If you have an acquaintance who enjoys tower defense on her iPhone, try a few of these games, and you just might end up with a brand new co-op partner.

It's time once again for more board game coverage for Co-Op Casual Friday. Today, we take a look at Defenders of the Realm, an excellent co-op game that blends concepts from Pandemic with fantasy characters who would be very much at home in any D&D campaign.

This week we look at the bonding of a father and his son over a series - Halo. Sure Halo might not be the most family friendly game, after all, its rated M, but Marc will make the case on how it'll promote a healthy relationship in your family - and best of all - some great co-op play.

I was really quite shocked at the quality of FarmVille. I felt many of the same urges that kept me playing World of Warcraft and other similar games for so long. The social elements, the desire to keep up with the rest of your group, and the feeling of ownership were very powerful.

It's time once again for a board game edition of Co-Op Casual Friday. Today, we'll discuss one such game as we take a journey back to the time of King Arthur and Merlin; can you work together to overcome the Shadows Over Camelot?

For Co-Op Casual Friday this week, we turn our heroic gaze to Champions Online, a super-hero MMO that recently adopted the free to play model. Read along as we detail the first adventure of our family's father-son team, which has now been officially dubbed "The Dark Duo".

While the focus here at Co-Optimus has been and always will be on video games, we reserve the right to cover other cooperative gaming experiences as well. Today, we’ll take a look at Forbidden Island, a delightful co-op board game.

The casual gamer is becoming a major factor in the videogame industry.  The makers of Farmville are worth more than EA.  Popcap games are invading consoles, from Peggle to Plants vs. Zombies.  Atari's latest game, The Undergarden, is vigorously promoted as a "casual, Zen-like" experience, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to the Farmville loving social gamer.

Every once in a while, we like to cover good cooperative board games here at Co-Optimus. Today, we'll check out a hot new board game based on an iconic Dungeons & Dragons setting, Castle Ravenloft.

What's this?  A new LEGO video game based on the Lord of the Rings series?  Unfortunately, no; at least, not to our knowledge, though it sounds like a good idea to us.  We here at Co-Optimus have long been fans of the LEGO series, which has included co-op from the very beginning.  From Star Wars to Harry Potter, and everywhere in between, the LEGO games have provided hours of fun for gamers of all ages through the years. 

The formula for Murky Horizons is something like this: take a healthy dollop of twin stick shooter, mix thoroughly with a "build your own maze" tower defense game, and add in a hint of the "stay in the light or die" mechanic from Gears of War. It may sound like an odd conglomeration, but it works.

Transformers games have been a real mixed bag, ranging from the awful 2007 movie tie ins all the way up to the sublime War for Cybertron. When we finished up the campaign in the latter, our thirst for Transformers was unquenched, and so we decided to rent Cybertron Adventures for the Wii.