Short answer: Party Play is a temporary, in-person team-up mode for 2-4 trainers, joined by scanning a QR code or entering a 9-digit Party Code — you do not need to be friends first. It requires Trainer level 21+, needs everyone physically nearby, and lasts about an hour. While active, your party gets Party Power (doubles your next Charged Attack in raids) and can complete shared Party Challenges for extra rewards.
Party Play often gets mixed up with the friend list, since both are "social" features. They're unrelated: one is a permanent list of people you can gift and trade with from anywhere, the other is a temporary group of whoever happens to be standing next to you.
What Party Play actually is
Party Play is a mode where you and up to three nearby trainers form a group — called a Party — to tackle raids and challenges together for about an hour. A Party is one host plus 1-3 other trainers, for a maximum of 4 people. Niantic's own help center describes it as letting trainers "team up with other Trainers to accomplish various tasks, earn special bonuses, and receive rewards."
Do you need to be friends to join?
No. Niantic's help center is explicit: general players do not need to be on each other's friend list to join a Party — scanning the host's QR code or typing in their Party Code is enough. The one exception is kids' accounts (Pokémon Trainer Central or Niantic Kids): a younger trainer can only join a Party if they're already friends with the host, and there must be at least two other trainers in the party.
This is the opposite of most social features in the game — see Buddy vs Friends for how the permanent friend list works, and why it's a different system entirely from Party Play.
Requirements
- Trainer level 21 or higher. Party Play doesn't unlock before that.
- Physical proximity. Everyone has to be near the host both to join and to stay in the Party — wander too far and you get dropped or can't join.
- Kids' accounts need parental permission, granted through Pokémon Trainer Central or Niantic Kids, plus the friend requirement above.
- A join window. After a host opens the Party Play lobby, others have 15 minutes to get in before it closes.
How to host or join
Hosting: open Party Play, start a lobby, and share the 9-digit Party Code or QR code with up to three nearby trainers.
Joining: either scan the host's QR code with your camera, or open the Party Code tab and type in the 9-digit code yourself.
A Party typically lasts about an hour (longer during some events), after which it ends and everyone reverts to playing solo — no need to manually "leave."
What you get from playing in a Party
- Party Power — while your Party battles a raid together, this doubles the damage of your next Charged Attack, and builds up faster the more people are in the group.
- Party Challenges — shared tasks (catching, spinning Stops, battling) that pay out Poké Balls, berries, potions, Stardust, Mega Energy, and occasional featured-Pokémon encounters.
- A post-Party recap — a shareable summary of what the group accomplished.
None of this touches your permanent friend list, friendship levels, or friendship XP — Party Play rewards are separate from gifts, trades, and Best Friend bonuses.
Party Play vs. remote raids with friends
Don't confuse the two: Party Play is strictly in-person and temporary, while remote raids with friends let you invite actual friend-list trainers into a raid lobby from anywhere, using the daily remote-pass limit. If your goal is raiding with friends who live elsewhere, remote invites are the tool — Party Play is for whoever's standing next to you right now.
Building a friend list for the gifting, trading and remote-raid side of the game is still worth doing separately — grab a fresh code here or browse codes by country if you're also chasing regional trades or Vivillon patterns.
FAQ
Do I need to be friends with the host to join a Party? No, unless you're on a kids' account — then you need to already be friends with the host, and the party needs at least two other trainers.
What level do I need to use Party Play? Trainer level 21 or higher.
How big can a Party get? A host plus up to three others — four trainers total.
How long does a Party last? About an hour under normal circumstances; some events extend it.
Does Party Power work the same as raiding with friends remotely? No — Party Power comes from Party Play, which requires everyone to be physically together. Raiding with friends who aren't nearby is a separate system; see remote raids with friends.