The Appeal of Party Games:
Video Game Design Schools Teach How to Engage the Player

By Sarah Stevenson and the All Computer Schools career research team – Your link to Computer School news, trends and programs.

In the past, a competitive multiplayer game often took the form of a first-person shooter with several players going head to head to blast one another off the screen with high-tech weapons, or a fighting game pitting two players against one another in a battle arena or boxing ring. But successful franchises, such as Halo and Soul Calibur, are no longer the only games in town when it comes to group competition.

For getting a group going, these days there's nothing better—and more marketable—than a well-designed party game. Party games are usually designed to be relatively easy-to-learn multiplayer experiences for gamers and non-gamers alike. They are often suitable for a wide age range, and may include extra accessories that heighten the experience, such as the musical instrument controllers for Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

In the case of the Wii and its motion-sensitive remote and nunchuck, a party game might also get players up off the couch and moving around the room—a sure-fire way to get people into the action while keeping things interesting for spectators in their living rooms, colleges or game design schools.

The most popular party video games tend to fall into one of four categories: trivia games, sports games, mini-games, and rhythm/music games. Trivia games, which are straightforward game-show style contests pitting up to four players against each other to test their wits, include titles such as EA's Smarty Pants, Microsoft's Scene It?, and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Sports games can also be great party games if there's a simple pick-up-and-play multiplayer mode that doesn't require a steep learning curve. Nintendo's Wii Sports and Wii Play are good examples of sports games that get players up and moving around with motion-sensitive controllers that mimic golf clubs, tennis rackets, and more.

Mini-games are another popular category of party games. Like sports games, mini-games get players in direct competition with one another via their onscreen characters. However, mini-games are usually shorter and may be funny, whimsical, or just plain weird. Popular mini-game titles include Fuzion Frenzy, WarioWare and Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Lastly, music and rhythm games are sure-fire crowd-pleasers for player and spectator alike. Whether you're practicing dance moves with Dance Dance Revolution, stretching out your voice box with Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol, or channeling your inner rock star with Guitar Hero or Rock Band, games like these stoke the fires of competition and get players moving, spectators singing, and everyone laughing.

If you've got an interest in game design, make sure that the game design schools you're looking at offer a solid education in developing games in this genre.

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