Gaming
Games
5 essential Xbox One party games
Multiplayer fun is guaranteed with these Xbox One party hits to keep any crowd amused
Despite the common misconception, gamers can – on occasion and at a push – be a sociable bunch. That said, social situations will, of course, be exponentially improved with the introduction of video games.
To save you from another round of Cards Against Humanity, here are our picks for the top five party games on Xbox One:
Nidhogg 2
Nidhogg 2 is good, gory, fun
© Messhof Games
Nidhogg, like most good party games, had a deceptively simple premise: two players are duelling in an attempt to get to the opposite side of the map. But rather than just being a footrace, players are equipped with a sword and need to kill their opponent to cross past their side of the screen.
This leads to hilariously scrappy brawling and tactical stalemates in equal measure. For Nidhogg 2, the core gameplay remains the same, but there are loads more variables thrown into the mix like new weapons like bows and throwing knives along with a wider range of stages.
Though this is technically a two player game, the contests themselves never take more than a few minutes leading which leads to the perfect winner-stays-on scenario where controllers can be easily passed around. And even when you aren’t playing, Nidhogg 2’s designer Mark Essen said that it was built from the ground up to be a spectator game and it’s easy to get caught up in the frenetic action from the sidelines.
FIFA 20
Timing is key for defending well in FIFA 20
© EA
Speaking of winner-stays-on, there are few games that quite encapsulate this like the FIFA series. Naturally, there is the traditional way of playing with typical 11 v 11 matches, but FIFA 19 upped the party factor with the introduction of its ‘house rules’. These ranged from Survival Mode – where you lose a random player if you score – to Headers & Volleys – where, as the title would suggest, goals count only when scored with a volley or a header.
FIFA 20 continued this with even more wacky rules. King of the Hill adds even more strategy to play, where goals only count after a player has held the ball in a certain zone for a few seconds, and multiple zone controls can stack up to a maximum of three goals for scoring only one. In Mystery Ball, every time the ball goes out of play it comes back with a new modifier for the attacking team – enhanced dribbling, sprint speed, passing or shooting – and a goal multiplier. All of these modes make for wild and unpredictable games that level the playing field between experienced pros and total novices to make it perfect for a party.
The latest entry in the series also introduced Volta Football: quick bursts of small-scale street football with each team only having a handful of players. It’s not quite the skills-fest of FIFA Street but it does bring back some of that nostalgia and is another fun party addition.
And let’s not forget those infamous FIFA apology rules…
Check out this page for all the Fifa 20 tips you need to impress the party.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Hail to the (Master) Chief
© Microsoft
Okay so Halo is not typically considered among the light-and-breezy party games where players can dip in and out, but come on there’s nothing better than getting a bunch of mates on the sofa for a bout of Blood Gulch (here called Bloodline) capture the flag.
Compiling the first four mainline Halo games along with Reach and Halo 3: ODST, Halo: The Master Chief Collection has a frankly absurd amount of content for both solo and group play. The ability to set custom rules is also here, meaning that you can come up with as many weird and stupid stipulations as you can think of. Want to play the floor is lava or turn your favourite map into a racetrack? Have at it. There’s even a spreadsheet to help you get started with some of the wackiest rulesets players have come up with.
If you run out of things to do, there’s Forge for creating your own maps – and a party is an ideal environment for their debut.
Just Dance 2020
Throw your cares to the wind and boogie down in front of your friends
© Ubisoft
Remember Kinect? If you were an early adopter of the Xbox One, chances are that you still have one of these camera accessories gathering dust in a drawer. Despite Microsoft’s best attempts, the Kinect has fallen on hard times but that hasn’t stopped some developers from still cranking out games for it. Enter: Just Dance 2020.
You don’t need me to tell you what this game is about, it’s right there in the title. What do you do? You Just Dance.
Just Dance is one of the last series that still makes use of Kinect (though it’s no surprise when you consider they even released this on the Wii), and has the potential to be a lot of fun, regardless of your level of sobriety. The Kinect-deprived need not fret though, as there’s an Android and iOS app users can download to get involved.
Mileage will obviously vary depending on your musical tastes, but if you’re not down for ‘Old Town Road’ or Frozen II mega-hit ‘Into The Unknown’ then why are you looking for party games in the first place? For mega fans, Ubisoft offers the Just Dance Unlimited subscription which brings every song from the decade’s worth of titles that preceded it.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
Man of Medan is great for a pass-the-pad spooktacular
© BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Sometimes you might have people over and want to make it a fun and energetic occasion, while at others you might want to sit in a darkened room and collectively be scared.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is for the latter occasions. Made by the studio behind the excellent Until Dawn, the game comes with a similar flair for suspense but, unlike its predecessor, it is designed from the ground up to be experienced with others.
The setup is fairly straightforward: a group of colourful characters go on a diving excursion in pursuit of sunken treasure. But come nightfall, their ship is boarded by pirates and supernatural chaos takes over. What ensues is 4-5 hours of thrilling tension and tight decision making. One person will have the controller, but half the fun is frantically barking orders at them in an effort to survive. Undoubtedly, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan is a much more exciting alternative to collectively browsing Netflix for an hour before just deciding on something that everyone's already seen.
