In search of games to play with my group of friends, I came across Pummel Party. Judging a book by its cover, initially I dismissed the title as I wasn’t keen on the art style. However, I took the plunge during the Winter Sale as it was just 9 bucks. If we didn’t like it, we could refund it. Within ten minutes of our purchase, though, we knew we had a winner on our hands. How does this Mario Party-like game do it so well?

Pummel Party plays similarly to any party/board game you’d imagine, but has some twists that make it more engaging, visceral, and tense. Each player has a health bar, and is given weapons to dispatch the other players. If one runs out of health, they’re kicked back to a spawn point, losing their progress to the current objective on the playing field. This added combat contributes to the “ruining friendships” part of this kind of title and is ripe for plenty of laughs.

In addition, turn order is decided on a turn-by-turn basis. The win rankings of the minigame that turn decide who goes in what order. With that in mind, winning minigames is more than just earning currency. It can be used to get the jump on your friends. Spaces consist of currency gain/loss, sabotage for anyone else who lands on them, or random stage events. The items used at the start of turns, are huge advantages and I found myself using one almost every turn.

The minigames, one of the most cherished part of a party game, are an absolute riot. I was worried we would run into repeats early on, but after four or five matches we were still encountering new ones. Out of the 30 to 40 we played, only one or two really got on my nerves with lacking descriptions and elements that just didn’t make sense. However, once I got the hang of those games in particular, they became fun enough to stomach. The heightened gravity of winning the game makes for some heart-pounding moments as the final seconds count down.

After a game is finished, the objectives (goblets instead of stars) are kept with the player to spend on cosmetics. Even if you don’t win though, there’s already a wide variety to choose from to deck out your character. I slapped on a wrestling mask with glowing eyes and sported a flaming cape. There’s tons of replayability, with more than a handful of boards to play on that cater to different amounts of players. Pummel Party supports up to 8 simultaneous players and features Remote Play Together support.

I suppose the only caveat to Pummel Party is it can’t be enjoyed by the whole family. It is a bloody mess for a mature audience, but for any friend group that needs some Mario Party nostalgia or something to virtually beat each other up on, this is the game for you. If you have a household of potential players, $15 and Steam’s Remote Play on TV feature is all you need for a hoot-and-hollering great time.

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Pummel Party

14.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Hilarious Fun With Friends
• High Replayability
• More Competitive Than Mario Party

Cons

• Some Annoying Minigames