The Jackbox Party Pack series has been around for roughly 12 years now and has become a staple in plenty of households, mine included. While not every game in every release is a winner, there’s usually enough variety to keep everyone entertained and make each pack worth checking out. In fact, if you own the games on PC, Jackbox even offers the Megapicker, allowing you to mix and match games from any of the party packs you have installed. It’s a great way to bring all your favorites together without having to jump between different releases.
However, Jackbox Games has also been working on the standalone Trivia Murder Party 3, which takes the familiar Trivia Murder Party Trivia online for cooperative play. That title is currently available in Early Access, meaning the developers are juggling another project alongside their latest Party Pack. And that raises an interesting question: could this year’s Party Pack collection suffer from a lack of focus, delivering more misses than hits? Well it’s time to find out whether this latest pack has what it takes to keep the party going.
As is tradition with the Jackbox Party Pack series, this year’s collection includes five games, each offering a different style of party entertainment. There’s Hyperface, where players use stock photos or take their own selfies before editing them to create reactions based on various prompts. Debate and Switch puts players into open debates about different topics, with everyone else voting on who made the more convincing argument. MegaPals is a word-association game that rewards players for thinking alike, while We Forgot A Card challenges everyone to create greeting cards based on a variety of prompts. Finally, there’s Idol Factions, a team-based game where players sort words into different categories in a format that reminds me a little of a tower defense game. Five games, five different approaches to getting everyone involved. So, without any particular order, let’s take a closer look at what this year’s collection has to offer.
Hyperface
HyperFace is a game that has you warping and editing photos, either by using the stock images provided or taking your own selfies, to match a variety of prompts. These can be anything from “Your face when they start construction at 7 a.m.” to other relatable situations that call for an exaggerated facial reaction. There’s some entertainment to be had in stretching and contorting your own face or someone else’s into increasingly ridiculous expressions. It’s certainly an interesting twist on the traditional drawing games that have become a staple of the Jackbox Party Pack series.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find the same creative spark here that I usually get from those drawing-based games. A big part of the fun in those titles is seeing how differently everyone interprets a prompt and the wildly imaginative results that follow. With HyperFace, I found that many of the prompts encouraged similar editing techniques, so the variety in the final results felt a little limited. It’s a neat concept, but I think it needed a little more variety in how to edit the photos to really stand out, but at the same time, I understand there is a limitation with using a mobile device as your input method.
Debate and Switch
Debate and Switch is one of those games where your enjoyment will largely depend on how talkative your friends are. If you have a group of people who enjoy debating or can confidently make a convincing argument out of just about anything, this game can be an absolute blast. Give them some ridiculous topic and watch as they passionately defend their position as though the fate of the world depends on it. On the other hand, if your friends aren’t particularly interested in arguing or simply can’t think of anything to say, the whole experience can fizzle out pretty quickly.
The structure reminds me quite a bit of Patently Stupid from The Jackbox Party Pack 5, one of my personal favorites. In that game, you’re tasked with pitching an invention to the group, often leading to some wonderfully ridiculous presentations. Debate and Switch follows a similar spirit, except you’re trying to convince everyone that your assigned position on a particular topic is worth defending. Some of the prompts include things like “The high school mascot should be really, really scary,” “Brownie edges are better than middles,” and “Spelling Bees should have physical challenges.” They’re silly topics that can lead to some entertaining arguments, provided your players are willing to get creative.
The second round adds a little twist by allowing you to replace one word in the original question before debating it again. So, for example, that terrifying high school mascot might suddenly need to be really, really cute instead. It’s a simple change, but it gives everyone another opportunity to be persuasive and can lead to some unexpected arguments.
Ultimately, Debate and Switch is a fun addition to the collection, but it’s very dependent on the people playing. Being forced to take a side in a debate about something you have absolutely no interest in can be difficult, and some of the prompts are genuinely challenging to argue for or against. If your group enjoys making passionate arguments about things they couldn’t care less about, there’s plenty of fun to be had here. If not, you might find yourselves running out of things to say before the round is over.
MegaPals
MegaPals is a word-association game that puts a fun spin on the usual “write down the first thing that comes to mind” formula. Instead of simply responding with whatever pops into your head, you’re trying to think like everyone else playing. The goal is to come up with words that match your friends’ answers, and the game uses those similarities to determine who has the strongest connection. It’s a surprisingly entertaining way to find out which people in your group share the same thought process and, occasionally, just how strangely similar your brains operate.
Each round starts with a prompt, such as “What’s a thing you always put off?” or “Happy _____ Day!” From there, everyone has to come up with as many words or answers as they can think of that relate to the prompt. The trick is deciding whether you want to throw out your funniest answers or try to get inside everyone else’s heads and predict what they’ll write. The more answers you have in common, the stronger your connection and the more points you’ll earn. The fun comes from those unexpected moments when someone makes the exact same random word association as you.
I had a genuinely good time with this one, and it’s interesting to see who you end up matching with throughout the game. Maybe you discover that you and your partner have an almost telepathic connection, or perhaps you find out that your sense of humor and thought process are completely opposite. Or possibly you find out our word association might be stronger with a niece than with your own partner.Not saying that says anything about your relationship, but at least you know who to call when you need someone to finish your sentences!
We Forgot A Card
We Forgot A Card is one of those games that feels like classic Jackbox through and through. In fact, it’s probably the best example in this collection of just how entertaining these party games can be when everything comes together. The premise is simple: you’re given a prompt to create an absurd greeting card, and the prompts themselves are often generated from things the other players have written. From there, you’ll choose from a selection of card designs that might be holiday-themed, congratulatory, or just downright bizarre. Once you’ve settled on a design, it’s time to write the message that goes inside.
Things get even better in the final round, when you’re asked to pair your greeting card with a gift. You’ll pick out a plushie and then come up with the ridiculous phrase it says when someone pulls the string on its voice box. This is precisely the kind of setup that lets Jackbox games shine. It encourages players to get creative, lean into the insanity, and come up with messages that can range anywhere from silly and wholesome to downright naughty. Personally, I find that the more ridiculous your group is willing to get, the better the results tend to be.
Out of all five games in this year’s pack, We Forgot A Card is easily one of my favorites. It has that perfect combination of creativity, unpredictability, and outright comedy that makes for a memorable party game. If you’re looking for something that will get everyone laughing, this one absolutely delivers.
Idol Factions
Idol Factions is this year’s attempt at a trivia game, although it takes a slightly different approach than the traditional question and answer format. Instead, you’re tasked with sorting different words and concepts into their appropriate categories. These can range from something like “Beginning, Middle, End” to “Prequel, Original, Sequel Movie.” As I mentioned earlier, the whole setup reminds me a bit of a tower defense game, where enemies are constantly moving along a path toward an exit. Your job is to keep track of where everything is going and make sure each word ends up in the right place.
Each round gives you three categories, with each one assigned to a different path. As words appear, you have to decide which category they belong to and send them down the corresponding route before time runs out. It’s a race against the clock, and things can get a little more difficult when your opponent starts throwing bombs your way to obstruct your view. There’s certainly more going on here than simply answering trivia questions, and the added pressure gives the game a more active, arcade-like feel.
Of the five games in this collection, Idol Factions feels the most like an actual video game, but unfortunately, it was also the least entertaining for me. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it; there is some fun to be had with the concept, and I can see the appeal for players who enjoy this sort of fast paced challenge. However, I don’t think it creates the same kind of unpredictable, laugh out loud chaos that makes the other Jackbox games so entertaining when you have a larger group.
In fact, this one feels much more at home as a one on one experience. I played it in a 2 vs 2 setup, and while it worked just fine, I wasn’t left wanting to jump back in for another round. Unless someone specifically requests it during game night, I don’t see myself opening this one up again anytime soon.
Despite some disappointment in this pack, The Jackbox Party Pack 12 is still a stellar collection and easily holds its own alongside the series’ other releases. Even with Jackbox Games dedicating additional resources to projects like Trivia Murder Party 3, it doesn’t feel as though this year’s Party Pack was given the short end of the stick. There’s plenty of variety here, with several games that can make for a memorable night with friends and family.
Overall, The Jackbox Party Pack 12 is a great addition to game night and a worthy collection of titles to add to your Megapicker library. Not every game will be a hit with every group, but there’s enough entertainment here to keep the party going.
