Gamingcouch.com takes the Jackbox magic and makes it couch-casual
- Use your phone as controllers
- Play a load of fun arcade games
- Battle against your friends
There have been a few cases of mobile phones being turned into controllers, but normally in a way that focuses on Trivia or on more long-form, text based games where everyone can make decisions on their device or type in various words to complete things. Gamingcouch.com changes that, inviting players to connect to a screen, via a QR-code, and then use their mobile phones as controllers that move and interact with the game itself.
On a shared screen, everyone can see the levels that they are taking on, but individually control their characters through arcade mini-games. When the game starts you and your friends join in using your mobile phones. Everyone is given a color that indicates who they will be in the various mini-games. Then, you can define how many rounds you want to do, which will also tell you the amount of time it will take to complete the entire game and crown a winner.
Then, the actual gameplay begins! Gamingcouch.com presents two games to you, and everyone can vote for which one they want to do. Then, you are given a full warm-up round that allows everyone to immerse themselves into the controls, after reading them on the loading screen.
This really ensures everyone knows exactly what their goal is and how to do it. Then, there are two rounds that actually count for points. There is a fantastic variety of mini-games in Gamingcouch.com from car parking / racing type games, to snake-like games, to twists on Pong... each of these classics feel juicy and refreshed. Their quick bite-sized nature also makes them fun to explore. At the end of each round, you can see who is in the lead and who is not, targetting the King player who wears the crown next round.
Gamingcouch.com, being more focused on these fun games, allows a wider age range of individuals to play the games. Whether you are a young family member or an adult, the mini-games are the same and easy to play through. Controls don't change too much from game to game, so everything starts to quickly feel familar. This also means you can play with people with different levels of experience with games, which is something that I always enjoy in my household.
Gamingcouch.com does feel like it needs an Xbox or PlayStation app, so that it can be more easily played on consoles, but otherwise feels like such a fun, family friendly party game! At the moment, it's in Alpha, and I am excited to see where it goes as more minigames are added.
