Reviewing a Jackbox Party Pack always ends up as a bit of a breakdown of all of the games, but that’s how it has to be. As an overall collection though, I will say right off the bat that Jackbox Party Pack 12 is a really solid entry into the series, and it actually manages to add in a couple of fresh ideas when you sometimes feel there’s reliance on clever reskins. It’s definitely a worthy new addition to the mass of party games some of us have.
The only real dud here, to start with a negative, is Debate and Switch, which has you arguing for ideas that are either player-submitted or in the game already. You then grant points by going towards whichever of the two sides you prefer. It’s not a bad game, but it’s just not as creatively satisfying, or unhinged enough to be truly funny. I’m certain you could go all-in on some very silly or dark topics and have fun with it, but it’s just not my kinda thing.
We Forgot A Card feels very classic Jackbox. You have to submit a few different words to fill in various blanks, then you get cards with those things on, and you have to write the inside text. It’s funny, but it feels very familiar. There’s a solid plush round at the end of the whole affair, and while the silly robot voices help sell it, it’s just not a game that’s especially inspiring. It’s funny, sure, but it’s one of those games where you could probably just play Quiplash again instead.
The rest are all bangers though.
Idol Factions is the trivia one this time around, and has the players split into two teams, each trying to appease an ancient idol. You do this by navigating different answers around a map to the right place. So, you might get the categories of K-pop, Programming Language, and Movies. You then have to send the little answers that waddle in to the right place. If you don’t know, you can also send them to the other team, and if they get it wrong then that’s all gravy, but if they get it right they get double points. This one gets more intense as it adds in moving parts, and also bombs. It’s a really solid team trivia game, and has a lovely vibe.
Hyperface has you warping different faces to become reaction images for all sorts of different prompts. It’s absolute nightmare fuel and along with the random images the game offers, you can also take selfies and manipulate those too. It’s just layers upon layers of humour and horror, and it’s one of the best games we’ve had in a long time because of how absurd it is. But it’s still not even the best one.
That would be MegaPals, which has you and your friends all engaging in word association improv games. It’s very simple, but it’s also one that leads to some of the best meta-gaming. You can only match on the same words once, so you need to keep changing things up to keep things interesting. It’s one of those that’s just so impeccably easy to learn, but also ends with some of the biggest laughs as you all agree that the word Frisbee definitely has something to do with quantum mechanics somehow.
