Jackbox is delivering what fans have been asking for, making game nights smoother and spicier with its 2024 releases.
After 10 Jackbox Party Packs, 54 games, and a decade of evolving what party games can look like, it's fitting that the team at Jackbox Games would be looking to "take a break" in 2024. Reassess, readjust, and start a new decade of party gaming by finding ways to innovate on the formula. Take a year off and come back stronger.
Jackbox doesn't operate that way, though. They may be deviating from the Party Pack model in 2024, but this year still promises two new releases from the studio best known for party games like Drawful, Quiplash, and Fibbage. Both new additions fulfill highly demanded requests from their audience and potentially pave the way for what the brand's future looks like: The Jackbox Megapicker and The Jackbox Naughty Pack.
The Jackbox Megapicker forever changes Jackbox Night
We've all been there — having to boot up each Party Pack to find a specific game you're looking for. Having to choose a pack with the highest ratio of agreeable games for your party members to avoid the mess of jumping around between packs.
What players wanted instead was to be able to curate a night of Jackbox games that works for their group. That's exactly what the Jackbox Megapicker is. And more.
In short, the Jackbox Megapicker is an interface that syncs with your Steam library and shows you all the games in all the Party Packs you currently own. You can sort and filter the games by number of players and by type — for example, drawing, social deception, or trivia.
When you click to launch, it opens up the game directly, not the pack it's in. When you close the game, it returns you straight back to the Megapicker.
It's everything fans have wanted and even a little bit more. The sort and filter tools are certainly more than I could have asked for, and the way the games launch without each Pack's baggage makes it a much smoother experience.
The Jackbox Megapicker is a free download, available now, and anyone who grabs it in the first month it's live can get the standalone Drawful 2 for free through it. As a bonus, Jackbox has discounted their entire library of games for a week to help you fill out the gaps in your collection.
Small things like cross-platform launching (for those who own games outside of Steam on PC) and gamepad support are still being worked out, but this tool marks an interesting step forward for the company.
Could they see more standalone releases moving forward, ones that could easily slot into your Megapicker library? Could the break from the Party Pack format mean leaning on this tool more in the future?
Jackbox is changing with the times, and this isn't the only sign.
Three new games in Jackbox Naughty Pack coming September 2024
Even while "taking a break" from the Party Pack format, Jackbox Games has something special up their sleeve this year. Or should I say, up their skirts? 2024's Jackbox release is a smaller themed pack of three games, the Jackbox Naughty Pack.
Releasing in September 2024 for all major platforms at $21.69 (nice), it's a Jackbox pack of M-rated games that finally make the "cum" joke answers the expectation rather than the shocker you think it is when you drop it. Dirty prompts in silly games can be fun, but there's a fine line between genuinely funny and boring shock value when it comes to these things. I'm looking at you Cards Against Humanity. We trust Jackbox's writers to thread that needle and keep things comedy-focused in what should be a chaotic pack for the more adult Jackbox crowds.
In the Jackbox Naughty Pack, we've got three games that support 3-8 players.
Fakin' It All Night Long
The return of Fakin' It, an imposter game in which all players besides the Faker receive a secret task (example: "Raise your hand if you've ever wanted to lick someone's head to groom them like a cat"). The Faker then has to do their best to blend in with the crowd by confidently defending their reasons for whatever side they've decided to join in with. Fakin' It was one of the biggest casualties of the move toward digital Jackbox nights. It didn't quite work with players not in the same room. But Fakin' It All Night Long promises to come equipped with a remote play mode to accommodate groups playing over Discord.
“Remote play offers all the information that player would have in the room, like who raised their hand and who is pointing at who, present on the game screen. But, we also have the classic “in the room” experience for players that are playing in person," clarified Creative Director and Product Manager Brooke Breit.
And yes, I think most of the avatars are in their underwear now. That's fun.
Dirty Drawful
Drawful is back! The Jackbox drawing game that intends for you to fuck up your art is back — and this time, dirty drawings are encouraged. The prompts are all "spicy and titillating." The trailer shows the likes of a stick man pooping candy and a grim reaper with a boner. And yes, Jackbox artists, the undo button is here.
Shoutout to the phallic pencils in toilets on the drawing waiting screen and the changes to the "Sexy Owl" Drawful host who has already long had the sexiest design of all the Jackbox hosts. Coconut bra on a doodled owl? Awooga.
Let Me Finish
The one true blue new game in the pack is Let Me Finish, the latest presentation-based Jackbox game. It asks players to, one by one, make an argument about some truly obtuse question. It'll really have you considering the anatomy of a Twizzler. The group will debate where the butt is on some inanimate object, how a strange fungus might hug you, and which piece of meat would like to be called daddy. With the ability to draw on the screen like a sportscaster, and with the promise of everyone at the party having the chance to make their case, this has a ton of potential to get rowdy and wild. Which I believe has to be what Jackbox is after with a game like the Naughty Pack.
With the step away from the Party Pack form, at least for this year, and the ability to push smaller themed packs like the Naughty Pack, Jackbox seems poised to experiment with their formula in the years to come. A decade of annual Party Packs has been a dream, but we're ready to see how the party game giant evolves with the gaming landscape.
Maybe smaller releases multiple times a year. More standalone games that slot into something like the Megapicker that much easier. Or maybe we get 10 more Party Packs and they just took a (deserved) year to breathe.
No matter what happens, we're here for it. Jackbox releases continue to be one of the highlights of our community's year, and even without a Party Pack, the Megapicker and Naughty Pack might represent one of the most exciting years in the company's recent history.
I first got introduced to jackbox around 2 years ago, and it was such a riot. I'm excited to see them continue to innovate. I need to grab the megapicker and host a game night!