Party Animals
Developer(s)Recreate Games
Publisher(s)Source Technology
Producer(s)Luo Zi Xiong
Composer(s)Patric Catani
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)
Release20 September 2023
Genre(s)Brawler, party
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Party Animals is a multiplayer physics-based brawler/party video game developed by Recreate Games and published by Source Technology.[2][3] The game was released for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 20, 2023.[4]

Gameplay

Party Animals is a physics-based competitive brawler game where players play as various animals including puppies, kittens, ducks, bunnies, sharks, dinosaurs and even unicorns.[5] Animals can punch, toss, jump, kick, and headbutt each other. They are also able to pick up an assortment of weapons.[6] Upon taking a certain amount of damage, players are temporarily knocked out. In most cases, they recover and return to the fight, unless they are tossed off the map or into various hazards.

Party Animals offers 3 modes and 20 maps. The game modes are Last Stand, Team Score, and Arcade mode. In Last Stand, players attempt to be the last animal standing while eliminating other players; Team Score divides 8 players into teams of 4, with each team competing to complete an objective; Arcade Mode also has 2 teams of 4, but teams will instead attempt to eliminate the other team just like Last Stand.[7]

Characters

Party Animals has a base pool of 19 characters from which players can choose.[8] Nemo, a corgi character in the game, is its mascot. Many animal names, such as "Barbie" for a gorilla and "Bacon" for a pig, incorporate contrast and dark humor into the game.[9] There are also 11 other characters: a bat, a rhino, a cat with an eyepatch, a Golden Retriever puppy, a crab, a walrus, a Bull Terrier, a type of rodent, a hound dog, a hammerhead shark, a wolf, and a reptilian type creature.

Development

Party Animals was developed by Recreate Games, a game studio founded by Luo Zixiong, the former design director at Smartisan.[10] The game was first teased on Twitter in September 2019.[11] Open demos of the game were available to the public in June and October 2020 for short periods of time. Developers revealed in a July 1, 2020 press release that the game will be released on consoles in the future.[12]

On May 25, 2022, the developers released an update stating that "the game is still in development and the target release date is hopefully within 2022, with possible delays due to quality and compliance approvals."[13]

During Summer Game Fest on June 8, 2023, the developer announced the game's release date of September 20.[4][14]

Reception

Party Animals received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, based on 16 reviews listed at review aggregator Metacritic.[15] Critics wrote favorably on its gameplay and visuals.[7][17] On Steam, user reviewers at launch were "Mostly Negative" due to its monetization mechanics, which aggressively priced in-game skins, and lack of an offline mode, which contradicted the game's description.[18] The developers responded that a mistranslation resulted in the erroneous description for the game.[19]

During the Steam Game Festival: Autumn Edition in 2020, the game's playtest reached a concurrent player peak of 135,834, making it the fourth most played game on Steam.[2] It amassed a large numbers of viewers on Twitch, having over 113,000 viewers watching gameplay streams.[20]

Accolades


Award Date Category Result Ref.
The Game Awards December 7, 2023 Best Family Game Nominated [21]
Best Multiplayer Game Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Saver, Michael; Pung, Julia; Stanton, Devon (4 January 2024). "Made with Unity: 2023 in review". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 Bailey, Dustin (12 October 2020). "Free demo for Party Animals tops 135k concurrent players on Steam". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions #01". Recreate Games. 7 October 2020. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Party Animals - Official Release Date Announcement Trailer | Summer Game Fest 2023". IGN. 8 June 2023. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "Party Animals' Free Demo Reaches 135K Concurrent Players". GamesPress. 16 October 2020. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  6. ↑ Khan, Aqdas (26 October 2020). "'The Funniest Game on Steam': Everything you need to know about Party Animals". TheSportsRush. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Wacholz, Charlie (15 September 2023). "Party Animals Review". IGN. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  8. ↑ Rolls, Olivia (20 September 2023). "Party Animals Characters List – All Furry Friends So Far". N4G Unlocked. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Nightingale, Ed (9 June 2023). "Our "happy experience" playing Party Animals". Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  10. ↑ Ye, Josh (15 October 2020). "After Genshin Impact, Party Animals is the latest hit from Chinese game developers". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Party Animals @happyhappynemo". Twitter. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Smith, Georgina (11 October 2020). "What is Party Animals and is it coming to consoles?". Dexerto. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Party Animals - DEV LOG 01 - Steam News". Steam. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  14. ↑ Cripe, Michael (8 June 2023). "Party Animals Delivers Adorable Co-op Brawling This September". The Escapists. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Party Animals". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Tyrer, Ben (19 September 2023). "Party Animals review: 'Delivers ample amounts of chaos and chuckles'". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  17. ↑ Spear, Rebecca (21 September 2023). "Party Animals Xbox review: Adorable fun impeded by sluggish mechanics". Windows Central. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  18. ↑ Bellingham, Hope (20 September 2023). "Co-op hit Party Animals already has over 100k Steam players, but 'mostly negative' reviews as players cite server problems and no offline mode". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  19. ↑ Kennedy, Victoria (21 September 2023). "Party Animals developer addresses "confusion" around playing offline". Eurogamer. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  20. ↑ Lugris, Mark (16 October 2020). "Party Animals Shatters Records On Its Fourth Free Trial Day On Steam". The Gamer. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  21. ↑ Spangler, Todd (13 November 2023). "The Game Awards 2023 Nominations: Alan Wake 2, Baldur's Gate 3 Lead the Pack With Eight Noms Each (Full List)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
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