[Review] Nintendo Switch - The Sisters: Party of the Year

Developer: Balio Studio, VetaSoft
Publisher: Microids
Category: Action, Adventure, Party, Multiplayer
Release Date: July 06, 2021

I am not a fan of party titles. They don’t appeal to me or my taste in gaming. To be frank, I am not really a massive fan of multiplayer titles. That said, something is captivating about a game that allows me to spend time with my kids. Especially titles that earn the winning statement, “I am having so much fun!”. With no expectations, I dove headlong into The Sisters: Party of the Year. While it may not be a game for an adult audience, I was left with a delightful experience.

Sibling Rivalry

The beginning of the game is fairly simple, as you would expect from a game made for a younger audience. There is a sort of campaign mode where you can choose between two sisters, Maureen or Wendy. Wendy, the older sister, plans on throwing a party and before she can set her goal in motion, Maureen steals the idea and rushes to their father to ask for a party first. This leads to a challenge between the sisters, where the winner can choose the theme of the barbeque.

Chip Off the Old Block Party

My oldest daughter admittedly spent the most time playing the Adventure mode. She loves that there are multiple styles to unlock, quests to complete and really enjoys that she can skate around the town on a scooter. There is a multitude of collectibles hidden throughout the town to find, and you receive friendship tickets that you can use to unlock the content. 24 different minigames tie the main story together and they are spread throughout the town. The story is nearly identical when playing the younger sister, while the narrative is changed to fit her character. There is a minimap that sort of does the job, but overall the gameplay is a basic build and what you would expect from a game of this type.

It Runs in the Family Circus

Starting the party game modes is literally a circus. You can select how many players are playing, up to 4 players in each game mode. In All or Nothing players compete in each of the 24 minigames. Each first-place provides a point in the overall total. Whoever ends with the highest total, wins it all. Tournaments are built in a standard format. You can select three different minigames. A tree is set up and splits the players up with AI players to set up a more challenging experience. Around the World is reminiscent of a game of Horse. During the player’s turn, they select the next minigame to challenge the other players. The final match is a random roll, and the player who wins the most minigames wins the match. The Challenges game mode is simply choosing one of the 24 minigames and either practicing your skills or playing with others.

Like Taking Candy From…Kids

There is much to be desired in party games. With titles like Mario Party, Overcooked, and Super Bomberman R there will always be expectations for top-tier experiences. Unfortunately, that cannot always be the case. I am, however, an advocate that gamers can enjoy simple things. This game fits that bill. The controls are built for children, and sometimes that isn’t quite enough. The Sisters gives opportunities to change the difficulty of each minigame to add more challenging encounters. It wasn’t needed. The game served the purpose, laughing and a lot of it.

Gaming Runs in the Family

The Sisters: Party of the Year isn’t a top-tier title that will win awards. It isn’t a game of the year. There were a couple of bugs that I had to work out for my daughter, which was mostly reloading the adventure mode to find the challenges on the map. The controls are stiff and limited. Graphically it looks like it is modeled after Calvin and Hobbes, and the music in the game was simple but never annoying. It had a charm that left me and my children laughing through the afternoon, and even with its limitations, my daughters and I will be putting more time into the game.

3/5