There’s a few problems that make couch multiplayer games not that popular these days. There’s the need to own multiple controllers and then there’s the issue of needing people savvy enough to handle the controllers.
But what if we can make games even more accessible for multiplayer? Taking cues from the success of the Jackbox party games that uses the same method of control, Sony has a new line of social multiplayer games that uses mobile devices as a controller all under the new PlayLink umbrella.
One such game is developed by Until Dawn developers Supermassive Games. Their new game Hidden Agenda allows 1-5 players to follow a story to stop a serial killer where multiple choices are presented along the way. Like Until Dawn, each choice has its consequences which could lead to multiple character deaths.
While the main interaction here is just voting for answers, the twist comes from the namesake hidden agenda. Each player is presented with their own objectives which in theory will make it harder to reach unanimous votes. The one with the hidden agenda has to coerce the rest of the players to follow their lead while the rest have to figure out who that person is and not letting them get away with manipulating them.
While the rest of the PlayLink games are more in line with other social or party games, Supermassive’s take on what a social game can be- by watching how Until Dawn is played on streams and videos- is definitely intriguing and could possibly work well. All you need is to convince up to 4 friends to sit along for the ride.