Our House: Party! (Wii)
common sense media says
One giant commercial for Home Depot, but minigames are fun.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this enjoyable chaotic party game is effectively one big commercial for Home Depot. The home improvement chain's logo and slogans appear incessantly throughout Our House: Party!, as well as messages about what great sales the store has. This extreme product placement has no direct effect on the gameplay, which is generally quite fun. Parents should also be aware of the game's materialistic goals: Build the grandest, most expensive house, and you come in first place. Richest-player-wins is a long-standing goal of many games, going back to Monopoly and other classics, but in today's economic climate and housing market, it may pose more of an issue for some parents.
Educational value:
The home improvement projects acted out during the game are all real things someone might do. There's actually something to be gained from seeing the steps that must be undertaken and learning which types of tools would be used for different jobs.
Positive role models:
The avatars you'll control are terrible sports. Winners of each round dance and gloat, while the losers throw tantrums.
Ease of play:
The controls for some of the mini-games are more difficult than others, but on the whole, Our House: Party! is relatively simple to play. The only issue is that, if the game is played by any fewer than four people, computer-controlled AI characters will fill out the empty slots—and they will be very, very tough competitors.
Violence:
You will spray bugs with pesticide, watching them crumple and fall. You may also accidentally hit a bug with a hammer, resulting in a spurt of green goo and a squishing sound. Losing players' avatars sometimes hit themselves in a head with a shovel out of frustration.
Sex:
Not an issue.
Language:
There's no real swearing to be heard, just Yosemite Sam type gibberish. But one grumpy old character's grumbling sounds a little too close to, "Oh, damn."
Consumerism:
This game might as well be titled, "Home Depot: The Game." Home Depot ads are literally all over the game, and a shopping-at-Home-Depot mini-game takes place before every single round.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Home Depot is a smoke-free environment.
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