On the Verge of a Breakthrough
For many people, 2020 has been the year of video chat. Even those who never planned on embracing the medium as a way to connect and stay in touch are relying on video both in their professional and personal lives, using it to keep up with colleagues, friends, and family members.
For some, this means long days spent in front of the camera, and this isn’t always the most fun way in the world to pass the time. Video calls can feel tiring or fatiguing, and it isn’t always easy to have fun communicating virtually with colleagues or loved ones. This is especially true when every call comes with a strict structure, an invite link, or a rigid structure of events or key discussion points – or when you happen to run out of words to say with someone you really love, which we all know happens sometimes.
Rewriting the Rules to Embrace Having a Good Time
Though there are many different platforms that support video chat available to consumers right now, Houseparty is uniquely designed to create spontaneous, unpredictable digital hangouts with the people you like to talk to the most.
Rather than dialing into a group call or checking your email repeatedly to make sure you have the room and the timing right, all you need to do is open Houseparty for iOS or Android (or the slightly more limited versions of the app built for macOS and Chrome) to be “in the House.” This lets your contacts who also have Houseparty know that you’re around, and unless they’re in a private group chat, you can see who’s online and join them for a quick hello, a lengthy catch up, or a marathon session of party games. With the Houseparty app, anything is possible, and friends and family members can come and go as they please, changing the terms – and the dynamics – of video conferencing to put an end to that feeling of fatigue once and for all.
What to Do in the House
Once you’re in the House with friends, you have a wide array of options in front of you. You can chat with up to seven other friends (or groups of friends on single devices), pop in and out of several different group chats, and create a video chat of your own. Houseparty users have embraced the app as a way to host parties that feel more like actual parties than anything else available online right now, thrown happy hours with friends and colleagues, and used the platform for birthday greetings and more.
Games to Play in the House
You can also play a wide array of party games on the platform, with some of the most recent additions including an adaptation of the classic card game UNO, which is just as fast-paced, easy to learn, and fun to play online as it is in real life. Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball, which you may have asked tough questions of when you were a kid, is here too, and all signs point to YES if you’re wondering if it’s still a good time.
Word Racers, another new game rolled out on Houseparty this year, challenges players to take a group of letters and spell as many words as possible, building on the strengths of classic word games and uniquely making the most of Houseparty’s dynamic platform.
The first games rolled out on Houseparty are receiving regular updates as well. Trivia has received a number of new decks, including a “Fortnite” themed trivia deck rolled out in April and a UEFA Champions League deck sponsored by Pepsi launched with the return of the league this last August.
Chips & Guac, Houseparty’s unique spin on word association, remains a great way to get out of your usual headspace and learn more about your friends. Quick Draw gives you the power to show off your artistic talent (or lack thereof), and Heads Up makes it easy to capture the spirit and feeling of the party classic while you’re online.
In every case, unlike with other video chat platforms, these games and other opportunities to connect are built directly into the app, ensuring that technical snags, complications, slowdowns, and latency aren’t a problem – and making it very easy to have a great time hanging out, especially with older family members who might be less tech-savvy, online.
All of these factors have played a major role in Houseparty’s breakout success in 2020. As we continue to move into a more connected world, and one that relies on technology to bring us together, expect to see the Houseparty app continue to grow, innovate, and create fascinating and fun opportunities to see and spend time with each other in the future.
