'Kinect Party' free until 2013

Kinect Party, follow-up to Double Fine's Happy Action Theater, and a motion-based game that dumps high scores, storyline and fail states in favor of good times for all, will be free on Xbox 360 Kinect from its December 18 launch until the end of the year.

Kinect-Party-a-game-you-just-can-t-lose-Photo-AFP

Kinect Party, follow-up to Double Fine's Happy Action Theater, and a motion-based game that dumps high scores, storyline and fail states in favor of good times for all, will be free on Xbox 360 Kinect from its December 18 launch until the end of the year.

Happy Action Theater's approach to Kinect-controlled gaming avoided issues of accuracy and frustration by embracing an altogether more casual and festive attitude, which went down well with reviewers and players alike.

The Kinect Party download looks to be more of the same, with 36 modes for up to six players, including the first game's 18 activities.

It's a bit like the PlayStation 2's EyeToy series with the unbridled nuttiness of a WarioWare title: participants can expect to see themselves as divers in an iceberg-laden swimming pool, dancing skeletons, butterflies, pirates digging for treasures, bowling pins, city-trampling monsters, or characters from the popular game Minecraft.

Not one to miss out on one of 2012's most knowingly overused trends in gaming, it also includes a dubstep mode which is nothing short of hilarious (as long as you're in the right frame of mind).