The Jackbox Party Pack 3

Genre: Compilation / Party Games

Players: 1-8 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.

I’ll cut straight to it – while there are individual games that I like better than the games in the Jackbox Party Pack 3, on the whole I believe that this is the best collection they have released to this day. This game has a little something for everyone – you have two of Jackbox’s more iconic series making an appearance here with Quiplash 2 and Trivia Muder Party, a Cards Against Humanity-esque game and a trivia game. You have the statistical trivia game Guesspionage, the social deduction game Fakin’ It, and you have the delightful art game Tee K.O.

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
Quiplash 2	Party Game	3-8 Competitive (Local)	A-
tl;dr Like its predecessor, Quiplash 2 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. However, where this game shines as a sequel is in its inclusion of the ability for players to create their own prompts, giving this game a huge new wealth of potential for use in custom or even theme parties. This takes Quiplash 2 from being an already great Party Game to being one that you’ll want to keep coming back to.
Trivia Murder Party	Party Game (Trivia)	1-8 Competitive (Local)	C+
tl;dr Trivia Murder Party is, as the name suggests, a Trivia-focused Party Game. What this game does right above all else is its presentation – with an amazing horror-themed aesthetic that really does something to set this game apart. Unfortunately, so much of the way this game is designed feels random and outright unfair, which dulls the fun this game might have otherwise had.
Guesspionage	Party Game	2-8 Competitive (Local)	B
tl;dr Guesspionage is a Party Game that’s somewhat comparable to the Card / Board game Wits and Wagers. In this game, one player guesses at a statistic, and everyone else tries to guess whether the answer is higher or lower than that guess. While Jackbox games often make for a lot of laughter, this game tended to prompt fascination more than hilarity, giving this a very different vibe than the other games, although not a bad one. Definitely a solid addition to a party.
Fakin’ It	Party Game	3-6 Competitive (Local)	A
tl;dr Fakin’ It is a Social Deduction Party Game that’s best compared to the card game Spyfall. In this game, each player is given a prompt they’re supposed to respond to with a physical gesture, except one player is a designated faker, who has no idea what the others are responding to and must do their best to fit in without getting caught. This is a fantastic game that’s an absolute blast to play, although I should add a warning that while this game can be played with only three players, it really is best with as many players as possible.
Tee K.O.	Party Game	3-8 Competitive (Local)	A-
tl;dr Tee K.O. Is a Party Game where players sketch out drawings using their smartphone’s touchscreen, create tee shirt slogans, and then select from a smattering of each others’ submissions to find the best combinations, with players voting to select a winner. The presentation in this game is absolutely fantastic, and the game itself is wonderful, giving players multiple ways to express artistic talent.

For the first time in this series, I can say that out of the five games here, three of them are standouts, with Quiplash 2, Fakin’ It, and Tee K.O. all absolutely phenomenal party games, and each of them offering a wildly different experience. In addition to this, there aren’t really any bad games in this collection – even though Trivia Murder Party frustrates with its random and arbitrary game design, its wonderful presentation made it a smashing success with the more casual players in our group.

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.

Like I said above, The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is my pick for the best collection in the series. Of the five games here, three of them are fantastic, and even the worst game in the collection still made fans out of some in the group that played it. This package covers all the bases, and is a must-have for fans of Party Games.

tl;dr – The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is a Collection of Party Games that includes five games that players play using their Smartphone instead of a controller. Of all the Jackbox collections so far, this is my favorite, with three of the games here being absolutely fantastic, and even the worst game here still has some excellent qualities. On top of that, there’s a lot of variety in this package, and some truly great presentation in some of the games here. In short, this is a must-have collection for fans of Party Games.

Grade: A-

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