Jackbox games are a profoundly personal experience, meaning no game is objectively brilliant or terrible–every Jackbox Party Pack brings new or rehashed ideas that need to resonate with you and your tribe. However, each collection seems to have one, two, or even three misfires that don’t click with a wider audience. Even Jackbox 9–while brilliant–had a couple of flops. Thankfully, these are masked by other successes.
It’s therefore fantastic that the Jackbox team is celebrating the company’s ten-year anniversary by finally cracking the formula. After a decade of analyzing its own weird social experiments, it’s created the most well-rounded selection yet. Jackbox 10 is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best Jackbox Party Pack in series history. It manages to satisfy all tastes, combining new and old; there isn’t a duff game here.
My friends and I have form; we’ve played every game from the last nine Party Packs–often to death–and we keep a handful of them installed to play at a moment’s notice. This holiday season, we may only need JPP10–we haven’t laughed as hard, or as constantly, throughout any other five-frolic funfest.
Here’s a run-down of the most enjoyable games in The Jackbox Party Pack 10 from a bunch of grizzled, battle-scarred series veterans. Please also accept our apologies in advance; some images are blurred due to the frankly shocking behavior of my friends, and me. Jackbox brings out the best and worst in us all.
The Jackbox Party Pack 10 games, ranked from good to incredible
5) Tee K.O. 2 (3 to 8 players)
The only returning game in JPP10 is Tee K.O., which has its chance to shine once again in a more refined way. It’s a simple, bracket-based competition that sees you combine designs and slogans on clothing. You can put in as many phrases as you like (and you really should), while the design suite has been updated with more colors, a nicely paced clock to allow for more creativity, and a climactic final button-bashing round.
Really, there’s nothing much more to say about Tee K.O. 2 than it being a nice update for those of us who loved the first one. There are different items of clothing, plus a better interface, even if it disconnected a couple of people during testing–but nothing a quick restart couldn’t fix. Here’s hoping it creates brilliant memories in the same way the first one did.
4) Hypnotorious (4 to 8 players)
Hypnotorious is The Jackbox Party Pack 10’s most heavily explained game, and for good reason; this high-concept idea puts you in a hypnotist’s show where each player takes on a unique identity; from here, everyone needs to answer questions in character, before guessing who’s who–and which people have common bonds. Naturally, there’s a catch: someone’s a fraud, and you have to figure them out, whether you’re discussing it openly or relying on secret clues.
Hypnotorious is a little bit overthought, but will definitely resonate after two or three playthroughs. This is a bit of a shame in itself, as the pick-up-and-playability of other titles in Jackbox 10 may mean it’ll be unfairly overlooked after a half-successful debut.
3) Timejinx (1 to 8 players)
Those who are absolute suckers for a pop quiz will adore Timejinx. It’s much purer than, say, Trivia Murder Party–you never feel like you’re being lured into a trap, or sabotaging yourself with a random decision–but it’s no less frustrating. Timejinx makes you guess events by the year they happened, and you’re scored by how close you get. The higher your score, the worse you are, and there are plenty of curveballs to reduce your score, or rate you well or badly in direct comparison to your peers.
Depending on your expertise–and I say this as a history major–you may be more than happy to name the year that India secured independence from the U.K., only to be completely stumped when asked when the first computer mouse was developed. It’s one of the most competitive games in Jackbox Party Pack history; the scores keep shifting, panic can dictate your guesses, and there’s no knowing who’ll win. It’s still just a trivia game, but it’s arguably the best one yet due to its simplicity.
2) FixyText (3 to 8 players)
It goes without saying that FixyText’s lead artist, Bruno Rodríguez, sets the bar for Jackbox art design–it’s by far the most beautiful game of the 50 found between Jackbox’s Party Packs. What makes it all the more wonderful is that it’s also hilarious: a simple idea that never fails to make you laugh, even if it appears to be a little bit broken.
In FixyText, you’re sent a text message from someone and you have to compose a reply. Your fellow players grade you based on favorite words typed–or edited–by you. You can’t make any mistakes because you can’t delete what you’ve typed. You’re given a base message to work from, and you just go wild, typing over one another before an automated voice reads your message back to you. Hilarity ensues.
While FixyText makes a big deal of the “no delete” clause, this didn’t stop Android users among us from easily editing our work during testing. However, it proved the no-edit rule was redundant, and also arguably detracted from the fun–knowing you can delete other people’s work is delightful, and it’s much nicer to correct a spelling mistake when you know the final, Siri-esque readout will sound much more compelling.
Still, even if/when this issue’s “fixed,” it won’t make FixyText any better or worse–it’s an absolute riot for wordsmiths or angry commenters, and will elicit the most dropped jaws in Jackbox 10. It’s also the perfect game to create perpetuating jokes; we sent reams of abuse to anonymous texters, but our group conspired to finish each message with “best regards. xoxox” (read back by the speaker as “zox zox”). It’s now a common feature in WhatsApp and in-person conversations, and we wouldn’t change it for the world.
1) Dodo Re Mi (1 to 9 players)
Looking back, it’s amazing to think that Jackbox Games hasn’t attempted the Rock Band and Guitar Hero formula. Finally, Dodo Re Mi has done it, but you’re all birds(?), and if you don’t win, you get eaten by a carnivorous plant. Of course.
To kick things off, you sync your phone to the beat in the same way you did in Rock Band, except it takes two seconds–and it actually works. You choose your song, then your instrument, then have at it. It’s risk vs reward–choose something more difficult if you like, but if you mess it up, the consequences will be grave. All phones make noises, too, so it’s carnage.
At one point, my wife had a wood block solo, messed it up, laughed so hard that she couldn’t see through her own tears, and we all died. Then she downloaded the failed song–Dodo Re Mi allows you to keep any group performance in MP3 format–and it’s now her alarm tone. We both get to hear the worst, one-note percussion player in history every morning at 7am. 10/10, no notes.
If you’re a Jackbox fan, The Jackbox Party Pack 10 is a no-brainer. If you’ve never tried Jackbox before, The Jackbox Party Pack 10 is a no-brainer. It’s once again a wonderful temptation ahead of the holiday season, but never before has Jackbox Games made its offering so irresistible. Honestly, just get it–you won’t regret a thing.
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