Party Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mario Party

Starting on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998, the "Mario Party" series seemed to perfect the party game early on, allowing up to four players (more in later games) to play a console board game as their favourite 'Mario' characters and beat each other in mini-games of all sorts. With over forty million units sold since its debut, the series has been best-selling (to say the least) on Nintendo consoles and handhelds since. Across all games, it's featured more than two dozen different playable characters.

Answer: Super Monkey Ball

In the "Super Monkey Ball" series, you hop into the role (or roll, as it would seem) of a monkey in a small ball, and the goal is to roll yourself through courses to the end. Many version of the game featured a multiplayer race mode in which you could battle through tracks in sequence.

A similar game, "Kororinpa", was released on the Wii using the Wii Remote motion controls, though its longevity was nowhere near a match to "Super Monkey Ball".

Answer: Fibbage

Created by the makers of "You Don't Know Jack", the "Jackbox Party Packs" are ideal party games. Played on PC, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4, these packs contain sets of games designed to be played on phones or tablets by up to eight players. In "Fibbage", trivia questions are provided and everyone in the game needs to make an answer that they think would be the most convincing; the goal is to goad the other players into guessing your answer while also getting it right for yourself.

Answer: Rock Band

First released in 2007, "Rock Band" built on the concept behind "Guitar Hero" by expanding the music/rhythm game to include vocals and percussion (and, in one installment, keys). In later versions of the game, one could play guitar, one could play bass, another could be on drums, and three could harmonize on vocals to create the full band experience. With thousands of songs in the back catalogue, it became one of the most extensive music games ever released.

Answer: SpaceTeam

Played on iOS and Android, "SpaceTeam" involves a lot of teamwork and quick reflexes. You work with a group of people and everyone has different responsibilities in front of them at each stage (dials to turn, levers to flip, buttons to push, etc.). Everyone also has instructions that change throughout the game.

The goal is to survive each stage by communicating the instructions; the larger the group, the more instructions to get across...and the louder everyone's likely to be.

Answer: WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Not a game about mini-games so much as it's about significantly shorter 'micro-games', "WarioWare: Smooth Moves" forces players to orient themselves as per loosely-named Wii Remote orientations (the Remote Control being held in front like a remove control, the Umbrella being held upright, etc.).

In the multiplayer version of the game (unlocked after beating the single-player story), players complete the games one at a time, passing the Wii Remote around until everyone but one is knocked out.

Answer: Rayman: Raving Rabbids

"Raving Rabbids", first released on the Wii, was built around Rayman (of his own series) before the Rabbids' popularity skyrocketed and Ubisoft split them into their own long-running series, most of which involves mini-games of different sorts developed around motion controls (especially on Nintendo consoles).

In the first game (a Wii launch title from 2006), Rayman needed to escape prison by completing mini-games and collecting plungers. The Rabbids would have more than a dozen other games in the next decade.

Answer: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Released on the PC and PS4 and, if you have a way, able to be played in virtual reality, "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes" is a stressful puzzle game involving bomb defusal. One player sits with the bomb and needs to relay information about it to their teammates (who are not allowed to see the bomb). Fortunately, the teammates have a manual with which they can use the information relayed to defuse the bomb before time runs out. Of course, the manual contains a number of complex instructions, maze solutions, and morse code (and other puzzles).

Answer: Singstar

Released on Sony consoles, "Singstar" comes with two microphones and is, essentially, karaoke for points. Each version of the game comes with a different setlist of songs, usually of a particular genre, though later games followed the rhythm game downloadble content model wherein you could build your library on your console hard drive through online purchases.

As a note, the "Apres-Ski Party" installments, only released in Europe, were mostly non-English songs (save for Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance").

Answer: Just Dance

Although earlier versions of the game used the Wii sensor bar, Xbox Kinect, and PlayStation Eye to register dance moves for accuracy to match onscreen avatars, the 2017 version of the game allowed players to download a "Just Dance" app on their phones to sense the motion controls of the game. You and up to three players could all show your moves (usually based on music video choreography) in your living room. Group-specific games for The Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson, and ABBA were subsequently released.