Mike Klubnika, creator of the 2023 multiplayer mega-hit Buckshot Roulette, is establishing himself as a (mostly) solo developer with a very specific niche focus: party games with lethally high stakes. His next game is called Machine Party, and the premise in the simplest terms is horror Mario Party.
Per the official Steam description: "Machine Party is a collection of violent party games where failure is lethal. Gather your friends and endure high stakes situations to prove your life is worth more than theirs. Survival is unlikely."
With challenges like competitive pea-eating and speed cigarette smoking, in which losing seems to almost always result in a revolver blast to the face – not to mention the distinct low-poly, grungecore aesthetic – Machine Party is to Mario Party what Twisted Metal is to Mario Kart.
It's unclear if there's a Mario Party-style game board, or if Machine Party really is just "a collection of uniquely violent party games," but the game supports 2-4 players and gives you "multiple devious ways of screwing your friends over."
The distinction here is that, unlike in Mario Party, screwing your friends over means the violent deaths of said friends. I don't know if there are Thwomp-like things in Machine Party, but if there are and you suffer the misfortune of being under one when it falls, you wouldn't bounce back like a gelatinous blob. Bones would crunch. Blood would flow. Bits of flesh would stick to the Thwomp's jagged edges. You get the idea.
In the words of the developer, there will be "frequent gory outcomes from losing mini games."
Machine Party is due out Q3 2026.
In the meantime, here are the best party games to get down with right now.
