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| 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.
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| "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
