Guitar Hero 5’s drop-in, drop-out random-song mode is Party Play.
Party Play was designed as an immediately accessible social mode. It automatically cycled through available songs, and players could join with any supported instrument after choosing a difficulty and handedness. Additional players could enter, leave, or change difficulty while the song was in progress.
The mode was part of Guitar Hero 5’s broader attempt to make band play less restrictive. Players did not have to commit to the same instrument or difficulty for an entire session, and the game was built to accommodate mixed-skill groups. That made Party Play especially suited to gatherings where people wanted to take turns.
Party Play is easy to confuse with Career Mode, which provides structured progression, or RockFest, the competitive multiplayer feature. Guitar Duel is also a misleading option because it belongs to the Guitar Hero family’s competitive traditions, but it is not the random-song drop-in mode in Guitar Hero 5.