Yippa: Party Game Night

Eight games, four rounds, one winner. Open a room, say the code out loud, everyone joins from their own phone.

Four people, one room, four phones. Five minutes later somebody has won, and the first thing anyone says is usually "again".

No shared screen, no waiting your turn. Everyone plays on their own phone, all at once. One person opens a room, reads out the four letters on their screen, and the others join. Four seats at the table.

EIGHT GAMES, EIGHT DIFFERENT SKILLS

Rapids — Go fast. Hit nothing. Recall — Memorize what's where, then put it all back. Even Cut — Cut the shape exactly in half. Skyward — Tilt the phone and climb. Tile Trail — Slide the tiles, build the path, take the gems. Chop Chop — Chop the trunk from the left and the right. Flags — Raise whichever flag the caller raises. Odd One Out — Find the panel that's different.

One wants reflexes, one memory, one a sharp eye, one a steady hand. Nobody is good at all of them, which is the point: there is always a round that belongs to somebody at the table.

FIVE MINUTES, THEN ONE MORE

A session is four rounds, and each round is a different game. Which ones turn up changes every time, so the evening never starts in the same place twice. Points go out by finishing order at the end of every round, and after the fourth there is a winner. Short on purpose: a session lasts about as long as it takes to want another.

NOTHING TO LEARN FIRST

Every round says what it is in one line, then says the one thing that will catch you out in another, and counts you in. Somebody handed a phone for the first time can play the round they sat down for.

NO ACCOUNT, NO ADS

No sign-up, no email address, no shared television. No ads, and nothing that stops you in the middle of a game. All eight games are free and they stay free. Everyone needs to be online; you do not have to be on the same network.

The room deletes itself when the game is over. At the end of a round its numbers come to us and are used only to tune how hard the games are; nothing in them identifies you, and one tap in Settings turns them off.

iPhone, iOS 18 and later.