Nice multiplayer game for 3 or more in a single PC

[Ivo]

Hi,

I often would like to have some nice game to have guests play. Ideally it would be simple so that it also appeal to casual gamers (partners of gamers, for example).
The most important carachteristic I seek is that it would be multiplayer for 3 or 4 persons on a single PC. Anyone else faces this issue?

I have tried before putting a person each on their single player game (e.g. one on the PC, one on the console) as that is what I usually have available, but it doesn't seem to work very well. Currently I only have one screen anyway, so it would be either some people on the PC or two on a console.

Does not matter if turn-based (hot seat?) or not. It seems this kind of multiplayer is more typical of retro games so some of you may have good ideas?
Modern suggestions are also welcomed!

The only ones I could think I think are not appealing to non-gamers (I thought of stuff like Liero or Generally).

Ivo.

[fastbilly1]

I have been working on this issue on and off for years. Most of these need controllers but you could play two on the keyboard if you had to. Off the top of my head:
Scorched Earth - hot seat
Atomic Bomberman - 8 player?
Trine - 3 player
Serious Sam - 4 player
Bionic Commando Rearmed - 4 player - works with just a joystick and 2 buttons
Get Medevil - 4 player - harder to find Gauntlet clone.
Mule - 4 player
Micro Machines v3/v4 - 4 player
Virtual Tennis - 4 player
Worms
Gene Rally
Disciples II - has hotseat but not recommended - heavy TBS

I recently discovered this program:
http://www.wunderworks.com/teamplayer/
Which allows multiple keyboards/mice connected. I am unsure how it works with gaming since I have not played with it yet, but it might be something to look into if you dont have controllers and have extra keyboards.

[J T]

Anything from the You Don't Know Jack series has always been a crowd favorite.

Serious Sam has a good split-screen offline multiplayer mode too.

[CRTGAMER]

The only ones I could think I think are not appealing to non-gamers (I thought of stuff like Liero or Generally).

Trick is finding games for breaking the ice to non-gamers. Puzzle type of games such as Bejeweled or Snood might be the answer. Even though single player, each can take turns when one loses.

A single PC monitor gets crowded for multiplayers, and having to set up all the controllers. You mentioned consoles. What consoles do you own? Maybe hit some Arcade Party games such as Crash Bash or Trivia such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The Buzz Series with its unique controllers the easiest for the non-gamer. You can also look into split screen types of games such as Racers or FPS.

Agree with JT's mention of You Don't Know Jack. There are PC and PSX versions of this great Trivia game.

Gamecube
Special mention for this one. Throw in a GBA and the GBA to Gamecube link cable. Pacman VS is for up to four players. One of the better easy to get into games, everyone knows Pacman.

[Anapan]

A few more I can add (DOS games I used to play a lot):
Jump 'n Bump. The original is a DOS game by Brainchild Design but it's been ported to Win32, Linux, Xbox and probably others.
Snakefighter 1.1 by Vivid Games/Michael Ammerlaan. Another dos game. 4-player Nibbles. Has some neat additions for battling like landmine dookie and stuff.
Tunneler 2.0 by Geoffrey Silverton. Another Dos game (a weird CGA text mode). Only 2 player, but the matches go pretty quickly. My brother and I used to spend hours playing it.

Oh yeah, and I just found out about GLTron! 1-4 player deathracing. Awesome.

I think Atomic Bomberman allowed multiplayer on one PC too, but can't remember for sure.

There's always emulation as well - Gauntlet, Warlords, and a plethora of Mame games. Seiken Densetsu 3 has a 3 player patch I've been meaning to try for awhile. No$GMB allowed multiple gameboys to be emulated & linked at once. I've never tried it but now that I've thought of it I'd love to try 4-player Bomberman GB and F1 Race like that.

Google turned up this:
http://pcsplitscreen.freehostia.com/

Edit: I forgot Jazz Jackrabbit 2

[JordanPlayer]

Get 4 USB controllers (or 3 if someone is fine playing keyboard); download a MAME emulator; then download the best arcade beat-em-ups you can find. Lots of fun to be had With unlimited credits you can actually beat the games.

[Ivo]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I played Jump n bump back in the day, I have to admit I thought of it as it is fairly easy to play. I'm not sure some are going to appreciate bunnies bursting into guts but who knows.

I'll try to test drive some of the suggestions. Snakefighter seems promising as Nibbles and variants are mainstreamy due to mobiles.

Ivo.

[Anapan]

I'm not sure some are going to appreciate bunnies bursting into guts but who knows

I think I remember there being a command-line switch to turn off the gore (or maybe it added more...). You could also turn on rocket-pack mode!

[Niode]

Magicka. You can use a combination of USB/wireless controllers and keyboard and mouse.

[Hobie-wan]

Another vote for Scorched Earth.