The Jackbox Party Pack 7 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Mobile, PC)

If you have a bunch of people over to play games during the holidays, but not enough controllers to play with everyone, then Jackbox has you covered!  Their latest batch of party games is out, and all you need are cell phones to play them!  Just connect to Jackbox.tv on any phone and enter in the room code and you’re in!  It’s pretty simple and works well, and in some games, even people who don’t have cell phones can be part of the audience and participate.  The Jackbox Party Pack 7 is available on most anything that can play games, but reviewed on PS4 here.  I like how the menu screen in this one looks like parade balloons, a perfect fit for the season.  Anyway, let’s take a look at all the games!

Quiplash 3

This must be a really popular game to already be on the second sequel.  I’ve already reviewed another one of these on Switch, too!  In Quiplash, you must have three or more people to play.  Actually in all the games here but one, you need three or more people.  This one is better to have more, though.  In each round you are prompted to answer a series of questions by typing your responses on your phone.  Make sure they’re funny and clever because when the answers are revealed on screen, the other players will vote on their favorite.  Whoever gets a vote will earn points, and whoever has the most points at the end of a few rounds, wins.  It’s kind of like how you would play Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity.  The sequel lets you pick from more questions and even lets you create your own!

The Devils & the Details

This one is set up like a TV sitcom.  You can even get a trophy on the PS4 by playing this one on a Friday night (nice little TGIF reference there).  Anyway, the players are a group of devils living in a suburbia house, and you must do menial chores using the cell phone to play simple touch screen mini games.  Kind of like WarioWare.  You get points for each one you complete, and some require more than one person to do.  There are also certain tasks you MUST do by the end of the time limit that reflect the plot of the current situation your devil family is in.  You must reach a certain amount of points by the end of the day’s time limit.  If you don’t, the big guy downstairs gets mad and it’s Game Over.  I think this one would only be fun with people on multiple playthroughs and they need to be familiar with how WarioWare style games work,  too.

Champ’d Up

This is a weird take on Pictionary.  Draw doodles on your cell phone and pit them against other doodles in a one-on-one fight.  Other players vote on the best doodles via fight topics and themes, and whoever gets the most votes, wins.  I kind of liked this game because I enjoy drawing games, but the other players I was with thought this was dumb.

Talking Points

I guess I just didn’t ‘get’ this one.  Players take turns adlibbing speeches with topics on their cell phone, while an assistant picks pictures for them to talk about on screen, too.  Then the audience votes on the funny parts by tapping on their phone.  I dunno, I guess if you think PowerPoint presentations are fun, you might like this one.

Blather Round

And finally, this is a guessing game for two or more players.  But it’s better with more than two.  Anyway, each person must pick a topic, like a person or place.  It can be a real thing like the Grand Canyon, or a fictional place, like Whoville.  The other players must guess your topic, but the only clues you can give are chosen words to fill in the blanks in sentences.  Like “It’s known for BLANK.”  If the other players can guess your topic, you get points, and whoever gets the most after a couple of rounds, wins.  Only problem is the word choices you’re given are not very helpful.  For instance, one of the things I got to choose from was Sonic the Hedgehog.  But not once did I get a word clue like “Blue” or “Fast.”  The closest thing I got to a helpful word was “Sneakers” and that was only towards the end of my time.  I guess I could’ve given others verbal clues, but would that be considered cheating?  It’s still a fun game, just don’t take it too seriously or too competitively.

Really the only problem I had with this game is that like the last Jackbox Party Pack, there are some good ones and some stinkers.  And if you’re stuck at home because of COVID and don’t have as many opportunities to play games with others, my brother Jeff told me of a great idea to play this game while social distancing.  You can stream this game via streaming devices, and then others can view it online in real time and play it via their phones!  It’s a neat idea to play and stay connected, and Jackbox Party Pack 7 is a great party title overall.  I’d like to thank my family for helping me play this one.

Kid Factor:

The Jackbox Party Pack 7 is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Crude Humor, Drug Reference, Fantasy Violence, and Sexual Themes.  Most of the game is only as dirty as you make it, so if you are playing with a group of rowdy adults, it could definitely get not so kid friendly.  One neat thing they added in the options menus of most of these titles on the pack lets you toggle filtering out adult focused topics or blocking out off color responses.  I don’t think they’ve done that in a Jackbox game I’ve played before.  So parents, if you are playing with kids, check the options screens first and see what you can do!

One Response to “The Jackbox Party Pack 7 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Mobile, PC)”

  1. Some of these sound like other minigames in the series; Talking Points sounds a little bit like the invention game in one of the previous packs where you have to come up with a dumb invention for some random problem; I know there was also a drawing game kinda like Clamp’d Up.

    And yeah, you definitely get a lot of variability in terms of appropriateness depending who is playing.

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