After taking a year to get ‘Naughty,’ Jackbox Games is back to its normal Party Pack schedule. The Jackbox Party Pack 11 features a fresh batch of five games and the best word to describe them this year is “eclectic.” For the first time in years, there is no returning favorite for this year’s Party Pack, meaning the team is shooting its shot with five original efforts. The result is the same as previous Party Packs with a mixed bag of hits and misses. Doominate Doominate is the closest there is to a “traditional” Jackbox game, in the sense that it’s mainly about word prompts and a player’s ability to fill them in with the funniest phrase. This game has a delightful twist. Players are given the first half of an object or phrase, often a pleasant one, and the object is to fill the rest in with something that ruins it. The winner of the head-to-head matchup is whichever Debbie Downer-esque answer gets the most votes from the room. This is an example of an old Jackbox chestnut with a clever twist, taking the best elements of a game like Quiplash and giving it enough of an original spin to make it fun to play. Doominate was one of the biggest winners of the night, because if there was anything about the games I was in, the group sure had a knack for ruining nice things. One thing worth noting is that both prompts will appear simultaneously during the first rounds and there’s also a button that offers players some suggestions if they can’t think of any ideas, both of which are some big quality-of-life improvements for this type of game. It’s ultimately the final round for Doominate that proves the most creative. The objective is to take a previous prompt from an earlier round and continue it with a third phrase that reverses its ruination. It’s basically taking the poop that was poured on a sundae and putting whipped cream and sprinkles on it. There’s almost a clever strategy to it, as it encourages players to approach the first rounds and prepare a final round answer in advance. Doominate is definitely a game that the family will have on the agenda for future game nights. Hear Say Jackbox titles are usually reliable winners and even with the duds, there’s a spark of an original idea in there. An intent is evident. Hear Say definitely falls into the latter category, a game that I would give an “E” for “effort.” The object in this game is to make use of your mobile device’s microphone in order to record sounds that match specific prompts. For Hear Say, everybody answers a prompt at once by recording a quick sound clip that matches it. Everybody then votes on the best one. The winning clip was then superimposed over a random video clip, which was good for a round of laughs from the room. The structure is fairly loose and there isn’t much of a final round finale. One of the biggest problems with Hear Say is that it doesn’t work with a room full of people. Some of the fun is lost in watching players record their responses in real-time from across the couch. This game is built more for remote sessions, which has its charm and all, but even when playing with friends who are all far away, that charm feels limited. Hear Say is definitely a game that’s fun to play one time, but nobody in my sessions felt the itch to play beyond that. Cookie Haus Jackbox Games always feels the need to toss in a game that tests a player’s artistic talent. Cookie Haus is that game for The Jackbox Party Pack 11. The objective is to decorate cookies to match specific prompts while every player votes for their favorite. Players are provided all they need, including frosting and sprinkles. On the one hand, I didn’t get the sense that Cookie Haus totally required me to be a cross between Julia Child and Salvador Dali. The downside to this game is that it felt shallow. It didn’t feel like there was any real structure to this game. This didn’t even have a lovable Jackbox mascot to get attached to. There isn’t much more to say about this one, other than it was a dud with the room. This was one cookie that felt. wait for it. half-baked. Suspectives Suspectives is this pack’s social deduction game, one that makes everybody a detective. The idea is to find out which of the detectives is actually a criminal, which means interrogating other players based on eight survey answers that double as clues. The questions all vary in terms of silliness and some can have a lot of multiple choice answers, which can make interrogations go a number of different ways. All of the detectives then have to work together to determine who is actually the perp. Criminals are gradually revealed through an evidence report that shows off survey answers, as well as how many players selected it. This leads to some educated guessing and, eventually, in-person interrogations. The actual interrogations are the most interesting part of the Suspectives gameplay loop, as they involve either using the microphone (most useful for remote sessions) or simply grilling the person on the other end of the couch. Sessions can be lengthy with lie detector sections, false accusations, and several interrogations. With that said, Suspectives never felt boring. While it wouldn’t be the first choice for the groups I played with, it’s thoughtfully constructed and often leads to laughs. This game is actually structured like a pen-and-paper RPG with character classes, monster encounters, item inventories, and branching paths. This is where the genius of this game’s design shines through, as players must cooperatively come together to answer the question correctly. Everybody can guess differently, but that can lead to damage for whoever guesses wrong and it also means that the party’s collective attack power is lessened. The variety of question types keeps the game feeling fresh and further encourage collaboration and discussion between teammates. It was a big hit among the groups I played with and will definitely be revisited in future game nights. The verdict Jackbox Games took some chances with The Jackbox Party Pack 11. I have to respect that, because it would certainly be easy to rest on the team’s well-earned laurels and trot out more sequel games. Instead, the team tried some wild new ideas. No, not all of them hit. Cookie Haus felt boring and Hear Say’s fun felt limited. Doominate is the game that felt the closest to playing it safe and even its iteration on the usual Quiplash-style fare is more positive than anything else. Some surprising quality-of-life additions, like the simultaneous Doominate prompts, add to an already solid package in that area. Plus, it’s always easy and fun to dive into games as an audience member. The Jackbox Party Pack 11 may not go down as Jackbox Games’ best overall package, but the effort to mix up the party themes is at least appreciated.
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The Jackbox Party Pack 11 review: Mixed goodie bag
