''Kinect Party'' is the sequel to '' Double Fine Happy Action Theater'', Double Fine's

Kinect Kinect is a discontinued line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB color model, RGB cameras, and Thermographic camera, infrared projectors and detectors that map dep ...

motion-sensing based casual video game for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

. It was published by Microsoft in 2012. It was tentatively titled ''Double Fine Happy Action TV'', before the game's final name was announced when the game was announced at PAX Prime 2012. The game was released on December 18, 2012. The game was delayed in Australia and New Zealand. It was added to the Xbox store for this region on March 29, 2013.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor ''Happy Action Theater'', ''Kinect Party'' is an open-ended game, providing thirty-six different modes that incorporate features of the

motion-sensing and camera system. Players can select any one of the thirty-six modes, or opt to have the game randomly select modes and cycle through them every few minutes. The game can support the tracking of up to 6 players. The game will also allow the original eighteen mini games from ''Double Happy Action Theater'', along with eighteen more playable mini games, will be able to be played from within ''Kinect Party'' if the player owns the former game as well. Within most modes there are no goals, only to perform certain actions for the Kinect as to create humorous results in a form of

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

on the console's display. The game includes new modes, such as one where players can don virtual costumes (including ones based on ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...

''), create and destroy castles, and perform as if they were in a

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

video. The sequel also introduces the ability to take and share photos from the various game modes.

Development

''Kinect Party'' was revealed to be in development on May 23, 2012 in an interview with the director of ''Double Fine Happy Action Theater'', Tim Schafer, conducted by

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' is an online music publication and formerly alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper ha ...

. Initial looks at the gameplay were shown by Double Fine during a "Quick Look" with members of the website

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Content

There are several options for game content. The "base game" is required. It is provided free of charge on the Xbox store. Then game content is purchased. There is a "Full Unlock" for $10, which includes all the channels from the previous game, Double Fine Happy Action Theater, as well as new Kinect Party channels. There is "Full Unlock for DFHAT Owners" at $5, which provides only the new Kinect Party channels. And there is the option to buy individual channels at $1 each. These channels are all included in the "Full Unlock".

Reception

The game was well received by critics, with an 81/100 score at

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Casey Lynch from

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

, giving a score of 8.5/10, stated: "Kinect Party makes Kinect feel necessary. Unless you’re totally against fun, you’ll almost certainly have a great time."

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2012 video games Casual games Double Fine games Microsoft games Kinect games Video games developed in the United States Xbox 360 games Xbox 360-only games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games