RiffTrax: The Game

Genre: Party Game

Players: 1-6 Competitive (Local, Online)

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Review:

RiffTrax, started in 2006, is an online media website that carries in the tradition of the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, which had a cast of characters mocking various vintage films by talking over them, either as commentary or in place of the characters. When the show’s original run ended, some of the show’s creators went on to continue this work in a new form, RiffTrax, which is comprised of audio clips to be played over a film like a commentary track.

Zoom ahead to 2021 and the release of the Party Game, What the Dub?!, a game that features a similar premise – players connect to the game using a smartphone (or any modern device with a web browser) responding to video prompts by writing messages to be read aloud by the game’s text-to-speech algorithm. Players then vote on their favorite submission. Well, after that, someone from one of the two companies must have gotten in touch with the other, because one year later in 2022 we have RiffTrax: The Game, released on all the same platforms as What the Dub?! (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch), and featuring very similar gameplay. So similar, in fact, that I will be copying over much of what I said in my review of that game here.

The clips that this game uses (this time labeled with the film they’re from) tend to be older vintage clips from a variety of sources. Some of them have a decent buildup to what could potentially be an amusing punchline, but others are disappointingly short, requiring the player to come up with most of the comedic premise themselves. These video clips are joined by a fitting but unimpressive framing interface consisting of simple 2D visuals and whimsical music. Nothing bad, but nothing especially noteworthy, with one exception – the screens announcing round numbers are all designed to look like classic film title cards, which I felt was a nice touch.

The game’s text-to-speech voice has both a male and female version depending on what character is onscreen talking and having their lines replaced with yours. These text-to-speech conversions are fine, but naturally they lack the timing and inflection a real person would have, which can detract from the comedy. I don’t know that there’s any solution to this issue, but it’s still worth mentioning.

This time around, players also have the option of having human players joined by “Riff Bot” players, pre-recorded voice clips featuring the cast of Riff Trax responding to the prompts you receive much in the same way that you would. These voice clips are nice, but being performed by an actual person makes them stand out… which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether players want it to be clear which answers are bot-submitted. Thankfully, players have the option of forcing these clips to use the same text-to-speech algorithm the players do, if you want it to be more consistent. Or, if you prefer, you may want to turn off the Riff Bots altogether.

I actually think this is probably for the best in the game’s new game mode, which replaces user-submitted answers with a selection of randomized pre-written responses that players must pick from in a manner similar to Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity. In theory it’s nice to have this extra way to play, but in practice these answers often make little sense in the context of the clip you’re looking to shove them into, and if you don’t hobble or remove the Riff Bot, it will seem to have perfectly-suited responses far too often. As I was playing, I found myself repeatedly accusing the Riff Bot of cheating.

The game’s online lobbies and phone interface both seem to work well enough. Players of the Jackbox series of games will find this all to be quite familiar. This time around, it’s not just the lobby system that’s online, though – players can actually find other players to join in games online, or connect directly in password-locked lobbies. This feature worked well enough, and there seemed to be a decent smattering of players available to play with. However, perhaps even more so than usual when dealing with random players online, your mileage may vary. I was paired with more than a few players who thought it was hilarious to turn everything into a sex joke, even if their joke had little to nothing to do with the clip it was for. Oh, on that note, players can turn on a dirty word filter, but no filter like that is ever going to be perfect.

While its improvements all seem to come with caveats, RiffTrax: The Game is nevertheless still an improvement on What the Dub?!, and the addition of online play, bots, and the new game mode are all welcome, despite the issues they bring with them – if you ultimately find that these new features are not to your liking, you can ignore them or turn them off, and having them available gives you more options to play with. This is all on top of a core game that’s still a fun Party Game, albeit not one without a few flaws. If you’re looking to expand your Party Game roster, this is a good choice.

tl;dr – RiffTrax: The Game is a sequel to What the Dub?!, a Party Game that has players using smartphones or other web-enabled devices to submit lines to be read via voiceover over old video clips, and then voting on which line was their favorite. This game adds to the formula a new game mode, computer-controlled bots, and online play, and while all of these new features are something of a mixed bag, they’re all optional and it’s still nice to have them here. Ultimately this is still an improvement on the previous game, and well worth adding to your Party Game list.

Grade: B

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Arcade / Party Game, Funniest Game

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