The Best Party Games for Non-Gamers
The best party games for non-gamers are screen games for a room where most people never play, and your vote ranks them. A game gets in when everyone plays in one room on one machine (Steam's Shared/Split Screen category, or local play stated on the game's or its series' Wikipedia article) and at least 2 of 8 party roundups give it, or its series, a separate entry: GamesRadar+ (2024), Game Informer (2022), TwoAverageGamers (2026), GINX TV (2024), Gameluster (2017), TechRadar (2024), The A.V. Club (2025) and the undated WhatsTheBest. A name the author says was left out doesn't count. Each series sends one game: the one its roundups name most, then the best placed, then the newest, except one series of party packs, where the pick is editorial. Super Monkey Ball is out because no roundup points to a specific game. Games the room plays through a phone, a dance, a plastic instrument or a manual read to the one player at the bomb come first, everything else that qualifies follows, and the vote sorts each group.
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is #1 on “The Best Party Games for Non-Gamers”.
- 1
The Jackbox Party Pack 3
Everyone types a room code at jackbox.tv and plays from a phone's browser, so the players never learn a controller. Jackbox's games, packs and standalones alike, get entries on 7 of 8 roundups. Of the two packs TwoAverageGamers says to start with, 3 and 7, the third is the one with Trivia Murder Party, where a wrong answer can send you to the Killing Floor, and dying there makes you a ghost who keeps playing.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/434170/ - 2
That's You!
Everybody answers questions about each other by secret ballot on their own phone, and since no answer is correct, points go to whoever agrees with the room, with the phones doing all the work a gamepad would. Wish Studios made it as the first game in Sony's PlayLink range, out 4 July 2017 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, so it isn't on Steam. GamesRadar+, Game Informer and WhatsTheBest give it entries, 3 of 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27s_You! - 3
Just Dance 2025 Edition
You copy the coach on screen with a phone in your hand, or a Joy-Con on Switch, and the dance itself is what gets scored rather than any buttons. Ubisoft released it on 15 October 2024 for Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, a platform list with no PC version on it, so it isn't on Steam. Just Dance has entries on 3 of 8 roundups, and TechRadar's December 2024 pick is this edition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Dance_2025_Edition - 4
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
One person sits at the bomb and can't see the manual, while the Experts hold the bomb defusal manual and can't see the bomb, so most of the room plays by reading instructions aloud. Allen Pestaluky, Ben Kane and Brian Fetter started it at the 2014 Global Game Jam as a VR game the people watching the headset wearer could share. It has entries on 2 of 8 roundups, GamesRadar+ printing it at number 9.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/341800/ - 5
Rock Band 4
Harmonix released it on 6 October 2015 for PS4 and Xbox One, and a 2016 Fig campaign to fund a Steam version raised about $793,000 of the $1.5 million it asked for, so it stays a console exclusive with no Steam page. Plastic guitars, drums and a microphone mean nobody learns a gamepad. Freestyle guitar solos can't be failed, which is kind to a nervous first timer. GamesRadar+ and GINX give Rock Band entries, 2 of 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Band_4 - 6
Super Mario Party
Each player holds one Joy-Con, which is why it won't run in handheld mode, and it doesn't support the Pro Controller either. At its E3 2018 Direct, Nintendo announced NDcube's game for 5 October 2018, exclusively for the Switch, so there's no Steam page. River Survival sends four players through white-water rapids against a time limit. Mario Party has entries on 5 of 8 roundups; GamesRadar+ prints this one at number 2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Party - 7
Overcooked! 2
Everyone grabs a controller and pitches in, chopping, cooking, plating, serving and washing dishes, and Versus mode splits four players into two teams of two racing to fill the most orders in one kitchen. Its 7 August 2018 launch reached PC and every big console the same day, and The Game Awards 2018 named it Best Family Game. Overcooked has entries on 4 of 8 roundups, with GamesRadar+ printing this sequel at number 4.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/728880/ - 8
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Smart Steering keeps a new driver from veering off the course and automatic acceleration holds the gas, so the friend who never plays can race on the first night, Joy-Con in hand. Deluxe arrived as a Switch exclusive on 28 April 2017, eight weeks into the console's life, after the 2014 Wii U original, and neither version has left Nintendo hardware, so it's not on Steam. Mario Kart gets entries on 4 of 8 roundups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart_8 - 9
TowerFall Ascension
Up to four archers share one arena with a limited quiver, so you have to pick up the arrows you've fired, or catch somebody else's out of the air. Every player needs a gamepad. Maddy Thorson made it; the Ouya original came out on 25 June 2013 and Ascension on 11 March 2014. TowerFall is named on 3 of 8 roundups, and GamesRadar+ prints Ascension at number 12.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/251470/ - 10
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Up to eight players can fight on one Switch, and the rules menu lets you turn items, stage hazards and the Final Smash meter on or off, then save that setup as a preset for the next party. Everyone holds a controller. Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. built it, but Nintendo published it, on 7 December 2018 and for Switch only, so it isn't on Steam. Smash has entries on 3 of 8 roundups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._Ultimate - 11
Gang Beasts
Floppy ragdoll fighters punch each other senseless in Beef City, then try to heave the knocked out body over a hazard before it wakes up and fights back. Boneloaf opened early access in August 2014 and released the full game on 12 December 2017. Each fighter is steered with a gamepad, and the clumsy controls are half the joke. It's named on 2 of 8 roundups; GamesRadar+ prints it at number 5.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/285900/ - 12
Ultimate Chicken Horse
Before each race, every player adds one piece to the level, then everybody runs for the flag, and if all of you make it or none of you do, nobody scores. You'll want a gamepad each. Clever Endeavour Games came up with it at an October 2014 game jam and released it on PC on 4 March 2016. It's named on 2 of 8 roundups, The A.V. Club's November 2025 list among them.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/386940/ - 13
Castle Crashers
Rescue a princess and the knights stop cooperating, fighting each other to the death for her kiss, and the last one standing collects it. Each player needs a gamepad. The Behemoth's game had sold more than 20 million copies by August 2019. Gameluster prints it at number 4 and GamesRadar+ at number 11, which makes 2 of 8 roundups.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/204360/
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