Best PC party games for the holidays

The PC is home to thousands upon thousands of games on Steam alone, so it can be tough to find the right party games for the holidays. Thankfully, we’ve put together five great titles to keep your family and friends entertained.

The Jackbox Party Packs

Party is in their name, so it’s kind of a no-brainer, but The Jackbox Party Packs provide an amazing variety of games to choose from. It takes the standard tropes of trivia games and other genres from the tabletop genre and flips them on their head. For example, You Don’t Know Jack and Trivia Murder Party ask unorthodox questions that will test the outer reaches of your brain in oddball game shows. Meanwhile, Quiplash has you making the most ridiculous answer to a prompt that the game gives you, leading to much hilarity. The best thing about this series is that the games are entirely controlled by your phones, the most widely accessible device on the planet. This has been a hit with many family get-togethers, so you should give them a go. We ranked them all, so you know which one to get first.

Lethal League Blaze

Want thrills and excitement during your party? Put on Lethal League Blaze. It’s a platformer and dodgeball hybrid that has you propelling a dodgeball back and forth until only one survives. And with each consecutive strike of the ball, the action gets faster. Your reaction time needs to be on point as the ball can hit breakneck speeds. The audience will be in bewilderment as they see two skilled players of the game going back and forth like a great tennis volley between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. Add the stunning graphic novel art style and a banging soundtrack, and Lethal League Blaze is going to be a surefire hit for a party with gamers. Truly, there “Ain’t Nothin’ Like A Funky Beat.”

Pummel Party

Wish you could play Mario Party on PC? Well, the only way to legally do that is to play Pummel Party, but beware, this interpretation has a lot of violence in store. It has a fun set of mini-games to play across four local friends and up to eight players online that will leave you hating your loved ones by the end of it (in the best way). Like the traditional Mario Party games, there’s a board in place as well. The game’s accessible to both gamers and non-gamers alike as luck plays a heavy factor in these mini-games. Additionally, there’s a lot of variety you can expect from the game, meaning your group will need to stay on its toes.

Samurai Gunn 2

Let’s dive into the fighting game genre with Samurai Gunn 2. As one of our favorite fighting games of 2021, Samurai Gunn 2 delivers fast action and tough platforming that will boost your adrenaline. Like the Bushido Blade series, there are only one-hit kills in Samurai Gunn 2, leaving you in suspense as you dodge, jump, shoot, and slash your way to victory. It’s thrilling as every win comes by the skin of your teeth. It’s a bit more of a “gamer’s game,” but we highly recommend it if you have some of your buddies around for the holidays.

Ultimate Chicken Horse

Funnier than most stand-up comedians on a Friday night, Ultimate Chicken Horse will leave you in stitches by the time you’re done with it. This comedic platforming game has all four players leaving traps and trying to make it to the end of the level. Turn by turn, it gets more hectic as your characters die in horrific, but slapstick ways. The twist is that your traps can stop you from succeeding, and will sometimes need your utmost platforming skills to propel you to the end. The situations this game puts you into is laughter-inducing. For example, as the picture above shows, you can stick a rotating saw with honey to a moving conveyor belt while a hockey puck is throttling its way toward the players. It’s ridiculous, whacky, and supremely entertaining for you and your guests.