Jackbox 8 is the Party You Need When You Can’t Have a Party
When you are relying on using technology to join everyone together to play an online party game a lot can go wrong. When you add to that, people who may not be “gamers” or as proficient at using that technology then you are just asking for trouble. The exception to the rule seems to be the team at Jackbox Games who continue to deliver fun party games that are easily accessible to everyone and the 8th instalment is a testament to that.
The Jackbox Party Pack 8 is out and it’s got four brand new games and a sequel to a fan favourite that makes it a bit more modern.
JOB JOB:
Wordsmiths will love this twisted interview game where you use other players’ answers to score the job. Each game can have very different experiences depending on who you are playing with and what hand you are dealt with the randomly generated selections but there are some uniquely funny responses that will give everyone a giggle, especially when you can turn it into something rude. Let’s face it that’s what we all try to do when we play these games. (3-10 players)
POLL MINE:
This is the real standout of the new titles and is Jackbox’s very first head-to-head team game. You are trapped in a magical mine with no way out and the idea is to try to correctly rank your group’s poll opinions and escape. The setting of the game is visually very good and includes really interesting creatures. Think along the lines of a Halloween themed Familly Feud episode and you’ll have this one nailed. (2-10 players)
THE WHEEL OF ENORMOUS PROPORTIONS
This is the first one of the new batch that we played immediately and its selection was purely based on the brilliant name. It also turned out to be a game that returned Jackbox to its trivia roots. The trivia is really strong but then there is this weird spinning of a wheel element that is obviously there to give the non-trivia buffs a bit of a leg up making it just as much a game of skill as it is a game of chance. (2-8 players)
WEAPONS DRAWN
This could be Jackboxs answer to “Among Us” It’s a murder mystery party where you can’t trust anybody. It’s by far the most complicated game of the new batch but is still worth the time to give it a go and the game does a much better job of describing what is happening than I ever could. Can you hide your murders while solving others? (4-8 players)
DRAWFUL ANIMATE:
Drawful has to be one of Jackbox Games biggest masterpieces. If I was doing a list of the best games in the arsenal this would be the first one I would write down. So it’s exciting to see a new spin that introduces animated gifs that you create. Once you are given a phrase your objective is to draw it as best you can so that other players can guess what it is. You don’t have to be an artist either you just need to be able to tell a story in pictures. (3-10 players)
FINAL THOUGHT
Like all Jackbox Party Packs, you’ll have the favourites that you go back to again and again and others that you’ll play once and never try again. The good thing about this pack is the former outweighs the latter. Games like Drawful: Animate and Poll Mine are absolute standouts and are worthy of inclusion in the weekly family board game night.
If you’ve never experienced a JackBox Game before it’s really easy to start and there’s no order you need to try them in, there’s also no extras you need to buy for them as it’s all played on your phones, tablets, and computers used as controllers making it the worlds most accessible game and fun to play with your whole family or friend group
This game was reviewed on PC via Steam, visit the official site to see how you can get it https://www.jackboxgames.com/
This review first appeared here and was reposted with permission.
