It wasn't very long ago that the only hope to get some gaming in during the holidays involved a Game Boy and any time you could snag away from relatives.  Then the Wii came along, followed by smart phone apps, and now 'non-gamers' are about as common as folks who 'don't watch movies/listen to music'.  That being said, there's a huge gap between Angry Birds Go! and Fallout 4, and that divide may make it feel as if there's still no games that everyone can enjoy, now that Wii Sports has worn thin.

Au Contraire, mon ami!  There are many many many great suggestions, depending what you have kicking at home of course.  Given how many collectors hang around RFG, you may already have some of these, but many can be found at reasonable prices (with some exceptions!) and have the potential to become annual favorites.  In fact, there's a good chance a few are old favorites already, and just need to be dusted off and popped in again.  Keep in mind, the following suggestions are based off of two key criteria; playing in a group (generally multiplayer, sometimes score challenge) and ease-of-play (Helldivers is a house favorite, but rather 'hardcore' in challenge and not catered to 'pick-up-and-play.')

So without further ado, if you have these respective systems kicking around, why not fire 'em up and play:



Atari (any)
A simple addition of a dry-erase board and markers next to the TV for high-score tracking can really invigorate a fun, competitive spirit.  I've played against a buddy for high scores on Seaquest for hours, and having the numbers in front of you in black and white really drive the urge to keep going one better.  Also, don't overlook the simple fun of well-known legends like Pong and Combat.  Everyone knows how to play, and I still hold there are few better two-player competitions than two tanks with rebounding shots.

NES
I practically guarantee you, if you set up Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt someone will at least give it a go.  Most of us know the classics, so why not mix it up a little; try some Zapper games like Hogan's Alley or Operation Wolf, have a retro gameshow tourney with one of the Jeopardy!s or Wheel of Fortunes, or try group-thinking through a puzzler like Kickle Cubicle or the Lolo games.

SNES
I've espoused the greatness of Tetris & Dr. Mario multiplayer before, but there are so many others; Turtles in Time, Arkanoid: Doh it Again, Rock and Roll Racing, two player Donkey Kong Countries,, the Pocky and Rocky games, naturally any of the great Super Mario games, and even obscure but fun titles like Wild Snake.  I could name lots more, but keep in mind some classics like Contra III are pretty tough to just jump in and play.

N64
Sure, you have your classics such as Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64,, Star Fox 64, Perfect Dark, Smash Bros., the later Turok games, and the original Mario Parties.  But what about some less known multiplayer fun such as Mario Tennis, Nose Gunner, Forsaken 64, BattleTanx, Road Rash 64, Dr. Mario 64, Wave Race, and Diddy Kong Racing?  The 64 may not have aged as well as many retro systems, but multiplayer is still a blast, especially with family members that could care less about the difference between 720p and 1080p.   

Game Cube
The successor to the original multiplayer machine doesn't disappoint either, with sequels to most of the classics like SSBMelee, Double Dash, Toadstool Tour and more Mario Parties, but also plays host to some original greats like Donkey Konga (1 and 2) and the original Super Monkey Ball games.  If you have the means to put it together, Pac-Man Vs and Zelda: Four Swords Adventures are definitely worth the effort.

Wii
Don't make the mistake of dismissing the little white Wii Sports box; there's more here than just unresponsive waggle controls!  Both Boom Blox games are unparalleled multiplayer greatness (seriously, if you haven't played them, they're worth owning a Wii just for these), the system exclusive Data East Arcade Classics has some superb arcade gems, Elebits is kinda nifty, Ivy the Kiwi is criminally under-rated, and I have a soft spot for the Raving Rabbids party games.

And don't forget how this system renews old light-gun games!  GunBlade NY, LA Machine Guns, Ghost Squad, Gunslingers, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, the Mad Dog McCree compilation, the Resident Evil gun games, and even the Nerf N-Strike games are kinda fun co-op.

WiiU
Oh, c'mon, it's a shorter list of great games on this system that DON'T have fun multiplayer!

PS1
So many practically unknown gems for multiplayer here, like the 8(!) player Dare Devil Derby 3D, Crash Bash, Rat Attack, Poy Poy, ShipWreckers!, Sled Storm, and a personal favorite, Devil Dice (as well as its inexplicably-named PS2 sequel, Bombastic).  If you can track down the GunCons and have an old CRT, the Point Blank trilogy games are original and excellent.

PS2
Seems hardly anyone knows about the co-op puzzler The Adventures of Cookie & Cream, or the two-player modes of Frequency and Amplitude as well as the ATV Off Road Fury games.  Don't forget the Hot Shots golf games or the newer version of Sled Storm.
With good lighting, the Eyetoy games are great party fun, and most of my friends liked Taiko Drum Master even more than the similar monkey-themed drum games.

PS3
ToeJam & Earl is on the PSN!  For like $5!!  The original co-op rogue-lite with the attitude of a 90's Trapper Keeper.  For every PS3 owner who doesn't have this, you're tragically keeping the world less funky than it can be.

Remember the Move, that Wii knock-off that felt like it never really went anywhere because it never really went anywhere?  Well, it did go somewhere, by bringing further life into light gun games!  After the Wii, this is the best way to get some post-modern arcade gun-fun in at home.  Time Crisis: Razing Storm is the best way to go, not just because it comes with the title game and Time Crisis 4, but it also tossed in the superb Deadstorm Pirates which makes it worth the price of the disc by itself.  The House of the Dead III and 4 are cheap downloads well worth it, though I would skip Overkill of you have anyone around under the age of, oh, 40.  Also there's Child of Eden, The Last Bounty Hunter, many Cabela's games, Resident Evil Chronicles: HD, The Shoot, and the MST3K-able 'classic' Mad Dog McCree games.  These made our Move controllers well worth it.

I feel like I mentioned this already, but TOEJAM & EARL! It cures most diseases, I hear.*

Dreamcast
Given Sega's classic arcade legacy, it should come as no surprise that their swan song console has a ton of greats for this purpose.  Chu Chu Rocket, the Power Stone games, any of the great 2D fighters, Hydro Thunder, Incoming, Mr. Driller, Pen Pen TriIselon, and Typing of the Dead to name a few.

PS4
Towerfall is a perfect representative of this article; clean and simple, easy to pick up and play, intuitive and devilishly addictive.

Rocket League is another; RC cars, giant soccer ball, four player split screen, fun times.

Xbox
Fuzion Frenzy: also known as that demo we kept playing while waiting for the Halo LAN to set up, or "you know, that duck-and-jump game!". Turns out, many of the four player mini-games are lots of fun on the full version, although that demo on the Halo disc can still entertain way more than it should.

Halo
Under-rated, overlooked gem with a fun little co-op campaign and excellent versus split-screen mode.  Sadly stayed in the shadow of contemporary giant Brute Force.  A sequel with online multiplayer could have practically ushered in a new wave of console online play.  Guess we'll never know.

Other interesting multiplayer games on here are Blood Wake, D&D Heroes, Kung Fu Chaos, OutRun 2, and a nifty take on co-op in Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray where one-player controls the boat and the other player becomes dead.

360
The Scene It? games are ideal for group trivia and should appeal to most cinema-philes, while Kinect Star Wars may not redeem the peripheral, but comes close when played with friends. 

Xbox One
Two words: Rare Replay. Most of the games are co-op, and the range in this comp is just wonderful.  A really solid collection with lots of classics that are easy to play.  If you have four controllers, try the four-player R.C. Pro-Am 2!


Multiple systems
The Pinball Arcade (or Zen Pinball, or any of the recent Pinball simulators) are great, laid back score competitions that are nice to putter with in the background while hanging out.

Bomberman (and, if necessary, multitaps): the original party-maker.  Most versions are worth it, but definitely try one that allows for more than four players, such as the DS or Saturn versions.

Castle Crashers: Still one of the best modern takes on a four-player brawling adventure.  If you've never tried it, PLAY IT NOW! and if you haven't played it in awhile, you'll likely be delighted that it's just as fun as ever.

Super Off-Road: Hard to go wrong between the four-player NES, awesome soundtrack on the SNES, or just the classic feel of one of the many arcade compilations.  Perfect for quick, breezy fun.

Burnout Revenge and Split Second: As simple as the split-screen competition is on both of these, we've whittled many hours jumping out of our seats and squealing at the TV at what was to be a quick goof-off match.  Surprisingly entertaining.

Angry Birds (any of the various releases for consoles): It can be easy to dismiss these games because of how much they cost compared to the original mobile games, not to mention how late they came out in the craze, but the console releases have a secret weapon; local co-op and multiplayer!  Easy to overlook, but lots of fun at parties, and pretty much everyone knows how to play.

Even for non-sports fans (*raises hand*) there are some easy-to-play fun in a NBA Jam (4 player!), Hit the Ice, NFL Blitz, and other arcade-heavy sports games.  I'm partial to the four player arcade version of Tecmo Bowl in the Xbox exclusive compilation Tecmo Classic Arcade myself.  Quite a few other fun games on that one too.

The Micro Machines series has several four-player (or more) entries, and racing games don't come easier to learn.

Try this; set up a Minecraft game with four-player split screen, and just let folks tag in and out all day, shaping the world together as they see fit.  Also, the Doom BFG Edition has a cool four-player split screen for the original games, and can be a fun return to the game that coined 'death match'.  Y'know, perfect conversation piece around the turkey or nativity scene!

Rock Band and Guitar Hero may not have the show-stopping power they once did (and while I like the new iterations, they're not setting the industry afire as likely hoped) but the few years out of the limelight actually works in their favor.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say; set a music game up and they're bound to attract some folks who've missed 'em, or given bravery to those who wanted to try but skipped the first time around.

In the same thought, don't forget Dance Dance Revolution if you have decently responsive mats, or maybe even dust off that Kinect you convinced yourself might be worth it until Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor killed all hope, and pick up a Dance Central or, heaven help me, a Just Dance game.  Not to mention the Karaoke Revolutions, Sing Stars, or other vocal warbling simulators.  It always surprises me who will just jump in and play when these are already set up!

Speaking of setups, here's one that can attract players much like an arcade cab set to free-play; put a small TV in a corner on a stand, nab a PS2/360/PS3, put in one of the many excellent classic compilations from Midway, SNK, Taito, Namco, Capcom, or even the Sega Genesis comps, and hook up a couple of big joysticks (you know, the ones you got for that professional fighting game tourney you never got around to training for after being soundly defeated online... or was that just me?) and voila!  Those big arcade sticks are like lures to fish; folks just seem to want to walk up and start pressing buttons.  In the same vein, if you have a steering wheel for an old PlayStation, N64, or really any system, set it up and put some simple arcade racer in.  Or a Dreamcast, a fishing controller, and one of the three Sega fishing games released for the system.  These old and forgotten relics can still attract the curious and since peripherals are generally a tough sell, many games for them are of the pick-up-and-play nature that make it easy to just jump in and have fun.

Note: after proofreading, my beloved lamented my excluding the Soul Calibur games, so I'm adding my nod, particularly to the first two, since the latter two kinda delved into NSFW DOA territory.


So there's a smidgen of multiplayer easy pick-up-and-play games for a few systems you likely have lying around.  Feel free to toss some suggestions in the comments, and I hope it brings some added bonding to your Thanksgiving/Boxing Day/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/New Year!




*If you play ToeJam & Earl and have no disease cured, you must have one of the rare ones it does not medically treat.  Sorry.

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