Party Hard – The Game For People Who Dislike Partying Hard

Everyone’s experienced it at some point: those neighbors that just won’t stop blasting music on a weeknight when you’ve got work the next day, or maybe you’ve had the misfortune of getting a hotel room situated right across a night club. All you want is to get some rest, but everyone else just has to Party Hard.

Reactions to people partying way too hard into the next morning range from calling the cops on them, to throwing hotel slippers at everyone who exits the club – no judgment, I’ve seen it happen. At least you don’t go to the club and start stabbing people.

… right?

Well, in Party Hard, you get to play the guy who’s tired of his endlessly-partying neighbors and takes matters into his own hands. The prototype of the game was built during the latest Global Game Jam, and tinyBuild Games (No Time To Explain) backed up original developer Pinokl Games to bring a full version to Steam and mobile.

If you want to get a feel of what it’d be like to play as Stabby McStabbington (not his official name), they’ve left the playable prototype up on the tinyBuild website. The controls are a bit unwieldy, but it’s manageable. It’s all about stealth, folks. Make sure there are no witnesses to call the cops on your amateur killing spree, and do your best to blend in with the crowd. What you see in the Party Hard trailer is more advanced than what you’ll get with the prototype, but I can tell you right now that it is probably the most honest game trailer I’ve seen in a while. What you see is what you’ll get.

The build they’ll be releasing runs a lot smoother than the prototype, of course. We’ve been given access to the early build, and it’s a lot less frustratingly slow and a whole lot more challenging, as if the demo wasn’t challenging enough. The controls are fairly straightforward, and there’s still a dedicated dance button. There are helpful indicators for when you can interact with something, like picking up passed-out people to move them to a different area or tipping over a gas can to set a room on fire. There’s definitely a lot more action going on compared to the prototype.

In terms of AI behavior, it’s more diverse. The NPCs can now go out for a smoke or wander out of the club to pass out in the side alley, they can actually party hard now instead of just hanging around the dance floor or wandering off to side rooms. Firemen will arrive if you set a room on fire (and you probably will) and paramedics will come to collect dead bodies, so the place won’t be littered with body bags. In cases of extreme chaos, a SWAT team will come in and get everything under control. The DEA also makes an appearance if there are drug-related activities going on. Keep in mind that aside from being arrested for stabbing numerous partygoers, you can also get beaten by anyone who catches you, or straight up killed by the SWAT team just for getting in their way. We should probably also tell you that all the vehicles are capable of running you over.

If you found the prototype fun, then the final build will probably make you very happy. Pinokl and tinyBuild are preparing a dozen semi-procedural levels that follow a killing spree through the USA, with unlockable characters (you can be a ninja!). Party Hard is coming to Steam on August 25th.