Dreamcast cult-classic Samba de Amigo looks to be getting a revival very soon. Announced as part of the Nintendo Direct stream, Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be released on Nintendo's platform this summer. Not a whole lot of info was shown, but we did get a couple of seconds of gameplay.

Things don't seem dramatically different from previous installments. If we had to guess, this will likely play similarly to the Wii iteration of Samba de Amigo. With Joy-Con being decent enough Wii remote replacements, it shouldn't feel too out of place. Taiko no Tatsujin works fine enough on the console, for instance.

Details on the eShop reveal that Party Central will contain 40 songs from "the world's most popular genres" and that additional DLC will be released post-launch. This could mean that the soundtracks from the original Samba de Amigo and Wii installments will be made available.

There will also be an online option called "World Party Mode." You'll be able to take 12 amigos on the dance floor with you and battle against eight players in a global competition. Your amigos will have a range of customization options available, so you'll have the chance to add your personal touch to everyone. It seems like fairly standard but welcomed stuff.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is scheduled for a June 2023 release. There is no word on whether or not this will remain a Switch exclusive in the future.

One of Nintendo’s most well-known properties is finally on Nintendo Switch with Nintendo Switch Sports. It’s a sequel to the Wii Sports series, but with slightly updated branding. Despite the new name, the game delivers on the classic gameplay that it’s known for.

The wrapper that those simulations come in feels like an afterthought though. Playing each sport is fun, but things like tutorials or variety in how you use the mechanics are non-existent.

Nintendo Switch Sports Review — Stellar Gameplay in a Bare Bones Package

The Nintendo Sports series is a collection of sports simulations that implement motion inputs. To swing the racket in tennis, you swing your Joy-Con like a racket. This part is still magical. Performing the motion to roll a bowling ball down a lane with the game reflecting that motion is captivating. It’s also an experience that’s hard to find anywhere else. That does mean Nintendo Switch Sports is a big fish in a small pond, but it’s still good to be the big fish.

There are six games included in the package: volleyball, badminton, bowling, soccer, chambara, and tennis. All of them are fun to play, though some are more fun than others. I’m not particularly in love with volleyball and chambara, but each one is worth playing even just to see how the motion controls were adapted to each sport.

Sports that seem like they would be incredibly similar, like badminton and tennis, feel very different when actually playing them. Tennis requires you to focus on keeping the ball in bounds where that’s impossible in badminton. Tennis balls travel faster and farther while shuttlecocks are floatier.

Soccer is an early candidate for my surprise of the year. The version in Switch Sports is a Rocket League clone where the ball is oversized and the goals are huge. It’s the most fun I had during my time with the game.

Switch Sports launches with online capabilities for all its simulations. You can play matches against random players or invite friends and family to play over the internet. Setting this up is easy and works well. The lobby system is intuitive to use; I didn’t experience any lag or stuttering when playing online with friends.

For more competitive players, playing against random people online will eventually unlock Pro Leagues. These are ranked matches where you gain or lose ranked points by winning or losing. It’s possible to opt out of ranked matches if you want a less stressful online experience.

The mountain of issues looming over Nintendo Switch Sports consists of everything outside of actually playing those games, the biggest of which is the tutorialization. For basic controls, the tutorials are adequate. They're either on the screen as you play or there are small demonstrations when you start. The problem is that not every control is in these tutorials.

There are important, game-altering techniques that are not mentioned when you start playing. Opponents would do something that I didn’t know was possible, then I would spend several matches trying to guess at the hand motion to make it work, all while playing against people who already knew how to make it work. It’s an incredibly frustrating situation. Forcing you to lose several matches for reasons you don’t understand is a baffling design choice.

Eventually, the game does tell you some of these advanced techniques, but it’s in the worst way possible: in post-match loading screens. These could be tutorialized anywhere else, so why not put all of the possible controls in the actual tutorials? Why is there not a section mentioning it’s possible to spike the volleyball in a specific direction or how to add topspin or backspin to a tennis ball?

Making training areas to practice sports would have been even better. If I want to practice serving in tennis, why can’t I go to a section that only has me serving the ball? There could have even been little score attack minigames.

Making learning techniques a minigame would solve one of the game's other issues: a disappointing lack of additional content. Two of the sports use twists on the mechanics. Bowling has challenge lanes where the lanes have dips, bumpers, gaps, and other obstacles to bowl around. Soccer has a shootout mode where you can kick a ball into an increasingly smaller goal.

It’s a missed opportunity to not have these for every sport. Previous entries have minigames like target shooting using the tennis mechanics. That minigame teaches you how to control the ball better while also being fun. Chambara could have had a minigame similar to Fruit Ninja.

Spocco Square, where the sports take place, is surprisingly devoid of life, acting as just a menu. The developers designing the square really tried to add personality to the locale, but it all feels meaningless, since you can't interact with any of it.  One of the loading screen tips tells you that a shuttle goes from each sport venue every 15 minutes, and you can see the shuttle travel in the background. But you can't actually ride it. Spocco Square feels like it should be more, but there's nothing to it.

Customization is a sore spot as well. There just aren't enough options for the main avatar type, Sportsmates, the new and more realistic style of player character debuted in Switch Sports in lieu of Miis. You start with two outfits in a variety of colors, six faces, six hairstyles, and not much else to make a unique character. This ends up with all of the Sportsmates looking too similar.

There is the option to create a Mii. Any Mii that you’ve created on your console can be pulled into the game. It’s a little funny to load into a match with a fleet of the same character plus whatever the one person with a Mii decided to make. More options are possible to unlock for Sportsmates, but they don’t flesh out the character creation to a satisfactory degree.

To bounce off of character customization, the visuals of Switch Sports are surprisingly poor. I don’t expect the world from graphics in a Nintendo game, but the amount of issues here makes it worth mentioning. The fidelity of in-game objects is very poor. Whenever someone is knocked into the water in Chambara, for example, they become incredibly pixelated until they resurface.

Each building is a showcase for the game lacking anti-aliasing. Angled lines look like stairs because they’re so jagged. Foliage has low polygon counts. Normally, this isn’t an issue, but it’s jarring when they’re placed next to higher polygon count objects like buildings. None of these issues bleed into performance, though; Switch Sports runs well. 

To contrast the graphics, the sound design is excellent, with the sound of playing each sport being true to life. I’ve spent a lot of time in bowling alleys, and the sound of pins slamming into each other in Switch Sports’ Bowling is so reminiscent of real life. It’s satisfying to just listen to the sound of a strike during the replay. Similarly satisfying is the smack of a tennis ball against a racket. A lot of effort went into this detail and it pays off.

Nintendo Switch Sports Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• Motion-controlled gameplay is delightful.
• Online is easy to set up and works well.
• Sound design of each sport is realistic.

Cons

• Character customization is lacking.
• No other modes of play.
• Spocco Square is just a menu.
• Flawed visually.

Nintendo Switch Sports is in the fortunate position to offer an experience I want. From when it was announced, I knew I was interested in the game. There is no substitute for swinging a controller like a sword and hitting a person in a game with a sword.

It’s sad that Nintendo Switch Sports doesn’t deliver on anything past that experience. There could have been so much more included, but the core package is the whole package. I’m going to play this for a long time, because there’s nowhere else to get this type of gameplay, but it's disappointing to know what could have been.

[Note: The writer was reimbursed for the copy of Nintendo Switch Sports used for this review.]

The Mario Party Superstars Skeleton Key is one of the most important items in the game, despite its humble stature and price point. You won’t always need a Skeleton Key, but without fail, you’ll wish you had one when the right moment comes.

Fortunately, Mario Party Superstars is about having fun — when you aren’t betraying your friends — and Skeleton Keys are easy to get.

How to Get Skeleton Key in Mario Party Superstars

You’ll get the Skeleton Key from one of Toad’s Shops on a board space or sometimes as a prize in an Item Space or Lucky Space event. Toad sells them for only three coins apiece, so unless you have something more useful, such as a Golden Pipe or a Boo Bell (and extra coins to spare), it’s worth keeping one on hand.

It’s also better to buy one than it is to steal one with a Plunder Chest. Unless your foes have no other interesting items to speak of, it’s always smarter to go for the valuable items or items that aren’t in Toad’s Shop when you’re pilfering.

What Are Skeleton Keys for in Mario Party Superstars

Skeleton Keys are the only way to open the many locked gates (such as those circled above) you’ll run across on each board. One key works for one gate, or in other words, these are single-use items.

You’ll often find lucky spaces or other desirables behind Skeleton Key doors. These aren’t usually essential, unless you want to land on as many event spaces as possible. 

However, sometimes luck turns against you, and the Star’s new location ends up behind a Skeleton Key gates. Obviously, you need a key to get there or a Golden Pipe, though the pipes are much more expensive.

That’s all you need to know about Mario Party Superstars Skeleton Keys, but make sure to check out our other Mario Party Superstars guides for more tips and tricks.

If you look through old etiquette books or on the Internet, you’re bound to come across plenty of advice for throwing the perfect party. You need guests, the best entertainment, and the perfect food. And above all, you must put your attendees first.

In Mario Party Superstars, you also put your friends first — first in line to get shoved into a pit of spiky death as you walk away with a bag of coins and a heart full of mischievous glee.

Mario Party throws the rules of etiquette and polite society out the window, and it’s all the better for it. Superstars is the best of Mario Party, but also the best Mario Party has been in a long time.

Mario Party Superstars Review: Shining Like a Super Star

Mario Party Superstars is classic Mario Party to the core. Four players compete to earn as many stars and coins as possible, and there’s a minigame at the end of each round. It does away with the fluff from some of the more recent Parties too.

There’s no Ballyhoo, no push to cooperate, and not even a gimmick such as switching to day or night. It’s just you, a board, 100 mini-games, and a party of three other victims willing participants. 

Partygoers don’t even have to be friends, though of course, it’s more fun with friends. Playing Mario Party with bots feels sad and more like a training mode, but thankfully, you can team up with other players online.

As with some of Nintendo's other online games, though, the stability is often not as good as it could be. Everyone playing with a wired connection helps mitigate most of the lag, though that's hard to set up if you're playing with random people.

Still, there’s a special brand of chaos in playing Mario Party with random people, and it’s a safe option thanks to Nintendo having no easy way to implement voice chat. 

You get stickers to communicate instead, a collection of Mario characters in silly poses with single words or phrases attached. Spamming “Yes” or “Nice one” when someone has an unlucky turn is obnoxious. It’s still much easier to deal with than hate speech or harassment, and in the right circumstances, stickers are actually quite fun to use.

There’s typically no shortage of humorous or humorously unfortunate happenings in any of Mario Party Superstars’ five boards. They might be familiar to longtime fans, but there’s a good reason Nintendo brought these classics back from the Nintendo 64 era: they still hold up marvelously well.

Horror Land and Space Land are particular highlights, but even the deceptively simple Peach’s Birthday Cake has a few tricks that keep things interesting. 

There’s a handful of changes to each board, though nothing significant. Space Land, for example, presents the laser counter in a slightly different way than before and doesn’t give you snazzy space suits, but the biggest difference is just how good the boards look. Mario Party Superstars, with its surprisingly detailed textures and splashes of visual embellishment thrown in unexpected places, might be one of the best-looking Nintendo games yet. 

Nintendo gets a lot of flack for its re-releases and remakes, but Superstars is one of the more thoughtfully considered ones. The improvements are most apparent in the boards and minigames from the Nintendo 64 Mario Parties, and Superstars skews in favor of those N64 classics.

The Wii and Wii U Virtual Consoles were the only way to play those until now, and they still looked as dated as you’d expect. Getting to play refined versions was a treat for someone like me who loves Mario Party but only started with Mario Party 4.

There are still plenty of mini-games from Mario Party 4 and Mario Party 5, and some mechanics, such as duels, are likely familiar to those who played later entries. The main focus is firmly on the legacy Mario Parties, though, and with good reason.

The mini-games are some of the most fun I’ve had with the series in ages, and the relative simplicity works in their favor. Tracing a precise line, or deciding not to and making ridiculous shapes instead, and shining a spotlight on a convicted Mario criminal as they try getting away are far more fun than they have any right to be.

Motion controls are finicky and often imprecise, so I’m pleased to see they have no place in any of Superstars’ mini-games. It’s just classic, comfortable, comforting Mario Party, though “comforting” is subjective and often fleeting when the endgame rolls around with its bonus stars. 

That said, Mario Party Superstars is practically crying out for (hopefully free) DLC. The five boards are lovely, but more would be splendid, and there's still plenty of excellent mini-games I'd love to revisit.

Mario Party Superstars Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• Excellent mix of classic boards and mini-games
• So much attention to detail in the remastered boards and games
• No motion control required
• Easy online play
• The formula is just as fun as it ever was

Cons

• Laggy online at times
• Five boards aren't very many

The Switch has no shortage of multiplayer games, but there's a strong case that Mario Party Superstars is among the best on the platform. I've had more fun with it than I've had in a long time, even with laggy internet and the occasional spammy rando.

It's some of the best of Mario Party, and I only hope we see even more added to it in the coming months.

[Note: Nintendo provided the copy of Mario Party Superstars used for this review]

If you enjoy putting small animals and humans in plastic balls and sending them careening off ledges at high speeds, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a dream game. If you’re pretty much anyone else and never imagined doing such a thing, well, you should start imagining because Banana Mania is a heck of a lot of fun.

Banana Mania is everything that’s good about Monkey Ball and, aside from a few minor bumps along the way, proves the classic franchise is just as ripe now after nearly two decades.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Review: Roll Along, Lil' Monkey 

You hear media described as a celebration of this or that franchise often, but there’s no other way to characterize Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. It repackages hundreds of the best stages from Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. If that weren’t enough, Banana Mania adds some of the series’ best mini-games, including Monkey Target and Monkey Fight. 

It’s essentially a “best of” collection, and there’s even a sly nod to those of us who prefer chaos (e.g. me) and miss Banana Blitz’s jump feature. You can unlock that with points earned from playing through story mode and other challenges.

The stages themselves are an excellent reminder of why many remember the franchise's early games with such fondness. Banana Mania starts with a deceptively simple difficulty curve. You’ll spend four or five stages gently rolling forward, collecting bananas, and feeling clever for not falling off the sides of some distressingly narrow pathways.

The second world throws your comfort out the window and runs over it with a bus. One of the first stages is “Gravity,” a downward slope that grows increasingly more narrow until you’re hurtling along a razor's edge at 300 km/h, praying the divine banana, if there is such a thing, keeps you from bouncing past the goal.

From then on, Banana Mania grows increasingly more complex and outrageous, from stages with floors that split into rotating ribbons to fatal slides that rocket you into oblivion if you aren’t careful. In short, disasters will occur.

That's part of the fun, though, and Banana Mania never feels unfair. The physics engine means your failures are often pretty hilarious anyway, such as one stage in world three where a stone literally hammers you through the floor in an automatic “Fallout."

All this is wrapped in a loose story mode, where our heroic monkeys watch a comic book-style cartoon of themselves as they face off against the nefarious Dr. Badboon. “Loose” is key here since there’s very little connection between the story and puzzles, which is a shame since it’s pretty adorable.

Not every puzzle is a winner, of course. Some rely too much on a stale mechanic where you spawn on a switch that speeds up obstacles and need to roll backward to press a slow-down switch.

Some of the backgrounds look a bit too dated as well. Future Monkey Ball games would benefit from taking a Tetris Effect approach and situating its devious puzzles in more dynamic settings.

There’s a slew of challenges for every stage as well, ranging from finishing with a set number of bananas to reaching the hardest goal on stages with multiple objectives.

The best part of all this is not being the monkeys themselves. Banana Mania includes several additional characters, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza games, that you can unlock with points earned from story and challenge modes.

Selecting them even revamps the collectibles and sound effects in each stage. It might sound like a small touch, but I really can’t overstate the sheer joy of rolling through volcano puzzles and picking up Staminum drinks as tiny Kiryu in a plastic ball.

It’s a shame, then, that some characters — Morgana from Persona 5, for example — are exclusively paid DLC characters. There’s really no other reason for that aside from making additional profits, though I’d have happily paid extra for the game if that meant it included every available character.

These are all minor complaints, though one more significant issue is Banana Mania’s approach to accessibility — which is to say there is none. Every stage has a “helper mode” that doubles your available time and slows everything down. There’s nothing to help with motion sensitivity, though, and helper mode often makes movement more difficult since it slows you down as well.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Review — The Bottom Line 

Pros

• Delightfully challenging puzzles
• So many of them, and party games too!
• Ridiculously fun to play as the extra characters
• Extra modes for even greater challenges
• I can jump if I want to

Cons

• No accessibility options
• Bland backgrounds
• The stale puzzles from the originals are still stale
• Arbitrarily locked some extra characters behind paywalls

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is almost exactly what I want from a collection of the series' classics. The familiar party games and mind-bending puzzles are just as fun as ever, and Banana Mania throws in just enough new elements with characters and challenge modes to keep things fresh.

However, any future Monkey Ball games need to take a broader look at how to make this fun accessible for more people.

[Note: Sega provided the copy of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania used for this review.]

It's really saying something that WarioWare: Get It Together! is probably the weirdest entry to the long-running microgame series, but it's true. Get It Together! is wonderfully strange and frustratingly addictive, particularly in multiplayer sessions.

For those uninitiated, the WarioWare games are packed with microgames — not minigames — which are itty bitty little games that last just a few seconds. Minigames are something maybe a little longer, as seen in the Mario Party series.

Microgames in WarioWare at large, and especially here in Get It Together!, are frantic and stressful, testing your ability to think on your feet and get the job done in a vice-tight timeframe. Pushing through the game's 200+ microgames in multiplayer doesn't make it any less stressful either, as both players must work together to succeed in just a few seconds and sometimes it just doesn't work out that easily.

WarioWare: Get It Together! Review: One-Button Mayhem

Each time you start an area in Story mode or choose a microgame specifically in the Play-o-pedia, you must choose anywhere from one to five crew members. Each game that starts, you'll be given a random crew member to use to complete the microgame. The same applies when playing in multiplayer, so choose well.

Each character plays differently, though some not so differently from others. 18-Volt, for instance, can't move and can only shoot discs from a stationary position. Kat and Ana, sister ninjas, can't stop jumping and only throw shurikens in one direction. Jimmy can throw himself into an omnidirectional attack but can be hard to control. And that is certainly not all.

The variety of playstyles and mobility options between crew members means each will be better in some microgames and far worse in others, and the fact they're thrown at you randomly means you've got to think on your feet in the tiny five seconds you have to complete a microgame.

Did I mention that before? Yeah, you've got five seconds to complete most microgames once it sets you loose on them. Some have a brief preparatory phase for you to watch and remember things, such as Feast Your Eyes on This or Safari Tour, but in general, you have an incredibly short time to complete them.

The myriad of characters is an oddly fitting pair with the sheer number of microgames found in WarioWare: Get It Together!, as it's hard to get bored with both playstyles and the tasks at hand continuously shifting from one thing to the next. The sheer "What?!" factor of the whole thing certainly helps as well, as just about every microgame is as weird as it gets.

Through your time with Get It Together!, you'll find yourself tweezing armpit hair, trapping aliens in boxes, peeling face masks, dislodging debris from Wario's stomach, keeping a naked robot's dignity intact, covering food in ketchup, chasing a sentient toilet, and so many other outright bizarre tasks that eventually the weirdness just becomes normalcy.

Once, of course, you've unlocked and played them all.

The microgames it throws at you throughout Story mode are randomized, and it's not possible to get them all in a single playthrough. You'll get over half of the available games the first time around, with the others requiring you go through again to unlock them.

Once you unlock a microgame in Story mode, you'll be able to play it again with the crew member(s) you want in the Play-o-pedia. Here you'll want to last as long as you can until you run out of lives; be sure to choose a suitable crew for these endeavors, if they're your style.

All of Story mode can be done in singleplayer just as well as multiplayer, and relying on your second player to uphold their end of the gameplay bargain can be just as frustrating as doing it yourself. It takes teamwork! But with so little time to complete any individual microgame, there's not a lot of room for communication or direct teamwork. You must work as a finely-tuned unit! Well, not must. You can do what you want, I guess.

Aside from the story mode is the Variety Pack, a flourish of 10 party games for one to four players. A small handful can be played alone, such as the endless Daily Grind, but these games are clearly intended to be played with multiple people and probably ruin their friendships in the process.

The Variety Pack games could easily end up being the meat and potatoes of the Get It Together! for some, particularly in actual party settings. It's like a delicious cherry on top of a delicious cake. You must eat it.

WarioWare: Get It Together! — The Bottom Line

Pros

• Over 200 microgames, and the majority are fun
• Lots of different playstyles between crew members, and all are easy enough to play as
• The game's constantly shifting aesthetics between microgames are hilarious

Cons

• The Variety Pack just isn't as cool if you don't have people to play with

I played Get It Together! pretty much entirely in multiplayer, and I'm very much of the opinion that the game was meant to be played that way. The myriad of microgames presented are fun alone, but they're all just better with a trusty Player 2. Plus, the Variety Pack is almost useless alone.

If you've got a Nintendo Switch and friend, or four friends, to play Wario's latest foray into madness with, you're in for a whole lot of confusion and fun as the game peels open like a bulb of garlic. There is almost no one I would not recommend WarioWare: Get It Together! to, except maybe my grandmother. And your grandmother, too, probably. Everyone else? It's a heck of a lot of fun, and well-worth adding to and multiplayer Switch library.

[Note: Nintendo provided the copy of WarioWare: Get It Together used for this review.]

It's-a-me, Wario! Well, not really, since Wario isn't writing about his brand new game. You might think that's a weird way to start an article, but WarioWare: Get It Together is bound to be a weird game, so it kinda' fits. 

Announced during Nintendo's E3 2021 Direct, WarioWare: Get It Together is a brand new WarioWare game coming to Nintendo Switch this fall, on September 10, 2021. All the micro-game madness from previous titles seems to be returning in this one, though now you'll be able to tackle the madness with a friend in two-player co op. 

The trailer is hilariously narrated by none other than the big man with a mustache himself, and it showcases some of the different 200 micro-games you'll be able to play in this new installment, along with the return of some beloved favorites.

What's also interesting is that you'll be able to tackle the same micro-games with different characters using their different abilities. If you can't wait to get in on the micro-game mayhem, you can currently pre-order WarioWare: Get It Together now on the Nintendo e-Shop. Stay tuned for more. 

Mario Party Superstars isn't exactly the follow-up to Super Mario Party, but rather a jump back in time throughout the mini-games and boards of the Mario Party games of yore. The newest addition to the Mario Party family, Nintendo announced the game during its E3 2021 showcase. 

It will include over 100 mini-games from across the series, all of which support button controls. It will also include online play from launch, a feature that was only recently added into the most recent release in the mainline Mario Party franchise. 

The trailer also digs into some of the quality of life upgrades we'll be able to enjoy with Mario Party Superstars, such as being able to matchmake with random players online, save your progress mid-game and use stickers to communicate with other players.

It is worth noting that though the mini-games will be from games across the series, the five boards included in Mario Party Superstars will all be from the N64 era. Mario Party Superstars is slated to launch on October 29, 2021 and you can currently pre-order it from the Nintendo e-Shop. Stay tuned for more. 

Over two years after it first released, we're finally getting Super Mario Party online multiplayer. The free update is available now and adds a 2v2 Partner Party mode, a classic board game mode, and a new 70-minigame tournament mode.

As you'd expect from Super Mario Party, the online mode is for four players only — no eight-player minigame mayhem. Everything else works just the same as offline mode. 

The classic board game mode pits four players against each other in a frantic race to grab as many stars as possible. Partner Party features the same goal but makes you curb your competitive instincts and work together with another player if you want to win.

The new Minigame mode includes 70 of Super Mario Party's minigames in a non-stop challenge for up to four players. The 10 games not included are:

• Strike It Rich
• Time to Shine
• Take a Stab
• All-Star Swingers
• Rhythm and Bruise
• Pep Rally
• Wiped Out
• Fiddler on the Hoof
• Clearing the Table
• Baton and On

Additionally, Toad's Rec Room, Sound Stage, River Survival, and Challenge Road won't have online support. 

We called Super Mario Party a solid game that skyrocketed the series back into the limelight after previous disappointing soirees.

Developer VestGames have just revealed a new trailer for their upcoming social deduction title Eville, which is set to release in Steam Early Access in 2021. The trailer outlines more of the games systems, such as different vendors and their uses, and the crafting system within the game. 

For all the nitty-gritty, you can watch the trailer for the details here:

The trailer also shows off the many uses for different items that can be found within the game, and offers some tips and tricks for how to properly utilize them within the town of Eville.

Eville is a werewolves style multiplayer game that pits players against each other as either Citizens or Conspirators as they all try to live and sleep peacefully in the town of Eville, though some are more successful than others. 

For more on Eville and how it could potentially be the next big social deduction multiplayer hit, you can check out our preview of the game here. 

Let’s be honest: Whether you’re the type to visit the local bakery frequently or you simply enjoy an odd biscuit with your cup of tea (or coffee), many of us can’t resist indulging in the occasional sweet treat.

Usually seen as comfort food, sweets aren't traditionally associated with competition, especially a four-player brawler. But that’s exactly what Cake Bash aims to dispel.

Developed by High Tea Frog, this party game is a frantic multiplayer experience both online and locally. Though you can play the game's campaign mode alone against the AI, Cake Bash's wider appeal lies within its multiplayer component and party options. Tastefully, it delivers a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Cake Bash Review: Cream of the Crop

It’s a lot of fun with friends

If you ever wanted to beat up a cupcake as an eclair or have ever fancied wailing on other baked goods as a donut, Cake Bash has you covered in more ways than one. 

Get Tasty is Cake Bash’s campaign mode, which can be played alone or with friends. It offers several rounds of games where players vie to become the tastiest cake. There are seven playable sweets available, all of which are based on common cakes and pastries, and each has its own name and different skins, adding a gentle touch of personality to the mix.

Depending on your performance in the campaign mode, Get Tasty rewards you with chocolate coins, which are used to buy cake toppings between rounds. Those toppings give you points as well, awarding bonuses if you get a matching set of three. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.

The rest of the game's action is split into two categories, Bash and mini-games. There are five Bash modes in total, each awarding points for completing set tasks.

Sweet Victory sees you collecting toppings for your cake and punching other players to knock theirs off. Fruity Pie has you throwing fruit onto a pie. Cookie Bash tasks you with smashing as many fortune cookies as possible. Hundreds and Thousands has you competing to gather the most sprinkles. And Sprinkler sees you holding onto your sprinklers for as long as possible.

All this mayhem occurs within several creatively designed arenas, too, taking your cakes to five hazardous locations. From a patio table to the sunny beach, each stage has a series of hazards, such as pigeons or beach balls, that players must carefully navigate, keeping action quite lively.

Individually, there isn’t much to these games, but as a collective, they offer good variety in bitesize portions, and it’s a lot of fun with friends.

It doesn’t take too long to unlock the bulk of this extra content, which is a shame, but it strongly encourages replayability to keep players coming back.

Bash games generally share the same gameplay mechanics: a standard attack that allows for quick combos, which can also be charged up for a “megabash” to stun opponents, and a dash that keeps cakes from getting hit. Adding more strategy to each game, the dash can only be used three times before it needs to be recharged — and it has a long cool down. 

Weapons also drop onto stages, letting you whack other cakes with lollipops or launch throwable items like saltshakers, temporarily stunning your opponents. Put together, it's a basic set of gameplay mechanics but one that’s rather easy to pick up, letting anyone join without difficulty.

Minigames, on the other hand, are considerably shorter affairs, but these also diverge from the standard campaign gameplay. There are eight mini-games altogether, and that includes the world’s first Gateau Royale, Fork Knife, where players avoid getting hit by cutlery on a gradually shrinking cake.

Fondue or Die lets you skewer chocolate covered fruit for points, whereas Campfire lets you roast the finest marshmallows. Though they make for an enjoyable alternative to bash modes, certain minigames require more precision than you might expect from a game like Cake Bash, leading to some mistakes and a little frustration. 

Progressing through Get Tasty unlocks each game for individual play, too, and each can be selected via the Recipe Mode.

Finally, Cake Bash also has unlockable collectibles in the form of new skins. Nabbing them all involves hitting set criteria, like playing three matches on a particular stage. It doesn’t take too long to unlock the bulk of this extra content, which is a shame, but it strongly encourages replayability to keep players coming back.

Cake Bash Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• Excellent fun in multiplayer
• Great variety of modes
• Plenty of replayability
• Cute visual aesthetic

Cons

• Can unlock all the content pretty quickly
• Minigames feel a little too precise at times

There’s a lot to love about Cake Bash, and High Tea Frog has made an excellent party game for their debut title.

With a variety of entertaining games, some lively stages, and good replayability, it’s a fun experience, especially with friends. We only wish there was more of it on offer. Though some minigames feel a little finicky, it’s otherwise a sweet treat all around.

[Note: Coatsink provided the copy of Cake Bash used for this review.]

Cake Bash made a fair impression when it was first revealed back in 2019. Developed by High Tea Frog and published by Coatsink, the cake-themed beat 'em up party game will launch on October 15 for PC (Steam), PS4, Xbox One, and Stadia.

The announcement follows on from news that Cake Bash would be making the jump to Nintendo Switch last week, launching at $19.99 with confirmed compatibility for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S when the next-gen consoles launch in November. As is often the case with Switch ports, though, fans will have to wait a little bit longer for a portable version. 

Confirming the Switch version will miss that October 15 date, it won't be long before it's arrival, though, with Coatsink advising:

The Nintendo Switch version needs a little more time in the oven to ensure the sweetest experience possible and will be launching on Nintendo Switch before the end of the year. 

Bringing fans a four-player party game with a variety of minigames, Cake Bash promises several types of baking experiences in local and online multiplayer. Whether that's beating each other up as your favorite cake or roasting some marshmallows, we'll be looking to cover this one closer to launch.

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Cake Bash news, as well as our full review, in the coming weeks.

You know the formula for a game is working when death isn’t frustrating but inherently funny. When your character is clambering over 59 other players for survival and fails to make the cut, it’s frustrating but also comical.

Unlike other battle royales on the market, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout doesn’t drop you into a desolate map filled with explosive weapons meant to obliterate your enemies. Instead, it embraces Takeshi-Castle-style challenges to determine who makes it to the next round.

The somewhat silly nature of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is an enticing invitation and one that has already captured thousands of players around the world.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Review: It's Cool Beans

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout pits 60 players against each other in a series of physics-based gauntlets. The challenges range from solo races to a finish line to an assortment of team-based activities, such as quirky games of football. There’s always one goal in mind, though: be the last one standing.

As a contestant, you’ll control a blubbering jellybean with the willpower of someone who’s consumed their body weight in alcohol. There are only a few moves at your disposal: jumping, grabbing, and diving. Each is used to gain an advantage over other players across three to five rounds in an attempt to reach the final challenge and secure a crown for your ultimate triumph. 

Using over-the-top physics, you can imagine Fall Guys makes this is harder than expected. As each match begins, players clamber over each other in a desperate attempt to get to the head of the pack. It’s chaotic, intense, and hilarious, all in equal measure. 

Match sets start with a solo race, tasking players with simply making it from the beginning to the end, with the level ending once a certain number of players have made it over the finish line; the rest are disqualified.

However, it's not as simple as making it from one end to the other. 

Many obstacles will block your path, attempting to separate the sea of players surging toward the end. Pendulums swing with pummelling force, platforms rotate in shifting directions, and see-saws seesaw from one extreme to the other. You’ll stare death in the face when a gigantic banana flies toward you at Mach speed.

It’s a fluffy, scruffy battle that never ceases to keep you on the edge of your seat.

When you’re not in these solo rounds, you’ll be pitted against each other in randomly-chosen teams. The aim is to eliminate a wider number of players quickly. Unfortunately, it's these moments that ruin the pacing of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.

These rounds can last upwards of a few minutes, though they manage to feel like a lifetime. More problematic is that none of them are particularly fun. With the exception of the game’s take on soccer, which feels like a wibbly wobbly version of Rocket League, these simple team-based tasks, such as collecting the most eggs, hoarding the most balls, or playing a team game of tag, feel unfair.

It no longer matters how well you've done so far in the game's individual challenges. Here, a poorly composed team can mean quick elimination. Having to rely on other players feels counter-intuitive to what the rest of the Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is trying to achieve — and it can be controller-smashingly tedious.

At launch, the game has 25 different levels and the team has promised to deliver more over the coming months. After a few matches, rounds tend to repeat fairly quickly and it’s unclear what direction Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout will take over the coming months. I have no doubt that the game will evolve over time, but hopefully, it's a positive evolution that ensures a better balance between its solo and team rounds.

To keep players invested outside of challenges, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has a progression system that employs its own version of a battle pass. Players can unlock different skins, outfits, and emotes using coins and crowns, the latter of which are earned by winning games or achieving certain levels in the battle pass.

As of now, daily outfits are affordable after a few matches, ensuring that players don't have to grind to receive new cosmetic items. It’s refreshing that Fall Guys doesn't feel like it's leaving players behind or locking certain items behind a paywall. 

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Review — The Bottom Line

Pros

• Addictive in all the right ways
• Hilarious family entertainment
• A breath of fresh air for the battle royale genre
• Progression feels accessible without being blocked by microtransactions

Cons

• Team games ruin the pacing and feel unfair
• Server issues

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout works because it maintains that “one more game” mentality and encourages players to overcome its challenges. It’s cute, bubbly attitude is easy to fall in love with, and even when the game is eye-wateringly frustrating or kicked party members have to be completely re-invited, it still manages to all be in the name of fun.

Despite unbalanced team-match dynamics and pesky server issues (which the developers are ironing out) sometimes interfering with the fun, the simple approach of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout makes these negatives seem meaningless in the long run. 

This is not only the game we want in 2020 — but it's the game we need. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is a comfort blanket that provides some warm, friendly fun with friends.

[Note: The PlayStation Plus version of Fall Guys was used for this review.]

Game controllers are expensive, and it's frustrating to try and dig a bunch of them out when you have buddies over to play video games. Luckily, there are a whole bunch of great party games that don't require traditional game controllers in order to play! 

Whether they're controlled by a phone, tablet, or laptop, or don't even require any kind of controller at all, these five party games will get your buddies involved no matter how many controllers you own. 

Jackbox Party Packs 1-6

The mad geniuses behind the Jackbox Party Pack were by no means the first to pioneer the phones-as-controllers trend, but they were definitely the folks who popularized it. 

By now, Jackbox Party Packs are de rigueur at most hip social functions, the same way beer is. And although the games do vary in quality (I can't remember the last time anyone ever asked specifically if we could play Zeeple Dome), games like Quiplash, Trivia Murder Party, Fibbage, and, of course, the original trivia party game, You Don't Know Jack, are all near-perfect party games.

The wild thing is that Jackbox Games doesn't seem to be running out of ideas anytime soon. Jackbox Party Pack 6 is the strongest title from the studio yet, and they're already hard at work on the next one, which will include another entry in the Quiplash series, the best game franchise they've ever created. It's possibly the best party game ever made.

And yes, these games are obvious picks, but they're also not the only ones out there.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is a singular gaming experience that was, at launch, held back by requiring a virtual reality rig. Now, it's available across platforms (although if possible, I do recommend trying to play it in VR, even if it's just via Google Cardboard or a Gear VR system).

The gist is this: one player is tasked with defusing a bomb, but they have no idea how to do it. The rest of the players use their phones or tablets to access the bomb defusal manual to help them out. As the timer counts down to the big kaboom (complete with an anxiety-inducing ticking), the players must communicate as the bomb defuser can't see the manual, and the other players can't see the bomb.

How the bomb is defused depends on how the bomb looks, so it isn't long before the game devolves into a hilarious, stressful romp full of "cut the red wire!" "WAIT, NO: CUT THE GREEN WIRE!" "Are you sure?" "No, actually, don't cut any wires!"

It's incredibly unique, and the tense nature of the game is turned up to full if the bomb defuser is wearing a VR headset, effectively trapping themselves in a room with the bomb as it ticks, ticks, ticks away. If you're anything like me, this isn't a game you'll be able to play for more than 30 minutes or so at a time, but even still, those 30 minutes are incredibly fun.

Spaceteam

Spaceteam bills itself as the original "cooperative shouting game" and that's pretty much the best way to introduce it. The game supports between two and eight players, all of whom are tasked with the near-impossible task of flying the universe's worst spaceship ever — together.

Each player's phone displays a different collection of panels, dials, buttons, and switches, as well as an action that must be performed in order to keep the ship running smoothly.

The trick is that most of the time, you don't have the right button to press to perform the action your phone is telling you to. This is where the cooperative shouting comes in.

Quickly, the game becomes exhilaratingly-quick and fun, with just a dash of stress sprinkled in for good measure. And better yet, the game is 100% free, though if you enjoy it, you can join the Admiral's Club and support the developer's future projects in exchange for more content!

Obliteracers

Halfway between Mario Kart and Twisted Metal, Obliteracers is a high-action racing title that allows for a whole bunch of control options including keyboards and gamepads. However, it also lets up to 16(!) players to control their vehicles using a phone, tablet, or even another laptop or computer connected to the same network.

The game itself is no slouch either: it's frenetic, responsive, and sports a variety of game modes perfectly tailored to any environment, whether you want more of a hardcore battle racing experience, or whether you want to kick back with a party mode. Don't sleep on this one.

Use Your Words

Don't write Use Your Words off as a Jackbox ripoff. Yes, it is a party game that counts on you and your friends being funny, but Use Your Words sets itself apart with a distinct visual style and voice.

As with the Jackbox Party Packs, you'll be controlling the game using your phone, but the minigames on display here are different, more bite-sized, and they're more suited for casual-drop-in-and-drop-out party play, from a captioning contest to a wonderfully shameless spoof of Family Feud.

The game supports between three and six active players, but up to 1,000 folks can join the game's audience and participate as well! It's a shame that, despite its quality, it will always be compared to its beefier cousin over at Jackbox. It deserves to be appreciated on its own merits.

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That's it for our list on the best party games that you can play with any controller, including a phone. Are there any we missed that should be on our list? Let us know in the comments below!  

Ever since Wario decided to jump into the microgame business back in 2003 with WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! for the GBA, I've loved playing each new iteration as the series pushed forward. Every game introduced something fresh and new, whether it was using the gyrometer in WarioWare: Twisted!, the touchscreen in WarioWare: Touched!, or the unique and creative use of motion controls in WarioWare: Smooth Moves for the Wii.

Unfortunately, WarioWare Gold doesn't add anything new or creative in those ways. But that's OK. Instead, it acts as a greatest hits collection of microgames spanning the history of the series, one that's still as fun and addictive as it's ever been.

Right from the get go, you're greeted to a cut-scene featuring Wario speaking full dialogue for the first time ever(!). It's as disturbing as it is silly and reveals Wario's goal: making quick cash in order to buy more pizza. He does so by getting the usual cast of WarioWare characters together to make microgames for him. Classic characters like Mona, 9-Volt, and Dr. Crygor return as well as a couple new characters like 9-Volt's mother, 5-Volt, and Lulu.

The goal in the WarioWare series is to clear a set of microgames in succession. But you're only given a few seconds to figure out how to clear them. After a set number of microgames, you will be challenged to a boss stage, which takes a little more time to complete. Each stage features one of the aforementioned characters alongside a unique set of microgames, usually set to a theme.

Anyone familiar to the series will know the basic formula of progressing through the game: clear a few character stages and then play Jimmy T.'s stage, which remixes everything you just played. However, WarioWare Gold switches up this routine by featuring three different leagues to complete. There's the Mash League, which utilizes only the A button and the D-pad; the Twist League, which uses motion controls; and the Touch League, which, as you guessed it, uses the touch screen.

Each of these leagues features four different characters set to one of four themes. The Sports theme features microgames like hula hooping, synchronized swimming, and completing a snowboarders trail down a mountain. In That's Life, you complete a set of microgames revolving around everyday life, such as brushing your teeth, catching toast as it pops out of the toaster, and waiting for an open bathroom stall to dash towards. There's a Nintendo theme, which spans across Nintendo's history of games like Super Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and even The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. And finally, there's the fantasy theme, which has everything from shaving the Earth to making puppies dizzy. 

The main story can be completed in as little as an hour. However, the main hook to the WarioWare games is repeatedly playing its stages to rack up a high score. Each stage will initially end after you've beaten the boss stage, but replaying stages puts you in an endless loop of microgames and bosses. The speed increases every few microgames and defeating a boss stage levels you up, making each microgame a little harder.

The increased speed, combined with the difficulty jump, makes this whole process an addictive thrill ride good for short play sessions. It's incredibly easy to get wrapped up in attempting to beat your high score, which gives WarioWare its lasting appeal. A handful of stages sees the modes changing on the fly and will prompt you when it is time to change.

Besides the main story mode, there's a myriad of little distractions to explore.

There's challenge mode, which has you completing microgames set to specific conditions. The Thrill Ride mode gives you only one life to get as far as possible, while the Super Hard mode makes you complete microgames at a ridiculously high speed.

One of the more interesting modes is Split Screen, featuring the ninja characters Kat and Ana. As one microgame ends on the bottom screen, a new one will immediately begin on the top screen, forcing you to stay on your feet, especially as the speed increases.

Sneaky Gamer was taken right out of Game & Wario for the Wii U. In this mode, 9-Volt tries to stay up late playing video games without getting caught by his mother. As you play through the microgames, you must pretend that you're asleep as 5-Volt pops in and out of the room. Getting caught ends the game. 

On top of that, there's the Toy Room, which is a collection of fun little activities and trinkets that can be unlocked by spending coins on a capsule machine. There's the Studio Session, which allows you to record your own voice over the game's different cut-scenes. There are mini-games, character cards, phones to play with, toys that do weird stuff when you interact with them, and even a Nintendo museum. In the latter, I discovered Nintendo products I never knew existed, like a Nintendo Love Tester and N&B Blocks. 

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Overall, WarioWare Gold for the 3DS may not make waves in the way of new content, but the mash up of microgames from the entirety of the series makes it an ideal entry for fans both old and new. It has everlasting replayability and is a fine example of Nintendo's weirder side.

It's good to see that this unique series hasn't been forgotten and hopefully, the success of Gold will give way to future titles on the Switch and beyond. It's good to see Wario back in business, and I look forward to seeing what he cooks up next.

Responses to Nintendo’s E3 Direct were mixed at best. Some were excited about all the attention Super Smash Bros. Ultimate received, and Nintendo did seem bent on catering more to its hardcore and competitive audiences with step-by-step demonstrations of new abilities and costumes for the brawler.

Other fans were disappointed with the lack of new first-party IPs and the absence of highly-desired titles like Animal Crossing. For some of us, the Direct was a mixed bag of ho-hum. 

However, buried within the Direct was a trailer for a game that probably didn’t register on many people’s radars: Super Mario Party.

There's little doubt the Mario Party series has had a rough six years. Sure, the first entries are likely some of the most beloved games of the series and for many fans, they are the touchpoint for some truly fond memories. And the series had been on a roll since Mario Party 2 for the N64 really put it on the map.

But then, something happened. After the Wii and DS released, Mario Party games sold well out of the gate; Mario Party 8 and Mario Party DS sold 8.85 and 9.31 million copies respectively. 

Thing is, though, they just didn’t have the same luster as the earlier entries in the franchise -- and that luster continued to fade with each subsequent release. Here's just how "bad" it's been in sales since 2013: three of the last four Mario Party games have combined sales of roughly 3.9 million units, a number that pales in comparison to the franchise's previous high with Mario Party 8 and Mario Party DS.*

But why? 

The games still followed the same concept, and each iteration introduced lots of new minigames, but they just weren’t as interesting or fun. They didn't receive bad reviews, per se, but they weren’t stellar, either. Mobile Mario Party games, in particular, have struggled: Mario Party: Island Tour has a 57% on Metacritic, and its follow-up Mario Party: Star Rush has a 68%. The Mario Party series desperately needed something to bring back the fun.

Enter Super Mario Party.

The changes start at the name: this is the first console Mario Party game that is not a numbered entry, implying that this game will be a break from what we’ve come to expect from the series.

The game’s Direct trailer starts by showing a group of friends gathering in a coffee shop to play. This skit demonstrates two Switch screens that have been put together to play, meaning that players could have an incentive to play locally with others, which fits perfect with the Switch's multiplayer ethos. 

It was also revealed during a later stream of the game that this is part of the Toad Rec Room mode, which allows players to connect up to three Switches and create a map together. It’s as yet unclear whether this will just be a gimmick like the Gamecube microphone, but it has the chance to facilitate the kind of console/handheld hybrid that Nintendo is really pushing with the Switch -- and it's something that can push this version of Mario Party above those that came before it.

This also has the chance to amend the aforementioned issues with mobile Mario Party games: imagine that instead of having the pared-down experience of a party game on a handheld, you could have the full console experience while still being able to take your Switch to a friend’s house or a party. This specific quirk matters because let's face it, no one wants to play "half" a Mario Party on the go. 

The Switch's Joy-Cons will also facilitate this increased multiplayer fidelity, as it seems as though each player only needs one Joy-Con to participate in a minigame. In other words, if you only have the equipment that came with your Switch, you already have enough for two players. That's a boon for Mario Party players because it means that you can whip up multiplayer sessions right out of the box. And if you group up with another Switch owner, you have enough for the full four-player experience.

This cuts down on the need for extra controllers or consoles, which has hampered the multiplayer aspect of previous Mario Party games.

The potential for this hardware is much higher, as well. Remember how fun the Wiimote was when you were swinging away in Wii Sports? The Joy-Cons provide the same potential with 100% less chance of a remote going through your TV screen. Motion control may always be remembered as a gimmick, but the Wii proved that it’s still a blast with the right people.

Lastly, online multiplayer is something that Mario Party console games have seriously lacked, and a quick search for "Mario Party 10 online" brings up a lot of frustrated players asking why they can't play online with their friends. SMP aims to rectify that by allowing you to play all 80 of the game's minigames online with others. Some may complain that this isn't the same as having the full board mode available to play online, but with the amount of time that Mario Party games take (50-turn games can frequently take hours), the choice makes sense to me.

Making minigames available for network play is the logical next baby step for a company that is frequently very conservative about its online ventures.

Amidst these changes, it seems as though Super Mario Party will keep enough series staples that the game won’t feel completely different, but instead add important, fan-requested wrinkles to the formula. The end of the trailer above shows familiar aspects like gathering stars, moving through board game-like worlds, and competing with your friends in lots of minigames. It will be interesting to see if the game includes any nods to past Mario Party games, such as including worlds from previous games, a la' Mario Kart.

With the game slated to release on October 5, we won’t have to wait too long to see how everything turns out. Some may be disappointed at the prospect of yet another Mario Party, but as for me and a lot of other Nintendo fans out there, I’m excited at the potential for something more.

*Editor's note: Sales figures for the franchise's latest releases, Mario Party: The Top 100 for 3DS were not available as of this writing. 

Those Awesome Guys and Reverb Triple XP announced today that characters from Rick and Morty, the hit Adult Swim animated series, are now available to play as part of a free content pack for the fast-paced party game Move or Die.

Before the third season of Rick and Morty hits the small screen (and invariably the internet), players can select their favorite characters from the show to ruin friendships within Move or Die. The character pack includes Rick, Morty, Bird Person, Mr. Meseeks (hi! I'm Mr. Meseeks!) and Krombopulos the Assassin.

Here's the new Kickass Cameos trailer for Move or Die:

Move or Die is a fast-paced, intense party game that challenges players to compete in mini-games against each other, with the overarching rule that if you don't move, your health depletes. Move or Die supports local multiplayer, as well as online multiplayer.

Move or Die retails for $14.99, but is currently 60% off ($5.99) as part of the 2017 Steam Summer Sale, and purchasing the game nets players the Rick and Morty character pack for free.

On top of that, it was announced that the titular duo will be coming to Rocket League on July 5, as well as Gang Beasts and Steam VR Home in the future. 

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Rick and Morty news as it develops. 

Today, Hasbro will be launching its first-ever subscription service, known as the “Hasbro Gaming Crate”. A first for the board and party game industry. This service will include access to new and exclusive games that can be delivered straight to your home, every three months, for a price of $49.99 per crate.

The subscription window for the current series of crates will run from now until the early fall. Each crate will include three games, along with related products that follow the specific crate's theme. Hasbro will offer two distinct crate varieties:

• The Party Crate: Catered towards parents, college students, and young adults in general with adult themed games ranging from: Judgemental, Box of Rocks, and Speak Out: Joe Santagato Edition.
• The Family Crate: Geared towards families with children, but with games designed still in mind for all age groups with titles like: Mask of the Pharaoh, Leo Goes to the Barber, and Tricky Wishes.

To pick either of these boxes up for yourself or a family member, you can check out Hasbro's official website for more information.

Will you be checking out Hasbro's new subscription service or game offerings? If so, let us know in the comments. And for everything board and party game related, stay tuned to GameSkinny!

Whether you’re playing Tabletop Simulator to make friends or enemies, the game that keeps on giving has plenty to keep you entertained. It comes with 15 games in the base package, and currently has a whopping 24 DLC packs that can be added.

You can pick it up on PC, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Scuttle

Prepare to scour the seas in a race to gather 21 doubloons against 1-5 of your friends-turned-enemies.

You can battle and plunder one another in the race for treasure just as a proper pirate should. Choose to spend your cards as gold or as abilities and whether to play or draw a card on your turn as you build up your fortune and pirate.

Buying Scuttle also gets you your own treasure in the form of two free expansions: The Curse of Jack Black and Scurvy which add new moves, penalties, and a list of diseases that affect gameplay even further.

Superfight

Who do you think would win in a fight between Superman and Goku? Had this argument before? Me, too. Superfight is all about that.

Make up your heroes by drawing cards containing various attributes and abilities, then argue over who would win in an all-out brawl. Superfight is essentially the Death Battle of tabletop games.

It’ll probably ruin your friendships, but that’s a small price to pay for proving someone wrong, right?

Warfighter

Call in your squad of up to 6 teammates to take on a variety of dangerous combat missions.

Spend your resource points to select your equipment, weapons, and skills, then take on missions of varying difficulty together as a unit. The combat has been revamped with a system that accounts for new variables such as cover, weapon type, and range, adding a new depth unique to the simulated version of the game.

Each mission is also a separate instance and lasts anywhere from just 30 minutes to an hour, so Warfighter is a good option for gamers who don’t want an all-day game.

Zombicide

Ever wonder how you and up to 6 friends would fare in a zombie apocalypse? Of course you have! And that’s what Zombicide is for.

Each character has unique abilities that grow as you level up, helping your team work together as a cohesive unit to survive the undead. Scavenge a multitude of weapons, gear, and resources both for yourself, your team, and the mission, all the while surviving hordes of zombies.

Oh, and by the way, the game only gets harder as you go, as the Danger Level steadily increases and spawns more and more flesh-eating monsters to get you. Good luck.

Xia: Legends of a Drift System

Gather 3-5 of your friends and compete in an outer space adventure to become the most legendary Captain in the galaxy!

By completing missions, braving spaceship battles, trading the right items in the right system, and exploring the far reaches of the galaxy, you earn money, upgrades, and new ships, all of which can be customized for how you like to play. Just be careful, for while you can certainly target your friends, you'll earn yourself a bounty and the game becomes that much more dangerous.

Video games are more popular now than they have ever been, with nearly everyone you know playing at least one. With mobile gaming breaking into the mainstream with hits like Candy Crush and Angry Birds, and consoles like the Wii making their way into even your grandma’s house, more people are playing than a nerdy 80s kid could have ever imagined.

Which is why group-based games like Tabletop Simulator are taking off the way they have. And with a steady slew of DLC, it’s not set to go anywhere anytime soon. If you’ve never played before or just now made enough friends to do so, here’s a few that are new and a few that are tried and true.

Clever Endeavour Games has just announced that Ultimate Chicken Horse will be hitting consoles in Q3 2017.

The self-styled "party platformer" was successful upon release for Steam back in March last year.  Porting it over to the living room seems like the next logical step.

Your goal is to take it in turns to build a level as you run through it, adding more and more obstacles as you go. If you can screw over your friends and cause them to fail while you succeed -- for example, by causing them to jump into a buzz saw or take a crossbow bolt in the face -- you'll win. 

Make it too easy for your buddies to reach the end of the level, and no-one wins. It's a precarious balancing act of deviousness and agility and its release on console will certainly make your social area a more interesting place...

The release of the console version will also see an extension to Free Play mode, which will let players create fully functional levels, rather than just building them as they go. This update will be rolled out to PC gamers too, in order to maintain parity between versions. 

Ultimate Chicken Horse will be releasing on  PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch this fall.