‘Mucho Party’ Review: Sure to Liven up the Party

GlobZ’s Mucho Party (out now, $3.99) may not look very impressive at the start, because the graphics honestly aren’t incredibly attractive. However, if you actually play a couple of the thirty-one mini games, you might find it surprisingly fun. Especially if you play against a friend or family member.

When you first enter Mucho Party, you’ll be forced to take three selfies: one to represent a happy face, another for a sad face, and lastly, a normal face. Personally, I found that irritating. I took pictures of my lamp instead. Some people may like to personalize their avatars with their face, but it would be preferable if we were given a choice to use images from our photo library.

screen480x480Once you’ve got your pictures taken, you’ll be presented with a Whac-A-Mole game to test your basic skill level. How well you do in that will determine the AI you’re pitted against (if you’re not playing against a human opponent). Mucho Party offers three levels of difficulty.

Some mini games are easier and/or more fun than others, but almost all of them are a test of your reflexes. In the first mini game, Cupcake Mania, you and your opponent will be hopping along a rope sectioned in red and green. You’ve got to tap the right colored bell in order to jump to the next section. The catch is the two bells randomly switch positions. Another cute mini game is Mucho Tango. You’ve got to get the dance steps right by tapping the black shoeprints when they move to meet the white shoeprints.

Other mini games may involve racing with your fingers, matching items, aiming bombs at your opponent’s fortress, and bouncing on a sofa to push the ceiling up (and squash your opponent).

Though the mini games are pretty simple, the game instruction (generally an image of a finger tapping some place on the screen) can be rather ambiguous. Quite a number of times I started a game not knowing what I was supposed to do, though I figured it out through trial and error (but sometimes lost the particular game against the AI because of it).

Mucho Party offers a few game modes, most of which are locked at the start. Under Quick Play, you can choose a specific game under Mosaic (a mosaic of mini game icons) or take your chances with a random game. Other game modes include Duel, TicTacToe, HotSeat, and League. The more you play, the more game modes and mini games you’ll unlock.

Verdict

Mucho Party makes for some fun entertainment with your family and friends, and it should indeed liven up a party. The great thing about it is practically anyone can play it, whether young or old. As another plus, each mini game is quick and very replayable. The only caveat is it might not be so fun on a cramped iPhone screen as compared to an iPad.