By Celine Wang
Credit: jackboxgames.com
For the uninitiated: The Jackbox Party Pack is a series of party video games designed for large groups, accommodating both in-person and remote meetups over a Zoom or video call. Only one host needs to own the pack and will either stream the game online or show the game on a screen in person, while each player joins individually through a mobile device or laptop. During the first few months after school closed in March 2020, I took it upon myself to play every single Jackbox game I could get my (virtual) hands on. With the help of five friends, I proceeded to laugh, argue, and ruin friendships over the hilariously entertaining chaos of Jackbox Party Packs 3-6 and Drawful, which was released for free over quarantine, experiencing a total of 21 unique party games.
This is part one of the culmination of my quarantine experience: the Ultimate Jackbox Party Pack 5 Review (UJPP5R for short). The pack costs $29.99 on Steam and includes five games. While most are thoroughly engaging, there are some that outshine others in this pack, so I will be ranking them from least to most entertaining.
5. ) Zeeple Dome (1-6 players) – This is one of the most unique Jackbox games, as I believe it’s their only physics-based game, but it unfortunately falls flat. Supporting up to six participants, each player controls a character on their own device, which they try to slingshot across levels to eliminate enemies. However, the game works poorly remotely, as there’s quite a bit of stream lag. The delay between player control and the corresponding movement on the host screen makes it very difficult for remote players to enjoy. It’s still worth trying, but even when played in person, it feels like a poor rendition of a multiplayer Angry Birds.
4. ) Mad Verse City (3-8 players) – If you enjoy listening to text-to-speech robot voices rap, this is the game for you. Players face each other in a rap battle, responding to prompts on their own devices while the audience votes on who had the best rap. Winners battle the other winners with a different prompt, until the best bars are decided. However, the fun depends heavily on the poetic abilities of the players, and the few times I’ve played, most of the lines felt too cheesy and awkward to listen to robot voices attempt rapping.
3. ) You Don’t Know Jack: Full Stream (1-8 players) – An updated version of the original released in the first party pack, this game supports up to eight players and an audience. The game is all about pop-culture trivia – players earn money by answering questions correctly and lose money with wrong answers. There are also “screws”, which players can use on each other to “screw” up another person’s screen, making it more difficult to answer correctly and adds on another layer of chaos. It’s not my favorite trivia game by Jackbox, but it’s a classic and still loads of fun.
2. ) Split the Room (3-8 players) – This game is full of hypothetical what-if’s and surreal prompts. Each player is given a prompt and blank to fill, with the goal being to turn it into a controversial response that will “split the room” – split the vote. The more divisive the votes are for the response, the more points you get. The final round consists of choosing between two unequally attractive options and betting on what each other will vote. I recommend playing with a close group of friends; it’s hilarious trying to predict what the others will choose! The thought-provoking prompts are well-written, and this game really makes you think.
1. ) Patently Stupid (3-8 players) – The indisputable winner of the pack is Patently Stupid; my stomach hurt from laughter after playing this one. Each player submits several unique problems that are scrambled, and then everyone comes up with a creative invention designed to solve one of those problems. Players must both write out and draw the problems and inventions. Inventions can be as simple or complex as you want – each player presents theirs, and at the end, participants vote on the best one. I love how open-ended this game is; the prompts can be made to be ridiculously specific, and the drawings make it ten times more comical.
Overall, I highly recommend the Jackbox Party Pack 5! It’s definitely one that will provide hours of entertainment for a group of friends, and it certainly helped me get through quarantine.
