DreamWorks Gabby’s Dollhouse: Ready to Party Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

If my eight-year-old daughter wasn’t so invested in DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse, I’d have probably given Ready to Party a wide berth. Yet, when it came to choosing a new adventure to slog through after beating Trolls: Remix Rescue, it felt like the most obvious choice. On the surface, it had a lot of the same basic fixtures—platforming, collecting, and a vital catalog of mini-games and creative opportunities for younger players to broaden their abilities.

Personally, I wasn’t massively familiar with the show; in fact, I had a rough time telling the difference between the rainbow cat and the DJ. But Gabby’s Dollhouse: Ready to Party wasn’t a game for me; it was a game for the child who I was trying to transform into a jack-of-all-trades. And, to give credit where it’s due, Ready to Party was able to teach her a lot of valuable lessons over its short lifespan.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: Ready to Party does a lot of the same things as the “other” video game adaptations of popular children’s TV series, by which I mean it builds its experience around the usual gameplay elements of a beginner-friendly party game. If, say, you examined the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game, and then extracted its mini-games and frequent references to the source material, you’d more or less have the core ingredients of Ready to Party. The only difference here, of course, is that it centers its world around the iconic dollhouse and its feline inhabitants. But other than that, it’s basically the same formula. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you.

Catnip for Cat Lovers

Like most video game adaptations of kid’s television shows, Ready to Party isn’t built with a “seasoned” audience in mind; on the contrary, it purposely builds its world with the intent of appealing to younger, less experienced hands. With that, the game doesn’t offer much of a challenge, so to speak. Again, like your typical collect-a-thon, the toughest part of the game is learning the basics, which is essentially extends to some genetic platforming maneuvers, mostly. But other than that, Ready to Party is an incredibly easy game to pick up and play, which of course makes it a solid starting point for those who are either keen to learn the fundamental mechanics or content with the idea of simply rolling around to enjoy whatever tasks it bundles into its short campaign.

There isn’t much of a storyline for you to enjoy here. But then, a plot isn’t really needed here, because frankly, it’s the gameplay and the bite-sized mini-games that keep these wheels in motion. Although condensed into a format that’s conceptually lacking in originality and depth, the fact of the matter is that there’s actually quite a lot of diverse elements to soak up here. For example, in one section of the game, you have the job of hopping and romping through a two-dimensional platforming stage, whereas in another you have the task of karting across a cake-drizzled race track. And, for the sake of adding a few extra layers to this, you also have segments that require you to create sticker books, as well as cook meals and—if you can believe it—dance.

To echo, Ready to Party doesn’t do anything particularly special to reinvent the wheel. That said, it does take strands from a lot of successful party games to establish its own portfolio of themed activities. Is it simple? Yes. But then, I think that’s sort of the point, isn’t it?

Inside the Dollhouse

Ready to Party invites you to step inside the iconic dollhouse to explore several of its themed rooms, with each of its unique quarters offering its own series of challenges and multi-dimensional puzzles, platform-based obstacles, and the usual party fodder that you would typically find in a children’s game. Alongside all of these rooms, the game features a built-in local co-op mode, which allows players the opportunity to join in the “action” and participate in dozens of mini-games collectively. That’s a huge boon in itself, and something that, quite frankly, ought to appeal to families who share an interest in split-screen gaming.

To add to all of the above, Ready to Party has a nifty customization suite and a fairly sizable catalog of cosmetics to unlock. Granted, it’s a far cry from a revolutionary faucet, but it does add a little extra depth to the experience.

With all of the above said, Ready to Party is what you make of it. To state the obvious, it isn’t a perfect game, and it isn’t an experience that will dominate at The Game Awards, either. Nevertheless, if it’s a beginner-friendly split-screen game that you want, then I could honestly think of a few poorer options than this. *cough* My Friend Peppa Pig *cough*

Verdict

DreamWorks Gabby’s Dollhouse: Ready to Party provides the fundamentals needed to get the aspiring gamer into the world of gaming, with its simplified mechanics and thematic mini-games offering more than enough variety to keep both newcomers and general jack-of-all-genres something to write home about. To that end, I’d say that Ready to Party is an ideal choice for those who either want to learn the ropes, or simply want to enjoy the experience of filling the shoes of the kitten-obsessed protagonist for an hour or two over a series of oddly enjoyable activities.

Of course, if you are a parent who’s looking for an easy alternative to the likes of Trolls: Remix Rescue, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom or, for good measure, most My Little Pony games, then I’d say that Ready to Party is a good investment. If, however, you’re looking for something that does things a little differently than your usual children’s video game adaptation of a modern TV series, then I’d say that you probably won’t find anything here that truly sets the benchmark. But as I said earlier, it’s a game that knows its target demographic. In other words, if you’re expecting a perfect video game, then you will be sorely disappointed here.