Party Hard

Party Hard is the full version of the browser game Party Hard original created as a Game Jam prototype. The player controls a character who is tired of neighbours having loud parties late at night. Instead of calling the police, he decides to take matters into his own hands and sneak into the party to kill everyone. The game contains several parties in locations all over the USA and between levels there are short cut-scenes where the story is told. The events are narrated as descriptions of the massacres, told by inspector John West who was the officer in command on the Party Hard killings.

Each party is shown as a single screen 2D environment with pixel graphics. The character can be moved around freely and the party can generally be entered from multiple directions. To win the level everyone at the party needs to be murdered, but this needs to be done in a stealthy way as alarmed guests will notify the police. Guests are killed with a knife, but this leaves behind a bloody body. The body can either be carried to a remote location or be dumped through a window or inside a dumpster to get rid of it permanently. When other guests notice a murder, they will rush to a phone to call the authorities. The character can attempt to intercept them, but this can trigger a chain of being noticed again. A police officer will arrive at the scene by car (sometimes accidentally killing guests) and he will then chase after you and perform an arrest, ending the level. There are however a few ways to avoid that. If the character manages to outrun an officer long enough, he will leave. There are also certain short-cuts that can be used a limited amount of times before a Mario-like character arrives to close them. Officers can also be killed through a number of traps. Other people who arrive at the scene are paramedics for casualties, firemen to put out fires, FBI agents and SWAT teams after setting off explosives. Not all of them go after the killer, but there are almost always ways to get rid of them too.

Bodies can be left behind as well, because if there is no one close enough to see the kill or suspect it based on the character's position, the officer will only investigate generally or someone else may be blamed and arrested. The player also has to take account the line of sight through windows, open and closed doors and raised surfaces. The game is shown from an elevated, almost top-down perspective. Next to regular kills there are many objects in the environment that can be used as traps. Drinks can be poisoned, hot plates can explode, trees can crash, people can be set on fire, speakers explode, animals can be agitated to make them kick or attack and so on. Some elements can be triggered not as a trap, but to lure away the guests, such as nudging a bike to make the alarm go off or changing the music so people form a conga line. All actions are rewarded with points. Next to police officers, characters such as bouncers can kill you. When dead or busted, the entire level needs to be replayed.

The level along with the guests and the available traps are different variations for each new session. Guests act on their own and react to the environment. For instance they become faster when they are alarmed. Many of them also take a nap and then they can be carried to a different location, as long as a bouncer does not see it. Other game elements are calling in a fellow murderer to create mayhem, or picking up power-ups or buying them from a shady character. These power-ups include a change of clothes to shake off suspicion (only when those who suspect or chase the character are not looking), a smoke grenade, a stun grenade, a piece of pizza to draw people, explosives and so on. It is also possible to blend in by dancing along with the other guests. Other actions are listening to conversations or highlighting the available traps, and sprinting (with a stamina meter).

The game contains nineteen unique levels. For the PC version seven of these were added afterwards in an After Party update with variations of existing levels, introducing aliens, UFOs, rainbows, zombies and even a sinking ship. Up to five different characters can be unlocked eventually and they have slightly different abilities. The female character Katie for instance can kick guests to render them unconscious and then they can be dragged somewhere else. The cop character can carry any character without being suspicious and can also frame other people. The butcher wields a chainsaw, while the ninja uses smoke bombs to remain hidden as much as possible. The game has interactive Twitch integration where the streamer's audience can interfere by triggering chaos.