board games

Unfortunately one of the other two reviewers forgot to put a rating down (it shows no stars despite his rave review), but if they did, you would be looking at a solid five star game. The basic gameplay has been explained already, so I will briefly touch on the highlights. The mini-games are extremely varied: there are driving, flying, rythmn, timing, and counting games -- each with its own personality and variation in gameplay. There is also a first-person shooter mini-game with paintballs. The vibration sensation is first rate, as is the music, animations, framerates and sound. The loading times are also a joy as there are so few of them and they are short. The gameboard -- a level of a ship (there are five) -- is an open field of square tiles within an ever-active level, which allows the player to chart out 'where' they want to go -- no linear path here like Mario Party. While there are only six playable characters (Gonzo, Animal, Miss Piggy, Kermit, Fozzy and Pepe), a slew of the other muppets either make voiceover appearances, or appear on the board as active playing pieces representing obstacles or bonuses. Sam the Eagle will make you loose a turn when he walks up to your character and drones on in a lecture and Waldorf & Statler will curse your character while Beaker and Prof. Honeydew will give you a secret formula to double your point shaving (explanation: before every mini-game, the player can handicap their final score by adding points from their won credits; there's always something to do within this game). Other characters who impact play include Rizzo and Rawlf; there may be more but I don't have the play booklet with me at the writing of this review. There are also danger areas, hypno squares, credit squares galor (the player can link several together and extend their movement spaces), mini-game portals, and sea-sick squares (that reverse the players controls during a mini-game. I don't think there is one thing in this game that is totally left to chance with this even extending to the way you obtain your movement points. The player activates a pinball-type device (not unlike the dollar store games where you pull the plunger and watch what score the ball drops into) and can jar the machine to get a higher movement count or try to rack up some extra credit points by hitting one or two of the animated credit icons. It's a blast. The camera is very good -- you can't see the whole gameboard -- and you wouldn't want to because you would not be able to make out anything -- but you can rotate, zoom in and out and even scan the entire board. If you go too cloose to the hull of the ship, you can even see the ocean moving past the ship -- which makes you feel like you are not really playing on a 'gameboard' at all.
Sorry, I've gone long here. I could go on and on and on, but there is one bit I do have to mention. At first glance, the game is intimidating since it has so many elements but within minutes of play, you will settle right in and be looking forward to another day of unlocking mini-games and moving up the decks of the ship. You can play the game on long cruise (the entire game) or short cruise (just the mini-games). Not sure about how to play a mini-game? Each game gives you the choice of practicing before you actually go for the gold (party favors and credit points, in this case). At the end of the long cruise game, the players get points for everything from most credits, to longest move, etc.
I can not stress how great, well-thought out, and expertly executed this game is. This is definitely a purchase for part game lovers. And this coming from someone who was trying to obtain the silent assasin score playing Hitman. This game may just appeal to everyone. Please give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

This is a great game and addictive. The premise of the game is similar to that of a board game with the goal being obtaining as many points as possible OR by opening doors which lead to mini-games which involve all players. If you land on a square occupied by an opponent, you can play rock/scissors/papers to try to win half of their points.

The goal is to win these competitions and obtain as many "party favors" as possible. At the end of the game, you can use these party favors to unlock other interesting mini-games.

One minor complaint about the game is that it isn't possible to view (at least I haven't been able to yet) the entire board but rather the zoom in/out to the immediate surroundings.

However, I think that the game is very enjoyable and would highly recommend it to those who prefer non-violent entertainment.

It's been quite the escape for me when I am not writing grants.

SO I picked the game up because hey, it was 20 bucks and it had the muppets. I was a little worried because I had played the gameboy muppet game from tdk and although it was somewhat entertaining it was a little too simple for my tastes. Party cruise however is very fun. It has a board game mode that adds to the fun of all the mini games you can play. The voices of the characters are provided by the puppeteers so it adds to the entertainment level.
One thing I enjoyed about the game is that the more mini games you win the more party favors you get (the prizes). You can spend these prizes to open more games and bonus muppet videos.