Split Fiction is built around one hard rule: you cannot play it alone. Hazelight Studios, the team behind It Takes Two, designed every puzzle, chase, and boss fight in this sci-fi/fantasy adventure to need two people making separate decisions at once — sometimes on two different halves of the screen, sometimes on one shared view. That single design choice is why so many first co-op sessions get tripped up on what’s mandatory (the Friend’s Pass, a second controller) versus what’s optional (the 12 Story Fragments hidden behind portals in Chapters 2 through 5). This guide separates the two, explains why the screen splits and merges the way it does, and covers the PC and Steam Deck setup details most guides skip entirely.
Quick Start: Before You Launch Split Fiction
- Confirm only one of you needs to own the game — the other installs the free Friend’s Pass app on their platform.
- Decide local (same couch) or online co-op first — local needs no EA Account or internet connection at all.
- Plug in a second controller for local play; on PC you can pair a controller with keyboard/mouse, but hand the controller to whoever’s newer to games.
- Pick who plays Mio (sci-fi, shooting/platforming-heavy) and who plays Zoe (fantasy, puzzle/exploration-heavy) based on experience, not just character preference.
- Budget around 12 hours for the main story, 16 hours if you want every Story Fragment.
- On Steam Deck, confirm you’re on the Verified build before a long handheld session — Steam Cloud saves sync automatically with your PC copy.
What the Friend’s Pass Actually Covers (and Doesn’t)
Split Fiction’s biggest practical advantage over most co-op games is the Friend’s Pass: if you own the full game, you can invite one friend to play the entire campaign with you for free, no purchase required on their end [1]. You don’t need to have played It Takes Two first — Friend’s Pass isn’t specific to this game, it’s a standing Hazelight/EA system that works the same way across their catalog.
The catch is narrower than most write-ups make it sound. Friend’s Pass requires a persistent internet connection, a free EA Account, and an install of the standalone Friend’s Pass client on the guest’s platform [1] — that’s true even if you plan to sit on the same couch afterward, because the account link happens once during setup. If neither of you owns Split Fiction yet, the Friend’s Pass Trial lets both of you play the opening stages for free, and progress carries over the moment either of you buys the full game [1] — a low-risk way to confirm co-op chemistry before either of you buys a co-op game built for two and it turns out to not be your thing.
What Friend’s Pass does not do: give the guest a standalone copy or let them play solo. Only the owner’s purchase has independent value — the invited player is locked to sessions with the owner [1].
How Split-Screen Actually Works (and Why It Keeps Changing)
Split Fiction doesn’t run in split-screen the whole time — the game shifts between full single-screen sequences and a dynamic split, and that’s deliberate, not a bug. Director Josef Fares built the campaign on “a mixture of single- and split-screen sections” specifically so it could keep introducing new mechanics without repeating itself [8]. When you are split, the boundary itself is dynamic: it moves and reshapes based on where each player is standing and what they’re doing, rather than sitting as a fixed line down the middle [9].
To start local split-screen co-op, both players need their own input device — two controllers, or a controller plus a keyboard/mouse if you’re on PC. Local play doesn’t require an EA Account or an internet connection at all [9], making it the only mode in the game with zero setup friction. Online co-op (playing with someone elsewhere) needs a stable connection on both ends and, under the same account rules as Friend’s Pass, an EA Account for crossplay between PS5, Xbox, and PC [1][3].
If you’re deciding who plays which character, know that Split Fiction’s chapter difficulty isn’t symmetrical. More on that next.
Which Player Are You? Zoe, Mio, and the Player-Type Cheat Sheet
Split Fiction’s two characters aren’t just a cosmetic choice — Zoe’s fantasy chapters lean into puzzle-solving and exploration, while Mio’s sci-fi chapters demand faster shooting and platforming reflexes [6]. That split maps cleanly onto how different players should approach the game:
| Player Type | Best Character | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New player | Zoe | Fantasy/puzzle chapters are the gentler on-ramp; hand Zoe to whoever has played fewer games [6]. |
| Casual player | Whichever matches the current chapter | Chapters run about an hour each, and the game expects you to swap characters, not commit to one for 12 hours [5][6]. |
| Hardcore / optimiser | Mio | Sci-fi chapters lean into faster shooting and platforming — the closer thing this game has to a “harder” track [6]. |
| Completionist | Either | Story Fragments are spread across both characters’ chapters, but not every guide agrees on the exact split — PowerPyX’s own location list doesn’t map each portal to Mio or Zoe [4], so expect surprises regardless of who you picked. |
All 12 Story Fragments, Chapter by Chapter
Story Fragments are Hazelight’s fan nickname for what EA’s own site calls Side Stories — self-contained detours the game frames as “attempts by the simulation to steal unfinished stories and ideas” Mio and Zoe wrote when they were younger [2]. There are 12 of them, three tucked into each of Chapters 2 through 5. Skipping all of them still gets you the full story, but it also means skipping roughly 4 of the game’s 16 total hours [5] — including a pig-farming sequence and a mid-air spacewalk Hazelight built as an internal game-jam exercise before folding it into the campaign [2].
| Chapter | Story Fragment | How to Find It |
|---|---|---|
| Ch. 2 – Neon Revenge | Legend of the Sandfish | Right after the intro cutscene in the “Play Me Techno” mission [4]. |
| Farmlife | In Streets of Neon — look right instead of taking the elevator [4]. | |
| Mountain Hike | In Big City Life, via the alternate toilet-throwing sequence [4]. | |
| Ch. 3 – Hopes of Spring | Train Heist | During Lord Evergreen — take the right, wall-running path instead of the pole-jump route [4]. |
| Gameshow | In Walking Stick of Doom — go left after the bridge crossing [4]. | |
| Collapsing Star | In Halls of Ice — the portal is on the right, before the castle entrance [4]. | |
| Ch. 4 – Final Dawn | Kites | In Toxic Tumblers — keep going to the end of the hallway past the cylinders [4]. |
| Moon Market | In Test Chamber — take the left path off the moving platforms [4]. | |
| Notebook | In Soaring Desperados — use the jetpack to reach it on the pipe’s left side [4]. | |
| Ch. 5 – Rise of the Dragon Realm | Slopes of War | In Water Temple — turn left after the golden-globe jumps [4]. |
| Space Escape | In Craft Temple — take the right path at the mission’s start [4]. | |
| Birthday Cake | In Treasure Temple — take the left path instead of heading toward the temple [4]. |
PC and Steam Deck Split-Screen Tips
Split Fiction is Steam Deck Verified, with Hazelight’s own performance target sitting around a locked 30fps on the Deck [3] — realistic for a split-screen game rendering two full views at once, and also why the recommended desktop specs (an RTX 3070 or RX 6700 XT-class GPU for 1440p/60fps) sit noticeably above the 1080p/30fps minimum spec (a GTX 970 or RX 470) [3]. If you and your co-op partner are sharing one PC locally, aim for the recommended tier rather than the minimum — you’re rendering the game twice on one machine.
Steam Cloud Save means you can start a session on your desktop and pick it back up on the Deck without manually moving files [3], which matters more here than in most single-player games, since a co-op save can’t easily be handed to a friend mid-campaign — it lives with whoever owns the copy. Ultrawide support (21:9 and 32:9) is built in for either player on an ultrawide monitor [3], though split-screen on an ultrawide effectively gives each player a standard-ish slice rather than two full ultrawide views. For more handheld-friendly picks once you’ve finished the campaign, our Steam Deck-only PC games roundup covers what else runs well undocked.
For local co-op split between one keyboard, one mouse, and one controller, hand the controller to whichever of you finds keyboard platforming less comfortable — Split Fiction’s combat and traversal both lean on analog stick movement, which a keyboard only approximates with digital key presses [9].
Common Co-Op Mistakes
If you’re playing online and lag is throwing off timing-based puzzles — check that both players are on a wired connection before assuming the puzzle itself is broken; split-screen co-op games are unusually sensitive to input-lag mismatches between two players sharing one clock.
If one of you is visibly behind on reflex-heavy Mio sections — swap characters at the next chapter boundary rather than pushing through; Split Fiction’s chapters run in roughly one-hour blocks specifically so this kind of swap is easy [5].
If you only have one controller — pair it with keyboard/mouse rather than skipping local co-op entirely; the game supports the hybrid setup on PC [9], it’s just less comfortable for fast platforming.
If you’re rushing past every glowing portal — you’re skipping the Story Fragments, the part of the game several reviewers single out as Hazelight’s most experimental design work [2][5]. Our best co-op games by genre guide is a good next stop once you’ve cleared them all.
FAQ
Do both players need to buy Split Fiction?
No — and it’s one of the more player-friendly co-op setups available right now. One person buys the game, the other installs the free Friend’s Pass client, and they get the entire campaign, not a demo slice [1]. Compare that to co-op games that still charge full price per player, and Split Fiction’s model is a real reason to pick it over a similarly priced alternative if you’re not sure your regular co-op partner will stick with a new game long-term.
Can you play Split Fiction split-screen with a keyboard and mouse plus a controller?
Yes, but it’s a compromise, not the ideal setup. The game supports pairing a controller with keyboard/mouse for local PC co-op [9], though Split Fiction’s traversal and combat both rely on analog-stick precision that a keyboard only approximates with digital key presses — give the controller to whoever’s handling more of the platforming-heavy Mio sections.
Are the Story Fragments worth completing, or are they filler?
They’re worth it, and calling them filler misreads what they are. Each of the 12 is a self-contained, differently themed level Hazelight built during internal game jams rather than a padded side-quest bolted onto the main path [2] — snowboarding, water-skiing, a pig-farming sequence, and a mid-air spacewalk aren’t reused assets from the main campaign. Skipping them saves roughly 4 hours [5], but it also skips the parts of the game most often singled out as Hazelight’s most experimental work.
Can you play Split Fiction alone?
No — there’s no solo mode, by design. Every mechanic in the campaign assumes two active players making separate inputs, sometimes on a shared screen and sometimes on a split one [8]. If you don’t have a regular co-op partner, that’s exactly what the free Friend’s Pass Trial is for — it costs nothing to find out if a friend wants to commit before either of you spends money [1].
Sources
- [1] EA — What is the Friend’s Pass?
- [2] EA — An Introduction to Side Stories
- [3] EA — Steam Deck Verified, PC Specs, and More
- [4] PowerPyX — All Side Stories Locations
- [5] Dexerto — Split Fiction Length and Chapters
- [6] Destructoid — Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Split Fiction
- [7] Metacritic — Split Fiction
- [8] Xbox Wire — Josef Fares on Split Fiction
- [9] LagoFast — Split Fiction Co-op Features
Verified against Split Fiction as of its March 2025 launch build and 2026 platform coverage (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2). Friend’s Pass, split-screen, and Steam Deck details may change with future patches.
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.