The Jackbox Party Pack 2

Genre: Compilation / Party Games

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local), 2-8 Competitive (Local) (4 Recommended)

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Review:

The Jackbox Party Pack series of games are a collection of various Party Games that generally fall in the realm of trivia games and social silly-inducing games much along the same lines of physical games like Cards Against Humanity. In every game within these collections, players play not with a game controller, but with their smartphone or internet-connected device with a current browser. The game creates a private room on the Jackbox.tv website that players log into using a four-letter code on their own personal devices. This way, every player has their own private screen to feed them information, input responses, and even make crude drawings in some games.

This method of play means that even though the game is played locally, the Nintendo Switch must be connected online to work properly, and every player must have their own browser-capable internet-connected device, although on the bright side, it is a multiplayer game that does not require more than one single controller.

I should note that while some Jackbox games offer options to play family-friendly versions, many of the games in these collections either contain mature content, or will likely prompt players to create their own mature content, so this may not be the best game to play with little ones.

The second collection in the Jackbox Party Pack series is not quite as strong as the first one overall, but to make up for that it has a bit more variety. In addition to the solid sequel to the excellent Fibbage, we have another of Jackbox’s more prominent series here, Quiplash, as well as the co-op Bomb Corp, the drawing game Bidiots, and the audio-focused game Earwax. With this collection going in so many different directions, and only one of the games an actual trivia game, those looking for variety may find the Jackbox Party Pack 2 to be appealing.

In reviewing these games, I did something a bit different than usual – I got together a group of players and we all graded these games individually, averaging together our scores. Our group included both expert gamers as well as casual players who don’t usually play videogames, but our assessment of these games was usually pretty close to one another. Here’s what we thought of each game in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Fibbage 2	Party Game (Trivia)	2-8 Competitive (Local)	A-
tl;dr Like the first game in the series, Fibbage 2 is a Party Game where players are given an obscure question and prompted to create their own fake answer. Then players try to guess the correct answer from within all of the fake ones. This sequel is every bit as fun as the first game, if not more so – there feels like there’s more personality here, and double the content, plus the ability for players to drop-in and drop-out. All in all, this is an excellent sequel to an already great Party Game.
Earwax	Party Game	3-8 Competitive (Local)	B
tl;dr Earwax is a Party Game that plays like an audio-centric version of Cards Against Humanity. Players respond to a prompt with a selection of (hopefully) funny sounds, and then other players vote on which selection of sounds they find to be the most amusing. It’s not quite as addictive as some of the other games here, but it can make for a good deal of giggling, much like Cards Against Humanity does.
Bidiots	Party Game	3-6 Competitive (Local)	D+
tl;dr Bidiots is a Party Game that, much like Drawful in the first Party Pack, has players sketching out drawings using the touchscreen in response to prompts, but in addition to this now players are given tips to help them bid on what the most valuable art pieces in the collection are. Unfortunately, players are only ever given incomplete information, to the point where it’s difficult to be making informed decisions, resulting in a game that’s more frustrating than fun.
Quiplash XL	Party Game	3-8 Competitive (Local)	B+
tl;dr Quiplash is a Party Game where players try to create a funny answer in response to a prompt, with the other players voting on the answer they like best. This is a pretty fun game that makes for a lot of amusing answers, well worth bringing out at parties, especially for Cards Against Humanity fans. The XL version includes additional expansion content as well as 100 new prompts for the XL game.
Bomb Corp	Puzzle (Other) / Party Game	1-4 Co-Op (Local)	A-
tl;dr Bomb Corp is a Puzzle / Party game where players are all given different bits of information needed to defuse a bomb, with strong similarities to Keep Talking and No One Explodes. While this game isn’t anywhere near as elaborate as Keep Talking, it’s still a fun Co-Op game that really highlights communication between players.

Just as in the first collection, we have two standout titles, Fibbage 2 and Bomb Corp. Also just like the first collection, we only really have one really bad game, Bidiots. And as before, each game has its own distinct presentation, making this really feel like five distinct games instead of one game segmented into five sections. The $25 price tag, even now multiple years after launch, is a bit steep, but given the good amount of fun content here I’d argue it’s probably worth it on the whole, even more so if you can catch it on sale.

All in all, The Jackbox Party Pack 2 is an excellent collection that includes some fantastic party games, with a few of the titles being some truly fantastic games, and only one dud in the group. On the whole I would say this isn’t quite as good as the first collection, but there’s more variety here. If you’re looking for a great party game to share with casual players that will never even need to touch a Nintendo Switch controller to play it, The Jackbox Party Pack is a great choice.

tl;dr – The Jackbox Party Pack 2 is a Collection of Party Games that includes five games that players play using their Smartphone instead of a controller. Two of the games in this collection are fantastic, and only one of the games here isn’t worth trying. Overall, the games in this collection aren’t quite as good as what was in the first Party Pack, but there’s more variety here and this is still a superb collection of Party Games.

Grade: B+

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