Wii Party U received mixed reviews from critics, with an average Metacritic score of 65/100.

"[11] Edge also states that one of Wii Party U's problems is its "multitude of games," while spending "at least as much time explaining itself as it does letting you have fun."

"[18] In Japan, the game was very well received, selling around than 70,000 physical copies on its first week, boosting Wii U sales system to 38,000 units sold.

During the holiday season, the sales of the game were considerably higher, generally occupying the top of the Japanese charts.

As of December 31, 2013, more than 518,000 units had been sold only in Japan,[20] entering the year-end Japanese chart at number 10.