Game: Jackbox Party Pack 4
Made by: Jackbox Games
Published by: Jackbox Games
Available for: PC, Mac, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Switch, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, NVidia Shield
The Jackbox Party Pack is a library staple of the party gamer, and the Party Pack 4 is the series’ latest addition. As with all Jackbox Games, your experience is entirely dependent on how you feel about the five (or six) games included. Below, I’ve listed and explained each of the pack’s party-oriented games.
It’s worth noting if you’ve never played a Jackbox Party Pack before that each game can be played with groups of at least 3-7 other players and that players need only a phone or internet-connected device to engage in the game.
GAMES
Fibbage 3: The party pack’s flagship game, Fibbage returns once more, this time with a fresh retro, 1970s-inspired theme. Given a question, your task is to craft a lie that will fool your friends, and then to choose the correct answer from a field of the lies they’ve written. Points are awarded for choosing the right answer and for fooling others with your lie.
Fibbage: Enough About You: A new twist on the classic, Fibbage: Enough About You asks players to first input truths about themselves before inviting other players to lie. For example, the game may ask you what you’d wish for if given three wishes. After you’ve answered, other players will be asked to craft lies for the same prompt. From here, the game plays out like standard fibbage, with points awarded for choosing the correct answer and for fooling your friends with lies.
Survive the Internet: Survive the Internet is a game about taking your friends’ honest reactions and comments and twisting them into something awful. At the beginning of each round, players are asked to truthfully respond to an innocuous question. These answers are then sent, without context, to other players tasked with creating a new, ridiculous context. At the end of each round, players vote on which set of responses is the most ridiculous, and points are awarded for the number of votes received.
Civic Doodle: Drawing (aha) from past Jackbox games Drawful and Bidiots, Civic Doodle is the fourth Party Pack’s resident artistic experience. This time, it’s a round-by-round face off by two players to contribute the best additions to a piece of graffiti. Given a small prompt image, two players will go head to head to add the best “art” to the piece. Players who did not contribute to the drawing will then vote for which set of additions is best. When a winner image is selected, points are awarded to the artist and his/her picture becomes the new prompt image. After three rounds, players vote on a name for the new masterpiece and begin again.
Monster Seeking Monster: Jackbox’s foray into social deduction, Monster Seeking Monster is a text message dating game with a twist. At the beginning of each game, players are assigned a monster and associated goal; for example, the vampire turns his dates into vampires and is tasked with turning as many players as possible into vampires, the witch collects hairs from each new date and is tasked with dating as many players as possible, and the shapeshifter switches bodies with whomever they date on a full moon. Players are then allowed three text messages per round to send to other players before choosing a player to date. Successful dates and fulfilled objectives reward players with hearts, which act as the game’s scoring mechanism. The intrigue behind Monster Seeking Monster comes from the game’s core objective of trying to gain as many hearts through successful dates as possible, while simultaneously striving to complete your hidden task and avoid helping others’ complete theirs. For example, as the witch, you would optimally want to date every player on the board to gain additional hearts, but if you end up dating the shapeshifter during a full moon, all of your hearts will be transferred to them, negating your hard work so far. At the end of each game, players with the most hearts win.
Bracketeering: Bracketeering is a game that pits two player-given answers against one another in the vein of Quiplash, but with the added intrigue of asking players to bet first on which of two answers will receive the most votes. Each round of the game differs, with the game’s final rounds switching up and randomizing prompts after the fact. Players earn points for receiving votes and for placing correct bets on bracket winners.
WHAT I LIKED
Fibbage 3: If you’ve played a Jackbox Party Pack before, there’s a strong chance you’ve played Fibbage. If you haven’t, it’s a very enjoyable group experience, and the Party Pack 4 is a great place to start. Fibbage is all about fooling your friends into choosing the lie you provided instead of the correct answer to each question. The more you know the people you’re playing with, the more fun it is to craft lies they’d be likely to fall for. In the groups I’ve played with, the end of every round is an emotional roller coaster, with players anxiously waiting to find out whether they’d sleuthed out the correct answer or been duped by a friend.
Fibbage: Enough About You: Where Fibbage is better when played with close friends or family, Fibbage: Enough About You depends on it. With the wrong group of people, Enough About You is a variant of Fibbage. With the right group, though, the game mode gains a layer of complexity and fun. Lying about science or history is one thing, but using what you know about one friend to try to fool the rest of your friends makes for an interesting and entertaining experience.
Survive the Internet: To me, Survive the Internet is the stand-out game of the Party Pack 4. There’s something outstandingly fun about taking the innocuous words of your friends and molding them into awful responses. The end of every round of Survive the Internet had the friends I played with staring at the screen in anticipation, waiting to see how we’d all managed to corrupt each other’s words. If any individual game sells you on the Jackbox Party Pack 4, I have to throw my recommendation behind Survive the Internet.
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
Monster Seeking Monster: Monster Seeking Monster is a more complex game than what we typically see in the Jackbox Party Pack. With the right group, the game has potential to be an intriguing experience of trying to move forward while preventing those around you from doing the same, but the game does lack the simplicity of familiar Jackbox games. With a group that enjoys social deduction games or one ready to do a little thinking and strategy, Monster Seeking Monster can be a fun experience. If you’re playing with rowdy friends or family members who don’t often play games, Monster Seeking Monster is probably a pass.
Civic Doodle: Civic Doodle has potential for fun, asking players to essentially ruin each other’s drawings in the most creative way. In my experience, each game goes on a little too long, with players going back and forth adding additions several times to each picture before moving on to work on two more images. If you have a party that really enjoys drawing games, Civic Doodle may be for you, but for casual interest, the game’s serving size is a little large.
CONCERNS
Bracketeering: Bracketeering is a fun concept, but to me, it falls short of the entertainment quality espoused by games like Fibbage, Quiplash, and Survive the Internet. Voting on each bracket is decently fun, but the randomization that occurs in later rounds often makes match-ups either considerably one-sided or unfunny. The betting mechanic is interesting but doesn’t do enough to make the game particularly enjoyable. Worth noting is that, unlike the pack’s other games, Bracketeering offers support for up to 16 players. The groups I’ve played with were eight people or fewer in size, and it’s possible the game is more fun with a larger group.
WHO’S IT FOR?
If you have a group of friends to play with and the games described above sound interesting, the Jackbox Party Pack 4 is for you.
If you’re lacking in pals to play with or questioning the entertainment value of the games listed, consider giving this one a pass.
STATISTICS
From Steamspy unless otherwise noted.
Average Playtime*: 3.5 hours
Average Cost per Hour**: $7.14
Median Playtime*: 2.75 hours
Median Cost per Hour**: $9.09
* Playtime rounded to the nearest quarter-hour
**Costs calculated using a price of $24.99