Whether you’re looking to build new relationships or strengthen existing friendships, hosting a games night for friends can be one of the best ways to cement the bonds between you and those closest to you.

Tabletop games are always an option, of course, and there are some incredible choices out there for game nights when it comes to board games or role-playing.

However, video games can offer just as rich and diverse a range of options for players of every skill level, so whether you like to duke it out in a fighting game or make sure everyone’s having a good time with a party title, there’s something out there for you and your buddies.

Here are the top 15 best games for hosting a games night with friends!

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

• Genre: Racing
• Audience: E

What more need be said about Mario Kart? It’s the perennial favourite of party-goers and gamers everywhere, and for good reason.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is arguably the culmination of the Mario Kart series in its current form, especially if you pick up the extra Course Pass DLC, which adds a huge number of new courses to race around.

It’s exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, so you will need to own a Switch if you want to play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but if you’re at all serious about gaming, the chances are you already have one.

With a wide variety of Nintendo characters to race as, varied courses to test your skills, and even a robust battle mode if you don’t feel like a straightforward race, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an excellent option for games nights.

What’s more, the game comes complete with handicaps that can help less skilled players to keep up with the competition, as well as several different control methods.

This means that nobody will be left out in the cold, no matter what control method they prefer to use or what kind of level they’re playing at.

2. The Jackbox Party Pack series

• Genre: Trivia
• Audience: T

The Jackbox games are a staple of gatherings and get-togethers all around the world, and if you play just one of these minigame collections, you’ll see why.

Mixing and matching different Jackbox collections is the best way to approach this series, as each one contains at least one minigame that’s worth playing.

Every Jackbox game is host to five minigames, many of which ask players to participate in hilarious and creative ways.

Drawful, for instance, works in a similar way to Pictionary, providing players with prompts they must draw and then asking other players to suggest a phrase they think the drawing represents.

Quiplash asks players to provide funny answers to prompts, while Dictionarium tasks players with coming up with a definition for a fake slang phrase or word.

It’s not all about showcasing your creativity, though; Trivia Murder Party and several other Jackbox games are more straightforward trivia quizzes, albeit with a heaping helping of irreverence.

Suffice it to say that if you’re hosting any kind of games night with friends, The Jackbox Party Pack should be at the top of your list for games to play.

3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

• Genre: Fighting
• Audience: E

Much like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a Switch-exclusive game, so you’ll need to own a Switch if you want to partake in its delights.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of the few Switch games that supports eight-player local multiplayer, which is ideal if you have a larger gathering that you need to entertain.

The inclusion of Smash Bros. on this list should come with a large proviso: this is a heavily skill-focused game, so if there are players in your group who don’t regularly play video games, they may not get quite as much from Smash Bros. as everyone else does.

Those who do want to dabble will find a frenetic, fast-paced fighting game in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, complete with a massive roster of games from Nintendo and Nintendo-adjacent franchises.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if Mario ditched the mascot shenanigans and simply took on Sonic the Hedgehog in a one-to-one brawl, then Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the game to make that fantasy a reality.

With tons of multiplayer options available, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a party mainstay, and for good reason.

4. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is best experienced with a VR headset, but if you don’t happen to own one, you can still play this thrilling multiplayer game with a regular controller.

The thrust of the game is simple: one player is defusing a bomb, and another player must assist them in doing so by reading out the instructions for what the first player sees on screen.

Naturally, any number of players can assist the “bomb disposal expert”, so this is a great game to play with a group of friends, taking turns to swap out the bomb-defusing hot seat.

The type of bomb mechanism you’re facing at any given time will change regularly, making this ideal for replaying, and it doesn’t require much manual skill, so it’s perfect for less skilled gamers as well.

As you’ve probably guessed, Keep Talking tests your communication abilities just as strenuously as your puzzle-solving skills; you’ll need to talk with your friends in order to understand what you’re supposed to do.

If you happen to be hosting your party via Zoom or Discord, you can also play this one remotely!

5. Mario Party Superstars

• Genre: Party
• Audience: RP

The Mario Party series is legendary among those hosting game nights for their friends, but beware: this is a franchise that can just as easily end friendships as build them.

Okay, so that’s a slight exaggeration, but it is fair to say that the Mario Party series is known for its reliance on luck and its frantic emphasis on minigames.

Players must navigate a board game-style board together, rolling a die to see how far they can travel in each turn. Spaces might be beneficial or detrimental, so success is often largely random.

That’s until it comes to the minigames, of course, which rely on manual skill or quick thinking for victory. Minigames might pit two players against two others, for instance, or even one player against the other three.

Mario Party Superstars collects minigames from across the series’ history, gathering together games from the Nintendo 64 days of the franchise and beyond. 

It’s fair to say that you shouldn’t play Mario Party Superstars if you’re looking for an easy-going and calm experience, but if you’re up for some shouting and (friendly!) recriminations, this is a great game to go for.

6. Pico Park

• Genre: Puzzle
• Audience: E

Pico Park is one of those ingenious concepts that you’ll wish you’d come up with yourself after you hear the elevator pitch, and it’s an excellent local multiplayer game for your games night.

The gameplay in Pico Park is simplicity itself: you must collect a key and use it to open a door. Of course, it’s never quite that simple, and Pico Park adds a number of parameters to change the fundamentals in interesting ways.

Players may be connected via a rope, for instance, meaning that one player’s movement affects everyone else’s. Alternatively, they may be taking it in turns to control a single character rather than playing simultaneously.

Pico Park was specifically designed for players to get together and play on a single screen rather than in split-screen mode, making it ideal for games nights with friends.

It’s available on PC or Switch, and it supports up to eight players locally, even on the Switch, so you’d better make sure you’ve got enough controllers to support the number of players you need.

While Pico Park can be played online, it’s generally recommended as a local multiplayer game due to the level of communication required between players.

7. Overcooked! All You Can Eat

• Genre: Cooking
• Audience: RP

Much like Mario Party, the Overcooked! games should not be played if you’re looking for something sedate and slow-paced to pass a lazy evening with your friends.

This game will light a fire under you and your nearest and dearest, and it’ll test your ability to communicate and stay calm under pressure to its absolute limit.

The goal in Overcooked! is simple: prepare dishes according to the whims of your customers in a restaurant kitchen. 

Ingredients must be chopped and cooked, plates must be washed, and as if that wasn’t enough, the level will often shift and change in challenging ways, forcing you to adapt to new conditions regularly.

As you can imagine, you’ll need to keep the channels of communication open with your friends so that everyone knows where they’re supposed to be at any given time.

This can get difficult as the orders pile up and the level of complexity increases, making Overcooked! ideal if you want a more frenetic and fast-paced thrill for your games night.

If you’re interested, make sure to pick up the All You Can Eat package, which collects both of the Overcooked! games and represents great value for money.

8. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

• Genre: Action
• Audience: E

Nintendo’s latest Super Mario Bros. game supports up to four players in local multiplayer, so it’s ideal for smaller gatherings or for get-togethers where your friends don’t mind taking it in turns.

Side-scrolling Mario platformers often get short shrift from fans (and sometimes critics too), who sometimes suggest that these games aren’t “true” Mario games because they’re not 3D platformers.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder should hopefully put paid to that attitude and expose it for the obvious falsehood that it is. This is a game that brims with imagination and atmosphere.

Each stage plays host to a Wonder Flower, which will transform your environment in unpredictable and often hilarious ways, like switching up the level’s perspective or adding a stampede of charging bulls to navigate.

Unlike New Super Mario Bros., players can’t collide with one another in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, making this a much more friendly experience than previous co-operative Mario platformers have been.

What’s more, if you have friends in your group who aren’t particularly experienced with gaming, Super Mario Bros. Wonder features the ability to play as characters who don’t take damage from enemies, and it doesn’t punish you for picking these characters either.

9. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

• Genre: Survival
• Audience: E

We’ll freely admit that this one is best experienced if your group happens to have access to multiple different devices, but Fall Guys supports crossplay, so if you do have several gaming consoles, it’s a great way to pass the time.

This battle royale title de-emphasises direct conflict between players heavily, instead casting them as jellybean contestants in a Saturday evening-style series of exceedingly silly minigames.

You may, for instance, be asked to navigate an obstacle course, with the first players to pass the goalposts being the ones who qualify for the next round.

Alternatively, you may need to observe a level to see where a path forward might lie, or you might need to run around a course collecting objects and trying to prevent other players from doing so.

It’s all wrapped up in exactly the kind of bouncy, colourful presentation this kind of game needs, and although context is entirely lacking in Fall Guys, you’ll be having so much fun you probably won’t notice.

Unfortunately, Fall Guys doesn’t support local multiplayer, so this is strictly one for those who want to head online with their games night, but it’s an excellent free-to-play battle royale game with nary a rifle or pistol in sight.

10. Rock Band 4

• Genre: Music
• Audience: T

Sadly, you might struggle to get hold of a full Rock Band 4 set, so consider this a recommendation for a games night with friends only if you can find the instruments to support a gathering.

However, if you can amass a guitar, a set of drums, and a microphone (and perhaps an extra guitar for the bassist), Rock Band 4 can be a huge amount of fun.

This is the ideal asymmetrical multiplayer experience; with each player handling a different instrument, you’ll feel like you’re really up there on stage playing through the game’s varied track list.

Each player can pick their own difficulty for their respective instrument lane, too, so if your guitarist is a preening narcissist but your drummer isn’t too experienced, then Rock Band 4 can accommodate you.

Songs on Rock Band 4’s setlist include classics like The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love”, R.E.M.’s “The One I Love”, and The Who’s “The Seeker”, as well as more recent fare like Arctic Monkeys’ “Arabella” and Queens of the Stone Age’s “My God Is the Sun”.

There’s bound to be something for everyone’s music tastes in Rock Band 4, and you can also import songs from the previous games if you happen to own those, making for a potentially massive library.

11. Just Dance 2024 Edition

• Genre: Music
• Audience: E

For many years, the Just Dance series sat alongside the SingStar franchise as perennial party stalwarts, but as SingStar vanished into obscurity, Just Dance remained at the top of the heap.

This is probably because the core idea is so simple: using a smartphone app (or the Switch’s Joy-Cons), you must follow along with dance routines to popular songs.

Tracks on this year’s edition include BTS’ “Butter”, “Kill Bill” by SZA, and Bruno Mars’ “Treasure”, as well as songs by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Ariana DeBose.

If you’re a more retro-oriented music fan, then you’ll find songs here by Destiny’s Child, Kelly Clarkson, and even Whitney Houston, so it’s not all about the current top 40.

The genius of Just Dance is its inherent accessibility; as long as players can get up and dance, they can enjoy the fun on offer in this series (assuming they have a smartphone too, of course).

If you do want to keep enjoying this one after your friends have left and the party’s over, there’s even a story mode, and it’s surprisingly in-depth for a Just Dance game, too. 

12. Party Animals

• Genre: Party
• Audience: E

Fair warning: if you want to play Party Animals with more than two players locally, then you’ll need to pick up an Xbox Series X or Series S, as the Xbox One doesn’t support this feature due to technical limitations.

Imagine Gang Beasts, but all of the characters are animals rather than featureless humanoid blobs. That’s pretty much the idea behind Party Animals.

This hilarious physics-based party brawler has players competing for supremacy across a variety of different game modes, some of which are more complex than others.

Team Score, for instance, divides players up and asks them to complete certain objectives, while Last Stand is a simpler mode that simply tasks players with eliminating their opponents.

As such, you can make Party Animals as simple or as complicated as you need it to be, accommodating the players who happen to be present at your games night.

Party Animals developer Recreate Games is planning to update the game regularly with new content, too, so if you and your friends click with this one, there’s plenty of potential fun to be had.

13. Human: Fall Flat

• Genre: Platform
• Audience: E

Again, this one is perhaps best enjoyed by online-focused parties, because the game only supports two-player local multiplayer, but up to eight players can join in the fun online.

Bear in mind that crossplay between platforms is very limited in Human: Fall Flat, so it’s best that all players are enjoying the game on the same platform.

With that said, this hilarious physics platformer is available on pretty much any platform you care to mention, so if everyone in your group is able to grab it on their own respective PC, Switch, or other console, hours of fun await.

In brief, Human: Fall Flat is a puzzle-platformer with an emphasis on a rather fiddly physics engine. Everything is done through that engine, including grabbing onto ledges, so you’ll need to master it if you want to achieve success.

Other objectives include firing a trebuchet, hefting boxes onto switches, and even driving a vehicle up and down a perilously steep road, so there’s plenty of varied fun to be had here.

Of course, since this is a physics platformer, there’s just as much enjoyment in deliberately sabotaging your fellow players and watching maliciously as they plummet into the abyss.

14. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

• Genre: Fighting
• Audience: E

This is one for players who’d prefer to be working towards a concrete goal rather than simply killing each other over and over again in fighting games or party titles (and there’s nothing wrong with wanting that!).

Shredder’s Revenge is a throwback arcade brawler that supports up to six players locally and online (unless you’re on PlayStation, weirdly enough), so no matter where your gathering happens to be hosted, you can enjoy this one.

While there is a narrative in Shredder’s Revenge, it’s not something you and your group will need to pay close attention to; there are enemies, and you must beat them up. It’s as simple as that.

If you’ve played other arcade brawlers from the golden age of the genre, like Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, or, indeed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, you’ll know what to do here.

The combat is crunchy and satisfying, and since each character has their own stats and special moves, each player will have a slightly different experience with the game.

All in all, Shredder’s Revenge is an excellent party game for those who prefer to work together rather than against one another.

15. SpeedRunners

• Genre: Platform
• Audience: E10+

Available across PC, Xbox, Switch, and PlayStation, SpeedRunners is a fast-paced multiplayer platform fighter that will test your skills to their absolute limits.

At its core, SpeedRunners is a racing game in which you must compete with your friends to reach the goal, but it’s much more than that too, of course.

Each hero has their own abilities, and you’ll need to use those abilities if you want to prevent your rivals from pulling ahead and gaining an advantage.

In practice, SpeedRunners becomes a frantic and hectic game, especially if you’re playing with four players. It’s not for the faint of heart, but this sleek-looking 2D racer-fighter hybrid is a great option for more skill-oriented and competitive groups.