updates. After all, they did already make the aforementioned Life Challenges progression update, so here’s hoping for more…
That aside, do you also want to unlock the brand-new Lives in this game? Check out our guide on how to unlock the Farmer Life, then. It’s the first one you can unlock!
