Kinect Party

Double Fine's Kinect Party arrives today for free and remains that way until January! And so begins two weeks of scrumptious deals on Xbox Live.

Kinect Party - Double Fine's sequel to Happy Action Theater - is due out on 18th December where it will remain free for the remainder of the year. After that it will increase to an unannounced price.

Last month we investigated how Minecraft was being used in classrooms all over the world, but it's far from the only mainstream game adapted to education. The Jackson School in Victoria, Australia, which specialises in kids with special needs, has found success using Double Fine's Kinect-exclusive Happy Action Theater.

Today at PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington Double Fine Studios showed off Kinect Party, the sequel to its eccentric title Happy Action Theater.

The original game was a collection of mini-games without goals. Instead it was a series of outlandish backgrounds and ridiculous objects that two players could interact with. "You make up your own games," said Double Fine artist Drew Skillman.

This sequel adds Facebook support. The game snaps pictures of its players in their make-believe green-screened worlds, then allows the option to upload them onto Facebook. In my brief hands-on time I felt the urge to replace my current profile pic with at least five images of me having what appears to be an acid trip in a Harold and Kumar movie.

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