When I was younger, I used to play a game called You Don’t Know Jack on the original PlayStation. You Don’t Know Jack, Jackbox Games’ flagship project, had seen many iterations over the years, but this was my first experience with the developer’s work. The trivia game was an absolute riot. For those who may not know, You Don’t Know Jack is structured as though you’re a contestant on a (very weird) television trivia gameshow. The team leaned into the structure to hilarious results, including transitional songs, comedic fake commercials, and a ‘snarky’ host named Cookie Masterson.
As the years passed, the team grew and branched out into developing other games under the Jackbox Games name. Though each game had its own features and gameplay mechanics, they were all united through their unique humor and party-focused gameplay. Games like Quiplash, Drawful, and Fibbage became fan-favorites, and soon they and many more were packaged into sets called the Jackbox Party Packs.
Now, Jackbox Games is hitting 2016 hard with a new standalone release (Drawful 2) and a third Jackbox Party Pack. I had the great fortune to sit down for an impromptu interview with one of the team’s game writers/directors, Arnie Niekamp, to discuss their big plans for 2016.
(NOTE: This interview is a transcript of a recorded spoken interview.)