***NOTE: For the first two weeks after launch (December 18–31), Kinect Party will be available as a free download. After that, the game's normal price kicks in.***
Like your games stress-free? We have two words for you: Kinect Party. Like Double Fine’s Happy Action Theater (OXM rating: 8.0), which debuted earlier in 2012, this follow-up is the ultimate in low-hassle gaming. To dive into the 36 mini-games (18 of them carryovers from Happy Action Theater), just pick one and it’ll run continuously until you’re ready to move on. Or better yet, set Kinect Party to automatically cycle through them all, giving you a few minutes with each.
Much like Happy Action Theater’s activities — which included wading through lava and bashing through a room full of balloons — Kinect Party’s mini-games put you in unique virtual environments you can interact with in amusing, often surprising ways. One has you standing in the middle of a rainstorm, with puddles you can jump into and random lightning bolts that’ll zap your onscreen self into an animated skeleton. Others let you dance to dubstep, or build castles block-by-block and then demolish them as a stomping, fire-breathing dragon. As in Happy Action Theater, you can’t really “fail” any of the games; the goal’s just to have fun and take advantage of the often-hilarious interactive opportunities each mini-game offers.
The clothing and other accessories make this dubstep dance hysterical.
Rotating your arms to blast foes Tempest-style? Rad!That interactivity’s been ramped up for Kinect Party, which introduces wearable clothing and accessories in many of its mini-games. Standing inside a virtual bathtub, you can snag a duck-shaped flotation ring that plops around your waist; while digging through sand for treasure chests, you can don a pirate hat and a hook that sits on your hand. These accouterments are a cool addition that makes the already-vivid environments feel even more lifelike, especially in multiplayer games, where you might have a screenful of colorfully garbed avatars.
Its giddy, family-friendly spirit makes Kinect Party a perfect game for adults and kids alike — though not necessarily in groups of five or six, where the game feels crowded and players may end up vying for screenspace and floorspace, even in a large, Kinect-ready room. We had a much better, more relaxed experience in three- or four-person sessions. However many people you have, though, you can use the new photo-tweaking feature to frame and color randomly taken screengrabs, then share them on Facebook (functionality we weren’t able to test for this review).
The best news may be the price. You can download Kinect Party’s shell (with five activities) for free, then get additional mini-games for $1 each or all 36 mini-games for $10. (Happy Action Theater owners can import its activities for free and pay just $5 for Kinect Party’s new activities.) That’s a lot of variety for the money, and with the hours of entertainment here, it’s a sweet deal.
Sidestep obstacles and aim for blue symbols to maintain your speed in this voxel-y dash.PUBLISHER: Double Fine • DEVELOPER: Double Fine • ESRB: Everyone • MULTIPLAYER: 6 locally (on same screen) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Fairly easy • COST: Five-activity starter package is free; then $1 each for more activities or $10 for all 36 activities (Kinect Party’s plus Happy Action Theater’s) • RELEASE DATE: December 18, 2012
+ Family-friendly activities that mix dazzling virtual environments with fun experimentation.
+ Wearable items up the immersion; low-cost package; terrific multiplayer game.
– Not as fun with five or six players; novelty has worn off just a bit since Happy Action Theater.
? Will this concept work even better on the next Xbox?
