Out of the Loop is the perfect game to bust out at your next holiday party [Android Game of the Week]

'Tis the season for holiday parties, so for this week's game recommendation I wanted to find an ideal game to bust out at your next social gathering.

I ended up landing on Out of the Loop, a game of deduction that's just perfect for casual play at a party. It's designed to be played on one phone that's passed around the group and will fit in nicely on our list of the best social games to play at a party.

Here's how the game works. You add up to nine player names into the app and pick a category, then pass the phone around so that everyone gets a chance to read the secret word — except the one player who is informed that they are out of the loop for the round. Players then take turns asking each other silly random questions about the secret word. Once the questioning round is over, everyone votes for who they think is the out-of-the-loop player based on how they answered the questions.

If you're the player who's out of the loop, you need to pay close attention to how other people are answering their questions and try to figure out the word before your turn rolls around. Then, when it's your turn to answer, try to answer in a way that's not incredibly obvious you have no idea what's going on.

Conversely, it's equally important for everyone else to be somewhat cryptic when giving their answers since you want others to know that you know the word, but don't want to be too obvious with your response because the player who is out of the loop might figure out the secret word.

Any players who correctly guessed the person who was out of the loop win points, while the outed player gets a chance to win the round by selecting the secret word out of multiple options. If they manage to guess the right word, they win points. The goal is to have the most points when all the rounds are completed.

All told, it takes about 10 minutes to play a full game. You can download Out of the Loop for free, which lets you play the food category. If your group enjoys the concept, there are other categories that can be unlocked individually or bundled together for just $5.

This game was developed by Tasty Rook, who also made Triple Agent (opens in new tab) which is another intriguing party game that's free to play from the Google Play Store.

See previous Android Games of the Week