April Fools is an annual holiday of merriment and mischief, a time for jokes, laughter, and camaraderie with friends. To help you celebrate, we put together a list of some of the best games to play on April Fools’ Day that embody its spirit:
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
It’s time to team up with Mario, Luigi, Peach, and their Rabbid counterparts in this bwah-some adventure to save the galaxy from Cursa. You’ll travel to five different worlds to fight Cursa’s minions and clear away the Darkmess that's corrupting reality. Any Rabbids game will be filled with goofy characters, silly missions, and plungers galore, but there are a few standout moments that make Sparks of Hope worth playing on April Fools’ Day.
Saving DJ Cheep Tuna (a Rabbid wearing a goldfish hat) to restore rocking good times on the beach, tracking down lost penguins in a game of hide-and-squeak gone awry, and helping the tortured artist Gerspard find his missing friend DA DA are just some of the quests you’ll undertake, and Madame Bwahstrella will always bring a chuckle with her exaggerated warnings of doooooom! Plus, you get to see a Rabbid lumberjack break his axe, then try to chop a log with his bare hands (spoiler: it does not go well).
The dialogue is funny and sarcastic in the best way, like Rabbid Peach’s “#HealingJourney,” Madame Bwahstrella’s “I’m not legally responsible for the outcome,” or Rabbid Mario’s “Gimme da pizza.” Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is also full of riddles and puzzles for you to solve, scratching an itch for the more devious and prankish side of April Fools’.
OddBallers
If you’re in search of a good time with a group of friends, look no further than OddBallers. A new multiplayer party game, OddBallers is a wacky, dodgeball-inspired romp. Its cosmetic options alone are fun to play with, as you can create tons of combinations of outfits, hairstyles, expressions, and more for a goofy look.
Of course, it’s on the court that the comedy really shines through. Taking place across three different regions, OddBallers hurls players into rapid-fire minigames that range from straightforward dodgeball matches to chicken-washing races, mascot-pelting games of tag, and team-up events where everyone works together to pull fish from the ocean and use them to slap a car to pieces. (Plus you can knock your friends out with a high-velocity cactus, which is always a good time.)
Just imagine your bean-shaped or Rabbid avatar dressed in Eivor’s coat, wearing a towel wrapped around their waist, with a propeller beanie on their head and a foam finger on their hand. Now imagine that same character running around with a few friends – all dressed just as ridiculously – as you slap them with fish, dodge crates on a speeding ship, or smack away swarming bees. This is the silly joy that awaits you in the world of OddBallers.
Far Cry 5
While Far Cry 5’s main premise – liberating Hope County from a cult led by the vicious and sadistic Joseph Seed – is a dark one, you’ll find humor in unexpected places as you explore the land and interact with its citizens. Team up with the incendiary Sharky and his flamethrower to take out hordes of savage cultists while rocking out to Disco Inferno in an explosive-filled trailer park; rifle through dog poop to find a key that unlocks juicy goodies in a prepper stash; harvest some delectable prairie oysters by misappropriating farm equipment; or tame a fast food-loving bear named Cheeseburger and watch him smack enemies into the air with his massive paws. And don’t even think about landing a helicopter on a hillside, lest it accidentally slide to the bottom and explode in a fiery mess (as the Ubisoft News team recently learned in its Far Cry 5 fifth anniversary stream).
Outside of these Montana antics, NPC dialogue is sure to make you chuckle at every turn, whether the Hope County residents are expanding your insult vocabulary, praising the Monkey King, or spelling out some of the more creative uses for coconut oil.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Malaka! If you like a little history with your April Fools’ antics, check out Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. As you play a mercenary who’s hunting down Cult of Kosmos members, there are plenty of laughs to be had along the way. Some of the quests have work in modern pop-culture references, like the Heart of Stone quest on Pirate Island, where a man chooses from among many women to marry, Bachelor-style, though this story involves a love potion and some light murder. Some quests are darkly comedic, like A Really, Really Bad Day, where every attempt to save a village is thwarted by fate. Many others are rife with innuendo, whether you’re helping a husband keep up with his energetic wife or retrieving an object of, shall we say, great value for the uninhibited statesman Alkibiades. And, of course, the incident involving a goat and a crime boss’ obsidian eye is one of the game’s funniest and most unforgettable moments.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is also full of plenty of trickery and witty banter. At a party full of philosophers, you can hear characters like Aristophanes, Euripides, and Sophokles insult one another and their peers, and then you can get them all drunk to gather quest intel. And let’s not forget that there’s a second goat in Alkibiades’ chambers at Perikles’ symposium (it’s best to discover this one for yourself, trust us).
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Grecian adventures continue with Immortals Fenyx Rising as you save gods and defeat the evil that has invaded the Golden Isle. It’s the witty banter between the gods of Olympus that power this game and make it April Fools’-worthy. Zeus and Prometheus, who function as the game’s narrators, bicker like an old married couple, with Zeus’ godly hubris and Prometheus’ steady faith in Fenyx clashing in a titanic storm of observational humor. The two will also provide commentary on your actions as a player, unafraid to make Fenyx a punchline. But Zeus and Prometheus don’t have all the funny zingers; all of the gods in the Golden Isle constantly bicker and poke fun at one another like the big messy family that they are.
For more on these April Fools-worthy games, check out how the Rabbids learned to talk, this Far Cry 5 retrospective, and stay tuned to Ubisoft News for more updates.
