Photos (clockwise from top left) courtesy of Konami Digital Entertainment, Nintendo, Voxler, Microids, and Jackbox Games.

Video Games

5 New Multiplayer Games for Your Next Group Hang

Plus, some oldies that are worth revisiting

When playing multiplayer games at parties, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut with old favorites like Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Just Dance. To keep things fresh and keep you up-to-date on the latest releases, we’ve compiled a list of our picks for new and upcoming party games that will get your guests laughing with—or at—each other.

New and noteworthy

The Jackbox Party Trilogy 3.0

The Jackbox Party Pack has been sending parties into laughing fits since 2014 with its minigames designed to bring out the silliness in players. The company’s new Party Trilogy 3.0 is the line’s most recent release and includes all of the games from its party packs 7, 8, and 9, tallying 15 “easy-to-play party games for your friends, family, and fellow inmates,” according to Jackbox Games’ website. If you’ve never played a Jackbox game, many popular ones play like Cards Against Humanity remixes, where players get the opportunity to create the most irreverent, wacky, or scandalous responses to various types of questions, competing against each other in an effort to be the funniest in the room. The platform supports up to 10 players per game and lets participants use their smartphones as controllers. 

The Jackbox Party Trilogy 3.0 is out now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Steam. 

Everybody 1-2-Switch!

On its surface, Everybody 1-2-Switch might look like just another party pack game. But don’t be fooled, because it has one massive trick up its sleeve: it can support up to 100 players in cooperative mode. Plus, many of Everybody 1-2-Switch’s minigames require players to get out of their seats, which guarantees that your guests won’t just be sitting around on the floor. Games require players to snap photos with their phone cameras, summon aliens, run ice-cream stands, and perform a variety of other random tasks. Players can use Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers or smartphones to interact with the game, but some functionalities are exclusive to either piece of hardware. 

Everybody 1-2-Switch! is out now and exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. 

Survivor – Castaway Island

There have been a number of Survivor tie-in games over the years, none that have enjoyed the critical acclaim of the original reality TV competition. Now that French game publisher Microids is taking a stab at the concept, could we finally have a winner on our hands? In Survivor – Castaway Island, players can build camps, form alliances, and battle with up to four players to outlast the competition and become the sole survivor. The game features a cartoony art style and a social relationship system where players and non-playable characters can be made to love or hate each other. (Keep that in mind while playing with your roommates.)

Survivor – Castaway Island is out now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. 

Let’s Sing 2024

Turn your apartment, dorm room, or wherever you call home into a karaoke bar with this new game from developer Voxler. Let’s Sing 2024 lets groups of up to four sing along to hits from megastars like Billie Eilish, Queen, BTS, and many more. The game also includes a full-fledged career mode, duets, and avatar customization. No additional attachments are needed—players can use the Let’s Sing app to turn their smartphones into karaoke microphones. 

Let’s Sing 2024 drops November 7, 2023, on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. 

Super Crazy Rhythm Castle

In Super Crazy Rhythm Castle, recruit your friends to explore a castle, unseat a tyrant, and battle an eggplant, all while keeping rhythm with over 30 different songs… Yeah, this one’s weird. Rhythm Castle looks like it’ll be more story-driven than some of the other entries on this list, so it might work best with smaller groups. But Konami Digital Entertainment promises that you and up to three other friends will “become one with the music and the madness” as soon as you begin to play. Konami also advertises it as a “spiritual successor” to 2006’s Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe.

Konami and developer Second Impact Games revealed this one back in July; it drops November 13 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. 

Worth a revisit

Overcooked! All You Can Eat

Team up with pals to run a restaurant and get dishes out in a timely manner in a kitchen full of adorable, cartoon madness. This compilation includes Overcooked! and its sequel, as well as all available downloadable content for both games.

Overcooked! All You Can Eat is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Nintendo Switch Sports

According to IGN.com, Wii Sports sold 82.9 million copies worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling video game of all time. Now, that same beloved format is available on the Nintendo Switch. Play soccer, volleyball, badminton, and more with up to three friends. 

Nintendo Switch Sports is available exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

TowerFall

Get up to four players—up to eight on Nintendo Switch—to team up and try to shoot each other with arrows in this pixelated, two-dimensional platformer. That’s really all there is to it.

TowerFall is available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.