Good but not Great
The Jackbox Party Pack of games has been around for years now but I first played em back in 2020 during the pandemic. Having a house full of kids and not anything to do, we figured some family games would fit the bill and we had a blast. Now most of my kids have moved out and the one that’s left doesn’t play games. Thankfully Jackbox Party Pack 12 allows for online play, and the host of each match is the only one who even has to own the game.
The Jackbox Party Pack 12 features five games, each offering a different way to get players involved. As with previous collections, the appeal comes from the variety. Some games reward creativity, others rely on quick thinking, and a few are at their best when everyone is willing to make a complete fool of themselves.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
The first of the five new games is called We Forgot a Card it asks players to create greeting cards for unusual occasions. By combining available images (either stock or on your phone) with original writing, players attempt to produce something that will get the biggest reaction from the group. The concept is straightforward, but it taps into the creative freedom that makes Jackbox so entertaining. Give people a strange situation and a limited set of tools, and the results can be surprisingly funny.
MegaPals focuses on word association and figuring out how other players think. The challenge is to find common ground through quick responses, turning simple prompts into a test of how well the group understands each other, which for me playing with randoms went about as well as you’d think. It’s an improv game where players can only match on the same words once; so, the need to switch up words is required, somehow my group landed on the Moon having something to do with auto repair. It’s a very silly game that just gets funnier the longer it goes on.
Debate and Switch takes the art of arguing and turns it into a competition. Players defend positions on lighthearted topics, attempting to persuade the group that their opinion is the correct one. Naturally, these are not the sorts of discussions that will settle the world’s greatest philosophical questions, but that is precisely the point. But if I’m honest, it was a tad boring to play, just because the group I was with didn’t really lean into the sillier side.
Idol Factions shifts the focus toward trivia and teamwork. Players work together in competing teams, each trying to appease an ancient idol. Players will get categories and will need to send the little answers along the track to the appropriate place. If they don’t know you can send them to the enemy team but if they get it right, they will be rewarded with double points. Its board game type approach was a little confusing, but after a few rounds I was able to pick I up and even win.
Lastly is Hyperface this one is probably my favorite game mode. Here players will have access to stock photos or better yet use their own selfies and will need to stretch and distort them into new pictures. I am gonna be real with you, this can quickly turn into some absolute nightmare fuel but in the most hilarious way. I wish my friend group played the game because I can only imagine how funny some of these selfies could’ve been.
I did enjoy my matches with randoms and shared in a lot of laughs; out of all the game modes only two of them; Hyperface and MegaPals were the real standouts. I think the biggest issue with the Jackbox Party pack games after 11 entries is how do you keep them feeling fresh? The games all feel accessible and are very easy to pick up and play but more than a few of them felt like reskinned versions of modes from the past games. Longtime fans will probably be disappointed and left wanting, but newer fans will find some fun games to play the next time game night rolls around.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.