If you have a bunch of people over to play games, but not enough controllers to play with everyone, then Jackbox has you covered!  Their latest batch of party games is out, and it’s a smaller collection of some of their best titles. 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 Starter is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.  Let’s take a look at all the games!

Quiplash 3

In Quiplash, you must have three or more people to play.  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.  I had reviewed the original version of this game back on the Switch a few years ago, so you can check that out here, too.

Tee K.O.

This one kind of combines Quiplash with drawing.  You must draw pictures for a t-shirt design, and then come up with clever phrases.  The game then mixes them up and puts them on t-shirts, and you must vote on the best one.  Whoever’s designs get the most votes after a few rounds, wins.

Murder Trivia Party 2

This one’s also on Jackbox Party Pack 6, which I reviewed here.  It’s a trivia game, but if you get a question wrong, you die.  But don’t worry, you won’t be out of the game if that happens.  As a ghost, you can steal the life force of other players and get a chance to come back, and in the newly added final round, it’s anyone’s game!

Even though this is a smaller collection, all the games on here are fun and pretty easy to understand.  Overall, this is a great collection of party games to bring out at your next get-together.  The cell phone functionality works great and my family and I had a great time playing this.  I’d like to thank my family for playing this game with me and helping me with the review as well.

Kid Factor:

The Jackbox Party Starter is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Drug References, Suggestive Themes, and Fantasy Violence.  Right on the title screen is a toggle that lets you switch to a family friendly mode, which is a great idea.  And you’ll want to do that if kids are around, too, because otherwise the games’ questions have no qualms about topics on sex and adult themes.  Otherwise 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.  The Trivia Murder Party game may be about killing, but your player pieces are only represented by stuffed animals getting nailed to a wall.  Although the deep voiced announcer and spooky sound effects can still be scary to little kids.  Parental supervision is recommended for the in-game purchases, as you can actually buy the T-shirts you design in Tee K.O.!

Tags: Game Reviews