Over multiple lockdowns, my friends and I started playing a massive amount of Jackbox. Firstly, if you’ve never heard of the magic that is Jackbox, let me give you a quick rundown. Each edition is a party pack of games that you can easily play with just a phone, or on your laptop. Only one person needs to own the game too, so it’s an amazing option for party games that are cheap, enjoyable, and adaptable for either in-person or online play. There’s eight different packs now, each with at least four or five games. That’s a lot of content, so let me help you work out what pack is best for you by breaking down the best games Jackbox has to offer. I haven’t included games like Fibbage or Quiplash, because they’re the first thing you’ll see recommended when you search Jackbox, and there’s pretty much a version of them in every pack. These are some stand out games, in no particular order, that have made party games both online and in-person that extra bit of fun this past year.
TKO
Jackbox do drawing games well, but none are as fun as TKO. In this game you design T-shirts and write slogans, only to mix and match them later to see who can come up with the funniest top. Don’t worry if you aren’t an artistic whiz either. One of the games I played included a one word caption and a very simple drawing of a table, which pretty quickly became the funniest thing any of us had ever seen. I know, it’s bizarre, but you had to be there. I’ve never played a disappointing game of TKO, with it more often than not leaving my friends and I in tears from laughing at the ridiculous creations we’ve made. This game is an instant inside joke generator, and you can actually buy the T-shirts afterwards!
Job Job
One of the newer games to join Jackbox, Job Job is a nonsensical wordsmith game where you answer questions built from random words pulled from paragraphs the other players have written. Jackbox has a lot of presentation style games but this one is easily the most enjoyable. Watching your friends attempt to understand how random strings of words could possibly answer the question on the screen never seems to get old. If you really want to frustrate your friends with hilarious consequences, I encourage you to put the Bee Movie script in for your paragraphs. Don’t worry, you can blame me when everyone’s answers have some variation of, “According to all known laws of aviation…”
Trivia Murder Party 2
There’s nothing quite like some good old trivia, and Jackbox sure doesn’t let down in this department. Trivia Murder Party 2 combines trivia with mini games and challenges, leaving every game feeling fresh and new. I don’t think I’ve ever seen repeated trivia questions while playing this, and pretty much every night we sit down to play Jackbox, this is the game we start off with. Try to be the last one alive and escape with all the money in this rollercoaster of a game. Some of the mini games have you designing tattoos, cracking codes, or simply rolling dice in a game of pure chance. This is by far one of my all-time favourites, and it’s always sure to be a blast. Literally.