Party House Strategy Guide

Rules and strategy for Party House, game 25 in UFO 50, with discussion for each party guest.

Rules

Your goal in Party House is to throw the ultimate party within 25 days! You win if you end a party with four guests that each have a star, and you lose if the party ends with the timer at 1, and you don't have four stars. Your party guests can each provide you with popularity or cash, which you'll use to improve future parties until you have enough popularity to invite star guests. But watch out for troublemakers! Some guests bring trouble, and if you have too much the police will break up the party and you'll get nothing.

Your house starts with 5 capacity, and your Rolodex starts with 4 Old Friends, 2 Rich Pals, and 4 Wild Buddies. Click the door to invite a random guest from the Rolodex. If the party fills up, or when you choose to end the party, the party ends and you get the popularity and money from all guests in the party.

After each party, you'll move to the Party Planner to spend your popularity and cash (if you have any). Popularity can be used to add better guests to your Rolodex so that so earn more in future parties. Each guest has a different cost, with expensive guests generally being better. Cash is used to expand the house, allowing more guests per party before the house fills.

The Wild Buddies are one of the guests that bring trouble. If your trouble level reaches 2, you'll get a few warnings indicating that one more trouble will end the party. These warnings are a message in the status bar, a sound, and the cat will be alarmed. If the trouble level reaches 3, the police will arrive to break up the party, and you will not get any popularity or cash at the end of the party when that happens. You can choose a guest to blame, and that guest will not be in your Rolodex the next night (meaning that you can make it less likely you'll run into trouble again).

There is one other case where the party will be broken up: if one of your guests brings a plus-one (Mr. Popular, Celebrity, or Mermaid will do this) and it overfills the house, the fire marshal will break up the party and you will not get popularity or cash, and you won't be able to blame anyone.

The star guests that you need to win the game cost between 25 and 55 popularity, with the cheap ones having downsides and the expensive ones having bonuses. You'll need to get a lot of popularity to add four star guests to the Rolodex, and then you'll need to make sure they're all in the same party together.

Some guests have an action they can take. The various actions are all detailed later in this guide. The symbol used in the game looks like two white circles stacked on top of each other, so I'm using this symbol in this guide to represent that: ⊚. But, once per party, you can click on each guest with an action to make each them do something that can improve your situation.

General Strategy

During the first couple of nights, your biggest concern is going to be making sure that troublemakers don't end your night early. You can hopefully get 5-6 popularity on these nights, so use that to get a few good guests that can mitigate that risk or trouble. Security or a Hippy can negate trouble, a Watch Dog can be used at 2 trouble to make sure you get safe guests, and a Grillmaster can give you a second chance if you hit 2 trouble too early. Over time, try to continue to reduce the chance that you have to end your night early due to trouble. Of course, if you're not going for a random scenario streak, you could press your luck and just reset if it goes wrong, but if you're not going to reset, I'd recommend ending the night at two trouble unless you have a good reason to test the odds.

Unlike some other roguelike deckbuilders, there is no way to remove guests from your Rolodex, so be careful what you add! Try not to add anyone that you're going to hate to see later.

Once you're a few nights in, choose your next guests based on a game plan, but try to make you're spending your popularity most nights and improving the Rolodex. Shoot for specific, powerful guests and other guests that combine well with them. It'll depend a lot on your scenario, so check scenario strategies and individual guest strategies for some ideas.

Here are some of the things you should shoot for in the early-mid game:

Make sure you can make a reasonable amount of both popularity and cash. Depending on the scenario, you might have to pick an inferior guest if it's your only decent source of popularity/cash. Both will help you get more resources per night, in different ways.
Guests that can Boot are amazingly useful, not only for reducing trouble, but also for booting guests that just aren't contributing much.
Look for good synergies, and choose guests accordingly. If Cheerleaders are available, for example, prioritize taking anyone that uses actions.
If you're comfortable in mitigating the trouble you have, consider adding troublemakers that provide a lot of resources. They can give you a huge leg up if you can handle the risk.

In the mid-game, you need to focus on how you're going to earn the popularity you need to earn Star Guests. Maybe that's using Wrestlers to make sure that only strong guests stay, or using Comedians in a full house, or Writers with a bunch of trouble and trouble canceling, or get some Climbers and try to get them to enter at every opportunity. There are a lot of possibilities. Fetching can be pretty useful at this point, since you should have some high-impact guests to call.

In the late game, stop buying cheaper guests and save for star guests. If you're low on time, get the cheap star guests and just live with the downside. If you have some time left, go for the expensive star guests and let them help you buy the other star guests. Fetching and Magicians in particular can be invaluable in finding all four star guests in the same party.

Scenario Strategies

Alien Invitation

Strength: Multiple cheap guests that allow you to mitigate trouble. Most guests give good popularity or cash.
Challenge: Guest abilities are weak. Not many possible actions.

This is a good scenario for learning the basics, since you'll be relying more on stats than abilities and actions to get the win.

Driver - Only grab after you have Aliens.
Monkey - In this scenario, I wouldn't take any. Too many other strong guests early on.
Security - No other options for boot. Best unit to stop trouble. Grab some early.
Ticket Taker - Take early to expand the house.
Watch Dog - Decent all-around utility. Good at any point, never amazing.
Hippy - I'd just rely on Security to deal with Wild Buddies.
Rock Star - You have better options. The trouble is tough do deal with in this scenario.
Comedian - Tied for best late-game popularity generator. Better later when you're stable.
Caterer - Tied for best late-game popularity generator. Better earlier when you're less stable.
Mr. Popular - No.
Dancer - Probably not as good as Comedian/Caterer.
Auctioneer - Best late-game cash generator, needed to support Comedian/Caterer.
Alien - The only option for stars.

High or Low

Strength: Strong late-game units that earn a lot of popularity.
Challenge: Weak or troublemaking early-game units.

This scenario is the best of the normal five for trying out a Writer/trouble build. Make the choice early if you're going to go that direction or if you're going to avoid trouble; both are viable options. If you're wondering how well this scenario can handle a trouble build, I had one party with 4 Writers and 5 trouble, so yes it can.

Private Eye - Good in this scenario once you get some other good guests.
Introvert - Avoid.
Grillmaster - Adds stability until you can get Cute Dogs or Wrestlers, and lets Climbers climb faster. My choice for night 1.
Mascot - Tried it. Not worth it.
Gangster - Your source of late-game cash if you're adding more trouble to the Rolodex.
Cute Dog - Great option for stability. Amazing if you have Writers.
Gambler - Good late-game cash if you want to flirt with trouble.
Spy - Your source of late-game cash if you don't want to flirt with trouble, and prevents trouble from getting out of control.
Writer - Consider a trouble build with Gangster/Cute Dog. If not, go for Climber instead.
Wrestler - Also a great option for stability and making sure there's room for the Climbers.
Climber - Best late-game source of popularity if not using Writers.
Mermaid - Don't take Mermaid unless you're panicking to get four stars at the end.
Superhero - The better choice for stars.

Best Wishes

Strength: Cheerleader is available, supported by many powerful guests with actions. (This scenario is a lot of fun.)
Challenge: There are so many guests with actions, but there are few guests that give good end-game stats.

This scenario has two big build-around guests: the Cheerleader and the Bartender. My good builds for this scenarios have used both, but without adding more than 2 trouble to the Rolodex. I tried a build that went harder into trouble strategies, but it didn't work out nearly as well.

Monkey - I like to grab one first to hopefully be able to afford Wrestlers.
Hippy - Grab some early for stability, and eventually get all four to power up Bartender.
Photographer - Take two once your Bartenders start taking off or once your Stylists have given a guest decent popularity.
Cheerleader - There are six other different guests you can get with actions. For each 2-3 other guests with actions, grab a Cheerleader. This scenario will show you how strong she can be.
Rock Star - I grabbed one late to have six troublemakers, which is the most the Bartender can profit from in this scenario.
Athlete - One early to prevent ending a night early seems okay, but maybe just get Hippies instead.
Stylist - Grab them in the mid-game to start boosting one of your guests (just choose one you won't boot). This can be your late-game popularity engine when combined with Cheerleaders.
Counselor - With Bartender as the best option for cash, I'd avoid Counselor, which reduces the trouble the Bartender needs.
Wrestler - Get four as soon as possible. They filter out your guests and with the Cheerleaders, you can eventually boot every single guest you don't like.
Celebrity - Absolutely not.
Bartender - One of your only options for cash. Get one as soon as you can.
Dinosaur - Taking the Dinosaur is more a desperation play than something you want to do.
Genie - The Genie with Cheerleaders is a really strong combo.

Money Management

Strength: Many ways to gain money, which provide support for guests that take money.
Challenge: End-game popularity guests are weaker than normal. They can be good, but they require some work.

Security provides trouble mitigation at the start, maybe boosted by an Athlete, and Ticket Takers can expand the house quickly. Cute Dogs provide some mid-game stability, and go for Spies or Gangsters to bankroll the other guests. Caterers or Comedians can provide the base for your late-game popularity, boosted by Stylists and multiplied by Photographers. Take Leprechauns as your first few star guests if you can, then Leprechauns or Dragons to get to four, then Private I. to find them.

A Magical Night

Strength: Most of the best end-game guests are available.
Challenge: Weak popularity guests in the mid-game. Between Cupid and Ghost, booting options are limited.

I'd grab a pile of Watch Dogs in the early game, and use them to try to get Auctioneers and Cupids. Once you have Watch Dogs, Greeters become good too. An early Werewolf would be risky, but could give you the popularity to power through to the late game.

Dancers and Climbers can power you through to the late game once you can afford them. Once you can afford star guests, I tend to prefer Ghosts to Unicorns, but choose whichever suits you. Once you start getting star guests, Magicians become a lot better, especially because both star guests come with an upside.

Random Scenario

Good luck! You'll have to identify a plan of attack like you would in any other scenario. Use the lessons you've learned in the non-random scenarios to adapt to whatever weird combination you happen to have. Identify what gives you safety and resources in the early game, and which guests you'll need to get 40-ish popularity in the late game. Try to recognize when you have a great synergy available and take advantage of it.

If you're going for a random streak for the cherry, you'll want to reduce your risk more than normal and try to play consistently. Avoid high-trouble strategies and really try to avoid pressing your luck if you have two trouble.

Abilities and Actions

I'll go into a basic description of how each of the abilities can be used, but I'll save the detailed analysis for the discussions on individual guests.

Trouble

Trouble!

Seen on seven different guests.
Raises the trouble level by 1. If the trouble level hits 3, the police break up the party.
Trouble is high-risk, high-reward. Trouble is the number one cause of your party ending earlier than it should, but most troublemakers come with strong bonuses. Trouble can be especially rewarding if you have ways to keep it in check.

Cancel 1 trouble

Seen on: Hippy, Cure Dog, Unicorn
Lowers the trouble level by 1.
Canceling trouble is a great way to make sure your parties run as long as possible. Especially good if you have a big house.

For each trouble: +2 Pop or +2 Cash

Seen on: Writer (popularity), Bartender (cash)
Gives the specified resource for each troublemaker in the party. This number is not reduced by guests that cancel trouble, but is reduced by the Counselor's action.
This gives you a much stronger incentive to play risky with more troublemakers, or just to get bonuses from the few troublemakers you already have, and it's a very strong incentive to get trouble-cancelers.

Boot

⊚: Boot out 1 guest

Seen on: Security, Cupid, Wrestler, Ghost
Choose a guest in the party. That guest leaves the party and can't re-enter until the next party. Guests can boot themselves.
Booting is a great way to reduce the trouble level if you've hit 2 trouble, but if you haven't, it's also great to kick out the guests that aren't contributing to your popularity and cash wallets as much as other guests in your Rolodex might. And see the Security write-up below for why self-booting can be amazing.

Fetch

⊚: Fetch specific guest

Seen on: Driver, Private I, Genie
Choose a guest in your Rolodex to enter the party. Can't be used if the party is full. Can't fetch a guest that was booted out.
Fetching can be very powerful. You can always find the person that will either help with your current problem, whichever guest gives you the most resources, or, the best use, grab star guests when you have four available. Fetching another guest that fetches can be powerful if you have Cheerleader, or if you just want them all at the party.

Bring

Brings 1 guest/Brings 2 guests

Seen on: Mr. Popular (brings 1), Celebrity (brings 2), Mermaid (brings 1)
When this guest enters the house, another random guest from the Rolodex will enter immediately after. If they bring another guest who brings guests, those guests will also enter immediately. If the house is full and a guest brings another guest, the fire marshal will end the party without scoring.
Let me be crystal clear with this: this ability is a downside, similar to trouble. It will be unsafe to invite a guest into the last spot in your house of one of these is in the Rolodex, and more spots will be unsafe the more guests you have that will bring a plus-one, due to how bringing a guest can chain.

Peek

⊚: Peek at next guest

Seen on: Watch Dog, Spy
Get a preview of the next guest to enter the party. You may either let them in or boot them before they enter by pressing the "cancel" button on the preview.
Peek is a weaker Boot, only allowing you to screen the guest at the door, and without the self-booting possibility. It can be very useful to have some certainty for what's coming next, though, especially at 2 trouble.

Outside

⊚: Move all guests outside

Seen on: Grillmaster, Athlete
Every guest that's currently in the party is returned to the Rolodex and can be re-invited. Guests that have already used their action (including the guest that moved everyone outside) will not get their action back when they return.
This gives you another chance to make a good party, letting you reset if you don't like how the party's turned out so far. It also pairs well with guests that change whenever they enter. You probably won't use this action every night, but it's powerful when you need it.

Star

Get 4 stars in a single party to win!

Starter Guests

Old Friend

Cost: 2
1 Pop

D Tier. Getting one popularity is unexciting in the early game and pretty much useless in the late game. If your Rolodex is filled with Old Friends, you're going to have safe parties that don't allow you to afford better guests.

Mascot provides an interesting synergy with Old Friends. I'll discuss this more in the Mascot discussion below, but even with a Mascot, I would have to be in a dire situation to consider buying an Old Friend. I don't think I would ever buy an Old Friend without a Mascot in any situation.

Rich Pal

Cost: 3
1 Cash

D Tier. 1 cash has more spending power than 1 popularity, so a Rich Pal is a little bit better than an Old Friend (game, why do you make me write things like this?). I'm not sure I would buy a Rich Pal unless I absolutely needed them to support Stylists or something.

Wild Buddy

Can't be purchased
2 Pop
Trouble!

D Tier. Not sure that tier matters that much for a guest you can't get more of, but it's worth a discussion of Wild Buddy's role. Wild Buddy can help you get some big-ticket guests early, but it's also the reason you're always at risk of getting the police called on three guests. If you're not at risk of maxing out trouble, then Wild Buddy is better than Old Friend, and probably slightly better than Rich Pal. But under most circumstances after the first few parties, I prefer the Old Friend, because the trouble is way more of an inconvenience than the extra 1 popularity offsets.

Of course, Wild Buddies can help with Writer/Bartender strategies, but you'd ideally get Gangsters or something good it you're going that route.

Very Cheap Guests (cost 3)

Driver

Cost: 3
⊚: Fetch specific guest

C Tier. Fetching can be powerful, especially when you need to react to hitting 2 trouble or when you have very strong guests to bring in that are much better than average. Once you have 4 star guests in your Rolodex, you want as many fetch guests as you can get to make sure you get those four stars together.

Fetching is doubly amazing with Cheerleaders, especially because you can fetch your other fetchers, fetch the Cheerleader, refresh everything, then fetch some more.

However, fetching is not amazing in the early-game or mid-game, and the Driver gives zero popularity and cash. How much better is the guest you're fetching than one you'd find randomly? Probably only one or two points early on, and you've lost that difference by having the Driver take up a spot.

So, I'd only grab a Driver if Cheerleaders are available or if there's something specific I'm looking to get with it. Either a guest that's at least twice as good as the average guest, a star guest, or something that's in short supply in the scenario that I really need to find at any cost.

Monkey

Cost: 3
4 Pop
Trouble!

B Tier. The Monkey gives a ton of popularity for something you can always afford after the first night. There's no doubt it's a powerful guest. You might have more nights end early, but even nights where you end early on 2 trouble would be more profitable. So basically, it's high-risk, high-reward, which is actually a powerful option for a guest that only costs 3.

I avoid Monkeys in most builds because I dislike the risk that more trouble adds in the late game, but if someone told me that Monkeys worked amazingly well for them, I'd believe that too. Of course, if you're getting Writers or Bartenders, the Monkey seems like a great way to afford those two.

Just know that the Monkey isn't just something to blindly throw in because I gave it a B-Tier rating. It could mess up your late-game plans if you're not careful with it.

Cheap Guests (cost 4)

Security

Cost: 4
⊚: Boot out 1 guest

A Tier. Security is very useful in the early game as a way to prevent trouble, and unlike every other early-game guest, there is no downside to seeing Security turn up in the later nights when you're really hunting for popularity. Why is that, when Security offers no popularity or cash? Because, if there's no guest with a downside that you need to eject, Security can boot themselves. This makes it so that, even if Security isn't the guest you want to see, all you need to do is tell them to leave unlike, say, the Hippy, who will take up a spot in the house whether there's trouble to cancel or not. And later in the game, there might be other non-troublemaking guests you'd rather boot before Security, especially Stylists and Photographers after you've used their actions.

The other reason for the A-Tier rating is that, at only four cost, it's easy to grab a set of four early on to kick out a second Wild Buddy that might otherwise end your night early. Actually, they're so effective at that job that you could consider grabbing a small number of Monkeys, Gangsters, Rock Stars, or Gamblers to accelerate your resource gathering in the mid-game. Security has synergy with Cheerleaders, if you didn't already have enough reason to hire either of them. Also, there's some synergy with Cupid. Since Security is a highly-bootable guest, you can use Security to boot someone else, and have Cupid boot Security and someone undesirable they happen to be near.

Security isn't perfect, though, and there's one key situation where filling your Rolodex with Security is a bad thing: if you're using a bunch of Greeters. Security may be able to take a hint and leave the party when unwanted, but if you're hoping to find a nice Greeter bonus, Security will be one of the worst guests they can see at the door. Also, if you don't particularly want Security at some point in the game, it can make Peeking a little less powerful if you filled the Rolodex with four Security. However, I wouldn't say that all this is a reason to avoid Security. Instead, if you have Security, I think it's a reason to avoid Greeters.

Private Eye

Cost: 4
+2 Pop, -1 Cash
⊚: Fetch specific guest

C Tier. Private Eye is an interesting alternative to the Driver. I'm not sure it's all that much better, though.

Let's start with the base stats. It gives 2 popularity but takes 1 cash, giving a net increase of +1, which is quite bad. Better than the Driver's +0 at least. But in the early and mid game, cash has more spending power than popularity, so that puts Private Eye's base stats on par with an Old Friend. That's not exactly a compliment. The only real saving grace here is that you can use the Private Eye to cover its own cost by fetching a Rich Pal. It's not a very strong play, but it prevents you from going negative on cash, which comes with a -7 popularity penalty (IIRC).

Other than that, this is very similar to the Driver, and I'd recommend reading that section for a discussion on how strong Private Eye's fetch is. The short version is: avoid taking this unless you have a very good guest, you're going for 4 star guests, or you want something else specific, like a Cheerleader.

Ticket Taker

Cost: 4
-1 Pop, +2 Cash

B Tier. The Ticket Taker only has a net +1 to stats and has no abilities. It seems like the Ticket Taker should be a terrible guest, but they've always been pretty useful for me. I think that the Ticket Taker is what proves to me that 1 cash is worth around 1.5 popularity, because the impact of a Ticket Taker is closer to a Grillmaster at +2 than an Old Friend at +1. Getting a Ticket Taker on your first night will actually do a lot to increase the house size early, which can offset the popularity loss.

The other thing working in the Ticket Taker's favor is that there are no good alternatives for early-game cash that don't also bring trouble. Some others give +1 cash, Rock Star/Gangster/Gambler are good but bring trouble, but the next that gives cash is the Spy at twice the price.

I probably wouldn't take more than two, though. The popularity penalty could come back to bite you if you have it in multiples, and you need to get popularity eventually.

Introvert

Cost: 4
+1 Pop
For each empty space: +1 Pop

D Tier. It's cute to play a single Introvert and end the party, but one popularity per slot is a bad rate. You could try to get, like three Introverts and ten empty space? That would require a ton of space, which requires a lot of cash that the Introverts aren't giving you.

The more realistic case, I think, would be to make it not so devastating if trouble forces you to close up early, but how many open spots are you realistically expecting to have? Would it just be better to press your luck and hope for canceling/booting or just a few more popularity to make up the difference? If you do well, the Introvert isn't giving you enough to be worth it. I think it's better to put your resources towards having fewer fail cases than trying to hedge your bets with the Introvert.

Funny ability, but don't bother. Not worth it.

Watch Dog

Cost: 4
+2 Pop
⊚: Peek at next guest

B Tier. The Watch Dog is always good but rarely great. It has 4 cost and gives +2 popularity, which is fine on its own. The Peek ability is also usually good but rarely great. It gives you just a little bit of screening, which can make a difference, especially early or when you need star guests. So that's when I'd recommend looking for Watch Dogs, but really any time's fine. It's also a good combo with Greeter.

Hippy

Cost: 4
1 Pop
Cancel 1 trouble

B Tier. The +1 popularity bonus is weak, and you won't always want him around, but when the Hippy is good, you'll be glad to have him. It's really valuable to keep your trouble level down to keep growing your party. If you can, try to get enough Hippies to cancel all but 2 trouble, but getting more will make it even less likely that trouble will ever be a problem for you.

If you have access to Cute Dogs, I prefer them to Hippies, except for maybe one early because the Hippy is cheap. If you're getting a Writer or Bartender, get all four Hippies and all Cute Dogs if you have them, and use that trouble canceling to make it safe to add more trouble to your Rolodex.

Mid-Price Guests (cost 5-6)

Photographer

Cost: 5
+1 Pop, -1 Cash
⊚: Score 1 guest

Explanation: Choose one guest at your party and immediately gain the popularity and cash that they give. If abilities would give extra (like Comedian), those abilities are counted in the score if they apply when you use the ability. Dancers give the full amount of popularity that the music level gives them when photographed. B Tier. The cash penalty hurts, but at worst, you can photograph a Rich Pal. The upside can be huge though. Photographing a Dancer is +16, get a Gangster for +4 cash, add a stylist to improve it, and add Cheerleaders to multiply. Bad in the early game though, and not amazing fi you don't have a heavy hitter. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Cheerleader

Cost: 5
+1 Pop
⊚: Reset other actions

Explanation: All non-Cheerleader guests that have already used their action get the ability to use their actions again. B Tier. Cheerleader will often be the best card in your deck, but if it's not, it can be one of the worst. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Rock Star

Cost: 5
+3 Pop, +2 Cash
Trouble!

C Tier. It's not the payoff I want for adding trouble to my Dex, but +5 stats is still a lot. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Comedian

Cost: 5
-1 Cash
If full house: +5 Pop

(check Unique Abilities section)

B Tier. Comedian can be very strong, especially if you have the trouble mitigation and no "brings guests" that would make it tough to fill the house. It's a payoff for doing what you already want to do. The cash penalty is real, though. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Caterer

Cost: 5
+4 Pop, -1 Cash

B Tier. Almost exactly the same as Comedian (above). Slightly less risky (filling the house isn't that hard), but with less payoff. Again, the cash penalty is real. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Mr. Popular

Cost: 5
+3 Pop
Brings 1 guest

D Tier. Guests that bring others can be dangerous. If Mr. Popular is in your Dex, do not fillt he house until you're sure he's not next. This isn't a good enough payout for the penalty of bringing another, and is too expensive for a bad card. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Grillmaster

Cost: 5
+2 Pop
⊚: Move all guests outside

B Tier. You may not end up needing to use this ability a lot of the times Grillmaster comes out, but +2 pop is fine on its own, and when you need it, the reroll can make a huge difference. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Mascot

Cost: 5
+1 Pop
For each Old Friend: +1 Pop

Explanation: Old Friend is the specific type of guest that costs 2 and gives 1 popularity. You have four Old Friends in your Rolodex at the start of any scenario. This ability makes the Mascot score 1 extra popularity for each Old Friend in the party.

D Tier. The Mascot's an interesting beast, making your Old Friends not quite so embarrassing. However, you're relying on synergy to turn Mascot and Old Friend, two bad guests, into two okay guests. You don't generally want to keep around Old Friends, and the Mascot's bad without them. And even if you have both, one Mascot essentially makes Old Friends give 2 popularity instead of 1, which is okay but not a good enough payoff for the effort. Two Mascots can start to make it look better. Two Mascots with two Old Friends averages 2 popularity for each, which is the minimum I'd want together to be okay with this plan, but then you need a ton of guests to come together to pull it off, which requires house space and cash, and the Mascot and Old Friends aren't helping with that plan. The Mascot just isn't an endgame plan. It's not good enough.

I think there could be potential to just pick up one Mascot early before you have the ability to screen Old Friends, but I've tried it and it just hasn't ever been worth it. Even then, I wouldn't want more than one, and I don't really want to see the Mascot in the late game. While I think there's a possibility where maybe the Mascot isn't a complete embarrassment in some theoretical build, I think you'll be just fine if you never pick up a Mascot.

Werewolf

Cost: 5
+4 Pop
Trouble every other entrance

Explanation: The Werewolf changes form each time it enters the party. Causes trouble in wolf form but not in human form. He starts in human form, meaning that he'll switch to wolf form the first time he enters.

C Tier. Best to assume it's a troublemaker and be pleasantly surprised if it isn't. I think I might rather get an early monkey, honestly? But this could be fine in the mid-game if you have a way to manage the trouble. Could be fun with Athlete/Grillmaster to force it out of wolf form, but it feels like too much work, not enough payoff. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Greeter

Cost: 5
+1 Pop
⊚: Open door & score guest(s)

Explanation: Invite the next guest in line, and immediately gain the popularity and cash that they give, similar to the Photographer. If the next guest brings more guests, the Greeter scores those guests as well.

C Tier. Can be powerful, especially if you can peek. Combos with "brings a guest" but please don't, it's bad. Anti-synergy with Security, and I'd rather have Security. Can be good with Cheerleader, but the fact that it brings a guest in means it's not free to use. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Magician

Cost: 5
+1 Pop
⊚: Swap star guest & non-star guest

Explanation: You'll first choose a guest. If you choose a non-star guest, that guest will leave and a random star guest will enter. If you choose a star guest, a random non-star guest will enter. If you don't have a guest of the right type in the Rolodex, nothing will happen and the action will not be used.

B Tier. Useless until you get a star guest, then very strong. Allows a lot of useful switches, especially if your star guests have upsides. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Gangster

Cost: 6
+4 Cash
Trouble!

B Tier. This is the kind of payout I want for adding trouble to my deck. Decent even without Writer/Bartender, very good with them. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Athlete

Cost: 6
+1 Pop, +1 Cash
⊚: Move all guests outside

B Tier. See Grillmaster above on the usefulness of the ability: basically, you won't always use it, but it can have good synergy and is amazing at rerolling worse-than-average draws. Very similar to Grillmaster overall. 1 Pop 1 cash is better than 2 pop generally, but not by much. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Expensive Guests (cost 7-8)

Cute Dog

Cost: 7
+2 Pop
Cancel 1 trouble

B Tier. Hard not to love this game's bestest boy. Like Hippy, this adds a lot of protection against trouble. Unlike Hippy, Cute Dog has decent stats on its own. Pricey but worth it. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Gambler

Cost: 7
+2 Pop, +3 Cash

B Tier. Similar to Gangster. Cash is often better, but this gives more total stats, and the mix is nice. Decent payoff for putting trouble in the Dex. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Dancer

Cost: 7
♪: +1
♪♪: +4
♪♪♪: +9
♪♪♪♪: +16

Explanation: Each dancer raises the music level by 1. At the end of the party or whenever a single dancer is scored with Photographer/Greeter, add an amount of popularity equal to the music level squared (as listed above).

B Tier. The Dancer could be the best non-star guest in your Dex, but only if you commit to having all four and are reasonably sure you can get at least three. Make sure you can boot or fetch to get them all. Combos very well with "score instantly". (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Stylist

Cost: 7
-1 Cash
⊚: Add 1 Pop to any guest

Explanation: The guest you choose will permanently score 1 extra popularity until the end of the scenario. This ability stacks, meaning that you will continue to increase the popularity each time you use it on the same guest.

B Tier. Can be very powerful, but the net -1 stats are a big downside. Consider boosting the Stylist to +2 to make sure she carries her own weight (unless you have a great target, or are planning to use Photographers). Stylist could basically be a Climber if you want her to be. Very good with Cheerleader and Photographer. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Counselor

Cost: 7
⊚: Clear all trouble

Explanation: All guests currently in the party who cause trouble will no longer cause trouble until the end of the party, even if they leave and re-enter. Causes those guests to no longer provide popularity to the Writer or cash to the Bartender.

B Tier. Very interesting ability. Anti-synergy with Writer/Bartender, but is very effective at mitigating trouble, especially with Cheerleader. Powerful if you get one early. Lack of stats hurts. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Cupid

Cost: 8
+1 Pop
⊚: Boot out 2 adjacent guests

Explanation: Choose a guest, then either the guest that entered immediately before or after. Both guests are booted.

B Tier. Boot is a powerful ability. This version of it can be very strong, or it can be a downside. Can boot two Wild Buddies, or you might have to boot a great guest just to reduce trouble. I usually end up booting Cupid itself because of low stats. Still worth it, but I'd rather have Wrestler, and Security is cheap at least. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Spy

Cost: 8
+2 Cash
⊚: Peek at next guest

B Tier. The +2 cash alone is worth it. Peek is useful: it prevents trouble and has synergy with Greeter, but it's a small bonus. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Writer

Cost: 8
+1 Pop
For each trouble: +2 Pop

Explanation: Extra popularity for each guest that brings trouble. This bonus is not reduced by trouble canceling like Hippy/Cute Dog, but the Counselor's ability does reduce it.

B Tier. The Writer and the Bartender (who gives cash instead, discussed below) both enable a very interesting strategy: a huge payoff for inviting troublemakers beyond them having better-than-normal stats. If the Writer is available, it changes the calculation on how many troublemakers are worth adding to the Rolodex, and it changes how you play, because you'll want to wait before booting them to see just how much trouble you can get away with.

The Writer is decent if you don't go all-in on trying to maximize trouble. I end up with 1 trouble most parties on average. If the Writer gives 3 popularity, they're okay but probably not worth the 8 cost, and if they give 5, they're great. The downside is that you're not guaranteed to get any trouble, and 1 popularity would be awful for an 8-cost guest. The Writer might not be your best option if they're giving 3-5 popularity, but the Writer is really only a bad choice if you're good at booting trouble and have alternatives for late-game popularity.

But what if you try to maximize the bonus? It's probably only worth going for this strategy if you have Hippies or Cute Dogs available so that you can push the Writer's bonus above +5. But then, you have guests like the Gangster who have amazing base stats on their own to balance out their trouble, and the Writer doubling up on that bonus. Even considering that Hippies will drop the average payout per guest, you can still get such a huge bonus that you'll sail through the late game. Also, consider Photographers if you can get a huge Writer payoff to double it. Just keep in mind that you'll need some way to get cash too so that your house is big enough to accommodate your Writers, your seedy pals, and trouble cancelers. (And that's where the Bartender can come in...)

Here's the big takeaway: when you start your scenario, if you have a Writer available, choose early on whether you're going to go for a trouble-centric build. The Writer is A Tier in that build. If not, the Writer is C Tier. Not bad, but more expensive than they should be. But I'm not giving an A-Tier ranking to a guest that's conditionally good, so I gave them B Tier overall.

Very Expensive Guests (cost 9-12)

Auctioneer

Cost: 9
+3 Cash

A Tier. The Auctioneer gives +3 cash, there's no catch, and he's ready to be your best friend. The cost is high, but it's absolutely worth it. One Auctioneer will probably buy you a few house upgrades by himself, and if you have four, the house will be massive in no time. The house upgrades the Auctioneer gives you easily returns the popularity you invested in him.

A single Auctioneer can pay for all of your Photographers, it's one of the best units to fetch. But really, the Auctioneer just doesn't need synergy to be powerful. Regardless of scenario, it can be a pillar of your late-game plan.

Wrestler

Cost: 9
+2 Pop
⊚: Boot out 1 guest

A Tier. My favorite non-star guest. Boot is a powerful ability, and the Wrestler does a lot to keep trouble out of your party. I like the boot actions on Security, Cupid and Ghost, but a huge part of the power of booting is that those three units can each boot themselves if there's no trouble.

The Wrestler, on the other hand, will almost get never boot himself because the +2 popularity means that there will usually be a less useful guest to boot. Aside from Troublemakers, Wrestlers can boot guests with good actions but bad stats like Stylist/Photographer/Driver, your Old Friends and Rich Pals that aren't cutting it anymore, or really anyone that gives 2 net stats or fewer.

On top of all that, you can add Cheerleaders to basically get full control of who from your Rolodex is getting in. And then boot the Cheerleaders because they're good-ability-low-stat guests.

Wrestlers know how to put on a good show. They'll be great at your party, regardless of scenario.

Celebrity

Cost: 11
+2 Pop, +3 Cash
Brings 2 guests

C Tier. I have never taken a Celebrity in a scenario I was planning to win. Bring 2 is a great way to invite the fire marshal to your party unless you always keep two slots open. It's potentially a good combo with the Greeter, but two wrongs don't make a worthwhile contact if you believe the proverb. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Bartender

Cost: 11
+1 Pop
For each trouble: +2 Cash

Explanation: Extra cash for each guest that brings trouble. This bonus is not reduced by trouble canceling like Hippy/Cute Dog, but the Counselor's ability does reduce it.

B Tier. I did a very long write-up for the Writer above, and the Bartender is useful in all the same scenarios, so please check Writer (cost 8) for that discussion. The Bartender is stronger but more expensive, but really, if you want one than you want the other. The short version: Bartender is A Tier in a trouble-centric build and C Tier otherwise due to the high cost, which, as far as I'm concerned, means B Tier overall.

The cash the Bartender gives is more powerful because more guests means more troublemakers and more trouble canceling. You want popularity more than cash in the late game, but this amount of cash will usually mean that the extra space will also give you the extra popularity you're looking for.

Climber

Cost: 12
Every entrance adds 1 pop. (Max: 9)

Explanation: Every time a specific Climber enters the party, that Climber permanently scores 1 extra popularity, up to 9, until the end of the scenario. If the Climber goes outside and re-enters, they gain popularity again.

B Tier. Each of your Climbers could end up as 9-pop powerhouses, but they need time. Less time if you use Grillmaster/Athelete to send them outside to make them climb the fence again (that's what they're climbing, right?). You can't buy them at the very end if you want them to be good, so you need some foresight or planning to get the best use out of them. (This entry is incomplete. I'll finish this soon.)

Star Guests

Dinosaur

Cost: 25
Star Guest
Trouble!

Dinosaurs can be tricky to work with. They're very cheap for a star, which could lead to a quick win, but you need to be able to handle the trouble that comes with it. If you don't have four stars in your deck, the Dinosaur is a very good guest to boot whenever possible.

The upside is that there's already a lot of trouble mitigation in the game, so if you're already doing that, the trouble may not be much of a downside. If you're not going that route, I would generally avoid the Dinosaur except maybe as the fourth star.

Dragon

Cost: 30
Star Guest
-3 Cash

The Dragon sure is cheap, but -3 cash can be a huge hit. It's not terrible in Money Management, which generally gives you the cash you need to pay that, but running four Dragons will probably put you in a world of hurt. The Dragon is good as your fourth star guest, because hopefully you'll win before paying that cost, or at worst, not pay it very often. If paired with the Leprechaun, I'd consider 2 Leprechauns with 2 Dragons if I was short on time.

Mermaid

Cost: 35
Star Guest
Brings 1 guest

I avoid guests that bring other guests as much as possible, but maybe more than I need to. The downside to having a Mermaid in the Rolodex is that it's never safe to fill the house unless you know for sure a Mermaid isn't the next guest to enter. If you're fine with that restriction, then you can have a star guest at a discounted rate.

Alien

Cost: 40
Star Guest

It doesn't do anything until the night you win. If you have ways to boot guests or a Magician, the Alien is a good guest to get rid of. The Alien isn't a great guest, but if you're in Alien Encounter, it's your only choice.

Unicorn

Cost: 50
Star Guest
Cancel 1 trouble

Canceling trouble can do a lot to protect you against parties ending early, and this makes an amazing fetch target, not only to win the game when you have four, but as a response to trouble if you're on the edge. I generally prefer the Ghost to the Unicorn, but if you're at 2 trouble and have a fetch, the Unicorn is slightly better to get because booting a troublemaker would also lose you the usually-better-than-average popularity/cash it gives you.

Ghost

Cost: 50
Star Guest
⊚: Boot out 1 guest

I like the Ghost slightly better than the Unicorn because in addition to potentially help with trouble, you can boot a guest with a downside, or even the Ghost itself to find a guest that gives you popularity or cash. Also, the Ghost is great to have if you're already using Cheerleaders.

Superhero

Cost: 50
Star Guest
+3 Pop

While not as exciting as the Unicorn or Ghost, the popularity boost on the Superhero makes it a star guest you'll be happy to have. 3 popularity will usually be better than your average, so it'll help you a little bit in buying your other star guests.

Leprechaun

Cost: 50
Star Guest
3 Cash

I think the Leprechaun is generally the worst of the star-guests that have an upside, because cash often matters more in the early game than the late game, when you need popularity. It's good if you still have a need for late-game money, especially if you're using Stylists, Photographers, Comedians, or Dragons. For that reason, the Leprechaun is very useful in Money Management.

Genie

Cost: 55
Star Guest
⊚: Fetch specific guest

The Genie is an amazing star guest, and is the best by a long shot. The true strength in the Genie is the ability to pull out every Genie in the Rolodex if you draw one of them, making it easy to secure the win. But, you can also pull anything else out for a situation that comes up. Using a Genie to fetch a Cheerleader (and every Cheerleader in the Rolodex shortly after thanks to the synergy) is a potent combination. If you don't have four Genies yet, try fetching a Cupid or Wrestler to boot out the Genies once they've used their actions.

Terminal Codes

There are two terminal codes that add extra ways to play Party House, which I'll include here. These modes do not reveal any secrets outside of Party House, and they don't provide any meaningful advantage that you can use to get trophies/cherries easier. You can find these codes in the credits, which you can see by waiting on the menu where you choose a scenario. You can enter codes in the terminal from the pause menu.

VIPS-ONLY: Allows you to choose specific randomly-generated scenarios using a six-digit seed. You can view the seed of any random scenario from the Party Planner screen.
MAKE-GLEE: Allows you to create a custom scenario by choosing every guest that appears in the Party Planner. Works for 1- or 2-player games.

Source

This guide is based on information from the original source: Steam Community Guide.