10 Best Video Games When you have Friends Over

I love having people over and I love video games, so when I can do both...I am happy! However I sometimes struggle to find a game that is ideal for all experience levels and that people can all sit round, have fun and play together. So I thought I would make a list for all you party people out there for the next time you have friends over! 

Ultimate Chicken Horse

This is such a good time! If you don't know what Chicken Horse is, it is side-scrolling platformer, but here is the twist, you design the levels. After each round the players can add more hazards to the course. The aim of the game is to be the only person who makes it to the end of the course. You can have up to 4 players and because the games are short it is easy to take turns if you have more than 4 people. Genuinely, this game has had me and my friends screaming and laughing at the screen. The game is also really easy to pick up and understand regardless of your ability level. Also this game is one of the cheaper games on the list.

Platforms: PS5 + PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PC, Mac

Mario Kart 8 (Don't Drink and Drive)

This feels a little too obvious even writing this, but you can't bring up fun local co-op games without talking Mario Kart. Although if you have people at different ability levels, this game is not always the most fun for those who aren't familiar with games. But I have a solution, the Mario Kart 8 drinking game! If you haven't heard of 'Don't Drink and Drive' I will enlighten you! You have to finish your drink by the end of the race but you are not allowed to drink and drive at the same time. Basically, you can either chug your drink before you start the race, or keep pulling over during the race to drink. Trust me, this game gets messy!

Platform: Switch

Until Dawn

This game, by developers Supermassive, actually has some of my favourite memories of any video game experience, and that is because having friends over and playing this game is a ridiculously fun. Yes only one person holds the controller but the entire group holds the life of these dumb teenagers in their hands! So the game is basically a classic horror movie, but you get to make the decisions. Each death is comically gruesome and there are plenty of jump scares and moments where people are SCREAMING at the screen! This game is a few years old now, so it is normally pretty cheap to pick up.

Platforms: PS5 + PS4, Windows

The Quarry

This is yet another Supermassive game where you can decide the fate of a load of dumb teens! I really enjoyed playing through this, not as much as Until Dawn, but still had an absolute blast. I enjoyed the mystery of this game and my friends and I spent the entire time trying to guess the twist, which became a lot of fun!

Platforms: PS5 + PS4, Windows

Jackbox

Every party I have undoubtedly ends with us all gathered around a Jackbox game laughing and making fun of each other! If you dont know what Jackbox is then you have been living under a rock! Jackbox now has 10 party packs, full of many different styles of games. Some of my favourite include Drawful, Jokeboat, Mad Verse City, Quiplash and Fibbage. Everyone just needs a phone to play and it is avaialbe on just about any platform you can think of!

Platforms: Everywhere!

It Takes Two

Now as you can probably tell by the title, this game is only for two players. However this does not stop it being an excellent party game. It is a third person platformer by Hazelight Studios and is honestly one of my favourite games to play with others. This is a great game to pass and play. One of you dies, another person takes over. The game is fun for all abilities and it can be fun to watch people struggle with certain tasks and excel at others. 

Platforms: PS5 + PS$, Switch, Xbox

Super Mario Wonder

Obviously any Super Mario game is worth mentioning when it comes to fun couch co-op. You can play up to 4 players and it is easy to switch out. The reason I think this game is ideal for a party is because it seems to cater nicer to multiplayer than previous Mario games. Firstly you cant get in each other's way, which makes a huge difference, because previous Mario games became EXTREMELY frustrating when you were stepping on each other all the time and there are characters that are scaled for less experienced plays. Also this game is BEAUTIFUL. Even just watching I had a blast, because the map is stunning and the new mushrooms that alter the environment are so much fun!

Platform: Switch

Overcooked 2

Now this is a perfect way to see which of your friends relationships will last. This game will make even the most mild mannered of people morph into Gordan Ramsay and start calling everyone idiot sandwiches! The point of this game is that you work together to run a kitchen, sounds peaceful right? WRONG! It is so stressful and so fun at the same time! The controls are easy enough to pick up for anyone and the levels start really simple and get increasingly more insane. The game sort of teaches you as it goes and I have seen many people who have never play a video game become better than me at this is a very short period of time! That might say more about me than them, but still this is a MUST BUY for anyone who is having people over and wants to cause some fight! Also there are some great expansions, so check them out!

Platforms: Switch, PS4+PS5, Xbox One, Windows, Linux and Mac

Escape Academy

Remember when escape rooms were the most popular things in the world and everyone was obsessed? Remember how insanely expensive they were!? Well luckily Escape Academy is reasonably priced and brings the idea of escape rooms into your front room! This game has reviewed very well for it's mixture of interesting and unique puzzles, mixed with a good sense of humour. The great thing about this game at a party is everyone thinks different. So if you get a group of people together playing this, different people will solve different puzzles. There are expansion packs as well so you could make it a regular thing that you all meet up and solve some escape rooms together. 

Platforms: PS5+PS4, Switch, Xbox, Windows, Mac

Gang Beasts

This game is goofy and silly and I love it. Yet another reasonably priced game that anyone can pick up and play! Often I have friends over and one of them suggests Super Smash Bros. And then we play and the person who suggested it is having a great time, everyone else is getting dominated trying to work out the buttons. Then I suggest Gang Beasts and things get much more fun. It is basically a brawler where you have to throw each other off the map. There are fun costumes and fun locations and the game provides really insane moments where you are desperately trying not to fall off of the map, whilst also trying to lift someone over your head and throw them. It is 4 player locally and the games are short enough that you could have a pretty fun tournament!

Platforms: Switch, PS4, Xbox, Windows, Mac 

So that is my list of fun party games! Now everyone back to mine so we can drink beers and play video games! What are your favourite party games? What are some of your favourite video game party stories? Comment below:

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