Chimparty is another entrant in Sony’s wonderful PlayLink range. Like Frantics and That’s You!, Chimparty is a game designed for a group of friends or family to have some uproarious fun in front of their TV.
The beauty of PlayLink games is in their simplicity. Nobody needs a DualShock 4, instead, players use their smartphones or tablets. Chimparty is no exception and, in fact, it has probably the best controls of any PlayLink game thus far.
Each and every minigame in Chimparty is controlled by only one button press. There’s no swiping, no motion or gyro controls and no voice activation. Every player needs only to press one big button on their screen and they’re set.
Chimparty Review
Functionally, Chimparty takes some inspiration from Mario Party. Players face off on a board, with the goal at the end being a sofa. The closest to the sofa at the end of the game wins. Unlike Mario Party, not all players roll a die each turn. Instead, after the first minigame, players are awarded stars based on their performance.
Everyone moves ahead the same number of spaces as stars earned. Should you land a space already occupied by another Chimp, you’ll be pushed ahead one more space. After everyone has moved, the Chimp in last place gets to roll a die in an attempt to catch up.
Once that’s done, you’re onto the next minigame.
Chimparty goes like this until one player makes it to the sofa at the end of the board, which ends the game. Games take between 15 minutes and half an hour, but you’ll not likely notice the time as you’ll be having far too much fun.
Chimp off the Old Block
I played with my family and we laughing so hard, we thought we’d have the neighbours complaining.
There are a variety of minigames in Chimparty, with most of them requiring you to earn points in various ways. Some have you launch your Chimp towards a basketball hoop, others task you with collecting bananas, while one took inspiration from Splatoon and had you painting the floor to have the most coverage.
Each of these minigames (and in fact all of them) have a simple control scheme that you’re introduced to before you play. For the basketball game, you hold down your button to stop and fill a moving arrow to set the angle and power of your jump. Once you release, your chimp goes flying.
Chimp, Chimp, Chooray
For the painting game, you hold the button down to walk and release to stop. A rotating arrow indicates which direction you’ll walk and after every time you press and release it, it rotates the opposite direction.
None of the minigames is overly complex or taxing, but damn if they’re not a lot of fun. When you have three or four players frantically pressing their phones and screaming louder than the Chimps, you know it’s a good time.
Players are able to customise their Chimps with hats, hair, accessories and shoes. These are earned by collecting stars and trust me, they’re ridiculous and only add to the good time you’ll have with Chimparty
Whether playing with kids or friends, Chimparty is a definite winner and a great addition to PlayLink.
Chimparty was reviewed using a digital code provided by Sony.
PowerUp! Reviews
Game Title: Chimparty
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Hilarious family fun - 8.3/108.3/10
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Ingenious Mini-games that use one button - 7.6/107.6/10
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Some games aren't well explained - 5/105/10
