Why Your Friend Group Needs More Than Just Smash Bros
Look, I love Super Smash Bros as much as the next person, but if I have to watch one more friend group default to it because they can’t think of anything else to play together, I’m going to lose it. There are so many incredible local multiplayer games out there that will create better memories than your hundredth match on Battlefield. These aren’t the games that get plastered across gaming websites or featured in Nintendo Directs. They’re the hidden gems that indie developers pour their hearts into, often selling for the price of a fancy coffee.
The problem isn’t that good party games don’t exist. The problem is that most people never hear about them because they’re not made by massive studios with marketing budgets the size of small countries. I’ve spent the last few years digging through Steam pages, itch.io releases, and Nintendo eShop sales specifically hunting for these experiences. What I’ve found will change how your group thinks about gaming together.
The Chaotic Brilliance of Hidden Agenda and Similar Experiences
Hidden Agenda from Supermassive Games is something special that most people completely missed. This crime thriller turns everyone’s phones into controllers, letting up to six players vote on story decisions in real time. The genius isn’t in the mechanics, which are simple. The genius is in how it forces your group to argue about moral choices while a tense narrative unfolds. You’re not just playing a game together. You’re collectively writing a story and dealing with the consequences of group decisions.
Phone-as-controller games work brilliantly beyond Hidden Agenda too. Use Your Words turns boring family game night energy into something genuinely hilarious by having players create fake definitions, movie subtitles, and photo captions. Everyone submits answers anonymously, then votes on their favorites. The voting system means even the least creative person in your group can contribute by picking the funniest option.
These games work because they eliminate the skill gap problem that ruins most multiplayer experiences. Your friend who hasn’t touched a controller since the original PlayStation can contribute just as meaningfully as someone who speedruns Dark Souls for fun. The barrier to entry is owning a smartphone, which everyone already has.
Why Boomerang Fu Might Be the Perfect Fighting Game
Fighting games have an accessibility problem, and Boomerang Fu solves it in the most elegant way possible. Each player controls a piece of food wielding a boomerang in arenas that change the rules with every match. The control scheme uses exactly two buttons: throw boomerang and dash. That’s it. No complex combo memorization, no frame data analysis, no getting destroyed by someone who spent three months learning optimal bread-and-butter combos.
The magic happens when environmental hazards and power-ups create emergent chaos. Suddenly your thrown boomerang ricochets off three walls and takes out two players you weren’t even targeting. The lava level forces everyone to constantly reposition. Ice levels make movement slippery and unpredictable. Each round feels different not because of character matchups, but because the environment itself becomes a dynamic opponent.
Developer Cranky Watermelon clearly understands that local multiplayer thrives on moments of surprise rather than technical execution. When someone wins in Boomerang Fu, it feels earned but not intimidating. When someone loses, they immediately want to jump back in because they can see exactly how they might do better next time. The skill ceiling exists for players who want to improve, but the skill floor ensures everyone can have fun immediately.
The Criminally Overlooked World of Cooperative Puzzle Games
Death Squared deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Portal 2’s cooperative campaign, but somehow SMG Studio’s masterpiece flies under everyone’s radar. Two to four players control colorful cubes through increasingly diabolical puzzle chambers, but the catch is that every action affects other players. Moving your cube might lower a platform someone else needs, or activate a laser that blocks another player’s path.
The communication requirements turn this into something more like cooperative improv than traditional gaming. You’re constantly negotiating movement, planning sequences, and laughing when someone inevitably triggers the wrong switch and sends everyone tumbling into spikes. The difficulty curve respects your intelligence while remaining accessible to players who might struggle with more traditional puzzle games.
Snipperclips operates on similar principles but adds the twist that players can cut pieces out of each other’s paper bodies to solve environmental puzzles. Need to create a funnel shape to guide a ball? Cut a triangular chunk out of your partner. Need to reach a high platform? Have someone cut you into stairs. The tactile satisfaction of literally reshaping your teammates creates a unique cooperative dynamic that no other game offers.
Building Your Perfect Local Multiplayer Library
The key to curating local multiplayer experiences is understanding your audience and having options for different energy levels. High-energy competitive games like Boomerang Fu work great when everyone’s pumped up and ready to yell at each other. Cooperative puzzle games shine during more relaxed hangouts where people want to problem-solve together. Story-driven phone games excel when you have a mix of gamers and non-gamers who want to experience something cinematic.
Don’t overlook regional preferences either. Conduct Together might look like a simple train management game, but it creates the same chaotic energy as Overcooked with a fraction of the stress. Players coordinate to manage railway systems, and the cooperative puzzling appeals to groups that might find kitchen chaos overwhelming. Meanwhile, something like Knight Squad 2 brings accessible Bomberman-style arena combat that works across different gaming backgrounds.
The most important factor is having variety. Your library should include quick party games for large groups, deeper experiences for dedicated gaming sessions, and cooperative options for when competition gets too heated. Price matters too, since most of these indies cost between five and twenty dollars. You can build a comprehensive local multiplayer library for less than the cost of two AAA releases.
What local multiplayer experiences have surprised your friend group lately? I’m always hunting for recommendations, especially from smaller developers who are trying something genuinely different. Drop your hidden gems in the comments, because the best party games are usually the ones nobody’s heard of yet.