The Rise of the Mega Multiplayer Games

Some games are fantastic for groups, but it takes special planning to find one that works for any number of players

Those of us blessed with a large group of friends might know the trouble of finding a game that can accommodate everyone. Many of our favorite board games have an eight-player limit, and most multiplayer computer games are only suitable for a maximum of four. Most times, it’s fine to just play with a select few, but what if everyone wants to play together?

Gaming companies have understood this need, and they’re answering it the best they can. The mega multiplayer games have never been more popular than it is right now. Here are the companies who are doing their best.

PokerStars Launches Tournaments

Many of the top online poker sites have announced new ways to play online with friends. PokerStars was one of the first to introduce private tournaments, where a group of friends can create their own poker league and play amongst themselves remotely.

Being able to choose your opponents sets this provider apart. While it was always possible to play with friends online, this new feature means things can be kept more exclusive. What’s more, all of the arguments about who is further up the league table can be settled once and for all.

On top of this, these tournaments serve another purpose – to keep people connected. In our increasingly global society, many friendship groups are now scattered across the world, so all meeting at one person’s house for game night is definitely a challenge. Online companies, eSports gaming organizers, and games console producers have realized that being able to connect online in this way truly is the only thing enabling some friendship groups to stay close.

Werewolf Capitalizes on a Traditional Game

Some games have real staying power, and that is certainly true of the folk favorite ‘Werewolf.’ This game has been slickly redesigned with chic and minimalist cards that are packaged beautifully and destined to become a party game favorite. The game works best with a minimum of seven people but will also work with large groups as long as everyone can all sit in one room. The gameplay is pretty simple with this one. Each player draws a card and will play the character on that card for the remainder of the game. Most of the players will be villagers, while one will be a doctor, one will be a seer, and up to two will be werewolves, depending on group size.

The rest of the game is played in turns of day and night. During the night, the werewolves come out and choose silently between themselves on which person to kill. When day breaks, the doctor chooses who to save, the seer chooses who to reveal something about, and the villagers bicker amongst themselves to decide who to kill. The game ends when the villagers successfully eradicate the werewolves or the werewolves pluck off the villagers until there are only two left. If your friends are a devious group, who aren’t afraid of lying, cheating, and occasionally being ruthless, then Werewolf could be a card game that’s seriously worth investing in.