When we went to Nintendo last week, Wii Party was not on our main list to play. However, after grabbing some Nintendo-made OJ and saddling up some seats, we settled to try it. All three of our epic staff members were perched around their delightful cubes, accompanied by their Wii-motes (including wrist straps for all) and the game begun.

This is where something we didn’t plan for happened: we actually enjoyed it. Wii Party was like a guilty pleasure, intoxicating our mind like a mainstream “indie” album from a hot woman in her 20s. The gameplay is like every other party game out there. You have to go around a board by rolling some dice. Only this time, you play as Miis and the board is actually fun. Random squares would bring up challenge dice, special treats and if you got lucky, a catapult to a square to the other side of the board.

Then the biggest surprise came: the mini-games. We were expecting some obscure games involving dodgy controls and poor people. What we got was actually fun to play. Don’t get us wrong, this is no WarioWare, but it’s perfectly adequate fun. In one game, we had to balance some presents with our Wii-motes. Naturally, we all started to cheat straight away and used each other for epic leanage. It didn’t go well.

Another game we got to experience was this bizarre tank/train hybrid. Our Miis were loaded onto some tanks and we were tasked with shooting a target on the back of each other through a pre-determined maze. It felt like that weird tank game in Wii Party that no one admits they played. Things got pretty intense towards the end, and with two seconds on the clock, I showed the remaining staff member who runs this town tonight (and each and every night).

So there we have it, Wii Party. It’s shaping up to be pretty fun. It won’t be on anyone’s must-have lists, but if your granny accidentally picks it up for you somewhere along the line it won’t make you kill yourself. Nintendo families will probably enjoy its Wii Sports/Party theming whilst Nintendo fanboys will weep at what could’ve been another lacklustre Mario Party game.