The Grinch vs. The Grinch - Comparing The Two Feature-Length Films

VS. 

So Illumination Entertainment's version of The Grinch was released two years ago. And it was...well, divisive is probably the best way to put it. Looking at the review websites for instance, you'll see that it has 60% from the Rotten Tomatoes critics, 50% from the Rotten Tomatoes audiences, 6.3/10 from iMDb, 51/100 from the Metacritic critics and 6.2/10 from the Metacritic audiences. Google users were noticeably kinder with 87% of them liking it, but that was the lone exception.

Not that different from the live-action film from 2000 with Jim Carrey then. That one has 49% from the Rotten Tomatoes critics, 56% from the Rotten Tomatoes audiences, 6.2/10 from iMDb, 46/100 from the Metacritic critics,  6.5/10 from the Metacritic audiences and 88% from Google users. Oh well, at least it's better than the abomination that was The Cat In The Hat with Mike Myers, even though it's partly the reason why the latter film exists in the first place.

As it's coming up to Christmas and The Grinch has always been a favourite Christmas tale for many people, especially Dr. Seuss fans, I thought it was best if I just re-evaluated these films to see if any of them was clearly superior to the other. I will be comparing them in the following categories: the Grinch himself, the people of Whoville who he initially detests, the aesthetics and tones, the soundtracks and the overall message of the stories.

Keep in mind that this will not count the Chuck Jones animated special from 1966, as that one is obviously the best adaptation already. It has the legendary Boris Karloff (known for his work in horror films) as the Grinch and the narrator, the theme song is superbly sung by Thurl Ravenscroft (most known as Tony the Tiger), the animation is both faithful to the original illustration and somehow ends up looking distinct from it anyway and it is much less heavy-handed about the anti-consumerism message it promotes. Need more proof of its quality? It has 100% from Rotten Tomatoes critics, 98% from Rotten Tomatoes audiences, 8.3/10 from iMDb, and 92% from Google users. Sure, there aren't any Metacritic scores up yet, but for now it doesn't matter. Pretty clear cut victory if you ask me.

The Grinch.

Let's start by analysing the Grinch himself - he is the one mentioned in the title after all. He's that miserable old grump who hates Christmas so much that steals all of the decorations and food from Whoville, only to realise that Christmas is more than just gifts and having a change of heart as a result.

There was never really any big backstory for why the Grinch originally had such a poor sentiment towards Christmas, other than the fact that his heart was "three sizes too small". The same went for the Chuck Jones special. The feature-length films however had to give him a "sympathetic" excuse involving childhood trauma in order to explain the way he is today. Sure, they need to expand for time, but the original incarnation of him was fine. Simply hating Christmas because he sees it as some ridiculously noisy over-the-top thing that only seems to be about gift-giving is a legitimate excuse. If anything, it helps out with the anti-consumerism message even more by painting him as the consumerist in the process.

Anyway, onto the 2000 version. This version of him was horrifically abused by the Whos when he was younger, simply because he looked different compared to them. The whole thing is an allegory for racism, especially once he yells out "IS IT BECAUSE I'M GREEN?!" after they screw him over yet again just before he decides to steal everything. I'm not that fond of the backstory - it villainises everyone else as a result and that's not the point of the original story.

Fortunately, the Grinch is still kind of a jackass in this version. Plus, Jim Carrey was at the peak of his career when he made this movie and did a surprisingly good job in the role. I'm not normally a fan of Jim Carrey's works - for instance, The Mask is kind of overrated when compared to the original gory comic book it was based on and Mr. Popper's Penguins is just a betrayal of the original book. But when Carrey does well, he does well. His hammy nature makes the character pretty enjoyable and his makeup job is convincing, especially once he dons the Santa suit. It's most likely that the film would have been an absolute mess without him onboard, as the live-action version of The Cat In The Hat would further prove.

The 2018 version gives him the backstory of being in an orphanage and having a PTSD-like reaction to Christmas as a result. Not as problematic as the 2000 version in that regard, but still clearly trying to make the audience sympathise with someone who plans to sabotage Christmas. It was interesting how he initially didn't join in with the Christmas festivities after saving the day due to his guilt over what he did.

The main problem is that the Grinch comes across as too "nice". Sure, it was sweet that he didn't bully his dog Max for once, but someone could have him be nice to Max in their own take whilst still having him come across as a proper villain. As someone said on a ProtonJon livestream I watched once, he's not so much evil as much as "annoyed". Which is technically true, as he seems to come across as more of a trickster archetype in this version, who's mainly stealing gifts to teach Whoville that Christmas shouldn't just be about gift-giving. Benedict Cumberbatch does a pretty good job with the voice and portrayal, though it's certainly unlikely to be as memorable as Boris Karloff or Jim Carrey's takes on the character. Overall, he's mainly a grump who still harbours trauma from his past. That is all.

Winner: The 2000 version. He's just so much more memorable and he truly does come off as a "mean one" at times, in contrast with his simply grouchy 2018 counterpart.

The People Of Whoville.

The people in Whoville like Christmas a lot...and that's pretty much the only thing the films have in common with regard to the depiction of the Whos. One is downright offensive whilst the other is more faithful to the original story.

So let's discuss the 2000 version. Jesus Christ what was up with the Whos there?! They have now become a bunch of obnoxious idiots who only care about presents, with Cindy, Martha and Cindy's father being the only exceptions. The WHOLE POINT of the original story was that the Grinch was the consumeristic one who believed that they were just as consumeristic as him. It was all a gross misunderstanding on his part. The Mayor in particular is handled in an appalling manner in this movie. He is the one who was most abusive to the Grinch and then tries to pin the blame on Cindy when the Grinch predictably steals everything after that dreadful "razor" incident. If you are like me and consider the original Whoville to be the same one in the original Horton Hears A Who! story, it completely goes against the Mayor's original characterisation.

The 2018 version is much more faithful in its portrayal of the Whos on the other hand. They still have flaws, but this time it's more because they love to have big celebrations with extravagant decorations and keep on going more over the top with every passing year. Otherwise, they seem pretty accepting of the Grinch even before the climatic moment when he turns good, and they don't seem to notice anything up with him beforehand. Plus, they don't seem to mind what happened with the presents and are a lot more accepting of Cindy as well. Like in the original book, it seems to be more of a misunderstanding on the Grinch's part.

Winner: The 2018 version. This one was a little too obvious. You know what, just pretend the ones from the 2000 version don't exist.

The Aesthetic And Tone.

Besides the fact that one is live-action and the other is animated, the main difference between the films is the tone they have. Essentially, one is downright weird (even by Dr. Seuss standards) and offensive, and the other is "safe" and a little bit bland as a result.

The 2000 version has a darker aesthetic, which is interesting, but it also tries to go for a rather vulgar and surreal tone, which pretty much falls flat. The "termites in his smile" scene makes sense, but the heart attack scene is just ridiculous (even if it does seem like the more realistic reaction to your heart growing three sizes). It's especially odd when you consider that Ron Howard directed the film, and he normally directs films that aren't like this. I guess maybe the studio were forcing him to go with this aesthetic?

Whilst Jim Carrey looks fine as the Grinch (especially once he puts on the Santa outfit) and Cindy looks adorable, most of the Whos look downright hideous. Okay, I guess they were trying to make them look as obnoxious as they acted, but really?! It's essentially like what happened in The Cat In The Hat with the weird Cat suit and those grotesques versions of Thing #1 and Thing #2. Yes, Dr. Seuss stories are normally bizarre themselves, but not in a vulgar way. No wonder we haven't had any more live-action adaptations since then.

The 2018 version goes for brighter colours and looks somewhat more faithful to the original illustrations. Well okay, it still looks like an Illumination Entertainment movie but the characters don't look ridiculous. Plus it relies less on the vulgar humour that the 2000 version did. It's unfortunately nowhere near as wacky as Dr. Seuss stories normally are, but it does have its moments at times.

Winner: The 2018 version. It's pretty much another standard Illumination Entertainment film, but it's still more faithful than vulgar humour and hideous-looking live-action characters. Well, at least as faithful as a relatively tame version can get.

The Soundtrack.

The Chuck Jones special was where we originally heard the classic "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch". It is just awesome. Thurl Ravenscroft absolutely nails it with his bass and the lyrics do not hold back when describing the "vile" Grinch himself. It's not just the theme song though - the rest of the soundtrack is also pretty good quality, with a sort of old-timey feel to it.

 For some reason, both films decided to "modernise" the soundtrack to make it "relate" more with contemporary audiences. And by that, I mean use "trendy" music that will be extremely out of date a decade later or so - though considering this is 2020, the 2000 version is already out of date. Most notably, both involve rappers. Word of advice - don't do that sort of thing. It just becomes downright cringeworthy and will turn off viewers who aren't into that stuff in the first place.

The 2000 version goes for an fascinating route by having Jim Carrey sing the song in character as the Grinch. So rather than it being one insult after another hurled at him, it becomes more of a song revelling in his villainy. Kind of like what happened with "Macavity" when the Cats musical was adapted for the screen - actually no, on seconds thoughts, forget that even happened. Otherwise, they simply hired "modern" bands such as Smash Mouth and *NSYNC - bands that no doubt were more relevent in the 90s than today. Busta Rhymes also appears for some bizarre reason.

The 2018 version? Sadly, even the theme song is "modernised", which is now performed by the rapper Tyler, The Creator (yes, the comma is part of the name). Using Jackie Wilson's "Deck The Halls" is fine as that is already a timeless Christmas song and the same goes for the other oldies music that gets used (examples include The Supremes and Nat King Cole). Using rap music just because it's "trendy" is not (even if Run DMC is a brilliant band).

Winner: The 2000 version, if only slightly. "Updating" the music is simply a no-no for me in both cases, but at least Jim Carrey does the more interesting theme tune.

The Message.

The moral of the original story is essentially that Christmas isn't about material goods and is more about enjoying the good times with your loved ones. The book presents this message well, as does the TV special. The feature-length movies however try to be too forceful with the message, whilst at the same time completely undermining themselves by essentially being made for money purposes. Well, considering their quality and soundtracks, it seems that money was the main thing in mind.

The way the 2000 version handles the message is more forceful than thrusting an anvil into somebody's face. As I mentioned, the Whos are now consumeristic morons. Cindy is one of the only exceptions. It's only once Cindy's father stands up for his daughter that they realise how awful they have been towards the Grinch. This is especially bewildering when you consider the fact that the movie was mostly made as a cash-grabber and modernised its own soundtrack. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me.

At first glance, it would seem that the 2018 version fixed that problem by making the Whos nicer characters and the Grinch more of a lonely character with PTSD. Alas, the anti-consumerism message is undermined by the fact that the film does not practice what it preaches itself. Besides trying to modernise the soundtrack like the other movie did, this probably has even more merchandise associated with it than the 2000 version. Oh, and don't forget some of the weird memes it used in its advertising stage. "When guac is extra", anyone?

Winner: It's a tie. If anything, the original book and TV special managed to make the anti-consumerism message more noticeable without being forceful about it.

So after analysing both films in detail on these aspects, I can only conclude that these films don't really surpass each other. Obviously, they have different aspects that either make them better or make them worse. The 2000 version has the better Grinch and soundtrack and is a much more memorable film to top it off, for better and for worse. On the other hand, the 2018 version has more sympathetic characters in general and in a way is more faithful when it comes to tone, aesthetics and (in a sense) the plot. The only thing that can truly be agreed on by most people is that they don't match up with the original book and the Chuck Jones special.

In fact, most of these differences that make one film better than another are pretty subtle, rather than clear cut. And the review ratings show this perfectly. Critics were slightly more in favour of the 2018 version whilst audiences were slightly more in favour of the 2000 version (with iMDb being one of the few exceptions). If anything, it's probably best if we get a general opinion from everybody who watched these films.

I have created a poll in Google Forms here, where people can vote for which feature-length film they preferred, as well as comment on why they preferred it. I'm genuinely interested to see other people's thoughts on these films given how their critical and commercial reception so far appears to be similar. Meanwhile, I'm going to probably be watching the TV special all over again. It's certainly a treat, I can acknowledge that. ;)

My Halloween Costume For This Year (And How I Got It Together)

"Oh. That magician wasn't trying to kill me. I guess I should go apologise to his family."

So I had a pretty good Halloween this year. I tend to get into the Halloween spirit a lot - eating Halloween food, listening to spooky songs, etc. The dressing up is also an aspect I like, and this year was no exception.

I posted this photo on the Death Battle forums along with some context for it, but obviously I want to discuss it in further detail. As explained there, this was in response to a quick comment in "Luke Skywalker vs. Harry Potter" involving Boomstick getting the killing curse from Harry Potter confused with "Abracadra", leading to an unfortunate incident with a magician. The photo is a representation of the aftermath. Whatever Boomstick did with the magician is entirely up to you.

The jacket was customised by a good friend of mine back in 2019. I'd wanted a jacket like that for some time but most of the shops didn't have the checkered style that I wanted. Bless my friend however, she decided to help out and managed to find the fabric needed. She also mentioned that she paid careful attention to the sleeves and the way that they were frayed when she cut them. It's a darker red than normal, but said sleeves and checkerboard style work perfectly. I wanted to pay her back with money for her favour, but she kept on saying that it was fine, so I ultimately just bought her a nice gift in return.

The cap is not an actual trucker cap unfortunately - it was a red cap bought at H&M last year and I added white paper to the front with double-sided tape. There was a slit at the top of it in order to make it fold around the hat better, which fortunately cannot be seen in the photo. I was unable to buy the trucker cap from the Rooster Teeth store (what I really wanted) in time for Halloween, but there's always next time.

I originally wanted to buy a fake moustache, but the party shops in my area have shut down and even beforehand, I couldn't find a moustache in the style that I wanted. As a result, I had to resort to brown eyebrow liner. Honestly, I was quite surprised about how different I looked with that thing on. It may not have been as big as I would have wanted it to be, but I feel it still works.

The fake blood was bought cheaply at Wilko in a small plastic tube. I honestly did not expect it to be as thick as it actually was before applying it, so I had to smear some of it on even further. That said, this was one of the most convincing sources of fake blood I've come across. My brother has made fake blood before from food colouring and chocolate sauce - had I been able to use that one again, I probably would have add "blood" to my face. Then again, maybe I was just being a bit hard on myself and didn't need to use as much.

The top hat was part of some old magic kit my brother had as a kid. It was extremely crumpled when I fished it out, but honestly it worked out for the better. I'd also planned to use a prop of a severe head on a spear that was bought cheaply at Poundland several years ago for the magician's head but ultimately this didn't happen. Firstly because the head didn't actually look right and secondly because it was better to just leave his fate to imagination.

I will make a few criticisms of the outfit. I would have honestly preferred to wear a vest than the t-shirt I ultimately ended up wearing. It's the right colour but the sleeves covered up a bit too much and it would have been better to have implemented something similar to Boomstick's tattoo. Similarly, I wore the same blue jeans that he did, but most of the picture is cropped because I didn't have a way of replicating the gun leg (one of my favourite aspects of his appearance). Everything else seems to be fair game.

So overall, a pretty neat (albeit cheap) costume that paid off. Let me just say that dressing up as Boomstick is a good choice for a Halloween costume - it's casual and doesn't require anything too finicky for the basic clothes, but it also has the extra dress-up details such as the moustache that make it apparent that it's designed for dress-up. Therefore, you can wear the outfit for most of the day and when you need to get dressed up for trick-or-treating or Halloween parties (or whatever their equivalents for this year on Zoom are), you just add the extra details and are good to go. ;)

My Review Of The Jackbox Party Pack 6

The Jackbox Party Pack 6 poster.

The most recent of the Jackbox Party Packs (until the seventh one came out that was) and one of the most solid ones out there. There's no drawing game here unfortunately if you're into that genre (unlike in previous party packs), but one of the games does have a round focused on drawing, so that more than makes up for it.

I will also be making some livestream recommendations throughout for some of the games, just to let you know. Alright, let's start!

Trivia Murder Party 2.

I said in my Jackbox Party Pack 3 review that Trivia Murder Party is one of my favourite Jackbox games of all time. However, if I had to narrow it down to which is my number one favourite Jackbox game, its sequel certainly takes the cake. The first game I feel has the best delivery of the questions, but its sequel more than makes up for that with the new features that it brings to the series.

In contrast to the first game, this one is a lot more narrative-driven, with even more backstory provided for our favourite nerdy serial killer. This time, he has moved back into his family's Murder Hotel and is continuing his twisted trivia game there. Some old minigames have returned such as Chalices and the dreaded Loser Wheel, but there are new ones such as Dumb Waiter (which works in a similar way to Choices, Choices), Tattoos (in which you must give [REDACTED] a tattoo whilst he makes dirty noises) and Mirror (which involves handwriting). Somehow, Quiplash itself has become a minigame that you can play with two players, and yes, Schmitty is there to host it! Told you that you can't have a Party Pack without Phil Ridarelli! Poor Schmitty though. Why can't [REDACTED] let him out of the hotel for once?

My favourite aspect of all though is the Gifts minigame, which has replaced the finger-cutting minigame. Oh sure, you still have to chop a finger or two off if you receive the Knife gift, but the other gifts have different purposes. The best one is clearly the Father's Hat though - turns out [REDACTED] has some severe daddy issues and so he will fuck you over big time if you get this gift. And if you escape with any of the gifts...well, I can't spoil what happens, but just take into account that the game won't be over at that point (so don't try and quit the game when the credits start!).

Otherwise, the game has the same wickedly dark humour of the original, the same delightfully crazy host and the same awesomely catchy music. Definitely the best game of this pack by far.

Role Models.

A new and unusual premise for a Jackbox game. Lead on by your easygoing if somewhat sarcastic scientist host (voiced by Leila Gorstein) and her assistant, consisting of two eyes and floating hands, you will make your way through certain prompts and match other players up with the "role" that suits them best.

These rounds are very fun and wacky, almost like something from the Buzzfeed quizzes. Examples include types of people at a college party, types of ghosts and Disney Princesses, but also types of drinks and characters from Pretty Little Liars. Different roles will pop up and you vote for which player matches said role. Sometimes there will be a tie, in which case the players will have to complete tasks to fight for the roles.

There's still competition to get the most points from correct guesses and passing the set tasks, but overall it's very relaxed compared to other games and most certainly unique. The only downside is that as it requires knowing about the other players, you won't be able to play it with random people from the audience if you play this game during a livestream. That said, it's nice to play something suitable for a close-knit group once in a while.

For streamers, this will probably be the best game to play at the end of your Jackbox-themed livestream. It's very relaxing and whilst you will still be competing for points, you're not trying to get any questions correct or come up with something impressive (unless you end up with one of the rounds in which you compete for a particular role).

Dictionarium.

This one is all about words...and also their meaning. In this game, players are given made up words that they must create a new definition for, before then coming up with a new synonym for it and an example of how it can be used in a sentence. Each round, the players vote for their favourite options, as happens a lot in Jackbox james. Being someone who studied English Language in Sixth Form, this game already grabbed my interest from the start.

It's not just the gameplay that I enjoy though. The host (voiced by Olivia Nielsen) is extremely chipper and has a unique accent, thus making her a complete joy to have around. This game also has one of the best designs of any Jackbox game, with angels and devils popping up frequently. The main designer for this game was Tim Sniffen, so big shout out to him.

This is probably the best Jackbox Party Pack 6 to start your Jackbox livestream with due to the way it tests your creativity. Plus, it's just really lighthearted and fun given the subject matter. Certainly worth checking out.

Push The Button.

This game has a similar premise to Fakin' It in that players much find the faker(s), but then takes it in a new direction. This time, aliens have invaded a spaceship and the players must guess which other player(s) are said aliens in disguise.

Your A.I. leader D.O.D.E. (voiced by Surena Marie) will give you certain tasks to complete, with a captain assigning certain people to complete tasks such as drawing or answering questions. In the same vein as Fakin' It, the aliens get different prompts. One of the things that helps for livestreams this time is that due to the lack of the physical actions such as pointing and making faces that Fakin' It had, it's easy to play without face-cams and whilst it's best to play with people you know, you can still play with your audience members.

Another difference between this game and Fakin' It is that the aliens stay the same for the whole game. The assigned captain has the choice to "push the button", which means they can select the players they think are the aliens. Once everyone not chosen says yes to the choices, the chosen players are ejected. If the choices are correct, the humans win. However, even if one choice is won, the remaining aliens eject the humans and win instead. There's also a timer for the whole game and the aliens will win if time runs out. Overall, it increases the stakes for each side and makes for an interesting departure from Fakin' It, as well as a fun game in its own right.

I will say one thing though - more times than not, the aliens will win. I had seen playthroughs where the humans have won, but the aliens gaining the ability to hack and also being able to "push the button" in order to vote out who they want gives them a pretty gross advantage. That said, it does not ruin any enjoyment for the game - if anything, it's fun to watch the reactions of those playing the humans when they find out that they've been betrayed. X)

Joke Boat.

A very unusual premise from Jackbox with an interesting aesthetic theme, the premise of this game is to tell the funniest jokes whilst on a shoddy cruise liner. You'll be given a joke template that you must complete (such as the famous "How many ____ does it take to change a lightbulb?" joke) and then tell the others. At first glance, this seems a bit limiting. You just get a certain amount of templates. Luckily though, humans are a creative sort of creature so this doesn't become a problem at all. If anything, it's fun to see all of the different variations of the same joke template.

The naval aspect is one of the biggest draws. Captain Chuck (voiced by Kevin Sciretta) is not only an eccentric sort of naval officer, but he also is a terrible navigator. I mean, he keeps on crashing and sinking his ship against the same rubber duck in the final round! Additionally, he only offers a lifejacket to the winner, so everything else sinks with the ship. Utterly incompetent, but at the same time very memorable and entertaining. He also has a naval diary that pops up whenever you're finishing off tasks, so you can always get laughs out of it whilst waiting for others to finish off their jokes. I also like the idea of ventriloquist puppets being the player icons - normally ventriloquist puppets come off as creepy, but somehow the game makes them downright adorable.

A word of advice though - the tutorial plays an important role in this game as you'll be asked to come up with as many topics as possible. If you're able to do so, it makes the game even more enjoyable but if you're unable to do so, you can be very limited on what you can joke about. In a sense, this is another game that makes for a good first game on a Jackbox livestream if you want to flex your creative muscles.

Everybody Help Grandma.

This is what the menu screen would have looked like if the game had been released. Just look at all those pretty doilies! :D

Okay, this was actually an April Fool's Day joke that Jackbox did, but I still want to discuss it. Allegedly, the premise was that everyone would have to, well, help Grandma out with several chores. As the game has never been released (so far), we'll never know if the gameplay was that good or not, but the mock trailer for it is priceless. Ryan DiGiorgi does such a good job at making it sound as convincing as possible and actually made me want to see this become a real thing in the future.

Fun fact about the grandma in the menu screen - that was a character taken from the Jackbox Games Office Game Jam game Assisted Leaving, in which two old people must work together to get out of the assisted living building they are stuck in. The Jackbox Games Office Game Jam consisted of projects that Jackbox worked on that were not intended to be released to the public, but were instead ways for the staff members to try out jobs that they hadn't practiced before as well as ways to experiment with different game types. They've livestreamed some of the games on their channel if you want to check them out (here's the one for Super Crash Botherers and here's the one for Assisted Leaving and Walking Sim).


So yeah, that's all of Jackbox Party Pack 6 to discuss. In general, it's definitely one of the best out there. As I said earlier, TMP 2 is definitely the main highlight, but the other games are also very good with their own little quirks. Livestream wise, I would recommend starting yours off with both Dictionarium and Joke Boat (you can choose the order), before moving on to Push The Button and Trivia Murder Party 2 and then finally cooling down with Role Models, though you may have different ideas on what makes for the best livestream structure.

Overall, it's easy to see why the Jackbox Party Packs are so popular. They're extremely fun and varied, with different games appealing to different people. Let's hope that Jackbox Party Pack 7 keeps up the tradition! :D

Summer Loving? Yeah Right...

So I went on a long hiatus for a while before finally posting my review of the Jackbox Party Pack 5. Part of this can be blamed on the fact I had to finish a major dissertation for my Masters coursework (two picture books on serious and complex themes such as bullying and bereavement, plus a 7000 word reflective essay). But I have to be honest with myself, the summer holidays themselves played a huge role in it too, despite it supposedly being a time when you can relax (unless dissertations are involved, of course).

One of the earliest posts I made was why the winter season enhanced my mental health issues, with a small reference to the summer. Well, the summer season makes the winter season downright tame in comparison. At least I can cope with the cold temperatures that winter offers, as well as the fact that it comes off as rather peaceful at times when you're not stressing out about other things.

I could have posted this during the summer itself, but again, my mind was not in the right place at the time. Either way, here are a couple of points I'd like to make about the summer season itself.

Woeful Weather.

The weather is definitely the worst part. Most of the time, it's essentially hot weather that can turn into weeks of heatwaves. This also makes sleeping at night an absolute liability - I've had to toss off several layers just to cool down and it still wasn't enough at times. Oh well, at least 2020 was somewhat better than 2018 in that regard - that year, the heatwaves continued into early September.

Some people say that it's better in the summer than the winter because you simply turn on the air conditioning to sort it out. Well...I don't have that. To put it into perspective, the house I live in is a small one and my mum complains that air conditioning will just fan the heat all around the house. I don't share their sentiment, but that's the way our house has always been since then. Opening the windows sometimes makes it better, but then there's the risk of the outside being muggy and causing the rooms to get humid too.

And when it's not like that, you get the lightning storms outside. Thankfully, our house has not had a lightning-induced power cut in years, and there weren't as many this year, but there's still the fear that it may happen. This is despite the fact that I should be at least thankful for the fact that we're actually getting rain for once after the heatwaves.

Noisy Neighbours.

Two houses away from mine are a family with at least three kids. During the summer, they play outside more frequently, and it gets LOUD. This is another reason why I don't always keep the windows open. I could put on headphones to avoid having to hear them, but sometimes the audio on my laptop sounds less than stellar through them and my mental issues mean that I can be rather particular about what I want. Additionally, the kids sometimes get way too rowdy and it ends up with one of them crying as a result - mainly the youngest child.

Now I know some people will accuse me of being selfish for making this complaint, that these kids have a right to play outside. They do - but they don't have to be outright obnoxious about it with the screaming that makes me think that one of them got hurt. Besides, the neighbours who are part of the same semi-detached house as my family have children who play outside too and in a more responsible manner. They can get noisy at times too, but no screaming from them fortunately.

Anyway, that's my venting done. Thank goodness it's autumn now - the weather's a lot cooler and the neighbours will not be causing as much as a racket now. If anything, the fact that a pandemic was going on this year and limiting what people could go only served to remind me of the problems I just discussed. Somehow, it doesn't feel the same during the other seasons.

Recipe On How To Write Every Day

So yesterday was National Poetry Day, and I thought that I would upload another one of my poems. This is a recipe-themed poem and given the feedback I received for it, I feel that this may have been the one my tutor liked the best.

Recipe on How to Write Every Day:

The recipe of writing every day is simple.

All you need is:

One cup of visualisation.

Ten teaspoons of wordplay.

Twelve tablespoons of freewriting.

Something to write with. A pen or pencil or keyboard will do.

What you need to do?

Mix well and put on to heat for ten minutes. Once cooked, scrape any remaining writer's block off and serve instantly.

I feel like I won't need to explain this as much as my first poem, given that it isn't fanfic poetry this time. Anyway, I pretty proud with how this one turned out, especially since this was a format that I wasn't used to originally.

My Review Of The Jackbox Party Pack 5

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 poster.

The fifth and final game has been revealed for the Jackbox Party Pack 7 - Blather 'Round, a game that involves guessing a chosen topic via given clues during a set amount of time. And given that I was on a hiatus at the time, all five games have now been demonstrated on the Jackbox YouTube channel. But that doesn't mean that this will be the final Party Pack review I'll be posting!

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 sees the return of the You Don't Know Jack franchise along with some brand new games. Some of them make some particularly bold choices when it comes to gameplay.

You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream.

The Full Stream title screen.

Jack is back! This time, the megalomaniac streaming service Binjpipe has bought up the rights to the in-universe YDKJ show and Cookie is being forced to comply to their demands. Not only do we get the old rounds, but as a result, we get new rounds such as "Binjpipe Recommends" (which consists of Binjpipe recommending particular works based on a users interests) and "Data Mining" (which consists of looking at "search" data and trying to find out who it belongs to). Now whilst a premise like this could risk coming off as "trying to stay relevant", it actually gets handled pretty well. The voice of Binjpipe is a creepy yet seductive woman voiced by Alyssa Davis, who previously hosted Civic Doodle, and she aces it as someone who is controlling the increasingly frustrated Cookie and will just not leave him alone.

The game can now allow up to eight players and includes an audience bonus, in which they can cause the players to gain less bonus money if another audience members answer correctly to the same questions. The final Jack Attack round works different to past Jack Attacks in that multiple answers will pop up on the screen to select from rather than just one - it's odd, but still rather interesting. Also, the gibberish question is back! You won't lose money (well, you will, but it's treated as a general wrong answer) or be kicked out for typing in "fuck you" this time though - Cookie will just get annoyed and make you watch a silly video or read an exasperated essay on your device.

Whilst it's a shame that some characters like the Old Man do not make a return during the actual gameplay itself, you can still hear them during the credits in the famed commercials (those are always a treat). Overall, a satisfying entry in the YDKJ franchise that takes bold risks and yet stays faithful to the most beloved aspects of other installments.

Patently Stupid.

Yet another fun drawing game from Jackbox Games. This time, you are given the task for inventing something that can solve the problem given to you on your device, complete with a name, an image of what the invention looks like and a catchy slogan. You must then present your invention and try and get funded with enough money, with the winning player being the one who gains the most money. The first round has individual problems being solved, whilst the second round involves everyone responding to the same prompt.

Your seminar is hosted by Toby and Lena, who are totally trustworthy people who definitely don't have any ulterior motives with regard to your inventions. Jackbox regular Phil Ridarelli voices Toby whilst Alex Frenkel voices Lena, and they do an excellent job voicing this friendly-sounding duo who still have some tricks up their sleeves.

It's especially ideal to play this game with a group of friends in the same room - it will make it much easier to present all the information you need on your invention. That said, the Present For Me prompt that you can use on livestreams can get downright priceless at times - Toby and Lena will do most of the talking for you, even if your invention is downright ridiculous or vulgar. Oh, and Gene is also back for this game, so he's always bound to come up with something amusing.

Split The Room.

This game has a very Twilight Zone-esque feel to it, which suits the premise of it well. Your host, who happens to a humanised greyscale cat (as well as a very clever reference to Schrodinger's cat) will take you on a journey through alternate dimensions. What this means is that you will be be given a prompt to fill in the blank for, which requires a yes or no answer from the other players. The aim is to present a prompt that will cause an equal split between the votes - the more balanced the votes are, the more points you earn. The final round involves a situation where one choice has been presented, but you must come up with the alternative choice.

Plenty of these scenarios are downright insane and it becomes hilarious when you see what people filled in the blanks with. The host obviously has a mysterious vibe to himself, but as he is voiced by the irreverent Tim Sniffen (who you may remember from Bidiots), he has some very witty and sarcastic comments to offer to lighten the mood too. In a way, the juxtaposition of seriousness and humour works well to this game's advantage, along with the premise itself, making it a good one to try out if you're playing this party pack for the first time.

Mad Verse City.

This is a very quirky and fun game to play and it has a very interesting premise. This is one of the few Jackbox games to be hosted by real life people (in this case, rapper Shadow Master MC and DJ Raych) rather than fictional characters, which not only provides an interesting take on the hosting business, but also allows these two to provide their hosting chops as well as musical talents. As expected from a game about rapping, it also has some great music, especially the end credits song, along with a really nifty art style that reminds me of street graffiti.

The players are given two phrases that they must fill in the blank for, and then write sentences that rhyme with their answers. These become the rap verses that players use to throw down against each other, and players vote for who performed the best rap. Honestly, I feel this works perfectly - I have read poems before where all the writer had to do was fill in the blanks (true story), which just seemed uncreative and stale. But with this game, the writing format allows you more creative freedom whilst also giving you helpful prompts. Obviously the flows of the rapping can be rather slow compared to real-life rapping due to the artificial voices provided, but then again, the characters are robots so it makes sense.

The robot theme also works well - they are all themed after pieces of retro technology such as radios and floppy disks, which adds a nice touch. Oh, and Gene is back for this game too, now in full robot mode. In fact, it may have been this game that made him somewhat memetic with the Jackbox fans. Definitely a game worth checking out.

Zeeple Dome.

A very different game to the other four in this pack, but still a charming and underrated gem. This is a game that relies on the players working together as a team, since all of you have been captured by aliens and are being forced to take part in a gameshow...hopefully winning your freedom in the process.

The gameplay is very fast-paced - players must fling themselves across the screen to defeat monsters and gain points. There's no time to really stop and think, which poses quite a good challenge. Non-gameplay wise, the characters look downright adorable and the music is just as fast-paced as the gameplay itself. Add a hammy announcer (voiced by Edward Moses) and it does indeed feel like a gameshow...albeit a rather deadly one that your characters never wanted to be part of in the first place.

I still don't understand why the Let's Players I watch have not played this game yet. It's cute and entertaining and above all, very different to the other Jackbox games in general, let alone the ones in this party pack. Overall, this is a game best played with close friends and family, given that stronger teamwork skills will increase your chances of winning.


Overall, we've got some classic gameplay and some entirely new ideas too. Just what we've always wanted from a party pack. ;)

Once Party Pack 7 gets released, I will post my review of Party Pack 6. Obviously I'm still trying to balance this blog with Masters coursework, which is now finished, fortunately, and my creative works (and the hot summer weather did not help either). Hopefully though, the sixth review will be finished earlier than this one now that the coursework is out of the way.

Recorded By Arizal Prelude Review

A promotional image for the series.

I posted my review for Death Race! here a short while ago - spoiler alert: it's definitely a series worth watching. Now I choose to post a review for a new Rooster Teeth series that isn't part of the Death Battle! franchise but I chose to watch at the same time and also lasts about four episodes. I found out about this series earlier on in the year via a video that Rooster Teeth released and already this was something that was grabbing my attention.

What has been shown of Recorded By Arizal so far is actually a "prelude" - it serves as an introduction to an upcoming series and allows for some worldbuilding and character development. For those who are not familiar with this series or with the Rooster Teeth website, the creator Yssa Badiola has released some additional vlogs about behind-the-scenes work that I recommend you check out here (the last episode is particularly emotional to watch). There's also an interview with her here that discusses her reasoning for certain inclusions in the show.

The protagonist is Arizal, a bright yet somewhat socially-awkward student who wants to become a record keeper. Her vlog is her way of discussing her hopes and dreams for her job, as well as a way of carrying out tasks set out for people vying for the same career path that she is. Let me also point out that Arizal is a downright cinnamon roll. She loves her books and is very friendly when presenting her vlogs, though she is prone to being a klutz and getting easily nervous about certain problems at times. Christine Marie Cabanos (who you'll probably know best as Madoka Kaname from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica franchise or the titular Squid Girl) does such a great job voicing her too. She makes her sound cute without using a grating high-pitched voice, instead giving her a soft-spoken voice that is still prone to enthusiastic tones. Overall, she's definitely one of my new favourite characters from Rooster Teeth.

The vlog format is very interesting. Death Battle! has the format of characters hosting something as well, but its more of an informational series about pop culture characters as well as one that features amazing fight scenes. This doesn't happen in Recorded By Arizal - the prelude lacks any fight scenes for starters, in contrast to many other Rooster Teeth shows. Most of the episodes take place in Arizal's bedroom, with the exception being the fourth episode. Not only does this mean that the story has to follow vlog conventions such as a lack of a musical score, but it also means that the only parts of the story that we receive are presented in the current moment, meaning that flashbacks cannot make an appearance it. Honestly, the show manages to present this format well and it helps it to stand out from its other shows as a result. I also see this prelude as a refreshing break from some of the other story-heavy vlog series online, which tend to get really dark. This series does have its serious moments, but never to the point in which it becomes super disturbing. In short, it's more about Arizal doing some soul-searching and deciding on whether she actually wants to pursue her dream job or not.

Another thing I liked was the interaction between Arizal and the other characters. First there's her aunt, known as Tita Cherry. Besides the fact that "tita" is a Filipino term for "aunt" and one of the many cases in which Filipino words are effectively used in the series, Funimation veteran Monica Rial does a good job making her sound like a strict carer figure in the first episode. Even better is her performance at the end of the fourth episode, in which she sounds genuinely anxious and concerned as she messages Arizal with some rather distressing news. Arizal also mentions her "tito" (i.e. uncle), and my only real disappointment is that he didn't make any appearance himself. Hopefully, he might make one in the main series.

Arizal has two friends that she interacts with as well. Her first friend Rizella does not have a voice actor, but her messages towards Arizal perfectly paint her as a caring big sis type of character who anyone would be lucky to have. I was instantly concerned when she became the focus of Tita Cherry's message in the fourth episode (we are never given any specifics on what actually happened) and I seriously hope in the main series itself that whatever happened to her isn't as bad as it seems. I was not fond of Arizal's other friend Lia (voiced by Christine Stuckart) at first, finding her to be rather rude and pushy towards Arizal at times and demanding that she join in with more social events rather than just focus on her project. That said though, she did manage to help her out of her funk at the end of Episode 3, so I guess she can't be too bad of a friend.

Arguably the most significant side character is Dante, a veteran record keeper that Arizal interviews in Episode 2. He's a very relaxed and friendly young man who has had many adventures, though Arizal is left disturbed by some of the job pitfalls that he brings up. He doesn't want to discourage her at all, but what he says has two outcomes - it foreshadows the pros and cons of being a record keeper that Arizal may have to face later on and it affects the rest of the prelude and how Arizal learns to evaluate her life choices.

There are plenty of interestingly references in the series. First of all there are the references to the Filipino language (e.g. the aforementioned term "tita"). Rooster Teeth has been trying to incorporate more diversity into their shows (Gen:Lock was one of their main attempts at doing so), and seeing this occur in this series is already satisfying, especially since Badiola is Filipino-American herself. Additionally, I have not really come across many work with leading Filipino characters (I may need to research more of them), so it was nice that this series has one. Additionally, there are subtle archaeological, biblical and historical references, which contrast nicely with the somewhat futuristic setting of the series.

So my overall opinion on the prelude? It's just gorgeous. Arizal is a relatable and likeable protagonist and even the side characters are memorable. The vlog format works really well for the series and introduces a new formula to Rooster Teeth Animation, and the references to the Filipino language and culture work really well too. The animation is good and the character designs and background designs look great. I am so hoping that this prelude helps to lead into the main series that Rooster Teeth has planned - they showed a snippet of it in their 2020 hype video here and it has already got me excited about the adventures that Arizal will embark on next. In short, definitely check out this prelude - it's both really thought-out and will certainly prepare you for what comes afterwards.

Death Race Review

The official series logo.

Being a massive Death Battle! fangirl, I tend to get a buzz of excitement whenever something new gets announced for the franchise. This was certainly one of them. The Death Battle! creators had always talked about the concept of a death race between vehicles for some time, but now this was going to be a real thing. Plus they said it was going to be a completely different thing too, which got me interested as to how the whole premise would be handled.

So I thought - why not show my interest for the franchise by not only watching this new series, but also writing a review on it? Obviously I would be going in blind without knowing what to expect, so not only would I be super hyped-up but I would be able to react properly to the biggest moments in the series.

This review will be divided into three stages - a section on the hosts and key crew members involved, mini-reviews of each episode and finally my concluding thoughts on the series. Hopefully that will make it easier to sum up some of the key points I took interest in.

Well, that's the end of the introduction! It's time for the Death Race! review!

So Who's Starring?

I will mention the racers themselves in the episode reviews, but I would like to start by discussing both the hosts for this series and some of the crew members involved behind the scenes.

Technically the main host is Ringmaster, who is most known for being the second host of the DBX spin-off series. He introduces the theme of each episode and gives a quick rundown of each vehicle and their background. He also gives information on the series sponsor and after each race is over, he closes out the episode. He's a delight - he always has plenty of energy and charisma to spare and his character design stands out too. I also like his sinister tendencies at times, especially in the second episode.

That said, I was kind of nervous about the idea of Wiz and Boomstick not hosting this series at first. I mean, they hosted the original Death Battle! for crying out loud! But don't worry! Wiz and Boomstick serve as the commentators for each race, and in fact they tend to have more screen-time as a result. As the action takes place, they discuss what the racers are doing and even replay highlights such as the deaths. Boomstick brings the jokes as always (as well as the traps for the racers to avoid), Wiz has to deal with said jokes and they work perfectly well as a comedy duo as always.

I am absolutely delighted by this team-up between the Death Battle! hosts and the DBX host. Given that Boomstick was the original DBX host before Ringmaster's conception, it's interesting to see them finally have some interaction with each other (not counting Boomstick's brief appearance in "Batman vs. Iron-Man") and compare and contrast the two of them as a result. I'd had a theory for a while that Ringmaster could potentially be Wiz and Boomstick's boss one way or another, and this seems to support that wild guess.

With regard to the voice cast, Kamran Nikhad and Nicholas Andrew Louie (voice actors for Mario and Sonic respectively in the "Mario vs. Sonic" rematch) voice the contestants that have speaking lines. They even reprise their roles as Mario and Sonic in the final episode. Not only do they do a good job with this, but these are voice actors who I always feel could do with more attention. That's the great thing about the Death Battle! franchise as a whole - it can introduce you to voice actors that you never knew about beforehand whilst also bringing in ones that you know well and love.

Finally, the majority of the main Death Battle! crew are working on this, but there are two people working on this series I'd like to mention. The first is DevilArtemis, the animator of the Cell vs. series who animates the races for this show - and he does an amazing job with it. The second is Nervous Nick, a former longtime crew member who is serving as one of the editors here. So glad that he's back for this show. X)

My Thoughts On Each Episode

Now for the actual episodes themselves. I will make sure to not give away spoilers on the victor during these reviews for those who have yet to watch the series, though there are some plot points I need to discuss. I will also give a quick summary beforehand of the competing vehicles.

The Batmobile episode.

Competing Vehicles:

1. The Batmobile from the Tim Burton films.
2. The Tumbler from the Dark Knight trilogy.
3. The Batmobile from the Arkham games.
4. The Batmobile from the Adam West TV series.

A brilliant way to start off the series - the batmobile is an iconic part of pop culture so it would make sense if there was an episode focused on it. I can also get an idea as to how the first two vehicles to get eliminated would have done so - one of them had already been destroyed in "Joker vs. Sweet Tooth" in the main Death Battle! series, for instance. I also liked the scene with the civilians and Boomstick's naivete over whether the Batmans would kill them or not (he thought they wouldn't). The ending is a little confusing as to how the winner was chosen, but hey, Ringmaster had the same opinion as I did too so that was quite amusing.

Plus, I liked the part with Boomstick and his Batman-themed cap. Just saying. XD

The living vehicles episode.

Competing Vehicles:

1. Optimus Prime from Transformers.
2. The flying car from Harry Potter.
3. Thomas the Tank Engine?!
4. Lightning McQueen from Cars.

Originally I was pretty wary before this episode came out due to the lineup, but I ultimately ended up enjoying this even more than the previous episode - in fact, I would say it's the best one of the series. Ultimately the winner was the one that you'd expect to win in the first place, though one of the vehicles made it further in the race than I thought it would. Sure, the episode ends on quite the downer, but I did see it coming considering the values the winning vehicle lives by. Still, poor Boomstick. :(

The battle cars episode.

Competing Vehicles:

1. The Knight Rider from Knight Rider.
2. The 007 Aston Martin from James Bond.
3. The Spy Hunter from Spyhunter.
4. Master Chief's Warthog from Halo.

I didn't have much knowledge of these vehicles and what they were capable of going in, which was good because I got a fresh view of them as a result and didn't have any real ideas on who was going to win. I was confused by the choice of victor at first considering that they vanished from the course for some time, but re-watching it ultimately helped me to make sense of how it could have happened.

I love the running gag throughout the episode of KITT (the A.I. from Knight Rider) communicating with the hosts. An equally fun gag throughout the episode was the amount of traps that Boomstick set for the contestants, culminating in him destroying the race track itself when the last one fails. There is a somewhat disturbing plot twist at the end with regard to the first gag, but there is still some humour to be found in it.

The pizza episode.

This episode is somewhat different, as the focus is mostly on the racers themselves rather than their vehicles. I also refer to this as the pizza episode due to the premise involved - this time, the racers aren't just trying to make it to the finish, but they are also trying to deliver a pizza in mint-condition.

Competing Racers And Their Vehicles:

1. Captain Falcon and his Blue Falcon from F-Zero.
2. Mario and his go-kart from Mario Kart.
3. Sonic and his Speed Star from Sonic The Hedgehog.
4. Doc Brown and his DeLorean from Back To The Future.
5. Takumi Fujiwara and his father's 1983 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT Apex AE86 from Initial D.
6. A scout trooper (apparently, his name is Bob) and his 74-Z speeder bike from Star Wars.

I personally liked this set up for the episode - it definitely added something new. There is a pinball-themed trap in the episode which I found entertaining, plus an amusing moment where Mario flips off Captain Falcon. The winner of the race is the one you'd least expect to win of course, but considering that all the other combatants were out for each other's blood and this vehicle was simply focused on the delivery, it makes sense in a way - it's similar to a theory I had about the second episode before watching it and realising it had a different outcome entirely.

My Overall Thoughts

In general, I really enjoyed this series. All of the races have the same high-octane action the franchise is well-known for and DevilArtemis does a brilliant job with the animation. The interaction between the hosts is also hilarious and the gags and jokes are spot-on. One of the biggest highlights overall, is the fact that Wiz and Boomstick make comments as the races occur, which is something I've wanted beforehand.

My only real criticism would be that I was hoping for something similar to Death Battle! with the vehicles themselves being researched, since the format of this series is so different from the others - it probably explains why the second episode is my favourite. That said, DBX always does its own thing too (especially before the results in that series were decided by audience votes), and I guess this is going in the same direction.

If there is a second series of this next year (I use the term "series" here in the same way an American would use the term "season"), I'll definitely be happy to watch it. In particular, I'd like more episodes with a particular theme such as the pizza episode just to spice things up a bit, as well as episodes focusing on a particular franchise such as Batman. Overall, definitely give this one a try, especially if you like death-themed car races and the DBX format. ;)

My Review Of The Jackbox Party Pack 4

The Jackbox Party Pack 4 poster.

Due to scheduling conflicts with my Masters dissertation and coursework, I have had to release two Party Pack reviews around the same time due to the fourth game Talking Points recently being announced before the upload of my third review. The Party Pack 3 review is meant to accompany the third game whilst this review is meant to accompany the fourth game.

Anyway, my mistake! Let's crack on with the games already, shall we? X)

Also just a warning - there is a rather lewd screenshot in the Civic Doodle section that is most likely NSFW. I could have avoided using it, but I needed to emphasise a point I was making. Just thought I'd give you a reminder.

Fibbage 3.

Fibbage is back and it has had an extreme makeover. By that, I mean the art-style has now changed completely. Just look at the colourful retro-styled artwork in it! It also has a catchy new theme song. Otherwise, the gameplay is still the same as the previous games and still on top - they also have new picture rounds, which are fun.

A new addition to this game is "Enough About Me, Over To You", in which people can come up with prompts about themselves (for example, "Which of these is MamzelleBoomstick's favourite TV show?"). The first round works like any normal Fibbage round would, but the second one consists of one truth and one lie about yourself. Overall, not much really to say about this other than the fact that it's a fun sequel that adds even more to its series.

Monster Seeking Monster.

A game with a very strange premise, yet still works and is highly enjoyable. Hosted by the sultry Felicia (voiced by Erica Elam), players spend six nights sending texts to each other in the hopes that they score a date and win hearts. There's a twist though - all of the "normal" humans are actually monsters in disguise.

Each monster has a different function that can help them out in different ways. I will not reveal exactly what these functions are in fear of spoilers, but I will say one thing - some of these functions work better if your identity is kept secret. If you are in the lead at the end of a round, your identity is revealed and that can sometimes screw you over.

At the end of the game, everyone's identity is revealed and the monster with the most hearts wins...though one of the monsters has a chance to snatch victory from the potential winner if they fulfill a certain requirement. Again, I will not reveal this in fear of spoilers, but it gets downright crazy.

In general, this is just such a fun and quirky game. The gameplay works well, the artwork is fantastic and the music downright catchy. Definitely worth checking out.

Bracketeering.

So as it turns out, no Jackbox Party Pack is complete without Party Pack regular Phil Ridarelli. He makes his grand return as the host of this game, a larger-than-life character who oozes enthusiasm throughout every round. And as always, he nails the role. In fact, it's just what you need for a crazy fun game like this. X)

The premise of the game itself is essentially a bracket tournament. Players answer the unusual prompt given (for example, "The Best Grandma Name") and then the answers are placed into brackets. The players then vote on which answer proceeds to the next round in each bracket. You won't just win points (known as money in this game) for gaining the most votes on your answers though - you can also win cash for placing bets on the correct answer to go through.

The gameplay during the voting stages is very fast-paced and thus makes the game particularly enjoyable. Up to sixteen players can join the game along with an audience and the theme of gambling in space is a fun one. Furthermore, the tournaments get more varied as gameplay progresses. The second tournament is a "blind" one, meaning you answer one prompt such as "name a type of chocolate" but you don't know what the real prompt is until the answers are sent it (it could be "best name for a clown", for example). The third round is a "triple blind" bracket, meaning the prompts change every round. It certainly keeps the gameplay fresh in the meantime.

The problem I would warn potential gamers about is that due to the fast-paced nature of the game, if your internet connection is not great, it can cause the screen to flicker furiously during the voting stages. Otherwise, the pacing is great, the prompts downright priceless, the space gambling theme fits in well and voila! A treat for everyone to enjoy.

Survive The Internet.

If I had to pick a favourite out of the games in this pack, it would have to be this one. Both extremely cringeworthy, but also downright hysterical, it takes what would potentially be a messed-up premise and somehow makes it work.

Players answer random questions and then other players receive said answers...which they must twist in such a way that it makes the comment look ridiculous. How? By providing a video title, newspaper headline, hashtag or whatever that goes against what the comment is about. The final round changes this so that players choose a random picture and other players provide silly captions for it instead.

For instance, say that someone gets asked what they think of a particular celebrity and they answer "Never cared about that asshole". You receive this answer and must think up a name for a video. You could write "Goku's Deaths In Dragonball" or "Batman's Greatest Moments" and therefore make it look like the other player was hating on a popular and well-liked hero. You win points from votes and your "victim" gets "pity points" to make up for this, with the winning answers getting bonus points.

This game is potentially a haven for trolls due to its premise, which is one potential downside. Fortunately, the V.I.P. has the option of blocking the more problematic answers, which reduces any potential issues. In fact, quite a few of the livestreams I have seen of this game managed to avoid having troll problems, which the more offensive answers mainly due to players who were not familiar with the game - once the first round finished, the answers became (somewhat) more tasteful.

Tom Haley voices Todd, your host in this game, and he does a pretty good job. The real highlight though is Gene, an artificial A.I. who you can play against if you don't have enough players. Gene has become quite a fan favourite amongst Jackbox gamers for good reason, and the bizarre answers he comes up with at times are downright priceless. Overall, this game is definitely worth trying out.

Civic Doodle.

The Old Man from You Don't Know Jack has returned, but this time he has swapped his stagehand job for the role of the Doodle Valley mayor. He now has the (actually pretty ingenious) idea of "beautifying" the town with murals, but unfortunately the initial painters only finished off some of them. It's the players' jobs to finish off these murals.

Unlike most drawing games from Jackbox, people don't get single drawings to complete. Instead, two people make their contributions to their own copies of the mural and then people vote on which is the best. The next two players then make additions to the winning design and then so on until every player has taken part. Afterwards, everyone comes up with a name for the mural and everyone votes on that as well. For the final round, everyone gets the same starter prompt (a portrait for the town hall) and then makes additions to it. Again, it goes for four rounds at most.

This gameplay gets a lot of millage. Some people like this style and some people find it tedious. I personally like it, as it is reminiscent of those old drawing games where one person adds something to a drawing and then the next person does the same. In particular, it becomes comedy gold if the players taking part have dirty minds. As a result, you may be consistently forced to keep looking at some lewd pictures. It's especially painful if you were the one who unwittingly started it. Heck, they may not even be lewd. Just very strange and sometimes political. Always funny though.

"Why is he parading with a burning flag? [...] Am I, like, making a Banksy statement here?" (Note: This screenshot is from one of the Jackbox Games livestreams, which can be seen here.)

The emoji system is particularly interesting - players can give out emojis based on what they think of the drawings, and particular ones can sometimes add to your score if your drawing received the majority of them (for example, a player may score points for gaining the most laughing faces).

Overall, I found this to be a pretty entertaining game. It's the weakest in the pack compared to the others, but it's still a good decent romp (unlike, say, Word Spud). Add Alyssa Davis' brilliant portrayal of the put-upon Mayor's Assistant (the host of the game), the catchy music and the return of a classic YDKJ character, and you've got something memorable, for better and for worst.


I would say in general that this is indeed a good party pack. It may not be on the same level as the third one, but it's still a classic. Now to actually get my schedule on track now so I don't post the Party Pack 5 review too late! XD

My Review Of The Jackbox Party Pack 3

The Jackbox Party Pack 3 poster.

For the upcoming Jackbox Party Pack 7, the third game Champ'd Up has been announced. And with every new Party Pack game announced comes a new Party Pack review on this site! It's time to review Party Pack 3! :D

This is definitely one of the strongest party packs that Jackbox has released. None the games on this pack could really be considered to be "weak", thus making it the first party pack to have a consistent level of quality throughout. Anyway, here are the games!

Trivia Murder Party.

One of my favourite Jackbox games of all time, along with it being part of my all-time favourite Jackbox series. Despite not normally being a fan of the slasher genre (mainly due to the same old tired cliches associated with it such as the "final girl"), I love the way this game pays homage to it and not only that, it features my favourite host of all of the Jackbox games. Plus, it has some really cool music.

A twisted serial killer (often referred to as [REDACTED] by fans and Jackbox staff) has kidnapped a group of players (or sometimes even one if you're playing solo) and is forcing them to take part in "trivia night". These players are represented by adorable little dolls representing the Deadly Sins. If players gets the answers to the questions wrong, they are forced into a variety of mini-games (ranging from a rock-paper-scissors game called Arena to memory-based games). Those who fail are then "killed" and are turned into ghosts. Whilst they are still in the game, it means that they did not get a head-start in the final round. The overall winner of the final round escapes the killer's house and lives to fight another day. The rest are consumed by the shadows and lost forever.

Unlike many of the other party pack hosts who are voiced by Chicago-based comedians or voice actors who were part of the original You Don't Know Jack series before the reboot in 2011, [REDACTED] is voiced by Spencer Ham, one of the major writers for Jackbox games since 2011 and later on director of Survive The Internet, Split The Room and Joke Boat. His voice has been pitch-filtered to sound much deeper (kinda like Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas), which makes it all the more hilarious when he moves on from being all creepy to suddenly geeking out over music, movies or whatever. Oh [REDACTED]. He tries so hard to be menacing (and he actually succeeds on many occasions), but his geeky enthusiasm for trivia as well as his more vulnerable side (who'd expect a serial killer of all people to start crying over the infamous beginning of Up, for instance?) certainly endear him to many people like myself, even the ones who disagree with his killing streak.

Overall, the minigames are challenging and fun and the questions are varied. The best questions are definitely the ones that try to trick the player (the Up question being my favourite one for this reason) with the unusual way they are formatted - it really takes me back to the YDKJ games. Add a crazy and enjoyable host with a memorable voice and a nerdy side to himself and you end up getting one of the most effective slasher parodies out there.

Quiplash 2.

I thought the first Quiplash game was already bright and colourful, but this one goes even further with the spiralling backgrounds, additional colour palettes and even more quirky characters. And like the first game, it keeps the outrageous nature of the prompts, leading to equally outrageous answers from the players.

Like with Fibbage 2 and Drawful 2, I don't really need to explain too much about gameplay here except for the fact that there are even more hilarious prompts and the audience now gets to play along too by answering prompts from the previous game. Additionally, if you have any annoying trolls (like, I don't know, Jacksepticeye's girlfriend? Are they even dating anymore?) who are trying to offend or insult the other players, the VIP can now manually censor them for the rest of the game.

Additionally, this sequel makes major improvements on the final round. This time, either a key word, an acronym or even a comic book panel is given to the players who must then answer the prompt associated with them. Gold, silver and bronze medals are then given out by the other players to each prompt. Overall, very different to the first game's final round - which was like the other rounds but with everyone answering the same prompt - and definitely more varied.

Fun fact: This was the first ever Jackbox Party Pack game to be localised to other countries, which happened this year. It comes in French, Spanish, Italian and German with a different host for each one. It actually got released earlier than it was supposed to in order to keep people entertained during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a rare instance of something getting released earlier rather than later due to said pandemic.

Tee K.O.

A particularly fascinating drawing game with a fun theme to it. Guided by the Tournament Master, a mysterious and quirky old mentor voiced by Shaun Bowers, players must come up with images and slogans that can be used on T-shirts that either they or other players can use. Once they think they'd found the perfect combination of images and words, they must then pit their t-shirt up against another one, with players voting for their favourite t-shirt in each round.

What I particularly love about this game is the reference to the "yokai" from Japanese mythology, supernatural creatures associated with the Shinto religion. All of the player characters are types of yokai ranging from a karakasa (an umbrella with one eye) to two oni twins (one red and one blue). The game is set on an island with East Asian themes, which helps to emphasise the yokai theme even further.

In general, it's such a fun game with an interesting theme, and it's particularly fun seeing some of the crazier t-shirt designs for the first time.

Guesspionage.

The title for the Live edition.

Now for a game that goes for the opposite of artistic and instead relies on logic and numbers! The host (voiced by Adal Rifai) works for the government and in this universe's reality, they have all the data they need on your daily life! [Note: In reality, the percentage results come from an online survey. X)]

Each player gets a chance to answer a question (e.g. "How many people have taken a ride in the back of a police van?") and makes an estimate on the percentage of people that may have complied with said question. Other players must then guess whether the true answer is higher or lower than what the chosen player guessed, and more points are dished out to those who made the correct guess. The final round involves people answering the same question, making guesses as to which is the most popular film, most popular band, least popular talk show host, etc.

Despite the usual negative connotations of maths and numbers, this is yet another Jackbox game that handles its subject well. The fact that many of the online gamers I watch have played it more than twice is already a good sign with how well it went over. The spy theme is also an interesting add-on.

Another fun feature is when you're waiting in the lobby for other players to arrive. During that time, you can hear the government members having their own discussions (mainly to do with their jobs). Not only does this give you something to listen to whilst not playing the game, but many of these conversations are very funny. Definitely one to check out.

Fakin' It.

At first I was somewhat confused by the inclusion of Cookie Masterson. Sure, he's very popular with Jackbox fans, but now he's presenting a "Simon Says"-esque game rather than a trivia game? Luckily, his dry wit remains and is a great addition to said game.

In Fakin' It, players are given prompts to follow, such as making a funny face or pointing at someone. However, the "faker" is not given the same prompt as the others and must simply try and fit in. The players then have three chances (or two, if only three people are playing) to uncover the faker.

I particularly like the retro aesthetic for this game. It has the same look to those old timey-wimey board games you may have played when you were younger, only now in a video game format. The real highlight of this game though is seeing some of the different answers that players come up with and how some fakers make themselves extremely obvious - especially in the "Text You Up" challenge at the end.

I mean, I guess some people do have a thing or two for Willy Wonka. (Note: This screenshot was taken from Jackbox Games' debut livestream of the game, which can be seen here.)

The only real problem with this game is that you won't be able to play it online with a livestream audience because of the nature of said game. Nevertheless, it's always nice to see a game like this that operates differently to others, similar to Bomb Corp.


Overall, I would say that Trivia Murder Party and Quiplash 2 stand out the most, but the other games are brilliant in their own right. One of my favourite party packs from Jackbox and definitely one to check out.

[Note: Due to conflicts with coursework and Masters dissertations, this post was uploaded after the announcement of the fourth Party Pack 7 game. More on it will be explained in the Party Pack 4 review.]