"DBD Is A Party Game" But Is It?
A "Party Game", in more modern definitions, is used to refer to a multiplayer (online or in-person) game that normally consisting of a series of short minigames, that can easily be played within a social setting.
When I think of a Party Game, I usually think of Jackbox Games or Mario Party, games that rely on social interaction to provide a fun and unique experience, which Jackbox provides, or a series of minigames that provide variety and draw in the players attention, like Mario Party.
But I often see "Dead by Daylight is a Party Game, it shouldnt be taken seriously", and which I ask, is it really a Party Game?
In Public Matches, Dead by Daylight is not a super serious competitive game. There is no Ranked/Unranked queue, just a single queue. Official Tournaments funded by BHVR are not really done anymore either, so most of the competitive aspects come from the community-made events that generally come from a lot of passion and love for the game.
But just because it's not super competitive does not automatically umbrella it as a Party Game either, which is what a lot of people dont understand (in my opinion). Dead by Daylight is, at least by definition, not a Party Game. And even if it were, people would not throw such a fit about winning/losing or how other people play a game. Clearly there is some competitive aspect to drive people into such a direction.
So where does this leave us?
Well, somewhere in the middle. DBD is not a Party Game, but it's not a super serious competitive game either, it's within a middle area between the two in which aspects of either can co-exist and should co-exist without either being deemed as problematic.
If you want to play hyper casually and dont care about winning or losing, you should be able to do that without any issues. Likewise, if you want to play hyper competitive and do care about winning or losing, you should be able to do that without any issues. The game enables both as valid ways to play the game, but neither side should act as if their way of playing actively dictates how the other should play.
Comments
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Okay but like people will rage over Mario Party too lol.
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Honestly, Ive never seen this happen. Like I have played Mario Party with friends and it is normally really, really chill.
Ive heard people get upset over it but Ive never actually seen it myself, Idk if that makes me lucky or not or something.
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dbd is nothing near a party game.
If I had a few friends next could we play dbd for a few laughs no
Mario Kart and smash hell yea
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I've seen it happen like once or twice but the core issue is probably what you pointed out where people aren't going to rage at their friends probably.
It'd be interesting to see what would happen if Mario Party was an online game and had voice chat. I'd be willing to bet you'd see it happen much more often.
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No, it’s been competitive since I started with Stranger Things original release. Things just felt less sweaty back then since Survivors had so many easily usable get out of jail free cards that no matter how the killer played, they were able to dunk on them and escape. It was their party and the Killer was the piñata.
But as you say, if you’re causal and don’t care about wins, it can be a party game if they want it to be.4 -
DBD is a strange mix of party and comp, depending entirely on the mindset of the players themselves going into the match.
The game has a hidden MMR system, and impactful RNG elements all over the place. Hard to call that super competitive, and when all players play uber optimally & bring the best sweat the cracks in the game break wide open. The average player doesn't have to suffer through that very often, and shouldn't want to.
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Well, pardon me then.
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I mean when you lack the skill resources and knowledge to make a game work in a competitive way then it's deemed as a party game. I think the definition behavior is using is that the game breaks down when examined to closely like most party games you can cheese mini games or find that luck is more a factor then skills all things Dbd share with normal party games.
This game takes basically zero skill to play either side while knowledge can be used to basically cheat.
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I don't think it's a party game. There's too much that seperates an experienced player from a new player. That's why mmr exists. Mario party for a example a new player could probably win because most of it is random.
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A "Party Game", in more modern definitions, is used to refer to a multiplayer (online or in-person) game that normally consisting of a series of short minigames, that can easily be played within a social setting.When I think of a Party Game, I usually think of Jackbox Games or Mario PartyIf we're talking argument by definition, then DbD has never met the definition. Like not even in the vicinity, which means people using the term probably mean something else by it.
To me, party games have a lot of randomness. They can still have a lot of skill elements, but everyone can have a shot in a party game. That's what I think the definition more goes towards. Due to perk setups / map draws one side can have a huge advantage over the other.
But that's okay. The variety and randomness are part of the fun.
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I believe it was designed for horror/slasher fans, and was meant to be a fun party game, and that the competitiveness came from the playerbase alone but was never what the devs intended. Just because the community pushed for it to be a certain type of game does not make it that type of game, imo. It's a monster of our own creation really.
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Mario Party was quite literally banned in my household from family game night when I was younger because of how heated it could get compared to other games. I know my anecdotal evidence doesn't really add any credibility to the argument logically speaking, but trust me, dueling in Mario Party 8 (which was basically chance time) has made more than a few Wii motes meet an early end.
The newer games are a lot more tame, for better or for worse, although as of late have gotten a bit of bite back. Regardless, I'd still definitely call both DBD and Mario Party party games. If you look outside the community, there's a lot of people who play DBD without ever really trying to get seriously into it just so they can hop into custom games as Myers and co. to spook their friends. I think that's one of the most pure examples of a party game there is tbh, although naturally all of our different personal experiences likely influences what media we'd put into that category. I have been playing DBD since around 9 or 10 after all.
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DBD wouldn't need to have SBMM if it was just for fun and not a competitive game would it? Answer is pretty obvious
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No game with that Pig is a party game. Party games don't have the overwhelming ability to scare a real life player. If only they could kill switch her stealth, until she becomes safe for the community to play against. 🤔
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Sadly you might.be one of the very few who is in actual fear of my beloved Amanda Panda! 🐽🐷
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No way. Stealth killers are scary. Ghostface is a close second but that Pig roar is too much
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Just wait until 2v8 is added, when Piggy and Ghostie are both coming for your bacon! 🥓 😜
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It's got a few mixed features of both party and competitive games. However, I think there's enough features as evidence that it leans significantly more towards a competitive game. I think to still call DBD a party game today would be quite a stretch.
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You can play Mario Party online and it has a sticker communication system at least. People absolutely will rage quit when they get hit with a string of bad luck or can’t win mini games.
You’ve never seen casual people asking for Killer builds to jumpscare their friends because they take turns doing it? How is this not a party game? They’re jumpscaring eachother live on coms for fun. Just because we go online to play a game doesn’t change what it is. Making a comparison between public DbD and private Mario Party matches also isn’t really fair when public Mario Party matches exist with a single queue as well. People get mad and DC in MP online too. It’s still a party game.
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at this point I consider it to just be a whatever game lmao like every player has such a different mindset the moment the game loads that it’s honestly hard to take the game competitively seriously at all anymore
And personally the only way you could get me to play this game competitively again is a ranked queue
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"Party games have a lot of randomness"
Are Rogue-likes suddenly now considered Party Games? No, they are their own game genre but do have elements that less skill expression provide the most benefit, like in Risk of Rain 2 or Slay the Spire.
Are FPS Games suddenly Party Games for having a random map pool and a wide variety of weapons and players? No, definitely not, and a lot of them have SBMM to try and put players of equal skill level against one another.
Are Card Games suddenly Party Games because your starting hand is random and your opponents and their deck different every time? No, in fact Card Games are often really competitive, just look at Pokemon or YuGiOh.
RNG and randomness does not automatically make it a Party Game. DBD does have RNG, but it still has a large amount of room for skill expression to show, BHVR even tried to implement Skill Based Matchmaking in an attempt to keep experienced players away from new players, which shows that skill expression at least means something.
In DBD, throw a brand new player at someone with thousands of hours, they will lose, there is no arguing. In a Party Game (like Mario Party), throw a brand new player at someone with thousands of hours, the brand new player can still probably win through luck.
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Yea. Reading this and the back of my head is still screaming it still is like mario party in my mind. Cause I definitely used to just troll, play to win etc on mario party. If I'm losing, oh, I'm making it my mission that you don't win 1st place in mario party(of course if it doesn't involve cheating etc which is not cool). I see Party games where it means anyone can join in. Regardless of your mindset. If you're comp, join in. If you're casual, join in! Everyone is invited.
Now obviously a Party with that many diverse playstyles will clash with each other and problems can arise. End of the day, play as you like. As long as it doesn't involve cheating, exploits etc.
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Are Rogue-likes suddenly now considered Party Games?So the problem is that you are trying to create absolute definitions for what are general terms. Even though I'm about to not follow my own advice, arguments about the definition of phrases, instead of trying to figure out what the person is trying to communicate, are generally unproductive.
Rogue-like though is a good example of a term that has taken on such a broad meaning that it gets slapped on just about any game that has any sort of random element.
Are FPS Games suddenly Party Games for having a random map pool and a wide variety of weapons and players?Totally different thing. First of all variety isn't even part of the discussion and the random map pool isn't related to the randomness we are discussing (giving one side a substantial advantage or not).
Also, as an example of how arguments can be turned around, is DbD suddenly an FPS because it has a couple of killers with first person ranged shooting? No, obviously not.
Are Card Games suddenly Party Games because your starting hand is random and your opponents and their deck different every time?Yeah? I almost talked about card games in my first post because they are kind of the classic party game. I mean more in the sense of things like Hearts or Poker than Magic: The Gathering, though I wouldn't exclude CCGs from Party Games either.
Poker I think is a great example of a party game. The fact that it is intense and has a lot of skill, doesn't change the fact that it is a game with a lot of randomness that is also something that people casually play with their friends (frequently as part of an actual party).
No, in fact Card Games are often really competitive, just look at Pokemon or YuGiOh.I don't think the competitiveness of the game has a lot to do with it. Other people have talked about how intense one of your examples, Mario Party, can get. Any type of competitive activity can have varying levels of intensity. You can play basketball with your friends, or establish a league with prizes.
RNG and randomness does not automatically make it a Party Game.I'm not saying it does. I'm pointing out an element I associate with Party Games.
BHVR even tried to implement Skill Based Matchmaking in an attempt to keep experienced players away from new players, which shows that skill expression at least means something.I'm going to steal someone else's argument (I don't remember who, or I'd credit them): if a group of people met up to play basketball, and they took time to sort the teams to create an even game, does that mean its no longer casual or just playing for fun? No, that's just the general thing people do in games to try and have even match ups. It's not related to the intensity that is brought to the activity.
In a Party Game (like Mario Party)So let me get back to my original point: DbD was never like this. It was not designed to be like Mario Party, its extremely different. So obviously the people who used the phrase 'Party Game' when describing DbD meant something different than you think the term means.
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game that normally consisting of a series of short minigames
Monopoly and Fortune Street are party games and they don't provide a "series of short minigames".
They can be played competitively as well - they're not mutually exclusive.
And even if it were, people would not throw such a fit about winning/losing or how other people play a game
People do throw fits about party games. I literally forced one of my friends' defeat by losing against another losing friend and making him win. To this day, my friend doesn't want to play Fortune Street with me anymore because he knows I'm capable of ruining my own score to mess him up.
DBD is not a Party Game, but it's not a super serious competitive game
either, it's within a middle area between the two in which aspects of
either can co-exist and should co-exist without either being deemed as
problematic.Again, "Party" and "Competitive" aren't mutually exclusive. DBD is not exploring some new, previously undiscovered middle ground. Party games can be competitive, and in fact, they frequently are.
People even agree to house rules to "balance" the game, because as much as a game can be competitive, it doesn't mean it will be balanced. This is similar to the "survivor rulebook" that people preach about every once and again in this game: Just because the game allows tunneling, camping and slugging doesn't mean people think that's a fun mechanic from the game. Some people agree, some people disagree. Just like some people agree that you can stack +4 cards in UNO and some people disagree because the rules technically don't allow that.
The differences between this game and a party game are slim. Just because the game has a more dark and gory atmosphere doesn't mean it can't be a party game. And having a semblance of a competitive aspect to it doesn't make it any more different to any other party game.
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Or double Piggy.
Just imagine: you get jumped form one corner ambush and run right into the next.
Or you get double BOOP's ♥️🐽♥️
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DBD is simply a PvP game.
People can define it into whatever subjective category they wish.
In the end you are still gonna have a collection of players who think about, and are motivated to play, the game very differently from each other.
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If you play with a party for fun, it's a party game.
If you play with the intent to win (especially with rewards), it's a competitive game.This game, like many others (including Mario Party) has the capacity to be both. Whether DBD can be considered one or the other, or even both, is pretty subjective and entirely up to the player(s) who play it - there is no right or wrong answer in that regard.
If you see people slinging dirt akin to 'why take this party game so seriously?' or 'wow I can't believe you're so bad' it's mainly to get a rise out of the other person or even lash out due to personal frustration in an attempt to diminish the others confidence in themselves. Basically, it's just a form of e-bullying.
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I thought the entire point of a party game was that they are so easy to learn and play, that you literally could bring it to a party, and new people could easily start playing them?
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You can be the world's best pro elite mlg comp Doctor player and get matched with4 immersed calm spirit gamers. That to me suggests the game isnt meant to be taken super cereal
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Party games generally have much more RNG and are much more accessible for newcomers. DBD has an absurdly steep learning curve and new survivors can expect to lose game after game for quite some time before learning even the basics.
It's really not a party game.
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The answer is no, it is not a party game and it never was. That doesn't mean you can't play the game without worrying about winning or losing, just for the sake of playing it. But this doesn't change the fact that it is a PvP competitive game.
Like @Coffeecrashing said, DbD doesn't even fit the base definition of what a Party game outside of videogames is, in terms of skill required.
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It's not really a party game but it sure as hell ain't meant to be taken too seriously when you can pet a Demogorgon, spam a lute, or teabag dance with Ghostface in it.
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