The Jackbox Party Pack series is a popular one with me and my friends, its yearly bag of fresh surprises a wonderful way to forget the nights are growing longer and the temperature dropping fast, as we all settle in to draw, think and most importantly laugh. As I ponder the fact, we’re now at the eleventh instalment of the franchise and along with it my quickly escalating age, let’s take a look at the next five games Jackbox Party Pack has in store.
Doominate instantly has a familiar feel to it, walking in the well-trodden footsteps of Quiplash or Survive the Internet before it. Essentially, the aim of the game is to take something positive or loved and ruin it by adding something after it. So, for example, you may receive the prompt ‘Red carpet opening of your movie,’ which you could maybe ruin by then adding ‘which received five Razzie awards.’ Just like previous Jackbox games, your attempt is then matched up against another player, and the room then votes for their favourite. Doominate keeps things entertaining by having each round be rather unique. The second, for example, has players submitting their own ideas for things they love, while the final round forces players to then take previously twisted responses and attempt to spin them back positively again. So, our previous example may now read, ‘Red carpet opening of your movie which received five Razzie awards… but made you a millionaire.’
Doominate is subtle in its differences from previous Jackbox games, but they’re just enough to make it feel unique and, more importantly, prove just as funny as the likes of Quiplash, too.
Hear Say is a very interesting beast. On the one hand, it’s by far one of the best new entries we’ve seen in a Jackbox Party Pack, creating thunderous laughs every time. On the other though, it’s a game that feels best suited to playing online rather than all in one room. Let me explain…
Essentially, the game will throw you a bunch of noises to try and replicate with your voice, everything from gargling mouthwash to making the most annoying laugh. Much like Quiplash or Drawful, where the reveal of each player’s attempt is sure to provoke plenty of laughs, the same holds true here as noises are put head-to-head. Unlike those games, however, recording your sounds isn’t so easy in person without others hearing what noise will be revealed later. It kind of spoils that element of surprise, and worse, depending on how loud you’re being, your microphone may even pick up the performances of others in the room. Ultimately, then, Hear Say works best online where everyone can turn their microphone off when attempting their recordings. Sure, when playing in person, everyone could try to record in a separate room (and this did work for the most part), but it’s hardly an ideal solution.
For those yearning to stretch their drawing ability, Cookie Haus has you covered. In this game, you’ll be choosing cookie shapes and drawing designs on them based on requests from different customers. Just like the previous games mentioned above, each design is then pitted against another, and everyone votes on the best. The final round mixes things up slightly by having players take an existing design and give it an update, for example, by making it more ‘sciency’. It’s a rather familiar experience, but one that’s presented nicely and proves to be an enjoyable time, nonetheless.
Legends of Trivia is by far the most unique game the series has seen in some time, taking the quiz format and injecting a dose of RPG elements. With up to six of you setting off on a quest as a team, the game plays out in familiar turn-based fashion, where instead of choosing attacks, you’ll be answering questions. Get them right and you’ll do damage to the enemy. Get them wrong and be prepared to take a hit yourself. It’s surprising how well the two genres gel together, especially when you play as a group, helping each other out to make sure you all answer correctly, or hedging your bets on a particularly tough question just so you can inflict some damage as a team. The game even throws in consumable items like potions to heal you along your journey. I’ve always enjoyed Jackbox Games’ trivia efforts (You Don’t Know Jack and Trivia Murder Party games we always revisit time and time again), and Legends of Trivia takes the format and gives it a unique and entertaining spin once more.
Lastly, we have Suspectives, a game of social deduction and arguably the most convoluted of the bunch. The way it works is that everyone will first answer a series of questions secretly before someone is chosen at random to be the culprit of a crime. Every round, an answer given by the secret criminal will be revealed to the group, with one person in charge of interrogating a person of their choice to probe for more information. This was easily our least favourite game of the bunch, not just because of its complexity, but also the fact that it really requires the group involved to know each other rather well. Furthermore, the pacing just felt rather slow, and we did come into situations where too little or too much information was given, making it obvious who was and wasn’t a suspect. The balancing just felt off.
The Jackbox Party Pack 11 offers a varied mix of familiar and fresh ideas. What amazes me most after 11 packs and over 50 party games is not only Jackbox Games’ ability to surprise me but also to keep the quality level as high as it has over the years. Long may it go on, I say, especially if this is a sign of things to come.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review copy provided by Jackbox Games
