Coming in hot with party-star Jackbox Party Pack, the second installment in the series has made it’s arrival on the Switch. As you’d expect, it’s another excellent lineup of party games made accessible and intuitive for Switch users everywhere. If you’ve played any Jackbox Party Pack game, you know what you’re getting into. If not, you’re in for a real treat of living room fun, made easier than ever with Jackbox’s use of smartphones as controllers.
Let’s break down the party pack’s five games:
In the first party pack, Drawful was far and away my favorite of the pack’s offering. This time around, Drawful’s spiritual successor Bidiots, fails to capture my attention as well as Drawful did, and that’s in part to how poorly the game is explained. Players are tasked with making two drawings on their smartphone in 90 seconds. After that, the pieces are put up for an auction in which silent art dealers will critique the pieces and/or bid on them. The competition comes from who can yield the biggest bid…I think. Many tries later, I’m still not sure what Jackbox was trying to accomplish in this game and that’s because it’s never really fully explained, both concept and execution.
My favorite of the pack is a sequel to one of my favorites from the first party pack–Fibbage. In Fibbage 2, players are given a trivia question that they must then provide a false answer to. The computer will throw the correct answer up on screen alongside the player’s incorrect answers. Players must choose the correct answer. As a player, your goal is to create such a convincing false answer that the other players will pick your answer over the actual answer. Not only is this concept riveting, it creates an intense competition of lies and trickery. Add in the use of boggling trivia and Fibbage 2 easily claims the spotlight.
The simplest of the bunch is Earwax. Essentially, you’re trying to pick an answer based on a sound that goes best with the chosen prompt. It’s entertaining in that it comes packed with the bizarre and zany sounds party pack players have come to know, but after a while, it’s simplicity causes the game to grow stale.
Quiplash is another great addition to Jackbox Party Pack’s slate of games, albeit nothing new–it’s Jackbox’s take on Apples to Oranges. Players submit an answer to a computer-generated question and other players pick the best answer. This game, more than any other in the pack, kept my group of friends and family laughing in my living room for longer than I ever imagined it would.
Finally, Bomb Corp puts an intern in charge of diffusing a bomb. This intern, one of the players, must follow instructions from the other players in order to successfully defuse the bomb. The trick is that the other players can only tell you what not to do. So, rather than a competitive nature, Bomb Corp forces players to act cooperatively, which is a nice refresher after your best friend stomps you yet again in Quiplash. While not the most entertaining, Bomb Corp is different enough that it earns it’s place in the party pack.
If you own and enjoy the first Jackbox Party Pack, you’ll find even more living room entertainment sure to keep the party lively here in Party Pack 2. If you’ve never played anything that can be found within a Jackbox Party Pack, you’re missing out on what I believe is the Nintendo Switch’s best party game, and Jackbox Party Pack 2 is the perfect place to start. Until Mario Party, no game on the switch will accommodate an audience large enough to keep an entire party of people as excited and entertained.
A code of The Jackbox Party Pack 2 was provided to BagoGames for the purpose of this review.
Jackbox Party Pack 2
Pros
- Another great slate of party games
- Like with the other party packs, your smartphone is the controller
- A sequel to Fibbage, one of the best party pack games
Cons
- Bidiots is poorly explained
- Earwax's simplicity grows stale
