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Review: The JackBox Party Pack 4 (Switch)

There’s a fourth one now. It must be overwhelming for Switch owners; the system isn’t even a year old yet and there are already four of these packs to choose from. With five games in each JackBox Party Pack, that totals to twenty games in store. Nevertheless, each pack has a laughfest to offer for the crowded room. This new edition features four brand new games and a sequel to a popular pick from previous packs. The titles this time are Fibbage 3, Survive the Internet, Bracketeering, Civic Doodle, and Monster Seeking Monster.

Graphics

As always, each game has its own unique art style. My favorite is probably the game show-esque look of Fibbage 3; it looks a lot like one of those quiz games restaurants may play on their TVs before dinner is served. Survive the Internet‘s art style is appealing in a way that feels nostalgic for those that grew up with a Windows XP. Bracketeering has a neon look to it that seems to pay homage to 80s arcade games and Tron. Civic Doodle and Monster Seeking Monster…don’t really have that potential to appeal. They look relatively blander and could have been more creative to better suit their premises.

Audio

It gets a bit ho-hum-y to talk about the audio aspects of a JackBox Party Pack game (I’ve written reviews for all three of the previous packs if you want to see those). I don’t think there’s anything I would point out in the music that hasn’t already been discussed. However, it’s a lot more evident this time around that the deliveries of the announcers sound increasingly forced. Civic Doodle particularly suffers from a lot of overacting and cringeworthy dialogue; I just wanted the game to move on, but they felt the need to have these little voice acting skits as if their writing is funny or something.

Gameplay

Fibbage 3 is just like the other two, except now it’s in this collection and filled with different prompts. Given these games are only available through these packs, it’s totally understandable and it’s certainly one of the highlights of JackBox Party Pack 4. Players try to make up lies disguised as answers for a prompt, and they also have to find which of the answers is the truth. It’s great fun every time I get this one going, and it can be rewarding for those observant enough to tell what answers may deceive.

Monster Seeking Monster is a game obviously tying into the fact the pack released within October. Players have to try to hook up with each other in each of the six nights, while at the same time backstabbing each other for their own personal gain via their “secret powers”. You’re not told what your score is until the end, and I could never really tell how much I needed to try to get an advantage over anyone else to win. Fun fact: I gave up trying to play the game by the fifth night. and I hooked up with another guy that didn’t try anymore twice; my character’s secret power was to score extra when hooking up twice. That alone got me from being in last place to winning the entire session. This game isn’t as bad as Word Spud, but it still has some flaws in need of fixing up.

Survive the Internet is my favorite of the newcomers. Players write a response to a prompts; as the resulting responses get shuffled around. They then have to write fake news headlines to make it seem like the responses they got are reacting to those. Players then have to vote on who looks the most ridiculous judging by the fake news headline and his or her response to it. It’s ingenious, ripe with comical possibilities, and is a blast to play.

Bracketeering is an interesting game. You’ve got your answers to prompts, of course, but then the answers are pitted against each other on a tournament scale and in intense voting processes. Players can also predict which of the answers would win the bracket. As the game progresses, it may change things up by randomly changing the prompts into something else while the answers still have to apply to it. Comedic deliveries obviously help players in the long run, but there is some of that Fibbage-like observation encouragement mixed in with what seems to follow a structure like that of JackBox Party Pack 3′s Tee K.O.

Civic Doodle‘s alright. You draw on your phone or laptop screen, and after the initial voting process, players then draw on the same base drawing to improve upon it in his or her own way; they would then have to vote on who did it better. The game is a fair effort, but doesn’t quite have the staying power or comedic potential of similar drawing games like Drawful.

Verdict

Overall, this Party Pack keeps up the traditional JackBox charm finely with its new set of games. Not every title lands, but the ones that do are sure to keep the hilarity alive as often as in the better games of previous packs. As always, these games are lots of fun with friends and family. Just try not to go broke spending $24.99 on each and every pack.

(This game has been provided by JackBox Games for review purposes.)

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