Planning a game night? Marquee Games turns any Google TV or Android TV into a party-game console — a suite of party games on the big screen, phones as controllers, free to install, and one $9.99 purchase unlocks everything forever. Here's how that compares to the Weekend app's monthly subscription — and why one-time beats every-month for family game night.
If you've searched for party games for your TV, games like Jackbox without a console, or game night apps, you've probably found two answers: Marquee Games and Weekend. Both put group games on the television. They take very different paths to get there.
Weekend is a subscription service — $12.99 a month after a 7-day trial — built around voice-first play: the TV asks, the room shouts, the screen reacts. Its library leans on licensed game-show brands.
Marquee Games is a one-time purchase, built natively for Google TV and Android TV. Everyone's phone becomes their personal controller — scan the QR code on the screen, play from the phone browser, nothing to install for guests. A whole suite of original party games — Letter Roulette, Wild Guess, Hot Take, Game That Tune, Interrogation Room, and Picture This — in one app, with family-friendly and adult modes for every game. Free to install and try; $9.99 once unlocks every game's full library, forever.
A year of Weekend runs about $155.88. A year of Marquee Games costs the same as the first day: $9.99. So does year five.
Subscriptions make sense for content you consume once — shows, music, news. Party games aren't consumed, they're replayed: the same crowd-pleasers come out every family game night, every holiday gathering, every house party. Paying monthly for games you replay is renting your own game shelf. Buy it once and game night is free from then on.
| Marquee Games | Weekend | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free to install; one $9.99 purchase unlocks everything forever. No subscription, no ads | $12.99/month subscription after a 7-day free trial |
| How you play | Phones as controllers — guests scan a QR code and play from their phone browser. Private input: bets, guesses, rankings, and answers stay secret until the reveal | Voice-first — players shout answers at the TV |
| Built for | Google TV / Android TV natively — Kotlin + Compose for TV, D-pad first, fast on low-power streamers | Roku, Fire TV, Samsung, LG and other smart TV platforms |
| The games | A suite of original party games: Letter Roulette, Wild Guess, Hot Take, Game That Tune, Interrogation Room, and Picture This | Licensed game-show titles (Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Song Quiz, and more) |
| Family / adult | Every game has a family-friendly mode and an adult mode, toggled in the lobby | Family-oriented catalog with kids' titles |
| Guests need | Just their phone — no app, no account, no install | Just their voice |
| Small groups | CPU opponents fill empty seats in Letter Roulette — even two people get a full game | Varies by title |
Honest note: voice-first play is genuinely clever and Weekend's licensed game shows are real brands people love. If your group wants to shout at Jeopardy! every week and the subscription earns its keep, that's a fine game night. The case for Marquee Games is different: secret input (half our games depend on answers nobody else can see — you can't whisper a bet at a TV), original games designed for the phones-in-hand format, and a price that respects how people actually host — a few great game nights a month, forever, for less than one month of a subscription.
Spin the wheel. Guess the letters. Solve the puzzle. A cinematic word game perfect for family game night — three players (CPUs fill empty seats), so it's just as fun solo as with friends.
How many hairs on a rabbit? Take your best guess — closest without going over wins. The ultimate house party game for up to 10 players. The bigger the group, the bigger the laughs.
Rank five items from love to loathe — then see if your friends know you well enough to guess your order. The party game that starts arguments and ends in laughter.
Hear the snippet. Name the song. From '60s soul to '00s pop, every decade is a category and every player thinks they know more than they do. Sing along when the song reveals.
Put one player in the hot seat and ask a question only they know the answer to. Everyone else guesses how well they really know each other. Closest absolute wins — the more personal the question, the more dangerous the laughs.
Flip the cards, reveal the rebus, solve the phrase. A picture-puzzle memory game where matching pairs uncover a hidden saying — and the right match lets you steal points from your rivals. A family game-night favorite on the big screen.
The fastest way to plan a game night is to match the game to the room:
No console, no PC, no HDMI juggling, no laptop on the coffee table — the party game console is the TV you already own, and the controllers are already in everyone's pocket.
If your living room runs on Google TV or Android TV, Marquee Games is built natively for it: a suite of party games, phones as controllers, free to install, and one $9.99 unlock instead of a monthly subscription.
Yes — if you're looking at the Weekend app and would rather pay once than monthly, Marquee Games is the one-time-purchase alternative: free to try, $9.99 unlocks everything forever, and guests join from their phones instead of shouting at the screen.
Weekend is $12.99 per month after its free trial — about $155.88 a year. Marquee Games is $9.99 once, with no recurring charges. One month of Weekend costs more than Marquee Games does for life.
No. Guests scan the QR code on the TV and play from their phone's browser — no install, no account. The only install ever is the TV app itself, once, from Google Play.
Yes — that's the whole idea. Marquee Games runs directly on Google TV, Android TV, and Chromecast with Google TV. No console, no PC. The TV is the game, the phones are the controllers.
Every game ships with a family-friendly mode (and a separate adult mode for grown-up game nights). The mode is a lobby toggle, so the same app covers Saturday with the kids and Saturday night after they're in bed.
Free to install · One purchase unlocks everything · No subscriptions, no ads
Weekend is a trademark of its respective owner. Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and Song Quiz are trademarks of their respective owners. Marquee Games is an independent product from Obviouschild Productions, LLC and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Weekend or any game-show rights holder. Weekend pricing and features reflect publicly available information as of June 2026 and may change; check weekend.com for current details. Comparison presented in good faith.