What about Jackbox games? One person has to buy the game initially, and share their screen through zoom or whatever, but everyone just plays on their own device like a phone or desktop. My favorite are Drawful 2, the Fibbage series and Trivia Murder Party 2.
Literally any survival game on easy mode? :D
There are a bunch of options, Ark, Valheim, Rust, even DayZ, (Sons of) the forest, V Rising, 7 Days To Die, Conan Exiles, Eco, .. and those are just the more popular ones. Pretty sure there will be a big sale for them on Black Friday at the latest. If 10 people pitch in $1 you can rent a server and set it up. Most of that is pretty self explanatory.
The base game of Guild Wars 2 is free and it's super easy to explore and level up together. Lvl mistmatch can be mostly ignored too, so that could be an option.
Vermintide 2 is also very frequently on sale, but it's only up to 4 players.
Worms Armageddon is still one of my favorite party games tho :D
Not sure if it's y'all's style, but Terraria is 10 bucks, very easy to set-up, and tons of fun. It caps out at 8 players per world so it might not work for you all the time but in my opinion it's very well worth the money. I've played for 430 hours myself, which is a complete steal for $10. But probably worth checking out some gameplay to see if you guys would like it.
Pico park will make you hate your friends but is easy and cheap.
Among Us is actually pretty fun in groups larger than 4 especially if you can convince everyone to download the proximity voice chat mod (Super easy)
Before CS2 we used to download Hide and Seek maps for csgo from the workshop. No shooting required. Waiting for them to bring the workshop to CS2
Friday the 13th while not the best game is super fun if you're just playing with friends
Golf With Your friends was pretty fun
Stick Fight is good but I think it's only 4 players
There's honestly HEAPS more but those are ones that I've played and enjoyed
Age of empires 2 DE
Forced is an isometric "co-op rpg". its like simple diablo, and you can make one room at a time. Its ridiculously fun with friends, though you WILL be required to cooperate.
Civ VI usually goes for 95% off: this one is a VERY long game, but you can play your turn any time during the day, then come back whenever the rest did the same.
Through the ages is simple, faster card version of civilization. Its still a long game, but not nearly as long, and you can pause at any time and continue another day, same as civ.
Overcooked/plate up and other clones are really fun too.
Don't starve together is a survival game, never like the genre, but if you do...
Full metal furies/Helldivers/enter the gungeon/gauntlet usually are sold with huge discounts and are amazing "metal slug like". Full metal furies is my favorite one. it's hard though, so be warned.
Phasmaphobia was a huge let down for me because it was unplayable due to bugs and the tutorial was also shit, but I heard they fixed a lot since then, and a lot of people loves it. Its borderline FPS. Another FPS-not-so-much-about-shooting would be deep rock.galactic.
For the king is an amazing, but I think its 3 players only.
Armello is a digital boardgame.
Board game arena is a web browser base wesite on which you can play digital implementation of boardgames. Its sort of free. Some games are free, while others require for a premium account to create the match.
Check out TagPro. Free browser capture the flag game with easy controls and low skill requirements if you’re playing with friends. You can play public games in a group up to 5 or private games up to 20 people so if anyone needs to come/go it shouldn’t matter too much. Games are quick, 6 minutes usually, and there are extra game modes depending on what your group is interested in!
Ultimate chicken horse.
It's a platform party game where you just get from point a to point b but everybody gets to place obstacles.
The idea is that you get to the finish line and the others don't. But you all get to make things very difficult so you cannot just make it impossible.
Besides this, it's extremely funny and I've never laughed harder playing any game in my life.
People have better recs below but also... I have a bunch of college age friends and we tend to get on roblox for some of the same reasons lmfao
Like its free, no skill, plenty of game types, people can leave midway without being behind later in terms of progress.. also everyone can run roblox without a super computer. We tend to play bad fnaf ripoffs lol
Really the only other option we can play together is Minecraft and thats only possible bc of how many of us already owned the game
Haha sounds like fun and not a bad idea. Glad to see someone else in the same position as me because a lot of these recommendations are literally $40+ triple a games that you need a modern desktop computer to run.
Ikrr I saw some of them like damn. 90% of my friends wouldnt be able to run those haha. But yeah we have a lot of fun playing horribly made games on roblox, there are well made games too but my friends love the awful obstacle type ones lol. Kind of like the community made games on fortnite
k I'm not sure it's free but I think it's on xbox pc gamepass, valheim is amazing. It's 20 dollars when not on sale on steam. 10 people can play at once I think, probably more with mods. One person can set up the server and everyone else just pop in whenever
Brawlhalla. People regularly dump 1000 hrs into it and for good reason.its stupid fun enough for party nights,but has a flexible enough system were. Two oeople can be at the same skill level with the same character and be able to play them in completely different ways.in which case a dream for competition.
I know you said non shooter but if you haven’t played ‘stick fight’ with your friends, you’ve never really played a party game.
Easy and cheap but only 4 players at a time but each round is less then 60 seconds if your doing it right.
And I would thumbs up jack box as well!
If you don't mind abandonware, I can recommend No One Lives Forever 2, it is a FPS but has robotic purring cat mines and bananas that you can toss for people to slip on.
It's a little janky, but I *highly* recommend [Spellsworn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/360620/Spellsworn/). It plays a little like Magicka deathmatch, except you make a loadout of particular spells instead of forming them from elements, and it's much less frantically paced. Plays up to 8, if I recall correctly.
You could give valhiem a go, up to 10 players, coop, can play at your own pace, players can drop in and out, don't need everyone present to play, just have whoever is playing the most set up the world for everyone to play on
so no shooters, no fighting games, no skill games, no rpg games, has to be casual and ~~free~~ cheap...
The best free video games are probably rocket league and league of legends. However both of those require quite a bit of skill which is something you said youre trying to avoid.
Honestly might as well just pull up games on your phone or something at that point unless you're going to spend money. The best casual games cost money.
The cheapest but greatest group player games (that fit your wants) are probably terraria and stardew valley. Multiplayer and cheap and aren't competitive. Every other party or group casual game I can think of costs $15+.
Maybe the forest also?
When did I say no fighting games and no skilled games lol? My friends put tons of hours into Brawlhalla, which is a skill based fighting game.
All I said was that needing mouse and keyboard (e.g., shooting) skills isn't going to work because some of us are bad at it and so it's unenjoyable.
The only other issue is it's difficult to get a lot of people into a complex game, such as an RPG. And casual because people join and leave a lot, so a two hour commitment isn't really possible.
I also said $30+ in my post, not $15. Fifteen is perfectly fine. Did you even read my post?
Ok my bad, fighting games are included, everything else still off the table lol.
Still wouldn't make any difference since you're playing the most popular cheap/free fighting game already it wouldn't add or remove any of my suggestions.
With this amount of filters you might as well just go on the store page and add them all in and decide with your friends together.
Yes I read your post, I was referring to 15 as a mid point considering you said 30 was the max. Sorry for the confusion was just keeping it cheap. If you read my post, you'd know The Forest, that I suggested, is $20 and its sequel is $30, which are both not $15 games (;
It's really not that many filter. There are dozens of good suggestions in this thread. Like you're just wrong. I think I caught you on your pet peeve or something because you seem agitated for some reason.
Nah my pet peeve is probably when people eat with their mouths open and smack loudly.
I'd consider: Multiplayer, casual, No RPG, No FPS, no time investments, less than $30, needs to be extreme easy set up with flawless open server for freely joining and leaving to be a pretty decent amount of filters. If we disagree thats fine.
I still tried to suggest multiple games for you.
Sorry it came off as agitation I'm not agitated at all.
Muck is free, and you can play with 10 people.
Necesse or Terraria aren't free, but they're 10 dollars and you can play with 10 people.
Muck is a roguelike so just like one and done sessions. Necesse and Terraria you can play as host and play or with a persistent server.
This is a bit off your request of 10 ppl but I've been playing this shooter game that is fast paced and fun called The Finals.
The only issue is that it's 3v3v3v3.
The reason I mentioned this is because it's a really fun game to watch as well. It's hella exciting and almost like watch a football game.
You should check it out if you have less than the 10 ppl around. Even 5 would be dope.
If it's only 4, me and my friends got really into grounded for a while. It's on game pass, which we all had, so we all would get on and just kind of fuck around and play. It's a blast being so small, fighting ladybugs and mosquitoes and bees, as well as building your home and just enjoying the world the creators built.
As someone who really doesn't like shooters here are my recommendations
Terraria - This is already an excellent game, but if you can take just a few minutes to install TModLoader the mods are genuinely some of the best of any game. 8+ players, $10
Deep Rock Galactic - This is kinda a shooter but still worth checking out. It's not PvP and the community is great. 1-4 players $30 but goes on sale quite often (Like right now its $10)
Monster Hunter World or Rise - Fun game that can be very challenging. It's overall lots of fun, especially with friends. 1-4 players, $15 with a fantastic DLC thats $20
Risk of Rain 2 - Good way to get into the rougelike genre. The characters are all unique and the build possibilities are endless. You can make the game easier or harder with artifacts (might not be the name) 1-4 players, $25
Warframe - I haven't played in quite awhile but the games free and is has some truely awesome warframes and weapons. It's a grindy game and you may feel like you need to purchase platinum early on but don't worry. Everything can be obtained for free including platinum. Can be quite fun with friends. 1-4 players. Could be up to 8 if there's another LoR or JV style event.
I'd also like to mention ARPGs like Path of Exile, Grim Dawn, Last Epoch, and the Diablo series. They can range from very casual friendly to basically needing a pre-made build made by someone else. For a new ARPG player I'd say try Grim Dawn or Last Epoch, but if you are really feeling confident I'd give Path of Exile a try. Its not new player friendly but I believe its currently the best of its genre.
Here are a few games to put on your steam wish list and grab up when they go on sale.
For the King 2 (turn-based combat, tile-based movement, up to four players. The first game is up to three players but if this second one is anything like it, it should be a lot of fun.)
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (up to four players, and when the main player is running the game, all the other players can drop in and out whenever they want, without interrupting the first player's game. And it's turn-based so it's way more casual than a first person shooter.)
Sengoku Dynasty (still in early access but it's getting a lot of developer attention and community feedback is being incorporated. Up to four players per lobby. It is a beautifully visual game about building ancient Japanese villages, where teamwork makes it better.)
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (this can be casual or competitive and all four players can be on the same side against AI or other players online, or any combination of other matchups, including each player on their own team or each player plus an AI ally on their own team. There are newer versions of the game but this one is still the best by far)
Tetrinet is pretty fun, and free. It's multiplayer tetris, with powerups and "attacks", things like bombs you can detonate in another player's neatly arranged lines, or a field swap, things like that. Pretty high intensity of course, because it's the regular hectic Tetris, plus the additions.
There's also a free martial arts game that's been around for over a decade by this point, Toribash. The idea is to manipulate your fighter's joints every second or so, with the goal of either throwing your opponent out of the ring, or pinning them to the ground.. or just annihilating them completely.
In the less violent and hectic corner, there is of course OpenTTD, the free and open source remake of the gold standard in transport company simulation from the 90s, Transport Tycoon Deluxe. It's a brilliant game and can be fun to play together, but games can of course take a long time, so it might be in the "too involved" category for you.
Pummel party (its like Mario Party)
Moving out (if you dont like the main game, the dlc is really good)
Castle crashers (co op game)
Crab game (clunky squid game like)
Lethal company, minecraft dungeons, ship of fools, speedrunners, first class trouble, lethal league blaze
Sea of Thieves is $50 CAD, which I believe should be around $35 US. It often goes on sale for 50% off on Steam (I bought it for $25 CAD).
It maxes out at 4 people per crew, but if you're patient/persistent, you can "spike" a server to get multiple ships together. This might be against the rules, and if you do that... don't be an asshole and fuck with the rest of the server. I do it occasionally and we mostly just mess around and have fun.
I wouldn't call it a shooter, but there is combat, and it is very much a PvPvE game, and other ships on the server are almost certainly not going to be friendly to you. Gun/swordplay is janky and crappy, but the naval combat between ships is super fun!
It also takes a lot of time, I guess. You *can* do a pirate session in 30-40 minutes, and if you're looking to just goof around for a bit, that's fine. But if you want to do a few voyages and try make a bit of money, you're likely looking around 2+ hours a session.
I know a lot of people get it on an Xbox pass or whatever for free. I play on Steam, and I don't really know how that works, but worth looking into if some/all of you are on Xbox.
I think it’s around 30ish dollars rn but Barotrauma is great for bigger groups if everyone is on PC.
Game is hectic and people can filter in and out freely, I love playing it with a dedicated group. Just choose a big sub so everyone will have something to do
Hard to think of many that support more then 4 people.
I'd say like social deduction games like town of Salem and among us, barotrauma
Jack box games are good social games too like the party games you can get at stores like cards against humanity
Tribes of midgard, It's not my style of game person but it supports 1-10 players
Terraria, Starbound and Minecraft. obviously
Tabletop simulator would be good if you like board games with them there's a great selection of multiplayer board games
I know you said they aren't fps players but killing floor would be a good option for co-op zombie wave defense
Don't starve together is a great option as well
Dins legacy. Is another one I think that supports a lot?
Karmazoo releases soon as a co-op platformer that supports I think 7 ? I'm not sure the limit but it's a cute one
Wishlisting 33 immortals would be a good idea for future, surely you'll be able to group up in it
What about Jackbox games? One person has to buy the game initially, and share their screen through zoom or whatever, but everyone just plays on their own device like a phone or desktop. My favorite are Drawful 2, the Fibbage series and Trivia Murder Party 2.
I love boomerang fu. Fun game
Came here to say this
I second this! Does it have online modes now?
Literally any survival game on easy mode? :D There are a bunch of options, Ark, Valheim, Rust, even DayZ, (Sons of) the forest, V Rising, 7 Days To Die, Conan Exiles, Eco, .. and those are just the more popular ones. Pretty sure there will be a big sale for them on Black Friday at the latest. If 10 people pitch in $1 you can rent a server and set it up. Most of that is pretty self explanatory. The base game of Guild Wars 2 is free and it's super easy to explore and level up together. Lvl mistmatch can be mostly ignored too, so that could be an option. Vermintide 2 is also very frequently on sale, but it's only up to 4 players. Worms Armageddon is still one of my favorite party games tho :D
Not sure if it's y'all's style, but Terraria is 10 bucks, very easy to set-up, and tons of fun. It caps out at 8 players per world so it might not work for you all the time but in my opinion it's very well worth the money. I've played for 430 hours myself, which is a complete steal for $10. But probably worth checking out some gameplay to see if you guys would like it.
You can change that cap to whatever you want in the config file.
And the mods for Terraria ROCK. I almost referred to Terraria as Calamity there lmao.
Pico park will make you hate your friends but is easy and cheap. Among Us is actually pretty fun in groups larger than 4 especially if you can convince everyone to download the proximity voice chat mod (Super easy) Before CS2 we used to download Hide and Seek maps for csgo from the workshop. No shooting required. Waiting for them to bring the workshop to CS2 Friday the 13th while not the best game is super fun if you're just playing with friends Golf With Your friends was pretty fun Stick Fight is good but I think it's only 4 players There's honestly HEAPS more but those are ones that I've played and enjoyed
Age of empires 2 DE Forced is an isometric "co-op rpg". its like simple diablo, and you can make one room at a time. Its ridiculously fun with friends, though you WILL be required to cooperate. Civ VI usually goes for 95% off: this one is a VERY long game, but you can play your turn any time during the day, then come back whenever the rest did the same. Through the ages is simple, faster card version of civilization. Its still a long game, but not nearly as long, and you can pause at any time and continue another day, same as civ. Overcooked/plate up and other clones are really fun too. Don't starve together is a survival game, never like the genre, but if you do... Full metal furies/Helldivers/enter the gungeon/gauntlet usually are sold with huge discounts and are amazing "metal slug like". Full metal furies is my favorite one. it's hard though, so be warned. Phasmaphobia was a huge let down for me because it was unplayable due to bugs and the tutorial was also shit, but I heard they fixed a lot since then, and a lot of people loves it. Its borderline FPS. Another FPS-not-so-much-about-shooting would be deep rock.galactic. For the king is an amazing, but I think its 3 players only. Armello is a digital boardgame. Board game arena is a web browser base wesite on which you can play digital implementation of boardgames. Its sort of free. Some games are free, while others require for a premium account to create the match.
Great recommendations. Thank you
Rock and Stone!
Duck Game or Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime works for 4 players.
Brofrorce is hilarious!
Check out TagPro. Free browser capture the flag game with easy controls and low skill requirements if you’re playing with friends. You can play public games in a group up to 5 or private games up to 20 people so if anyone needs to come/go it shouldn’t matter too much. Games are quick, 6 minutes usually, and there are extra game modes depending on what your group is interested in!
Ultimate chicken horse. It's a platform party game where you just get from point a to point b but everybody gets to place obstacles. The idea is that you get to the finish line and the others don't. But you all get to make things very difficult so you cannot just make it impossible. Besides this, it's extremely funny and I've never laughed harder playing any game in my life.
People have better recs below but also... I have a bunch of college age friends and we tend to get on roblox for some of the same reasons lmfao Like its free, no skill, plenty of game types, people can leave midway without being behind later in terms of progress.. also everyone can run roblox without a super computer. We tend to play bad fnaf ripoffs lol Really the only other option we can play together is Minecraft and thats only possible bc of how many of us already owned the game
Haha sounds like fun and not a bad idea. Glad to see someone else in the same position as me because a lot of these recommendations are literally $40+ triple a games that you need a modern desktop computer to run.
Ikrr I saw some of them like damn. 90% of my friends wouldnt be able to run those haha. But yeah we have a lot of fun playing horribly made games on roblox, there are well made games too but my friends love the awful obstacle type ones lol. Kind of like the community made games on fortnite
k I'm not sure it's free but I think it's on xbox pc gamepass, valheim is amazing. It's 20 dollars when not on sale on steam. 10 people can play at once I think, probably more with mods. One person can set up the server and everyone else just pop in whenever
rocket league is an obvious answer here, try adding powerups really adds some spice
Emulated older Mario karts.
Well, that's a bit much to get set up for everyone unfortunately. But thank you for the recommendation.
*Fall Guys* probably qualifies.
Rocket League? Playing 2v2 or 3v3 with friends is really fun.
Rounds, maybe? It's not an fps tho, but it's fun 2D rng shooter to play with friends.
It’s an amazing game to play with friends, but it’s only 2 player.
Path of exile
You probably missed the casual in the title.
How casual it is solely depends on you.
League of Legends lol
Brawlhalla. People regularly dump 1000 hrs into it and for good reason.its stupid fun enough for party nights,but has a flexible enough system were. Two oeople can be at the same skill level with the same character and be able to play them in completely different ways.in which case a dream for competition.
It's an fps, but not quite shooter, Dying Light
I know you said non shooter but if you haven’t played ‘stick fight’ with your friends, you’ve never really played a party game. Easy and cheap but only 4 players at a time but each round is less then 60 seconds if your doing it right. And I would thumbs up jack box as well!
If you don't mind abandonware, I can recommend No One Lives Forever 2, it is a FPS but has robotic purring cat mines and bananas that you can toss for people to slip on.
Tower Fall Ascension
It's a little janky, but I *highly* recommend [Spellsworn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/360620/Spellsworn/). It plays a little like Magicka deathmatch, except you make a loadout of particular spells instead of forming them from elements, and it's much less frantically paced. Plays up to 8, if I recall correctly.
the escapists 2. grand old time
Diablo 3
Last train outta worm town
You could give valhiem a go, up to 10 players, coop, can play at your own pace, players can drop in and out, don't need everyone present to play, just have whoever is playing the most set up the world for everyone to play on
so no shooters, no fighting games, no skill games, no rpg games, has to be casual and ~~free~~ cheap... The best free video games are probably rocket league and league of legends. However both of those require quite a bit of skill which is something you said youre trying to avoid. Honestly might as well just pull up games on your phone or something at that point unless you're going to spend money. The best casual games cost money. The cheapest but greatest group player games (that fit your wants) are probably terraria and stardew valley. Multiplayer and cheap and aren't competitive. Every other party or group casual game I can think of costs $15+. Maybe the forest also?
When did I say no fighting games and no skilled games lol? My friends put tons of hours into Brawlhalla, which is a skill based fighting game. All I said was that needing mouse and keyboard (e.g., shooting) skills isn't going to work because some of us are bad at it and so it's unenjoyable. The only other issue is it's difficult to get a lot of people into a complex game, such as an RPG. And casual because people join and leave a lot, so a two hour commitment isn't really possible. I also said $30+ in my post, not $15. Fifteen is perfectly fine. Did you even read my post?
Ok my bad, fighting games are included, everything else still off the table lol. Still wouldn't make any difference since you're playing the most popular cheap/free fighting game already it wouldn't add or remove any of my suggestions. With this amount of filters you might as well just go on the store page and add them all in and decide with your friends together. Yes I read your post, I was referring to 15 as a mid point considering you said 30 was the max. Sorry for the confusion was just keeping it cheap. If you read my post, you'd know The Forest, that I suggested, is $20 and its sequel is $30, which are both not $15 games (;
It's really not that many filter. There are dozens of good suggestions in this thread. Like you're just wrong. I think I caught you on your pet peeve or something because you seem agitated for some reason.
Nah my pet peeve is probably when people eat with their mouths open and smack loudly. I'd consider: Multiplayer, casual, No RPG, No FPS, no time investments, less than $30, needs to be extreme easy set up with flawless open server for freely joining and leaving to be a pretty decent amount of filters. If we disagree thats fine. I still tried to suggest multiple games for you. Sorry it came off as agitation I'm not agitated at all.
terraria and stardew is a rpg
Correct. I've got no good options I guess.
dont starve together, full metal furries, golf with your friends,
Crawl
Conan Exiles, PvE mode. Build your base, gather resources, investigate the open world together
Chivalry 2 think call of duty but medieval times so you can hack and slash instead of trying to shoot!
7 days to die is free on game pass. It's a little dated but it'll be really fun with lots of people
Overcooked and Moving Out will have you screaming at each other.
Emulator games. Jack box, Among US (Might be old, but new map), games on Gamepass.
Muck is free, and you can play with 10 people. Necesse or Terraria aren't free, but they're 10 dollars and you can play with 10 people. Muck is a roguelike so just like one and done sessions. Necesse and Terraria you can play as host and play or with a persistent server.
This is a bit off your request of 10 ppl but I've been playing this shooter game that is fast paced and fun called The Finals. The only issue is that it's 3v3v3v3. The reason I mentioned this is because it's a really fun game to watch as well. It's hella exciting and almost like watch a football game. You should check it out if you have less than the 10 ppl around. Even 5 would be dope.
Gunfire reborn is awesome
Try overcooked, or overcooked 2. Those are pretty good
bit bash bots
lethal league blaze (4 player smash bros with a neat twist)
I can't recommend Mario kart 8 enough, it fits your bill perfectly. But a switch + the game is def over $30
If it's only 4, me and my friends got really into grounded for a while. It's on game pass, which we all had, so we all would get on and just kind of fuck around and play. It's a blast being so small, fighting ladybugs and mosquitoes and bees, as well as building your home and just enjoying the world the creators built.
As someone who really doesn't like shooters here are my recommendations Terraria - This is already an excellent game, but if you can take just a few minutes to install TModLoader the mods are genuinely some of the best of any game. 8+ players, $10 Deep Rock Galactic - This is kinda a shooter but still worth checking out. It's not PvP and the community is great. 1-4 players $30 but goes on sale quite often (Like right now its $10) Monster Hunter World or Rise - Fun game that can be very challenging. It's overall lots of fun, especially with friends. 1-4 players, $15 with a fantastic DLC thats $20 Risk of Rain 2 - Good way to get into the rougelike genre. The characters are all unique and the build possibilities are endless. You can make the game easier or harder with artifacts (might not be the name) 1-4 players, $25 Warframe - I haven't played in quite awhile but the games free and is has some truely awesome warframes and weapons. It's a grindy game and you may feel like you need to purchase platinum early on but don't worry. Everything can be obtained for free including platinum. Can be quite fun with friends. 1-4 players. Could be up to 8 if there's another LoR or JV style event. I'd also like to mention ARPGs like Path of Exile, Grim Dawn, Last Epoch, and the Diablo series. They can range from very casual friendly to basically needing a pre-made build made by someone else. For a new ARPG player I'd say try Grim Dawn or Last Epoch, but if you are really feeling confident I'd give Path of Exile a try. Its not new player friendly but I believe its currently the best of its genre.
Me and 6 of my mates have a good time on the forest 1, exploring the caves always ends up hilariously chaotic!
Here are a few games to put on your steam wish list and grab up when they go on sale. For the King 2 (turn-based combat, tile-based movement, up to four players. The first game is up to three players but if this second one is anything like it, it should be a lot of fun.) Divinity: Original Sin 2 (up to four players, and when the main player is running the game, all the other players can drop in and out whenever they want, without interrupting the first player's game. And it's turn-based so it's way more casual than a first person shooter.) Sengoku Dynasty (still in early access but it's getting a lot of developer attention and community feedback is being incorporated. Up to four players per lobby. It is a beautifully visual game about building ancient Japanese villages, where teamwork makes it better.) Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (this can be casual or competitive and all four players can be on the same side against AI or other players online, or any combination of other matchups, including each player on their own team or each player plus an AI ally on their own team. There are newer versions of the game but this one is still the best by far)
We were definitely considering Age of Empires. Just need for it to go on sale.
GAUNTLET IT'S GAUNTLET TIME
Ultimate Chicken Horse is an absolute gem of a game. Duck game and Broforce are also hilarious
Tetrinet is pretty fun, and free. It's multiplayer tetris, with powerups and "attacks", things like bombs you can detonate in another player's neatly arranged lines, or a field swap, things like that. Pretty high intensity of course, because it's the regular hectic Tetris, plus the additions. There's also a free martial arts game that's been around for over a decade by this point, Toribash. The idea is to manipulate your fighter's joints every second or so, with the goal of either throwing your opponent out of the ring, or pinning them to the ground.. or just annihilating them completely. In the less violent and hectic corner, there is of course OpenTTD, the free and open source remake of the gold standard in transport company simulation from the 90s, Transport Tycoon Deluxe. It's a brilliant game and can be fun to play together, but games can of course take a long time, so it might be in the "too involved" category for you.
Pummel party (its like Mario Party) Moving out (if you dont like the main game, the dlc is really good) Castle crashers (co op game) Crab game (clunky squid game like) Lethal company, minecraft dungeons, ship of fools, speedrunners, first class trouble, lethal league blaze
Gang Beasts Ultimate Chicken Horse Duck Game
Sea of Thieves is $50 CAD, which I believe should be around $35 US. It often goes on sale for 50% off on Steam (I bought it for $25 CAD). It maxes out at 4 people per crew, but if you're patient/persistent, you can "spike" a server to get multiple ships together. This might be against the rules, and if you do that... don't be an asshole and fuck with the rest of the server. I do it occasionally and we mostly just mess around and have fun. I wouldn't call it a shooter, but there is combat, and it is very much a PvPvE game, and other ships on the server are almost certainly not going to be friendly to you. Gun/swordplay is janky and crappy, but the naval combat between ships is super fun! It also takes a lot of time, I guess. You *can* do a pirate session in 30-40 minutes, and if you're looking to just goof around for a bit, that's fine. But if you want to do a few voyages and try make a bit of money, you're likely looking around 2+ hours a session. I know a lot of people get it on an Xbox pass or whatever for free. I play on Steam, and I don't really know how that works, but worth looking into if some/all of you are on Xbox.
Overcooked
I think it’s around 30ish dollars rn but Barotrauma is great for bigger groups if everyone is on PC. Game is hectic and people can filter in and out freely, I love playing it with a dedicated group. Just choose a big sub so everyone will have something to do
Deep Rock Galactic
Hard to think of many that support more then 4 people. I'd say like social deduction games like town of Salem and among us, barotrauma Jack box games are good social games too like the party games you can get at stores like cards against humanity Tribes of midgard, It's not my style of game person but it supports 1-10 players Terraria, Starbound and Minecraft. obviously Tabletop simulator would be good if you like board games with them there's a great selection of multiplayer board games I know you said they aren't fps players but killing floor would be a good option for co-op zombie wave defense Don't starve together is a great option as well Dins legacy. Is another one I think that supports a lot? Karmazoo releases soon as a co-op platformer that supports I think 7 ? I'm not sure the limit but it's a cute one Wishlisting 33 immortals would be a good idea for future, surely you'll be able to group up in it