It might be a bit of a mess, but if the right people are at the party, the games package provides hours of entertainment

In almost 40 years of my computer and video gaming, it's surprising how much and yet how little has changed. The way I play today is so similar to how I used to enjoy "TV games" when I was a kid. Families and friends would effectively pass back and forth small portions of play or compete where possible at variations of shooting galleries and sports, from monochrome block Tennis to Activision's joystick-busting Decathlon and Epyx's more sophisticated Games series … Naturally, locally sociable engagement, like the more traditional cards, dominoes or board games really.

Now that I'm older, with a family of my own, my gaming tastes and opportunities have become far more … focused. I don't seem to have the time or inclination to commit to anything epic or too mature in its theme. Playing alone is seldom an option anyway – not like reading a book. Single-player games become group outings, because my intrigued offspring join me as an attentive and appreciative audience. We go on adventures together, with me as narrator, like reading a bedtime story (and with the same silly voice-overs, too). The kids play vicariously, perhaps even more appreciatively. I will never forget how upset they were the first time they discovered the fate of Pikmin who were left behind after dark.

Less engaging experiences are made all the more dramatic and compelling when playing to an enthusiastic crowd. The ceremonies that pepper play are bolstered by natural, personal commentary and other bespoke feedback. As a result, I feel compelled to play to the gallery, and I stick with games in which I might otherwise have lost interest. All told, it's a lovely, unique way to spend time in another universe.

Where possible we do play together, co-operatively as a preference, but otherwise taking turns and helping each other out with suggestions as appropriate. On the occasions we are competitive, I'm used to stage-managing performances, so I effectively end up playing compere and director behind the scenes, winning and losing – usually only just – to maximise drama for the greater good. I don't come over all Competitive Dad and mercilessly crush my progeny into the ground but equally they are sensitive to patronising play and can quickly lose interest.

The party organiser



A good party game effectively takes on the role of organiser for me so I don't have to play at playing. Moreover, all players should be able to hold their own – at least across the breadth of the game – and even when they don't, the games should be structured so that those falling behind have opportunities to rebound.

You don't want to have to think too hard – to have to read or learn lots of rules or controls. You don't want to have to wait around. You don't want too much skill or luck to dominate and any one player pulling so far ahead they can never be caught. You want to feel like you are all playing together and all stand a chance of winning.

As a family, we have played many different party games on every possible platform and few have held our mutual attention for long. UbiSoft's Rabbids series, for all its jolly novelty, soon ended up feeling like a list of chores. The Mario Party series has become increasingly long-winded and less captivating to play with every new iteration (or maybe it's always been like that and I only recently noticed). WarioWare – Smooth Moves in particular – was snappier, sillier and sassier than its peers, but the recent Wii U outing feels like it's taking a wrong turn. The original Wii Party was a favourite until the disc somehow got scratched beyond repair, but it wasn't so special that we felt the need to replace it.

But now, from Nd Cube, the Nintendo team that gave us Wii Party and Mario Party 9 we have … Well, basically more of the same. It even looks, sounds and feels like Wii Party. It's an unassuming package that, curiously, seems to have encouraged a surge in Wii U sales in Japan.

Traditionalist Nintendo are apparently struggling to fit in with a new gaming world order of extremes ranging from the equivalent of daytime TV to HBO cool. The erstwhile playing card company so often stands aone anachronism: a wooden toy maker in a modern world increasingly dominated by plastic electronic novelty (for the record I see value in both forms).

Nintendoers

I confess that we are a family of Nintendoists. Nintendonians. Nintendoters. For the simple reason that they have consistently given us the best virtual tools we can use to make fun together. The Wii was a much-loved crowd-pleaser in this house – a contemporary piano to gather around for a singsong – and the Wii U has worked out just as well, if not better. Despite an increasingly inexhaustible avalanche of disposable cheap and free games across all other formats, for us it's the Wii and Wii U that have provided the most enduring value and hold the fondest memories, with the DS and 3DS a close second.

It was a cold, wet weekend and just the excuse we needed for a PAR-TAY! Putting Wii Party U to the test were Daddy Gary (47), Daughter Daisy (11), Daughter Scarlett (eight) and Son Dexter (six). Mummy Melissa (43) prefers the likes of nonograms and hidden object games and gave a look of disdain when asked to join in the jollity.

This means we have four players with distinctly mixed abilities and broad tastes: Gary the ageing hardcore gamer who's long lost his edge; Daisy, solid but not exceptional; Scarlett, erratic but sometimes spectacular; Dexter, capable beyond his years but still so young.

Wii Party U offers four key ways to sample its 80-odd activities. The three main modes – TV Party, House Party and GamePad Party – each provide a different playscape focal point: your TV, your room and your Wii U GamePad. The Minigames option on the other hand simply offers seven alternative ways to appreciate a collection of over 50 minigames.

TV Party is primarily a set of virtual board games, such as GamePad Island with echoes of Mario Party beneath its many novel methods of determining dice throws with the GamePad. Mii Fashion Plaza revolves around collecting costume sets to dress your Miis, which is fun for a short while, but takes far too long to conclude. The pace really can drag in these longer compilations, not least because of the sheer amount of ceremonial punctuation within each minigame and metagame as a whole.

House Party is meant to turn your room into a video game playground. Instead, it has the effect of turning the Wii U into more of an elephant in the room. The eight games here are slightly more substantial than their mini stablemates and typically take the form of televisual gameshows, only two of which held our attention for any worthwhile time.

Name that Face gave us the giggles as we took turns to capture a given description by striking a facial expression and taking a snapshot, leaving the others to choose from four possible answers that have similar likely interpretations. Is the food too hot? Are they trying to whistle a tune? Blow up a balloon? Or did they stub their toe?

Sketchy Situation provides a nice twist on Pictionary et al. One of the players is given a different subject to quick-draw and everyone has to spot the odd one out: pilot not police officer; octopus not spider; watering can not magic lamp. The time pressure works wonders to make simple drawings more confusing.

Limited gimmicks



The most gimmicky games are the ones that don't work as well (and those are mostly found in House Party). In Water Runners you use Wii Remotes to scoop water from the GamePad stream and take it to the TV jugs, whereas Fast Food Frenzy is a tame memory game in which you serve your customers their orders on the GamePad; in Folk Dance Fever you take your partners by the Wii Remotes to form a circle and follow the given moves. All very clever in theory but incredibly clunky and banal in reality.

The dozen or so GamePad Party games are less sociable affairs for pairs, one either end of the controller, stick in hand to play competitively or cooperatively. Interestingly, much of this collection is presented as simulations of miniature machines inside the controller itself and reminded me of joyous times at Musée Mécanique in San Francisco. But as tactile and charming as these games are, they tend to feel insubstantial - in need of structural support and depth to give you reason to return.

Tabletop Football is a little soggy but still a diverting foosball, whereas Tabletop Baseball is far more responsive, challenging and exhilarating: the pitcher flicks the stick to launch the ball at high speed and the batter needs lightning reactions to hit back. The game unfolds as a precision mechanical reenactment of the sport with the likes of moving holes in the roles of fielders.

Curling Competition feels like Crossfire, only with the aim of having one of your shots closest to a target's centre when time's up. Guiding balls through obstacle courses in 'Tabletop Gauntlet' is reminiscent of playing Screwball Scramble. But as enjoyable as the three short courses are, they leave you hungry for more.

We spent the most time playing metagames Spot the Sneak and Bridge Burners in the Minigames section. In Spot the Sneak, at the start of every minigame, one player is designated The Sneak by virtue of their Wii Remote not vibrating while everyone else's does. The Sneak is granted the power of perfect play by way of cheats. After the minigame everyone has to nominate who they think was The Sneak for possible bonus points. No one trusted anyone and everyone struggled to watch everyone else cheat while trying to win. The kids played cunningly here, often not making use of the cheats or pretending to cheat and verbally misdirecting to confuse each other.

Bridge Burners is one of very few co-operative ways to play. Everyone's combined performance in the minigames determines if their Miis are strong enough to push over huge stones to bridge five chasms along a course. Working together was supremely satisfying, especially when one or more of us could compensate for any weak links in the chain, and we'd have preferred more opportunities like that.

Scarlett turned out to be our secret weapon at Close Knit, which requires timely rocking of the Wii Remote to quickly knit as long a scarf as possible. Dexter turned into a demon with the surprisingly challenging and compelling 'One-Two Punch', which offers a simple choice between punching falling logs and catching dropped watermelons. Daisy was our 'Cliff Riders' champion, riding a unicycle precariously balanced atop a narrowing, winding clifftop racetrack high above the ground, tilting the Wii Remote like a highwire walker's pole to steer.

Back to basics



Perhaps surprisingly, much of Wii Party U is played with standard Wii Remotes rather than taking advantage of the Wii U's distinctive GamePad or the more precise qualities of the Wii Remote Plus included in the bundle. But at least the controls are usually straightforward and involve little more than the timely pressing of a single button or furiously shaking the Wii Remote or pointing it; occasionally there's a need for four directions, too, but overall there's nothing overly taxing.

The different activities vary in their skill and luck requirements. Some challenge your dexterity, timing or memory; others demand no discernible skill whatsoever yet provide no less entertainment. Hide-and-Go-Beak, for example, never failed to raise tension and nervous laughs. Each player picks a patch of grass to hide behind and then waits while an indignant ostrich struts around ominously, often wrong-footing everyone by paying close attention to one hiding place, escalating the drama before changing its mind and darting off to unleash hardy pecks on an unfortunate loser's head.

Mad Hatter is a simple, stupid game of bluff, double bluff and blind luck. Everyone has to secretly select one of a handful of hats, slipping into changing rooms before emerging to proudly sport their choices. Anyone not wearing the same hat as anyone else, scores points. That's it. You know it's unpredictable but in the heat of the moment you can't help believing that cunning psychological strategy will keep you ahead of everyone else.

Everyone deserves a second chance



The games that work best have an element of luck and second chances. Like Mii Vaulters, which isn't just a matter of shaking Wii Remotes to run as fast as possible and timing your button press to launch your Mii from its pole - well, it is at first, but in flight you can shake the Wii Remote to desperately flap your arms and slow and extend your descent, which adds to the drama.

'Safari Hustle' is a short race between animals including zebra, giraffe, rhinoceros and ostrich, each with a unique size, shape, regular speed, full speed and stamina. These stats make all the difference. You thrash the Wii Remote to whip the animal to go faster – at the expense of stamina. The speedy ostrich can race off ahead but lacks stamina, whereas the giraffe has lower running speeds but plenty of stamina (and more reach). It's so unpredictable, but feels skilful and ultimately finely balanced. What usually happens is that someone races ahead or ends up so close to the finish line only to misjudge their efforts and run out of puff to have someone else to steal the race at the last second. Rousing stuff.

We came to Wii Party U like we'd discovered a long-lost toy chest in the attic. We ripped through it without due care and attention, quickly sampling everything in isolation. Then we went back and played everything properly until we got bored of some parts – although the likes and dislikes only added to the fun when they came up in the mix. We explored every nook and cranny, every individual game and every package, which in itself was a fun way to pass the time until everything settled down and our interest waned. I feel like we wore it out. We have been back to it since our first encounter, but not with quite the same fervour now the novelty's worn off.

I tried games on my own, playing against artificial opponents. We also tried games on their own, outside of a metagame. They really do need human players in the same physical space (the minigames were best with four, but adequate with three) and within the context of a party package – the social interaction a party affords. The essential ingredient is people – real people, not those fake companions for lonely players.

The games aren't really designed to be played on their own, over and over, consumed like salted peanuts or Pringles or fruit machines like so many apps today. No, these are more amuse-bouche – or amuse-mains – served up at the host's whim. Actually, come to think of it, that better describes WarioWare; Wii Party U is a more clinical serving of crisps, jelly and ice cream.

Wii Party U is basically Wii Party all over again. It's not great, but there's no denying the fact that we were entertained. We laughed a lot; the kids got competitive and occasionally argumentative and explosive when they couldn't immediately get to grips with some games or win. (No, really, honest, it was the kids …)

It's easy to see how one could come down hard on Wii Party U. It's a mixed bag of tricks – a mess really, but an engaging one – in the right company at least. Wii Party U could be considered genre-defining only because it's as good as it gets right now; it feels like there's still so much more to be done with the format. Ultimately, if you have like-minded players at a loose end, it's a party worth attending. I'm sure we will be back for more over the festive season in between rinsing LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and Super Mario 3D World.

Gary is a games developer, but was once a game journalist, one of the first in the UK, working on magazines such as ZZap 64 and Computer & Video Games