HOUSE PARTY REVIEW
story by Mike Gas
published on September 15, 2022
We're almost approaching two decades since the release of Meet n’ Fuck Leila and Facade. And to be honest, aside from what's coming out of the queer games scene, it doesn’t feel like we’ve really made much progress in the world of digital romance and video game sex. House Party makes a couple of decent strides, but the game has so much more potential than what it actually delivers. I could honestly see myself playing this team's next game, as I feel like they could truly build upon what's there if they just try a little harder.
I think it's pretty passe to review a porn game and spend multiple paragraphs calling it out for objectifying women, but yea, House Party is without a doubt also a little misogynistic. The game also has gay sex which I did not see any of the bearded white emasculated ideologues reviewing it online mention, and the steps to initaite it are just as dumb and cumbrained as the steps you have to take to get in bed with the women. Not that that really counts for anything or excuses the game's sins.
If the writing was a little more mature, and wasn’t written solely by just men, it could elevate this game this game to being seen not just as a porn game (not that that’s bad or anything), but as a fun digital adventure that just happens to have sex. Part of me also hopes that they seek out queer developers, or just people with unique backgrounds like Robert Yang to advise or consult on the game, that way the sex could actually be fun and something genuienly groundbreaking, and not just boring lifeless mouse wiggling.
As marketplaces like Steam become more and more lax on their policies regarding sexual content, now is a more opportune time than ever for video games to reach a point where there can be sex in it (and I’m not just talking about fade to blacks or whatever the fuck those cutscenes in Cyberpunk 2077 are) without it being labled as a porn game. I’d love to see a game in the future that has the scale of House Party and the arthouse punk spirit of Robert Yang’s Radiator 2. I think we’re getting closer to that point, with games like House Party, even if it is just a 1/10th of a millimeter closer, and that’s the positive side to this mediocre game.
FINAL SCORE
2.5/5 CANS OF PABST BLUE RIBBON
I hereby dub House Party the 75% smoked roach your cool aunt left in the glove-box of your car for a rainy day.