There is a pretty high chance that gatherings of family and friends inevitably result in reaching for a board or card game to maintain socializing, an attempt at team building, or even to ruthlessly compete against each other for some kind of bragging rights. Whether it be skill or trivia based, holding one's nerve or keeping a straight face, good party games have stood the test of time and can be the vital ingredient to a fun social gathering. Games such as Charades and Pictionary still remain popular, but video games have attempted their own twist on the 'party game' formula, with a variety of peripherals and varying results. Bishi Bashi special or Nintendo's own Warioware provide bite sized wackiness, digitized versions of board games such as Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit are less hassle to set up, and Just Dance and Rock Band / Guitar Hero make fools or pop icons out of damn near anyone.
In order to spice things up, institutions of family entertainment have been given something of a run for their money. Social media and and a solid Wi-Fi connection have provided endless hours of laughs and banter, bringing back couch multiplayer hilarity to rival any De Niro impression or drawing of a wonky eyed Mona Lisa.
Enter The Jackbox Party Pack franchise. Three packs of games designed to test skill, knowledge and friendships. While the series has been around for a while, it's now the Nintendo Switch's turn to host the show. Weirdly The Jackbox Party Pack 3 was released on Switch a few months ago, but now we're taking a look at the first one, The Jackbox Party Pack.
One caveat of the series is that an internet connection is mandatory. The games use their own website to register each individual player on their own respective smart device, turning their phone or tablet into a controller. More on that later. Of course, these collections are going to sink or swim on the quality of the games. Here's a breakdown, one by one.
You Don't Know Jack 2015 is where it all started. A classic, brash, straight up pop culture trivia extravaganza quiz show with witty banter and a dollop of crude humour. It's made up of 7 rounds consisting of multiple choice, reaction speed etc to accumulate the most points to triumph over your friends. The questions appear on the console screen and players input a 4 letter code / a username on the website, and you're away, using your device to answer questions.
This is mostly pretty fool proof, especially as the more people you have the more competitive and fun it will be. The odd misstep regarding jokes can be forgiven, as pop culture vultures especially will enjoy the obscure references and risky gags.
Next is Lie Swatter - a fast paced game of true or false, made up of three rounds of seven questions each, ranging from obscure theme parks to American presidents. Amazingly, up to 100 players can take part, and as a result it can be hectic, but it's a good example of the simpler the concept, the greater the potential for over-competitive play.
Fibbage XL is centered on (up to 8) players entering a made up answer to a trivia question, balancing wackiness with plausibility. Gain points for the other players you trick into thinking yours is the correct answer. Provided everyone is kind of on the same page, the game can be a hilarious mix of holding nerve and a great balance of risk reward; Fibbage can rely on the imagination of its players and considering a true sequel is available in the second collection, both packs may be tempting.
Drawful consists of two parts - part 1, you draw the prompt you are sent on your device. Part 2, each player is then shown the drawings in turn and they submit their answer. The four options appear on screen around a drawing to select. After the votes are counted the actual title is revealed. While some players might opt for more cryptic pictures, justice and revenge are equally sweet with enticing answers, a la Fibbage. Relying as little on drawing talent as possible in favour of thinking out of the box and a pinch of deception, Drawful can provide hilarity and bewildering frustration amongst the more orthodox players.
Word Spud is probably the most hit and miss if the bunch - a game of literary 'hot potato', starting off with a noun, players type a word after the preceding one in a relay. The more players, the more potential for a narrative and there is a chance it could get pretty 'imaginative' within a few turns. 2-8 players use their smart device to input words and vote on other players' contributions, the latter of which can be sabotaged by players and thus affect the enjoyment.
Word Spud, more than any other game in this package, is reliant on player input, so if you find yourself playing with likeminded people who won't deliberately downvote everything, or intentionally ramp up the obscurity (or crassness) of the game, chances are you'll have a good few rounds. However, it's easily the weakest of the bunch due to its tacked-on voting system and general unpredictable nature.
Conclusion
If you are able to get a decent group of people together and understand that it's inevitable if not completely ideal that this game requires an internet connection, there is plenty of fun and laughs to be had here. There's a good mixture of trivia, improvisation and interpretation that's sure to cause a stir among friends and family, and the added bonus of being available on the go (with a Wi-Fi hotspot) makes this set a great time.
Comments (27)
It's amazing this franchise has stuck around so long. I remember playing You Don't Know Jack on CD-ROM when I was a kid.
@JHDK Wait, that's where these games came from? I was about to ignore this article until you said that.
@Kalmaro I certainly don't care enough to research it but I think it's the same thing. The CD-ROM had a variation of that bald head logo printed on the cover.
@JHDK Woooow, that takes me back. Maybe I should pay more attention to this.
Another port. Sounds like the enjoyment is based on certain conditions being met.
@Kalmaro @JHDK Yeah its the same company and people who did those original CD-ROM You Don't Know Jack games who are behind the Jackbox franchise. YDKJ2015 even uses the same voice.
They also put out a great version of You Don't Know Jack in 2010 (I think) on the Wii, PS3, DS and Xbox 360.
@flapjack-ashley That's really something, I honestly had no clue they had such a history.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Never change Sligeach.
Another one here that loved this game back on the PC. That must have been close to 20 years ago now? I really should pick this up.
I'm glad all three packs got a Switch release. Altogether that's 15 games that can turn any gathering into a hilarious party.
@Kalmaro yeah, You Don't Know Jack has been around as far back as the PS1 era, as well as on PC at the time.
A great game, but IMO arguably the weakest of the 3 packs. YDKJ is good fun, but it doesnt seem to catch on with most friends. Drawful and Fibbage are good, though Fibbage has a sequel (and will soon have another sequel apparently). A bit of a shame they didnt release Drawful 2 as well on the Switch.
Everyone wait for Jackbox party pack 4 - it's going to have all the good games in it with no duds
@SLIGEACH_EIRE with the Wii U I lost my faith on Nintendo speically with the Wii U price and the games pricing too .. with the horrible reward system and the discounts they gave from time to time ... I hated Nintendo for that so much ... but with the switch I changed my mind a lot ... I know there is no much games to play + too many pixels bad graphics games but at least they are giving us one AAA Nintendo first party game which is enough for me ... and that's why I'm happy with Nintendo ... but for me I moved 4 years ago now with my PS4 and now my PS4 pro ! I found that I lost so much time with Nintendo because PS4 is the ultimate console ever !! There is nothing wrong with it 💙
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For the topic ! I want to get the game and the other packs too but I refuse to pay that money for it ... not worth it ... maybe with 50% sale only
Drawful is AMAZING fun. I reccomend it just for that
@peeks Honestly, the ps4 is pretty flawed.
the os is very unintuitive, the media functions suck compared to xbox one, and ps plus free games are of spotty quality and value. and the controller, while made from quality part, is frail and breakable especially for 60+ dollars
If this were offline with joy-con support i would go for it right away...
It's sad that this has no offline play. Kinda goes against the Switch's portability. I'd love to play this (after) work with the people at the office. Alas.
The games included in the Jackbox collections are indeed a lot of fun, but you generally need at least 3 players before that happens.
That's a shame, especially for someone like me, who got old, grumpy, reclusive and social-less!
If you're a single-player, like myself, I've posted my "sad and lonely gamer" views over here. http://socoder.net/?Topic=6074
the games are very multiplayer centric, and you need a group to play.
If they release a trilogy for discounted price I'll grab the first 3. Otherwise I'll just wait on the 4tj
This deserves higher than a 7, this game is amazing!
@JaxonH me too, i'm waiting for it to go on sale 😎
The Jackbox games have become a huge staple at our office during lunch, I can't believe I slept on them for so long.
@jaxonh you do get a discount if you own one of the other games in the series
Pfft, this has nothing to do with Jacksepticeye, screw this.
Turned off by this series needing internet connection and especially the need for multiple smartphones instead of Switch controllers for multiplayer. Also, from what I see the games are English-only. No problem for me, but for most of my friends and family.
I like this one more than number 3 as most of the games can be played 2 player, so me and my wife can play it together.
Super fun games. Especially Fibbage.
I really think using the phones is an advantage. With large groups, it's way easier to have phones than multiple controllers. You can take the switch to any gathering and have everyone play with minimal equipment needed
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