The Jackbox Party Pack. For 1-100 players! Your phones or tablets are your controllers! The team behind YOU DON’T KNOW JACK presents FIVE guffaw-inducing party games in one pack! 1) The comedy trivia sensation YOU DON’T NOW JACK 2015 (1-4 players) with hundreds of all-new questions. 2) The hilarious bluffing game Fibbage XL (2-8 players. Oct 21, 2020 Pretty fun if your group is into trivia, otherwise it’s a bit of a bust. Quiplash 2 (3-8 players) Always worth playing. Like Quiplash XL from Jackbox Party Pack 2 but with more questions—as well as the ability to create your own questions if you want. Fakin’ It (3-6 players) Always worth playing.

Download The Jackbox Party Pack 1.1.1 APK

Last year, I was able to meet face-to-face for the first time with the entire whatNerd crew—plus a few others from another site we all work at—and we had a blast!

On top of running several escape rooms together and playing a whole lot of Mario Tennis Aces, we actually spent most of our free time playing various games from the Jackbox Party Packs.

And what a ride it was! If you’ve never played any of the Jackbox games, you’re missing out. Keep reading to see why you should start playing.

Recently updated with Jackbox Party Pack 7!

Jackbox Party Games, Explained!

Jackbox games are party games that can be played over a streaming service like Twitch, but in my experience it’s best when everyone is in the same room.

Related: How to play Jackbox games remotely

Only one person needs to purchase and own the game, which is hosted on a TV, computer screen, or what have you. Everyone else joins the game as a player using their mobile phone and the room code.

So you have a bunch of players sitting in front of the TV, and the game itself plays out on the TV, but players are interacting with the game’s prompts using their mobile phones.

Most Jackbox games involve typing answers or drawing images to your device, and the results of the game are shown on the TV.

Related: The best online typing games in a browser

Each game is different, of course, but the driving element of every Jackbox game is the party aspect: they’re simple, creative, and downright hilarious when played with the right group of people.

But not every Jackbox game is a winner.

The best ones have incredible replayability that can keep you entertained for hours, but some are downright terrible and others may only be fun a few times before they lose their luster.

This is a shame because—save for a few exceptions—the Jackbox games can’t be bought a la carte.

You have to buy them in Jackbox Party Packs, and at $25 a pop, it can be hard to know which packs are worth getting and which ones you should probably skip.

As of this writing, there are seven Jackbox Party Packs available. I’ll review each one and explain why I think it’s either worth getting or skipping, and I’ll rate each game in each pack using the following evaluations:

• Not worth playing
• Good for a few plays
• Fun with the right people
• Always worth playing

Jackbox Party Pack 1: Worth It?

You Don’t Know Jack 2015 (1-4 players)
Not worth playing
Straight-up trivia game with a twist: the questions involve a lot of puns and word play, requiring you to decode what they’re asking before you can even answer. I didn’t find it entertaining in the least.

Word Spud (2-8 players)
Not worth playing
Players take turns creating compound words. The music is surprisingly tense, which I liked, but at the end of the day this one’s not really a game at all. Not sure how it made it into the pack.

Lie Swatter (1-100 players)
Not worth playing
A race to see who can answer True or False the fastest. Not really a game since you can mash answers and still have a 50 percent chance of getting it correct. If only there were more to it than that.

Fibbage XL (2-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Entertaining! Every player is given the same trivia fact with a fill-in-the-blank to answer. All false answers are shown simultaneously with the actual answer, and players need to guess what the truth is.

Drawful (3-8 players)
Always worth playing
Each player is given a wacky prompt to draw. Then, one at a time, the drawings are shown on screen and everyone (except the drawer) needs to guess what it is.

Then, the guesses are all shown simultaneously with the actual prompt, and players need to pick the right one. Hilarious! Fortunately, you can buy Drawful as a standalone game.

Jackbox Party Pack 2: Worth It?

Earwax (3-8 players)
Not worth playing
Players are given a prompt and must pick two sound effects (from a list of six) that best match the prompt. Usually devolves into fart noises and absurd, nonsensical combinations. Very little replay value.

Bidiots (3-6 players)
Not worth playing
Every player starts with $3,000 and is given two prompts to draw. Drawings are put up for auction, but each player only knows the true value of some of the drawings.

Whoever ends with the most money wins. Not a bad concept, but the game just takes way too long for how much fun it provides.

Bomb Corp (1-4 players)
Fun with the right people
Have you ever played Spaceteam? This is like that, cranked up another notch.

Players work cooperatively to defuse a bomb, but each player knows special details about the bomb that the other players don’t—so they need to work together to figure out how to defuse it properly before time runs out. Surprisingly tense and funny!

Fibbage 2 (2-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Like Fibbage XL in Jackbox Party Pack 1 with all-new questions!

Quiplash XL (3-8 players)
Always worth playing
Players are given two prompts to answer, where each prompt is given to two players.

For each prompt, the two answers are pitted head-to-head, and players vote for which one they like better. Really funny!

Jackbox Party Pack 3: Worth It?

Tee K.O. (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Players take turn drawing, and then those drawings are given to other players to caption. Finally, drawings and captions are matched together to create funny T-shirts, which are voted on. Best one wins. I didn’t like this one, but it has potential to be hilarious with the right group.

Guesspionage (2-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Players take turns answering a social statistics question, where the statistics are gathered by informal polls (like Family Feud). The other players then guess whether the real answer is higher or lower.

It’s a pretty good blend of trivia and social interaction, but can be a bust if played with people who don’t really care about statistics.

Trivia Murder Party (1-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Straight-up trivia quiz show packaged as a horror escape. Pretty fun if your group is into trivia, otherwise it’s a bit of a bust.

Quiplash 2 (3-8 players)
Always worth playing
Like Quiplash XL from Jackbox Party Pack 2 but with more questions—as well as the ability to create your own questions if you want.

Fakin’ It (3-6 players)
Always worth playing
This might be my favorite Jackbox game of all time. In it, all players except one—the “faker”—is given a particular instruction (“Raise your hand if…”, “Point at the person who…”, “Make the face you’d make when…”).

The faker needs to try to blend in, while everyone else needs to figure out who’s faking. I love this game because it’s not just funny, but you learn things about people you never would have otherwise.

Jackbox Party Pack 4: Worth It?

Bracketeering (3-16 players)
Not worth playing
Everyone is given a prompt. Then, all answers are pitted against one another in a tournament-style bracket, until one answer comes out on top. It’s basically Quiplash but slower and nowhere near as funny.

Civic Doodle (3-8 players)
Good for a few plays
Two players are given something to draw. The rest vote on which they like better. The resulting winner is given to two other players, who add on to it, and the results are voted on.

On and on it goes for several rounds and you’re left with a mess of a drawing. A cool concept, but it drags on for far too long, and the laughs-per-minute just aren’t there.

Survive the Internet (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Everyone is given a prompt to answer. Then, each answer is given to a different player who provides a different prompt for that answer, so it looks like the original player’s answer is ridiculous, offensive, etc.

Then everyone votes on the funniest results. Requires a bit of clever wit to be good, but can lead to some hilarious moments!

Monster Seeking Monster (3-7 players)
Fun with the right people
Everyone joins the game using a nonsense nickname so no one knows who’s who. Then, over the course of six rounds, players send each other messages in secret to try to “match” with one another, as if they were online dating.

Everyone has individual goals on who they need to match with. Requires everyone to get into character for it to be fun, but it’s surprisingly fun when they do.

Fibbage 3 (2-8 players)
Always worth playing
Like Fibbage XL and Fibbage 2, but with an amazing new mode called “Enough About You” where players enter truths about themselves, everyone enters lies about everyone else, and the goal is to guess the truth for each person.

I love this game because it’s hilarious and you learn so much about the people you play with. My second favorite Jackbox game after Fakin’ It.

Jackbox Party Pack 5: Worth It?

You Don’t Know Jack (1-8 players)
Not worth playing
Pretty much the same thing as You Don’t Know Jack 2015 from Jackbox Party Pack 1, and still just as bad. I really don’t like this game.

Zeeple Dome (1-6 players)
Not worth playing
Jackbox took a risk with Zeeple Dome, an action-style physics arena game—and, unfortunately, it’s a huge miss. It just isn’t very fun or funny. However, I’m glad they took the chance, and I’d love to see more attempts at action-oriented party games, as long as they end up being better than this one.

Jackbox Party Pack 1 Number Of Players

Patently Stupid (3-8 players)
Good for a few plays
A creative concept where players submit “problems” that need solving. Then, each player is given one problem at random and must draw a solution for it.

Then, the drawn solutions are distributed to players, and players must given them names, slogans, and try to “sell” the product to everyone else.

Split the Room (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Players are given prompts with fill-in-the-blanks answers and must write in controversial choices. Everyone else votes on the two choices, and the goal is to “split the room” so that half pick one and half pick the other. Similar to but not as good as Quiplash.

Mad Verse City (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Players are given nonsensical rap lines and must come up with rhymes for them. Then, two players are pitted head-to-head in a rap battle, and everyone else votes on who had the better lines.

Extremely funny as long as everyone is into it and actually puts effort into their answers.

Jackbox Party Pack 6: Worth It?

Trivia Murder Party 2 (1-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Like the original, this sequel is another straight-up trivia quiz show packaged as a horror escape, but with more (arguably better) minigames and a more thrilling ending. Still, it’s only good if your group is into trivia.

Role Models (3-6 players)
Good for a few plays
Over several rounds, you’re given several archetypes that you have to assign everyone into. For example, if the topic were “Murder weapons,” then you’d be given a variety of murder weapons and have to choose which player would be most likely to use which weapon.

In the end, everyone is given a personality assessment based on how everyone sees them. It’s not a bad game, but loses its novelty pretty quickly.

Joke Boat (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Everyone is given rapid-fire prompts to answer, which are used to seed various joke setups. Players must then create punchlines to those joke setups, and the resulting jokes are placed head-to-head for the rest of the players to vote on.

It feels like Mad Verse City but a lot more difficult. Only good to play if everyone has the creativity to come up with clever punchlines.

Dictionarium (3-8 players)
Not worth playing
In the first round, players are prompted to define a nonsensical, fictional slang term, then vote on their favorite. In the second round, players are prompted to come up with their own fictional slang synonym for the first term, then vote on their favorite.

In the last round, players are prompted to use the winning synonym in a sentence, then vote on their favorite. There’s potential in the idea, but Dictionarium sadly falls flat and isn’t as funny as it seems like it’d be.

Push the Button (4-10 players)
Good for a few plays
One player is secretly an alien while everyone else is human. Two players at a time are given a prompt and a set of answers; but if one of the players is the alien, they only get the set of answers without the prompt.

The goal is to identify who the alien is within 12 minutes—but the longer you take, the more powerful the alien becomes with special abilities. While Push the Button isn’t a bad game, it’s a more convoluted and not-as-fun version of Fakin’ It.

Jackbox Party Pack 7: Worth It?

Quiplash 3 (3-8 players)
Always worth playing
After a long wait since Jackbox Party Pack 3, we finally have another! Quiplash 3 is more of the same fun, with new prompts to keep things fresh.

The Devils and the Details (3-8 players)
Good for a few plays
Despite the failure of Zeeple Dome, Jackbox took another risk with this action-oriented game—and it came out better this time. This cooperative game has each player take on a specific role in a family of devils, and everyone must work together to successfully get through suburban life. But I prefer Bomb Corp, to be honest.

Champ’d Up (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Players are given unique prompts and have to draw a “champion” for that prompt (e.g. “The Champion of Shenanigans”). Then everyone receives one of the drawn champions WITHOUT its prompt and must draw a challenger.

Best Jackbox Party Pack

Every champion is then pitted against its challenger and everyone votes on the winner. Requires a group of creative folk to really shine!

Talking Points (3-8 players)
Fun with the right people
Every player takes turn giving a speech based on a PowerPoint presentation they’ve never seen. The catch? While one player is giving the speech, another player (“The Assistant”) is picking the next slide.

This game demands a bit of improvisational prowess from players, so it may not be the most fun for people with social anxiety or fear of public speaking (even though the presentation is mostly played for jokes). But with a close group of friends or family who can wing it, it can be a blast!

Blather ‘Round (2-6 players)
Always worth playing
A guessing game where players take turns with secret prompts. The Presenter wants to describe their prompt, but they can only choose from a pool of descriptors.

As players offer their guesses, the Presenter can use those guesses to direct players (whether it’s similar or nothing like it). It’s collaborative and satisfying! Great if you like Pictionary-esque guessing games.

Consider Buying Jackbox Bundles

If you’re planning on buying multiple Jackbox Party Packs, you may want to opt for one of the party pack bundles on offer.

Jackbox Party Pack 1 Icon

Each bundle has its own combination of Jackbox Party Packs, and the price is slightly cheaper than if you were to buy them separately. So unless you only want to grab one or two of them, or if you want a strange mixture a la carte, consider one of these:

The Jackbox Party Trilogy contains:

• Jackbox Party Pack 1
• Jackbox Party Pack 2
• Jackbox Party Pack 3

The Jackbox Party Trilogy 2.0 contains:

• Jackbox Party Pack 4
• Jackbox Party Pack 5
• Jackbox Party Pack 6

The Jackbox Party Quadpack contains:

Jackbox Party Pack 1 Download Free

• Jackbox Party Pack 1
• Jackbox Party Pack 2
• Jackbox Party Pack 3
• Jackbox Party Pack 4

The Jackbox Party Quintpack contains:

• Jackbox Party Pack 1
• Jackbox Party Pack 2
• Jackbox Party Pack 3
• Jackbox Party Pack 4
• Jackbox Party Pack 5

I love the Jackbox games and I try to play them whenever we have gatherings and the opportunity strikes. Grab a few and have fun!

Jackbox Party Pack 1 On Facebook

Read next: The best board games for large groups