Online multiplayer games are great. But let’s pause for a second and think. They will never be able to have the same effect as being in the same room and feeling ‘we are in this together’. You may have the best gaming PC, the latest console and a great setup, but nothing beats the feeling of sitting on a couch with your friends, cracking some jokes and watching someone completely lose it after a silly mistake.
Now the problem here is finding games that everyone can enjoy. After all, not everyone wants to spend an evening learning complicated mechanics, memorising maps or getting destroyed by someone who has been playing the same game for 500 hours. So whenever my friends come over for a gaming night, I want something that gets everyone involved quickly, creates a little chaos and of course, gives us something to laugh about.
Over time, I have ended up relying on three games whenever I know there is going to be a group of people around and gaming is on the cards. They are very different from each other, but all three have one thing in common- they can keep you hooked for hours.
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LEGO Party is probably the best game to try when the group includes people who aren’t that much into gaming but enjoy grabbing a controller every now and then. It takes the familiar LEGO formula and turns it into a collection of colourful party games where the focus is less on mastering complicated controls and more on just having fun. Anything can happen and that is the beauty of it.
You can just hand someone a controller, explain the basics and get them playing without needing a lengthy tutorial. The minigames are varied enough to keep things interesting, while the LEGO presentation gives the whole experience a light-hearted feel.
LEGO Party also has the kind of chaotic moments that make for good memories. It is competitive without demanding that everyone take it seriously. So if you want a game that can bring a group together within minutes, this is one of the first titles I suggest reaching out for.
If you have never tried this game with your friends, you are really missing out. The game is all about fighting, but removes all seriousness from the concept. You control colourful, squishy characters who punch, grab, throw and generally struggle to remain upright. Basically, think of Human Fall Flat, but better.
The physics-based combat here means that even a plan that sounds perfectly reasonable can fall apart within seconds. You might think you have someone cornered, only for both of you to stumble over each other and fall off the map. Someone can be winning comfortably one second and hanging from a ledge for dear life the next.
The best part is that the game creates its own comedy. You do not need to be exceptional at fighting games to enjoy it. In fact, being terrible at it can sometimes make the experience even funnier.
It is also one of those games where the arguments are rarely about whether someone actually played well. They are usually about who grabbed whom, who pushed whom off the building and, most importantly, who was just hiding.
This title is probably the odd one out on this list but whenever I have a group of friends who are dedicated gamers, this is what we spend hours on.
Here, you are not fighting against each other, but are fighting against endless waves of zombies together. Everyone has to communicate, cover each other and figure out how to survive as the difficulty keeps on increasing with every level.
Black Ops III also gives the group plenty of room to develop its own little strategies. One person might focus on upgrades, another might know the map better, while someone else inevitably gets themselves into trouble and needs rescuing.
And then there are the moments when everything goes wrong.
A perfectly organised round can collapse in seconds, leaving everyone shouting instructions at once while trying to revive a fallen teammate. That shared panic is what makes Zombies so much fun with friends. You are not laughing because someone lost, but are laughing because all four of you somehow managed to turn a perfectly manageable situation into complete chaos.
So which of these games would you try out with your friends? Let us know and keep watching this space for more such recommendations.
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