I am back on a very, very short notice to do another review of Jackbox Party Packs, for the male loneliness epidemic that is, my life.
Last time, we talked Party Pack One
So why not continue the trend with the sequel game - Jackbox Party Pack 2.
As a reminder, the reviews are from a perspective of.... I'm lonely, can I play this? And the short answer is "No". However, we are going to try and get something out of this, even if it means trolling randos streaming the game (and some of these people also have very little numbers so I feel bad) and otherwise - watching vicariously as people play the game on YouTube, and I sit there and watch it, like a twitch audience would.
Plus, I'm very cranky.
Let's begin our investigation!
Bidiots is the "drawing game" of the pack. The object is simple - you draw a prompt, other prior draw a similar prompt, your goal is to get as much money from your drawing than your opponents, There are wealthy elitists who give you help for what values each sell for (so you can make a profit) However, if you start running out of money, you may ask for a loan from Predatory Loans, that will take a huge cut of your score at the end if you don't pay it back.
This is not a game you can play by yourself. Additionally, it's hardly played on YouTube, because most of the game is played through the phone, given the roles and clues.
So, having to live vicariously through other people playing it, my conclusion is, it's very one note. "A hamburger" looks a lot like "cheeseburger" and also hot dog vs Weiner. What a silly screw up.
It's a fun ice breaker game, but I don't think you'll get much repeat ability so it's a 2.5/5
Earwax is more or less "Cards Against Humanity" but with a funny sound board. Everybody has their own personal sound files to choose from. There is a prompt and a judge. Somebody picks the best thing for a point. Whoever gets the target amount of points wins.
Again, not a game to play single player, however, because you don't have to get in a call, it is easily playable for a Twitch chat. Sometimes the prompt goes into meta-humor like "what's in JORDANS head right now" before you put "who wants hot dogs" and "explosive fart" and if you like fart SFX, this is a game for you.
Going back into these party packs, I kind of enjoy this game given the simplicity of the game, even though there isn't really much for an audience to do. However, it is such a good game among friends that I do feel it is "a game worth keeping around" but much like Cards Against Humanity, one game is more than enough. 3.75/5
Bomb Corp is Keep Taking and Nobody Explodes but with everybody on their phones trying to give clues, such as "cut all the blue wires" and "do the opposite of what JORDAN says" that it becomes a logic puzzle.
While it is not really a fun game to watch on Twitch (because again, most of the game is through the phone) and therefore also on YouTube replays. It's also not a good have to play on twitch either unless you are directly in the Discord call with the stream.
Although those are faults. This is the only game in the Jackbox Party Pack 2 that is single player only. Going through all the levels gives you a fun achievement.
It's not quite "escape room" and it's more of an easy puzzle pick up game, but I think this is a good game to play to load up while waiting for people to show up, and nothing much else.
While I appreciate the game being accommodating for a single player like me, most of the game revolves around speaking and talking over each other in following the rules. 3.5/5
Quiplash is possibly the game most people who know Jackbox Party Pack will think of when it comes to this collection. Essentially a head-to-head version of "Things in a Box", the game is simple.
You are given an open ended question and must write down something funny. "The name of a sleezy hotel" or "who really is controlling the media?" and you can write anything you want, and if you can't think of anything - the comedy writers already thought of a bunch of good jokes for every prompt.
The group votes for the funniest/best answer, they get points, if they get unanimous, that's a Quiplash, audience gets to vote as well.
When playing with strangers, it could get very blue, or very.... uh "politically incorrect" in a way that you might question these people, but when played with the right friends or strangers, it's an effortless game to play.
It also works in archives because you can see where people lose their control, or have to explain in-jokes. And you know, I don't know these people, but that's like coming into Giant Bomb unaware of Mike Minotti with Apples or Jan Ochoa with Buzzballs. You just sorta are entering an abyss.
If I was scoring this based entirely on it being a party game, I would easily give this a full 5 out of 5.
However, as the core of this series is "through a perspective of somebody who is by themselves" I have to ding points unfortunately.
I hate it, because I think you can get mileage out of this game, however not by much. So I'm giving it a 4.5/5 and I still feel that score is a little TOO high, to be honest. But it's such a great start.
Fibbage 2 is the first "sequel" to Jackbox Party Pack, and this is also "the trivia game" of the block. Plays exactly like the first game here's a fact with a blank, fill in the blank, hope for the best.
Now, this time the audience gets to throw in their own lie to the mix, adding some extra things for the people like me on jackbox.tv without any of these people as friends to do. Additionally, if you are playing the game, there is a lifeline to be used once called de-fib-ulator to turn the question into a 50/50. While that is fun for a trivia game, I do feel it takes it a little seriously regarding points and gameplay. Maybe if this was a real game show with money thrown around, sure. But for a laid back game where more than likely one person isn't actually playing and just pretending it's Quiplash and writing "cum" (or "penis" or "dildo")
Now that I think about it... Can I retract that 4.5 and just make it a 4.0 because of the common jokes I had to see during gameplay watching of this? I'll debate it later.
Anyway, Fibbage 2 has more prompts, so it didn't really repeat itself that often, plus it also has a few bonus questions that make it more fun and interesting, and this is the last time the Final Fibbage remains a single prompt and not a "fill in two blanks" or "fill in one line for two prompts"
I'm really good at Fibbage, however again, it's not a single player game. So I still have to dock it some points, but not much. I'm going to be generous and give it a 4.25/5
2.5 + 3.75 + 3.5 + 4.5 + 4.25 = 18.5
18.5 divided by the 5 games in the pack gives us 3.7/5 or a 74/100.
CONCLUSION
While Jackbox Party Pack 1 let's a single player experience a couple of it's offerings in You Don't Know Jack and Lie Swatter, a few of the games held the party pack down a little, namely Word Spud.
Party Pack 2 offers only one actual game for somebody to play by themselves, Bomb Corp, and it's not really as good as You Don't Know Jack in experience.
However, for a "boy, I want to watch my streamer friends play a funny game and maybe play with them", Party Pack 2 is a big improvement, especially with the release of Quiplash, but also the return of Fibbage and even EarWax.
It's recommended, at least to me, it's best for maybe one friend in your friend group to buy these games and play them periodically, across the year, otherwise most of the games featured will lose its luster and comedic charm.
For this lonesome devil, I'll probably play Party Pack 3 sometime in the near future, but not before I sit in this Olive Garden and cry into my neverending soup, salad, and breadsticks. Where nobody will judge me...
And I could maybe, just maybe, love myself again. ♥️