House Party

Lore & Background

The game begins with an introductory cutscene where the player character receives a text invitation to a house party from either Derek or Brittney, depending on the chosen gender. After arriving via ridesharing, the player drops and cracks their phone screen, then enters the party. Gameplay involves conversing with guests through a drop-down menu, completing objectives that affect disposition, and pursuing opportunity chains that can lead to explicit sexual activities. Not all opportunities can be completed in a single playthrough, encouraging replayability. Eek! Games also provides tools on their website for crafting custom stories with full dialogues and logic.

Reader's Guide

House Party's significance lies in its controversial nature and commercial success despite—or because of—its explicit content. The game was quickly popularized by major gaming streamers and influencers such as Game Grumps, PewDiePie, Jacksepticeye, and NerdCubed. Its strong sexual themes led to a ban on Twitch, and in July 2018 it was temporarily removed from Steam after complaints. It now exists in two versions: a base Mature-rated version with censored sex scenes, and an Explicit Content Add-On DLC rated Adult Only that removes censorship. The game's legacy includes a 2018 public audition contest that added streamer Lety Does Stuff and Game Grumps members Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan as in-game characters, and a 2019 indie music artist contest won by Popskyy with the song 'FUNKBOX'. In March 2022, the game added a female player character option and the singer Doja Cat as a guest. Critical reception has been sparse; John Walker of Rock, Paper, Shotgun named it 'Worst Game of the Year' for 2017, criticizing its portrayal of women as misogynistic.

Did You Know?

• House Party sold over 30,000 copies in its first few weeks of early access.
• The game was banned from streaming on Twitch due to its strong sexual content.
• In 2018, streamer Lety Does Stuff and Game Grumps members Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan were selected as winners of a public audition contest to appear in the game.
• The Explicit Content Add-On DLC was released to satisfy Steam's terms of service for an Adult Only rating.