It’s that time of year again for the national gaming holiday, New Jackbox Party Pack Day! This year, Jackbox Games Inc. brings us a very special, very titillating, quite moist pack of games in the Jackbox Naughty Pack. The theme of this pack is adult-oriented, with three games that open up the floodgates to allow the players to get as raunchy as they’d like. Two games are classics from other packs, and we get a brand new title to dip our toes into. So before you download this pack of fun, you might want to shoo the kids off to bed.
Fakin’ It (3-8 players)
In Fakin’ It, all players get assigned a task on their device, and only one player will be designated the Faker. The Faker receives no task and is only told to fake their answer. You have to be believable, too, because you might be answering a question that is an absolute lie about yourself or someone else in the group. How the tasks work depends on the type of game a player has selected. In one game, they may ask you to point toward a player regarding the question at hand, raise your hand for a more yes/no style question, or they may ask you to show a count of fingers for the question. The Faker has to survive three rounds without getting caught. Everyone else must deduce who the Faker is and get a consensus vote. In the original release back in the Jackbox Party Pack 3, Fakin’ It was an experience you had to have in the same room with people. However, as the Jackbox games have become more popular with online streaming, the folks at Jackbox Games Inc. added a mode that allows you to play online. Instead of physically holding up hands or pointing, you can select the option in the Jackbox.tv game screen. And even without seeing other people’s faces, Fakin’ It was just as fun to play virtually. Now add that these questions can get pretty raunchy, and you have a game where you might learn pretty detailed stuff about your friends and family, things you may not want to know about. At least you don’t have to look anyone in the eye if you’re playing virtually, right?
Dirty Drawful (3-8 players)
Drawful was released in the original Jackbox Party Pack, and it is still one of my favorite games to play. It’s basically the Jackbox version of Pictionary. The game will send players a prompt to draw, and the other player’s goal is to create the most believable or funny answer that will get other players to select their submission. If people guess your original prompt, you earn points; if the players guess someone else’s, they get the points instead. I like Drawful a lot, but I feel like it’s not much different, even with the dirty prompts in this version. Drawful is one of those games that could get dirty in an instant regardless of the prompt, so to have a specifically dirty prompt doesn’t feel all that new. I still love its inclusion here, but maybe another drawing game in the Jackbox lineup would have been uplifted by the adult prompts. Perhaps something like Patently Stupid?
Let Me Finish (3-8 players)
Let Me Finish is the strangest of the bunch. It’s part drawing game and part persuasion. Two players in the group will face off against each other at a time. The selected players will receive an image, from some weird diagram of a creature to random everyday objects. I once got a row of screwdrivers. The game will then ask the players a prompt like, “Looking at this image, where would you find its butthole?” Granted, I don’t recall if that was the specific prompt I got, but it wasn’t too far off. The image in question was of a creature with many, many holes and trunks, so yeah. You are to use your screen to circle, draw, highlight, etc., and choose what you believe is the best answer for the prompt. Once time is up, the game will show your scribbles to the group, and you will explain to them why you’re right. The rest of the group will then vote on who’s answer is the best. The non-playing players can also chime in with their own answers for some slight bonus points. I didn’t quite understand this mechanic because there wasn’t a penalty for chiming in and not getting a vote. So why wouldn’t every player chip in their 2 cents every round for free points? Either way, it’s a weird game that is made extra weird with the naughty prompts. I’m teetering on whether I like it or not; I think a few more games with a few different groups of friends may solidify if I feel it’s a good or bad addition. For now, I think it fits the pack’s atmosphere.
The Jackbox Naughty Pack is a fine bundle of games. There are only three, so it is light on the variety, but it is just a fun little morsel to tide you over till the eventual Jackbox Party Pack 11. It is an M-rated game, and the prompts and artwork really nail that M-rating. If you have kids or usually play these games with kids, maybe skip this one. But you know your kids best, though, so if you’re ok with them playing Jackbox with these sexual tones in the prompts, then by all means, have a blast with them! Think of this as a few Jackbox games with the tone of Cards Against Humanity. There are hours of fun to be had with this Naughty Pack, which I would recommend adding to your game night rotations.
A Steam and PlayStation 5 code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
