Parties are the way to talk to a bunch of your friends at once, even if everyone isn't playing the same game. You can start a party, but if one of your friends has already started one, all you have to do is join.

To join a party, you'll need to sign in to Xbox LIVE using your Gold membership, and grab your headset to so that everyone else can hear you.

Join a party in progress

There are several ways to do this:

• When you receive an invite to a party, you can select the invite in your Messages list.
• You can go to the Friends area, select the avatar of someone who is in a party, and select Join Party.
• You can press the Xbox Guide button, select Friends, select a friend who is in a party, and select Join Party.

Invite other players to a party

Even if you didn't start the party, you can invite other people to join.

1. Press the Xbox Guide button.
2. Select Party, Start a Party.
3. Select Invite Players to Party.
4. Select or enter a Gamertag.
5. Select Send Invite.

Join a party when more than one person is playing through your console

If you have some friends over and everyone is using your console, you can all join the same party.

Join a party with a group

1. Have everyone plug in their controllers and sign in to Xbox LIVE using their Gold memberships. Everyone who wants to talk will also need a headset, though if they just want to listen, they can hear through the speakers of your TV.
2. Press the Xbox Guide button, and select Party, Join Party. Everyone on your console will be automatically added to the party.
3. If a person wants to join the party after the others, they'll need to plug in their controller, sign in to Xbox LIVE using their Gold membership, press the Xbox Guide button, and select Party, Join Party

Start a game when you are in a party

The quickest way to do this is to press the Xbox Guide button, select Party, Party Options, Quick Launch, and choose the game.

Change the chat channel

If you are playing a multiplayer game, but other people in the party are not, you can still talk to them all.

• To talk only to the people in your multiplayer game, press the Xbox Guide button, select Party, Party Options, Chat Channel, Game Chat.
• To talk to the people who are playing a different game or no game at all, press the Xbox Guide button, select Party, Party Options, Chat Channel, Party Chat.

Invite the party to play a multiplayer game

1. Join the party.
2. Start a multiplayer game. To do this quickly, press the Xbox Guide button and select Quick Launch.
3. Once you get to the screen where the players wait for the game to start (usually called the Game Lobby), press the Xbox Guide button again.
4. Select Party, Invite Party to Game and follow the directions on the screen.

Leave the party

1. Press the Xbox Guide button.
2. Select Party.
3. Press the X button.

Identify the leader of the party

There are some things that only the person who started the party can do, like make a party invitation-only or kick someone out of the party. To figure out who the party's leader is, press the Xbox Guide button, select Party, and find the Gamertag that is highlighted and marked by a star.

Other tips

• To mute the voice of an individual player, press the Xbox Guide button, select Party, select the player's Gamertag, and then select Mute.
• When other players plug in their headsets, you'll see a speaker icon next to their names in your Friends list. You can also use the icons to tell if they are speaking, in a different chat channel, or muted.