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| 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!
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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
Everybody Help Grandma.
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| 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
