Whether you’re going home for Christmas or hosting a festive get-together, give the gift of video games this year with some of the best party experiences on the market. Here are 15 of our favorites.
15SomeJackboxGames
TheJackboxgames are legendary compendiums of mini-games, usually sold under theParty Packmantra. The real genius is that players participate using their smartphones, with nothing more than a mobile browser. Boot up the game, connect everyone to Wi-Fi, and you’re ready to go.
Though the quality can vary from pack to pack, we’d recommend Drawful, Quiplash, and Fibbage as good starting points (all of which are available as separate downloads, if you’re that way inclined). I’m also a fan of Civic Doodle from the fourth party pack. Take a look at thefull lineup, or just grab a pack or two.
The games are available on pretty much every platform, from the major consoles to Steam, Mac, and even iPhone or iPad.
14What The Dub?
Another party game that relies on smartphone controllers,What The Dubtasks you with overdubbing voice lines from bad old movies for hilarious effect. It’s a game all about making fellow players laugh, where everyone gets a chance to vote on their favorite lines.
There are over 300 clips included, with your quips brought to life by a serviceable text-to-speech engine. It’s cheap (at only $7.99 on the Switch eShop) and available on both consoles and PC.
13RiffTrax: The Game
While we’re talking aboutWhat The Dub, it’s worth mentioningRiffTrax: The Gamefrom the same developer. The premise is identical: add commentary to clips for comedic effect, but this time with aRiffTraxtwist.
For the uninitiated,RiffTraxwas born from the ashes ofMystery Science Theater 3000and the clips here all come from previous movies, shorts, and public service films featured by Mike Nelson and co. Instead of just providing your own lines, you can also pick from a selection of existing soundbites from theRiffTraxdatabase.
12Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kartis a game that everyone can enjoy, particularly with Nintendo’s thoughtful inclusion of driving assists (which are perfect for youngsters).Mario Kart 8 Deluxeis the definitive version of the kart racer, available exclusively on the Switch.
11Screencheat
Screencheatis a split-screen first-person shooter that takes the concept of screen cheating—peeking at other people’s screens in games likeHaloand Goldeneye—and builds an entire game around it.
Everyone is invisible, and the only way you’re able to tell where your opponents are is by screen cheating. Four players can go head-to-head on PC or consoles, with the Switch receiving a remastered release in 2018.
10Halo: Master Chief Collection
Not everyone thinksHalois a great party game, but I beg to differ. Particularly during the festive season, Microsoft’s flagship shooter hits all the right nostalgic buttons that’ll quickly have everyone humming along to that iconic soundtrack.
TheMaster Chief Collectionincludes optimized versions of the first six games through toHalo 4includingReachandODST. you’re able to split-screen them all, jump into Firefight co-op modes, or turn the living room into anold school LAN party. Get it on Xbox and PC.
9Super Mario Party Jamboree
Jamboreerepresents the thirteenth entry in the long-runningMario Partyfranchise, a digital board game that uses mini-games as its main hook. Roll dice, move around the board, and compete against four other players (and up to 20 online) to be crowned victor.
TheMario Partyformula hasn’t changed a lot, butJamboreereceived a worthy amount of praise upon its release in late 2024. It’s quickly become known as one of the best games in the series and is arguably better than the other two Switch releases.
8Overcooked 2
Overcooked 2is the definitive example of the “frantic co-op party game” where communication is vital and chaos is guaranteed. The premise is simple: prepare, serve, and clean up a restaurant by delegating and sharing tasks with up to three other players.
This all takes place across a variety of eateries, terrains, and even alien planets. These aren’t normal restaurants, and there are all sorts of tricky traps to overcome along the way that will inevitably lead to hilarity when everything starts to fall apart (which usually involves fire).
7Use Your Words
If you enjoyJackboxandWhat The Dubstyle party games,Use Your Wordsis another to add to your collection. It works just like the others, with smartphones acting as controllers for three to six players via a simple web interface.
The game includes four minigames in total.Sub the Titlehas you writing hilarious subtitles for foreign language films,Extra! Extra!involves writing silly headlines for newspapers,Blank-O-Maticis a fill-in-the-blanks type game, andSurvey Saysis a rapid-fire prompt game. Grab it on consoles and PC (there’s also a second installment in the works).
6Gang Beasts
Gang Beastsis described by its developers as a “beef ‘em up” which perfectly encapsulates the game’s intentionallysaggymovement system. Take part in a variety of game modes, from simple beat ‘em up arenas to soccer matches and cooperative brawls.
Movement is the real challenge here, and the control scheme acts as a great leveler. It’s clumsy by design, which leads to some hilarious moments as you grapple to hold on to the back of a moving truck or push your friends into an industrial grinder.
