I love the concept of the Jackbox Party Pack games. I own all four previous entries in the series and was a big fan of the You Don’t Know Jack games on PC back in the day. The home they have found these days on console with simple input controls that the whole family can enjoy makes them easy to champion. Deciding on how strongly to recommend each specific iteration basically comes down to the games chosen for that pack.
As with a lot of these types of games, the company in which you choose to play will have a large impact on your overall enjoyment. If possible this game is best with 3 or 4 like-minded friends and some alcohol. So how do these games stack up with previous packs? Well let’s break it down and see.
You Don’t Know Jack is one of the legendary party quiz games dating back to the mid 90’s. Complete with voice over from Cookie Masterson it’s a nostalgic trip back in time but I did find the questions worded in overly convoluted and confusing ways though, leading to myself and my friends not having the best of experiences. It’s not a bad game, but it just feels like they have taken the obscurity of it a little far.
Split The Room is a fun new entry that tasks each player with filling out the blanks in a statement and when each one is read out the rest of the room will vote on an A or B opinion. The closer the person who answered the question gets to splitting the room the more points they receive. This is a game where knowing your audience helps massively.
A synopsis of Mad Verse City may put some people off. A game where you lay down a rap battle may not seem like everyone’s cup of tea but the implementation is superb. First you choose a word which is incorporated into a one liner generated by the computer. Following that you get to add more creative flair yourself and the game takes what you have written out and has a robot perform it to hilarious effect.
Patently Stupid is a little like a quick fire Dragon’s Den. The game hits you with with a problem and you have to draw a solution, complete with a name and tagline. You then present it to the group and everyone votes. If everyone is in the mood, this can be the pick of the bunch, but sometimes depending on your audience the drawing games can fall a little flat.
Zeeple Dome rounds out the list of games in the Jackbox Party Pack 5 and for me at least it missed the mark. You use your phone to slingshot a little alien looking creature in an Angry Birds style around the screen. I spent more time trying to figure out what was going on here than in any of the other games combined and it just never clicked. From speaking to others it feels like the consensus is that this is the weakest of the five games.
Overall the Jackbox Party Pack 5 is a worthy edition to a growing list of excellent party experiences. Each entry has it’s hits and misses but this is a more consistent pack than most and while for me it doesn’t have a high the likes of Fibbage, four of the five games will provide hours of enjoyment. Jackbox have a great cycle going here where they release a new pack a few months out from Christmas and each year around the holidays I get together with friends and family over several nights and without fail the party game folder is cracked open so having another title to add to the list is always exciting. Fans new and old will find a lot of love this time around.
VdZe.
Reviewed on PS4. Also available on PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. A review code provided by the publisher.