Jackbox Party Pack 9 Continues to Bring the Fun

Coming in for the ninth iteration of the ultra-popular Jackbox party games is Jackbox Party Pack 9, and we got to go hands-on with this ultra-fun game with many other players at Pax West 2022. For a game that's into its ninth sequel (eighth sequel? Not counting the original), the Jackbox Games team is not one to rest on their laurels -- they're always looking for brand-new games to add to the party packs while developing sequels for some of their most popular titles, such as Fibbage, which is included with Jackbox Party Pack 9.

Though there are five games total in the new Jackbox Games title, I only had the chance to play one of the new ones: Nonsensory. Like most Jackbox games, things quickly lead into the absurd. There are two rounds that combine both writing and drawing skills. For the first round, each player is given a prompt and a probability score, so for me my question was about medieval kings and the probability was 70%, so I had to come up with a name that sounds like there was a 70% chance it might be a real medieval king. The other players then guess the probability between 10% and 100%, points are then awarded accordingly.

The second part of the game brought even more absurd prompts that you had to draw, with my first one being draw Pikachu, but 20% of him is a windmill. Other highlights from that round include a player who drew Santa as a wrestler, and some surprisingly delicious-looking pizza.

While playing the game, I was able to talk a bit with Editorial Lead CJ Tuor and Creative Director Ryan DiGiorgi. When it comes to games like Quiplash in the Jackbox Party Pack collection, Tuor described the difficulty of writing the Safety Quips, answers that players can select if they're unable to think of anything on their own.

"We want to put trivia in that makes the player look good," Tuor said. "We want to make the Safety Quips fun, but not have them be funnier than what players would come up with on their own. It's never fun if the choice the writers put into the game wins."

We also discussed how online social gaming has become even more important during the pandemic, and Tuor mentioned that it's not uncommon for players to thank the team for their games.

"It's a game that can bridge generations," Tuor said. "At Thanksgiving, when families no longer want to speak to each other, everyone can play a Jackbox game."

Jackbox Party Pack 9 holds a lot of promise as a go-to game this holiday season, as it is set to release in Q4 2022. The game lineup in this pack includes: Fibbage 4, Quixort, Junktopia, Nonsensory, and Roomerang. A full description of these games is available on the Jackbox Games website.

TechRaptor's Jackbox Party Pack 9 preview was conducted on PC at a demo booth at PAX West 2022.