The idea of home improvement projects has definitely gone mainstream with a variety of television shows dedicated to the subject and recently we are even starting to see video-game titles being released with an eye toward the craft. Our House Party, sponsored by Home Depot, was recently released for the Nintendo Wii and it may be one to skip.

Our House Party is essentially a home-improvement title that tries to incorporate the essential motion controls. You will begin picking a house. There are goofy houses that look like castles and ice cream shops or more "run-of-the-mill" houses you would see in your neighborhood. Whatever you choose doesn't really matter. The object is to have the most valued house. How do you increase the value? Well, much like Mario Party, you have to compete in a series of mini-games to improve your house. The set-up has home-improvement projects and then you play the mini-games related to the home-improvement project you and the other players choose.

Unfortunately, Our House Party has a huge amount of problems. It seems to have issues on all levels of the game. The biggest problem is the mini-games, which is the basis of the entire game. First off, many of the mini-games just don't make any sense. There are tutorials at the beginning of every mini-game, but they just don't always hold true when it comes to the actual gameplay of the mini-game. Otherwise, the controls are extremely strange in a lot of the mini-games and it will frustrate you, eventually resulting in disappointment.

Other than the mini-games, this title doesn't really have anything going for it. Slow loading times and sometimes glitchy graphics will make you want to trade this one back in immediately.

The only light at the end of the tunnel was seeing the end result of your home improvement projects. At the end of every mini-game session, it shows the result of your work. Depending on what place you come in depends on how good your project went. It is always worthwhile to see your extremely awesome garage right next to a broken-down garage the other players made.

Overall, if you are a home-improvement buff and you want to translate your love and play it in a video-game, this is not the game for you. If this game had been perfected and had quality mini-games, it definitely could have been something. But for now, you should just look past this one on the shelves.

Gameplay: 4.0
Strictly a mini-game title, though the mini-games were boring and will have a lot of players disappointed.

Graphics: 4.0
The graphics are some of the worst you will see on the Wii. They will remind you of an older PC game.

Sound: 2.0
Sound effects and the song "My House" are really the only audio in the game. It could have definitely used some more variety.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 5.0
There aren't a ton of home improvement games and if made correctly, this game could have been a lot of fun for some players.

Overall: 3.5
Our House Party is yet another Wii title comprised of mini-games that just doesn't stack up to the other quality titles the platform has to offer.