You'd be forgiven for wondering just what the heck Sony's PlayLink is. Rumoured to have been pulled from the publisher's E3 2017 press conference at the last-minute due to Wi-Fi issues (a problem that the poor souls trying to liveblog the event can attest to), PlayLink was instead pushed out via a press release, whereupon it was completely subsumed by the maelstrom of E3. That's a shame, because Sony's latest take on the so-called "second screen" experience—where games are played using phones and tablets alongside a TV and a PlayStation 4—is lots of fun, so long as you have some like-minded buddies to play with.

Using a phone or a tablet to enhance a film, video game, or TV show played out on a big screen certainly isn't a new idea, though it hasn't exactly taken the world by storm either. The feature all but disappeared from the PlayStation Vita, while the most high-profile use on the Xbox (where it's called Smartglass) died a death alongside Lionhead's Fable Legends.

PlayLink differs in that it isn't an add-on to an existing game, but is a collection of smaller party games explicitly designed for group play—kind of like the Jackbox series of trivia games, but much more involved. Up to five players—each with their own Android or iOS device and a copy of the free PlayLink app—can play together. All you have to do is make sure they're all on the same Wi-Fi network.

There are five games in the PlayLink line-up, with more promised in the future. Of those five, That's You!—a comedic quiz that asks just how well you really know your friends—is the one to try, if only because it's free to PlayStation Plus subscribers when it arrives on July 4.

That's You!

That's You!, like most of the PlayLink line-up, starts off by asking you to take a selfie, which you then manipulate in various ways to make yourself look impossibly beautiful or hilariously disfigured. As you can imagine, my group at Sony's E3 booth went for the latter. That's You! then becomes an offbeat quiz along the lines of Sony's classic Buzz! games, which stretch back to the PlayStation 2. Questions (of which there are over 1,000) are displayed on the TV (devices helpfully say "look at the TV" when not in use). Each player uses their device to select an answer.

Early questions like "Who's most likely to laugh at a teacher's lame joke?" act as ice breakers, while later questions like "Who is most likely to make out with a stranger at a funfair?" bring a more risqué, if still family-friendly edge to the game. Players are awarded points for picking the most popular answer and can double them by throwing in one of a limited number of bet tokens. Later rounds make use of smartphone cameras, asking a player to pull a certain pose while another snaps a photo. Our "volunteer" was asked to pose holding a pretend trophy, after which we were tasked with doodling said trophy onto the photo. Whoever was voted to have the best drawing was awarded points.

I know what you're thinking, and yes, it's possible to doodle whatever you want on a photo. And yes, a few pints in I imagine it would be hilarious.

Frantics

PlayLink makes clever use of other smartphone tech, too. In the party game Frantics, players are tasked with completing a range of minigames, which are brought to life via a group of charming 3D animal characters. Games include trying to parachute through the air to safety while frantically passing sticks of dynamite between players, or trying to balance on a platform of ice while avoiding bumps from other players. Each minigame is controlled using the gyroscope and accelerometer from your smartphone, which is surprisingly responsive.











While the minigames won't win any awards for originality, they are lots of fun. The parachuting is particularly entertaining, especially as the explosive dynamite is so easily passed from player to player by bumping into each other. Another nice touch is the host of Frantics, a wily British fox, who's able to dish out secret quests by calling one of the players directly on his or her phone or by sending a pseudo text message (in my case, the quest was to prevent one of the other players winning a minigame).

Another game, a standard trivia quiz called Knowledge is Power, was perhaps the least interesting of the bunch but was somewhat redeemed by its slick visuals and the fact that you can dress yourself up as a hotdog for your selfie picture. Meanwhile, SingStar Celebration is the same karaoke masterpiece you might remember, only this time you can ditch the SingStar mics and use your smartphone instead.

Hidden Agenda

The final game of the bunch is Hidden Agenda, a narrative-driven detective thriller from Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games. The idea behind the game supposedly came from players shouting out the answers to different decisions in Until Dawn, a game that was never designed to be a multiplayer experience. Hidden Agenda tells the story of a serial killer known as "The Trapper," who sets up traps on the bodies of victims. You play as a detective and a district attorney tasked with tracking down the remaining victims.

Like Until Dawn, you're given choices during each scene. Do you run away, or do you save the hostage? Are you kind and gentle during an interrogation, or strong and forceful? Each choice is put to the group, with the most popular played out. Since every character in the game can potentially die, the choices you make have a big impact on the game. But not every player works toward the same goal, with the game dishing out a "hidden agenda" to a particular player. At the end of the game the group has a chance to identify the secretive player for bonus points.

Hidden Agenda is a short game but, given the multitude of different choices and secret missions, one with substantial replayability. The quality of the voice acting and animation helps, too, even if the story itself is a rather chintzy affair.

That said, I doubt many will play any of the PlayLink games at length when there are far more compelling reasons to boot up a PS4. But as party games go, the PlayLink series is lots of fun and more accessible to those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of a DualShock 4. Pricing has yet to be announced, but here's hoping they come in under $10/£10. That's You! will be released on July 4, and the other minigames should be released later this year.