Game night suggestions

[BiotechBen]

Howdy all,

Looking to organize a group game night, and I'm slowly going mad trying to find a game we can all play together. Ideally a Free-to-play multiplayer, but if it's like <$10 I think I can swing it. 

We've got this breakdown:

Me: no restrictions, powerful, Windows 

2: Gaming laptop with 1650

3: 1215u iGPU Windows

4: M2 8-core 

5: 2018 MBP (Iris Plus 655, no dGPU afaik)

 

Rough graphics performance comparison

 

Our go-to was JackBox, but that's gotten quite old. 

 

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

Thought about older/retro titles with LAN multiplayer? It has been 10 years now since we last did that, but a bunch of friends and I we just loaded up old games from our childhood (UT99, Diablo 2, Serious Sam 2 etc.) and played multiplayer in those. 

 

Point is that old games are usually pretty cheap to get and should run on most modern hardware, even laptops. Some games also had (local) coop in some form, so you could do a run in e.g. Borderlands 1 or Diablo 2 together.

 

[DeerDK]

Counter Strike?

Red Alert

Flatout 2

 

My friends and I also had a ton of fun with Civilization while binging Blackadder on the TV in the background

[BiotechBen]

4 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Thought about older/retro titles with LAN multiplayer? It has been 10 years now since we last did that, but a bunch of friends and I we just loaded up old games from our childhood (UT99, Diablo 2, Serious Sam 2 etc.) and played multiplayer in those. 

 

Point is that old games are usually pretty cheap to get and should run on most modern hardware, even laptops. Some games also had (local) coop in some form, so you could do a run in e.g. Borderlands 1 or Diablo 2 together.

 

I like where you're headed, but only two of us are "Gamers" and it's been the issue with a lot of the "can run on a potato" games. 

4 hours ago, DeerDK said:

Counter Strike?

Red Alert

Flatout 2

 

My friends and I also had a ton of fun with Civilization while binging Blackadder on the TV in the background

Good suggestions if we're all FPS gamers . We've got two "Gamers" and then 3 "animal crossing is the most game I play". 

 

 

The original plan was like Overcooked 2 or similar, something low gamer and easy to run, but the iGPU restriction is really becoming an issue....

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

28 minutes ago, BiotechBen said:

The original plan was like Overcooked 2 or similar, something low gamer and easy to run, but the iGPU restriction is really becoming an issue....

Problem is most modern F2P titles will also not run on MacOS or those older iGPUs.

 

Tried looking at something like Worms? Easy concept, earlier versions should run on any potato or could even be played one PC when everyone is around in the same place.

It doesn't have to be FPS or old school RTS, once you get past the graphics the gameplay loop of some of these games is still fun.

 

Browsing gog, I can see some interesting sales:

• https://www.gog.com/en/game/stronghold_crusader Which has nice multiplayer (with Bots iirc) and you could take it slow for your buddies to catch up. Plus it is currently less than 2$.
• https://www.gog.com/en/game/diablo A classic, though pushing the accessibility really, since it is so old-school it misses a lot of now common features.
• https://www.gog.com/en/game/worms_armageddon

If Animal Crossing is the max they go with and have no desire to try new(old) stuff, then there is little you can do here.

 

[DeerDK]

47 minutes ago, BiotechBen said:

I like where you're headed, but only two of us are "Gamers" and it's been the issue with a lot of the "can run on a potato" games. 

Good suggestions if we're all FPS gamers . We've got two "Gamers" and then 3 "animal crossing is the most game I play". 

 

 

The original plan was like Overcooked 2 or similar, something low gamer and easy to run, but the iGPU restriction is really becoming an issue....

Okay, I would still recommend Flatout 2, then. It's demolition derby and very silly. 

 

Heroes of Might and Magic (3 of course) is also very potato friendly and doesn't require quick reflexes.. 

 

What about Among us or something like that? 

 

3 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Problem is most modern F2P titles will also not run on MacOS or those older iGPUs.

 

Tried looking at something like Worms? Easy concept, earlier versions should run on any potato or could even be played one PC when everyone is around in the same place.

It doesn't have to be FPS or old school RTS, once you get past the graphics the gameplay loop of some of these games is still fun.

 

Browsing gog, I can see some interesting sales:

• https://www.gog.com/en/game/stronghold_crusader Which has nice multiplayer (with Bots iirc) and you could take it slow for your buddies to catch up. Plus it is currently less than 2$.
• https://www.gog.com/en/game/diablo A classic, though pushing the accessibility really, since it is so old-school it misses a lot of now common features.
• https://www.gog.com/en/game/worms_armageddon

If Animal Crossing is the max they go with and have no desire to try new(old) stuff, then there is little you can do here.

 

Oh yea, definitely Worms. 

[BiotechBen]

32 minutes ago, DeerDK said:

What about Among us or something like that?

Gonna be totally honest, completely forgot that game even existed . 

 

32 minutes ago, DeerDK said:

Oh yea, definitely Worms.

I'll give a it a more in-depth look, might be the move. 

 

 

Honestly, if there was like a 5-way Battleship kinda game, that would be probably perfect. 

 

 

Usually the 3/5 of us that have a Switch will have a games night and do Mario Kart and it's a ton of fun. 

 

 

The other thing that'll be interesting is that the other "gamer" in the group may be getting deployed soon, so it'll make game nights that much more special and interesting.

 

Update:

I may have found some fun easy browser games?

https://buddyboardgames.com/

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

13 hours ago, BiotechBen said:

Honestly, if there was like a 5-way Battleship kinda game, that would be probably perfect. 

 

Then Worms is it for you. Up to 6 teams, turn-based with quick turnaround, can be played online/network or on a single computer, concept is really simple yet with enough depth to not make it boring within minutes.

 

I can recommend Worms Armageddon or Worldparty, no clue about the newer releases.

[BiotechBen]

9 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Then Worms is it for you. Up to 6 teams, turn-based with quick turnaround, can be played online/network or on a single computer, concept is really simple yet with enough depth to not make it boring within minutes.

 

I can recommend Worms Armageddon or Worldparty, no clue about the newer releases.

The important question: can it be done as a multiplayer online room from multiple devices?

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

1 hour ago, BiotechBen said:

multiplayer online room

A what now?

Anyway, while pretty old it should work and after ~10s of google I already found guides and online discussion on how to set it up:

https://worms2d.info/Hosting_Guide

https://steamcommunity.com/app/217200/discussions/0/864945865066030381

 

No clue how that would work on a Macbook though.

[BiotechBen]

46 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

A what now?

Anyway, while pretty old it should work and after ~10s of google I already found guides and online discussion on how to set it up:

https://worms2d.info/Hosting_Guide

https://steamcommunity.com/app/217200/discussions/0/864945865066030381

 

No clue how that would work on a Macbook though.

Epic, getting a group in person meet is a logistical nightmare with all our schedules lining up (multiple people in healthcare, and another doesn't have a car and lives in rural ghetto)

 

Multiplayer online would just be like Me hosting a temp server essentially and then them playing with. 

[BiotechBen]

I may indeed be an absolute dummy. I have been looking at RECOMMENDED specs instead of MINIMUM SPECS.  Overcooked 2 MAY run on all machines!

[Stahlmann]

Stick Fight is fun and can be played locally with up to 4 players. It also doesn't require much PC power and is easy to learn. Basically just moving and left clicking.