The Jackbox Party Pack is a bundle of trivia games designed for party play. Irreverent, silly, and a lot of fun, this is a game that's aimed at older groups - but one that teens will enjoy a lot too. Unlike other multiplayer games, you don't even need a controller each to get going - all you need is your phone, and an internet connection to get started. Through some fancy internet magic, the game shows you a "room code" on TV, and by pulling up your phone's internet browser, navigating to Jackbox.tv, and whacking the code in, anyone who has a phone can join in the fun - with some games supporting up to 100 players!
There are five games on offer here, each offering a rather different challenge to the others. First up is You Don't Know Jack, a game that asks a crazy question "What percentage of Kim Kardashian's brain is water", and asks you to choose from a multiple choice list. Drawful is a game that gets you to draw something a bit weird or awkward, ("Hitler without a moustache", "Half time show"), and then has everyone submit their guess of what it is. Once everyone's submitted their guesses, it throws them all up on screen, along with the right answer - and everyone has to try and figure out which one's true. If you're drawing, you get points based on how many people got the right answer - or if you're submitting guesses, you get points for everyone who thinks your lie is the truth. Word Spud is a game about word connections, that asks you to tack a word or sentence on the end of the word the player before you chose, before getting everyone to vote on how "good" your answer was, while Lie Swatter is a game of truth or lies. Presenting you with a fact so implausible it might just be true, it's up to you to figure out the truths from the lies. Finally, Fibbage XL is a kind of variation on a theme, only here it gives you a sentence with a blank, and has everyone come up with a convincing lie. You then get points for everyone you fool into thinking your lie is the truth, and extra points for finding the truth hidden amongst the lies.
In terms of accessibility for younger players, there's a lot of reading, spelling and comprehension involved here, so this is a tricky game for younger players to get the hang of. Some of the games are family friendly (by way of having no, or little mature content), but most of them are also likely too challenging for younger players, simply due to the breadth of topics involved (you can't really pause to explain the question to a kid that doesn't get it). Due to the level of trivia alone, this is probably best left for older players.
While there's nothing in the way of violence, the Jackbox Party Pack is a little bit edgy in terms of content, clearly aimed at a teen (and older) audience. With plenty of references to sex (is "visit a Brazilian brothel" an alleged antic of Justin Bieber, or Curious George; "A rat orgasm can last nine days"), passing references to drugs, and the odd (rare) use of bad language like ass and b*stard, there's a fair few questions you wouldn't want your granny answering.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Xbox One
