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The 10 best games from the 10 Jackbox Party Packs released so far

S
Steven T. Wright
Dis 22, 2023

Brace for a fact that'll make some of you feel old: The first Jackbox Party Pack released in November 2014. (And if you're wizened enough to remember the days of You Don't Know Jack, let's hear those hips creak.) From family reunions to pandemic-era virtual game nights and everything in between, these crowd-pleasing minigames have helped oil social relations for almost a decade now.

To celebrate the recent release of The Jackbox Party Pack 10, we've run down our 10 favorite games featured in the series so far. Note that this list is in no particular order.

 

Trivia Murder Party


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 3, The Jackbox Party Pack 6

Trivia Murder Party is a natural evolution of the trivia game format that Jackbox Games pioneered with the You Don't Know Jack series. It features many of the offbeat and downright bizarre questions that you'd expect, but its unique format works well in a more social setting.

Players who get questions incorrect are brought to the "Killing Room," where they play a micro-game (sometimes based on other Jackbox classics) in order to determine who wins and who dies. Living players have a large advantage in Trivia Murder Party's deciding round, but dead characters still have a fighting chance if they manage to get enough correct answers. Trivia Murder Party is the perfect mix between a lively trivia contest and a more pure social game like Quiplash, and that's why it's so successful.

 

Quiplash


Featured in: Standalone, The Jackbox Party Pack 2, The Jackbox Party Pack 3, The Jackbox Party Pack 7

Perhaps the best-known Jackbox Party Pack game ever, Quiplash needs no introduction. Essentially an improved version of already-popular party games like Apples to Apples, Quiplash challenges you to come up with the funniest answers to a series of increasingly unhinged prompts. Later incarnations of the minigame allowed you to opt for a randomized answer if you're truly bamboozled, which helps the game flow better at times. There have been three incarnations of Quiplash so far, most recently in The Jackbox Party Pack 7, and I bet we'll see another in the coming years.

 

Split the Room


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 5

This minigame isn't as well-known as some of the others on this list, but Split the Room gets a lot of points from me for its novel premise. Similar to Quiplash, players offer answers and fill in the blanks for would-you-rather scenarios. However, instead of trying to get the most votes, in Split the Room you get more points for getting an equal number of positive and negative responses from your friends. It requires you to think on a different level than any other Jackbox game, which makes it a great palate cleanser if you're been playing for hours. If you've never given it a shot, you should pick up The Jackbox Party Pack 5 and rectify that soon.

 

Fibbage


Featured in: Standalone, The Jackbox Party Pack 1, The Jackbox Party Pack 2, The Jackbox Party Pack 4, The Jackbox Party Pack 9

My personal favorite Jackbox game is also the longest-running, as it was released standalone prior to the release of the first Jackbox Party Pack. The idea behind Fibbage is simple and effective: You come up with your own believable response to a prompt, then you guess which one is the correct answer. You get points for getting it right, and also for fooling friends who buy into your fib.

For me, there's nothing more satisfying than coming up with a perfect answer that fools the whole room, and the questions are often so off-the-wall that you'll be laughing even before you come up with your answer. Fibbage has produced some of my favorite social gaming memories ever, and that's why it's on this list.

 

Drawful


Featured in: Drawful 2 (standalone), The Jackbox Party Pack 1, The Jackbox Party Pack 8

The original Jackbox drawing game has been imitated and remixed many times in subsequent Party Packs, but for my money, Drawful is still one of the best in the series. The rules of this one are essentially Fibbage, but applied to visual media. You have to draw a picture based on a text prompt, then your friends come up with their own guesses as to what the prompt was, and then everyone has to pick the correct one.

I think Drawful really got it right the first time, because the game can be quite entertaining even if some of the contestants aren’t very good at drawing—which is the case most of the time. Then again, some people are capable of amazing things on a touchscreen, so your mileage may vary.

 

Tee K.O.


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 3, The Jackbox Party Pack 10

Tee K.O. is another fantastic Jackbox drawing game. Unlike Drawful, Tee K.O. lets players draw whatever they want, which encourages those with a creative bent to really let loose. The second round involves creating slogans in the style of Quiplash, and then the third round lets you combine the slogans and the T-shirt designs to really express yourself. As a whole, Tee K.O. tends to be a more laid-back experience than some of the other games on this list, since it's more of an artistic exercise than a true cutthroat competition—but it can get heated once you put those drawing gloves on.

 

Fakin' It


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 3

One of the few Jackbox games that requires your group to be in the same physical space to enjoy, Fakin' It is a riff on classic spot-the-imposter games like Mafia and Secret Hitler. One player is branded the Faker, while other players work together to complete mundane tasks, like making a certain facial expression or holding up a certain number of fingers. Since the Faker doesn't receive the same prompts as those in the core group, they have to make it up as they go.

It's not the deepest game, but Fakin’ It can be quite fun, especially if you're tired of drawing or coming up with fibs.

 

Dodo Re Mi


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 10

One of the newest games on this list is also one of the most original, as Dodo Re Mi is the first rhythm game in the series. It challenges you and your friends to play back a music track in real time, with each of you choosing an instrument to jam on for the duration. Best of all: Like Rock Band, Dodo Re Mi is a cooperative game where your group works together to get the best rating possible, all the way up to the coveted Gold.

I can't guarantee you won't get frustrated with your less rhythmic friends if you want to take Dodo Re Mi a bit more seriously, but as a whole, it's a great addition to The Jackbox Party Pack 10.

 

Weapons Drawn


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 8

Weapons Drawn is a unique combination of many of Jackbox's usual mechanics, including drawing and joke-writing. The setup is that players bring weapons and accomplices to a party where several murders occur. It's up to the players to put on their detective hats and determine which of them committed what crime, using the drawn murder weapons as evidence.

Weapons Drawn allows more roleplay than a lot of other Jackbox minigames, and I really like the murder mystery premise. It may be complicated, but it all comes together in the end as a unique experience.

 

Mad Verse City


Featured in: The Jackbox Party Pack 5

You might make the argument that Mad Verse City is one of the dumbest Jackbox Party Pack games ever—but to me, that's what makes it fun. It's essentially Mad Libs applied to hip-hop, with players having to ad-lib rhyming quatrains based on random fill-in-the-blank prompts that build on themselves. It's always funny to hear the robotic voice rap the bizarre lines you've just written, and you can occasionally come up with some bars that actually make sense in context.

Like a few Jackbox games, Mad Verse City is essentially just Quiplash with a fresh coat of paint, but there's nothing wrong with that. Stupid fun is still fun, at least with good friends.

Having some friends or family over soon? You’ll find every Jackbox Party Pack on the Epic Games Store—including the most recent, The Jackbox Party Pack 10.