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[LPride]

I've been hosting a weekly game night for a medium-ish sized group of friends. Turnouts generally range from 8 to 24 people, so the games I want to play require pretty robust player caps. The problem is, Im running out of ideas that are not FPS games. I enjoy FPS games, but I don't want to play them week after week.

Are there any high player count games out there that arent FPS/TPS? For the purposes of my game night they have to be free, or ubiquitous enough that any enthusiast gamer would most likely have it already (HL2 for source mods, for example). Heres a quick rundown of what weve played so far:

Tactical Insertion (Basically a counterstrike clone. We only played the maps with the insane car chases though)
Dystopia
Air Buccaneers (Holy Crap this is a good game)
Metal Gear Online 3 (Yea, its not free, this one was last minute, and it was the week of MGO release)
Science and Industry
Sven Coop
Double Action: Boogaloo
Soldat

The only game I can think of that would satisfy my conditions that is not an FPS is trackmania. Are there any good games with high player counts out there that are not shooters? I want to do Warcraft 3 Custom Maps, but that comes with a player limit of 8, unfortunately.

 

[SFenton]

For 8 people (and it looks like you have more than that, so feel free to disregard), I can't offer up the Jackbox Party Pack more.

 

[Soulflarz]

I want to say Rocket League or Smash tournaments >_>

Otherwise yeah FPS life :x

 

[LPride]

For 8 people (and it looks like you have more than that, so feel free to disregard), I can't offer up the Jackbox Party Pack more.

Jackbox is a hit, and I do hope future games expand on the Audience feature. More voting options, or something.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Subspace

 

[Rapscallion]

8 player smash? Smash is always a hit.

 

[Joyful]

off limits is a dead hl2 mod that is pretty big map size wise, you could fit a lot of people into a game of that

 

[Transistor]

Get some PS3s and host Warhawk LANs!

 

[jotun?]

Knight Squad for 8 on one screen

 

[Walpurgis]

I can't think of anything other than FPSs.

 

[sleepydeer]

Altitude goes up to 6 vs 6 and is free (properly, not F2P). You could run a mini-league if you have 24 people.

 

[atomic moth]

Have you tried fighting games as a temporary solution? You can set up multiple stations with people quickly rotating in and out. There's also a few fighting games that allow for 4 players in one game also.

This method could also probably apply to any local multiplayer game that starts and ends quickly. Maybe you could set up 3 or 4 stations of Duck Game?

 

[5taquitos]

Gang Beasts supports 8 players, which is the low end of your desired count. You could always run two matches at once.

Edit: Ignore this, I thought OP was setting up a local game night and Gang Beasts is local MP only.

 

[LPride]

Have you tried fighting games as a temporary solution? You can set up multiple stations with people quickly rotating in and out. There's also a few fighting games that allow for 4 players in one game also.

This method could also probably apply to any local multiplayer game that starts and ends quickly. Maybe you could set up 3 or 4 stations of Duck Game?

Ah, these games are all online only. I (fortunately?) do not know most of these people for real.

So games where everyone is in a different room like fighting game lobbies, or multiple setups of 4 player games isnt an elegant solution.

 

[FinKL]

Old school SWAT 4 allowed for 8 people on LAN, maybe more. All I got sorry, but I'm in the same boat as you. We've done Chivalry vs CPU too at one point and Guns of Icarus both that are not free

 

[nampad]

I haven't played the Steam version yet but thought Transformice was pretty fun and it should be even more with people sitting close to each other. It is free.

Elsewise, look into some Bomberman game with a high playercount.

 

[atomic moth]

Ah, these games are all online only. I (fortunately?) do not know most of these people for real.

So games where everyone is in a different room like fighting game lobbies, or multiple setups of 4 player games isnt an elegant solution.

Gotcha.

For what it's worth, I believe Skullgirls will allow largish online lobbies where people are always playing each other and not just waiting for their turn.

You could also try Fightcade. Old arcade games connected through an online chat lobby is pretty fun. Everyone likes Windjammers.

 

[TheBowen]

Mortal kombat king of the hill, or left 4 dead 2 vs mode all allow i believe 8 players or really any rts game. Other then that no games i can think of that armt fps games

 

[Akuun]

Not really free, but maybe Minecraft or Terraria?

I know Terraria goes on sale for a few dollars pretty often.

 

[Walpurgis]

Have you tried fighting games as a temporary solution? You can set up multiple stations with people quickly rotating in and out. There's also a few fighting games that allow for 4 players in one game also.

This method could also probably apply to any local multiplayer game that starts and ends quickly. Maybe you could set up 3 or 4 stations of Duck Game?

Speaking of fighting games, Anarchy Reigns would be perfect for OP. The problem is, it is exclusive to PS3 and 360 and might be pricey. It hasn't been given out on PS+ either, afaik.

It has 16 player deathmatch and a bunch of other modes like some American football inspired mode.

 

[Walpurgis]

Mount and Blade: Warband could also work. It is very cheap on sales so probably a ubiquitous game, and it has a very high player cap. I'm not sure how fun it would be with only 16 players though.

 

[TimeEffect]

Fat princess

 

[wanders]

Speaking of fighting games, Anarchy Reigns would be perfect for OP. The problem is, it is exclusive to PS3 and 360 and might be pricey. It hasn't been given out on PS+ either, afaik.

It has 16 player deathmatch and a bunch of other modes like some American football inspired mode.

Fuck yea

 

[Erheller]

Air Buccaneers (Holy Crap this is a good game)

I know you're asking for a free game, but Guns of Icarus Online is in the same vein as Air Buccaneers and it's amazing. 8v8, 12v12, 16v16 are all supported (and there are bots if you're missing some players). If you wait for a sale, it'll become really cheap (a 4-pack for 5 bucks!).

It's still probably not practical for you to buy all those copies, but it's worth thinking about.

 

[LPride]

I know you're asking for a free game, but Guns of Icarus Online is in the same vein as Air Buccaneers and it's amazing. 8v8, 12v12, 16v16 are all supported (and there are bots if you're missing some players). If you wait for a sale, it'll become really cheap (a 4-pack for 5 bucks!).

It's still probably not practical for you to buy all those copies, but it's worth thinking about.

I own Guns of Icarus and Id like to run it, but the people I play with would cry and cry and cry if I ever ran something that wasnt free. Its annoying, but Id never play some of these free multiplayer games that are on steam if it wasnt for that restriction. Some of them are even sorta fun, Double Action is a Max Payne-like and Tactical Instertion is a really cheap CS clone, but the maps with a car chase before the gun fight are sort of fun. Good way to kill two hours. Its a shame that theyre all FPS, or TPS though.

 

[Mindlog]

We really need a new Allegiance.
Allegiance is free, but it's very old and takes a while to learn. With a large group the teamwork is pretty great though. It's a space combat game with commander/RTS mechanics. Microsoft should make a new one.

 

[LPride]

We really need a new Allegiance.
Allegiance is free, but it's very old and takes a while to learn. With a large group the teamwork is pretty great though. It's a space combat game with commander/RTS mechanics. Microsoft should make a new one.

Oh, I love games with commander roles in them, I should look into Natural Selection 1 as a game to play.

 

[LPride]

Im gonna give this the old "bump" in hopes some new eyes see it.