We are an unapologetic game-playing household for sure, whether it’s the kind on the teevee or the kind in the box with pieces that end up under our couch.

As far as the video kind,  we’re always looking for options we can either play with our kids, or at least play while our kids are around without scarring them for life. (I’m considering banning all Modern Warfare activity until the kids have been asleep an hour or more. Ahem.)

Nintendo’s Wii Party game is now out and if you haven’t spent a good, oh, 79 hours in a row playing it on family game night, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Wii Party
is like Board Game 2.0, part rolling dice and moving squares, and part
getting off your butt to pedal a flying bicycle, slalom ski, race
through a path of grazing sheep or chop vegetables super fast using the
controller to mimic the action. It’s great for two people, but really it’s at its best when you’ve got all four players live and in your living room so you’re not using the computer-generated characters.

The House Party section is especially
fun, as it actually has you passing the controller from person to
person. And I love that some of the games are competitive, but some are
collaborative, so we all work together towards a common goal. Like, say,
beating Daddy.

I haven’t gotten through all 80 games yet but so
far, they’re a blast. Our 3 year-old can play a few of the mini games
along with us, and even if not, she just likes dressing up the Mii
avatars and cheering for the coins and trophies won.

There’s no
fighting, no grenades, no sexuality;  just wheel spinning, coin
collecting, a Vegas-y 1960s soundtrack, and a weird Humpty Dumpty
looking dude emcee-ing the whole thing in gibberish. At least in our household, what’s not to love?
  –Liz

Find the new Wii Party game from Nintendo online at our affiliate Amazon