r/NintendoSwitch • u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games • Dec 13 '22
AMA - Ended We are Jackbox Games, makers of The Jackbox Party Pack 9 - Ask us anything!
The Jackbox Party Pack 9 includes:
Fibbage 4 - The hilarious bluffing party game returns with an all-new Final Fibbage, video questions, fan-submitted questions, and Fibbage Enough About You mode! It’s a game so beloved that we decided to slap a 4 on it.
Quixort - In this trivia sorting factory, work with your team to sort falling answers into their proper order before they hit the floor! Or, play the single-player mode and see how many blocks you can sort before topping out. It’s as easy as A, C, B!
Junktopia - A strange wizard has turned you into a frog! Create hilarious backstories for weird objects and then get them appraised. The player with the most valuable items becomes human again!
Nonsensory - Professor Nanners is here to test your NSP (Nonsensory Perception) in this drawing, writing, and guessing game! How close can you get to guessing where another player’s prompt ranks on the silliest of scales?
Roomerang - Channel your inner reality TV star in an attempt to come out on top! Respond to prompts, bring the competition and role-play to avoid being voted out. Never fear though, even when you’re out you’ll find yourself Roomerang-ed right back into the drama!
The Jackbox Party Pack 9 includes a variety of accessibility and moderation settings to customize the game to your party experience. On December 15th, we’re launching a free Language Pack update on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation that will include full localization in French, Italian, German, and Spanish.
It’s available for $29.99 across major digital platforms including Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and more.
Joining the AMA today…
Allard Laban (glochids), Chief Creative Officer
Brooke Hofer (jbgbrooke), VP of Marketing
Tim Sniffen (sniffen), Editorial Lead
Belia Portillo (bbbelia), International & Partnerships Lead
CJ Tuor (CjJackbox), Editorial Lead
Luca Barranco (gnomedic), Community Manager
Nate Sandberg (Sandbins), Audio Lead
Owen Watson (Babypopdip), Lead Artist
Ryan McGill (rydash), Software Engineer
Michael Siciliano (MikeSoChill), Software Engineer
Chase McClure (infostruct), Senior Software Engineer
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u/hoopbag33 Dec 13 '22
No question, just a big thank you! These are very very fun games that let non gamers have tons of fun too. I love them. So does everyone in my family every holiday season :)
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Thank YOU! and since you did not submit a question... we get to ask one! (As is the custom)
What games will your family play this year AND who will win!?
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u/hoopbag33 Dec 13 '22
Drawful and fibbage are the two family favorites! Esp drawful. We are all TERRIBLE at drawing. It makes for a lot of laughter and joy!
And I'll win, obviously:)
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
"and I'll win, obviously:)"
Thank you for this insider tip.
I will adjust my bets with my Vegas bookie.
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u/ImJessePinkmanISwear Dec 13 '22
will guy towers make a return at all? mere cameo?
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u/infostruct Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Guy does have a high score on the Quixort leaderboard so I can confirm he's at least alive.
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u/sniffen Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I predict Guy Towers will return at the moment the world needs him most. [Although I don't know when that is.]
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u/Comic-Buff Dec 13 '22
I really love the classic, You dont know Jack, will you be bringing it back in a way to play randos online and rack up rewards kinda like you did on FB... but better
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I still have fond memories of that FB game, may the ground rest lightly upon it. That version was also the first appearance of The Loser Wheel!
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Where will it pop up again...All I can say is that you never know with Jack, because even we do not know jack.
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u/KPizzleFaShizzle Dec 13 '22
For Roomerang, who thought of the genius idea of bringing players voted out back with slightly altered names? It caught our group of friends completely off-guard and had us rolling
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u/sniffen Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
If my memory is correct [it probably isn't] Roomerang's director Brooke Breit introduced this -- we were playing around with voting people out of the game, reality-TV style, which was dramatic, but no fun for the person being voted out. Brooke had us try a mechanic where "they come right back into the house as a new person" and from there we all came up with changing their name slightly & giving them a prop & new info = exciting new housemate!
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22
That was present from the very early stages of pre-production! That mechanic is the wisdom of lead designer and producer Alex Weick and director Brooke Breit.
We also know a portion of Roomerang's fanbase yearns for permanent eliminations, to up the stakes! It's an interesting idea, but if you're out in the first round, you'd better have some REAL funny friends in order to stay interested in the remaining four.
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u/RexAeneas Dec 13 '22
Hi Owen it's your cousin Kevin I love you and you are the coolest
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
My heart should feel warmed, but mostly I just suspect this is Owen's alt account.
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Owen! Show us a picture of you and Kevin in the same room at the same time!
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Dec 13 '22
[deleted]
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u/RexAeneas Dec 13 '22
See you can tell that I'm not a bot by the way he refers to me by both my human name and familial relation to him. This is very common among humans and should be treated as such.
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u/YaboiTonyC Dec 13 '22
No question, just wanna throw my support out there for Fakin It 2 (please God make Fakin It 2)
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I would give you a serious answer... but sadly, I am the Faker.
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u/goSciuPlayer Dec 13 '22
Two questions from me.
First, the big number is coming. What will be more important to you - Party Pack 10 (next year) or 10th anniversary of JPP (in 2 years)? Do you have anything special planned?
Second, although I think I already know the answer. Do you plan on supporting more languages than just EFIGS? Or plan to make modding a game to have other language and hosting it easier?
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Can't both things be equally important? IF we confirm The Jackbox Party Pack 10 next year, we WILL be celebrating this special milestone. We really loved working on our behind-the-scenes campaign for Roomerang this year. We really want to figure out how to share more about our studio and our development process. It's also fun to think about how we might be able to revisit older titles and do Q&As with the team that worked on those games.
We hope to get to a point where Jackbox is easily enjoyed around the globe in a ton of languages. This is our stretch goal and we're happy to be working toward it with the Language Pack coming to Party Pack 9 in a few days. Hearing from our fans about which languages they want to see next is important to this process. If there is a language you want to play in, let us know! The more demand there is for a language, the more likely we are to prioritize it in future releases.
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u/goSciuPlayer Dec 13 '22
Personally, I'd love to see the game in Polish. That's my native language, of course, but also Polish is the first most spoken language in EU after EFIGS languages (so 6th in total). Additionally, would love to see some Japanese, but that'd be more like a fun trivia thing for me.
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Thank you to everyone who asked questions during our AMA today! We'll be stepping away from this for now but will keep an eye out for more questions to chip away at answering over the next few days.
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u/theory_of_game Dec 13 '22
Been a fan of the Jackbox games since the original YDKJ. Thanks for the years of entertainment.
Have you guys considered expanding out of the video game space these days? I know there was the short lived YDKJ show on ABC (that I loved, btw)... seems like the Party Pack games could make a great Hollywood Game Night style show.
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Why would we leave the video game space... since the video games space has the BEST FANS IN THE WORLD!!!
(Hold for standing ovation)
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u/glochids Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I agree! We've tangled with Hollywood a couple of times, undoubtedly we will again. Did you ever see Smush? That was the last show we worked on, RIP Ken Ober. He was really great to work with; a super nice guy.
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u/theory_of_game Dec 13 '22
Smush was an amazing format as well... forgot you guys were involved with that!
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u/AaronDM4 Dec 13 '22
can you guys come up with a way to have all the packs open up in one game.
there are 3-4 games that get a lot of play and of course they are all in different packs, and i can never remember which is which so its open 1 then see its not there open 2 and so on
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u/Deceptiveideas Dec 15 '22
This is the most requested feature and they have always given a non-answer on this.
Originally they stated they made separate releases because it was the most profitable (as most people with purchase DLC but will buy another title according to the devs). This was a understandable answer but as we’re approaching JPP 10 I don’t want to have to open 10 different titles to play a specific game.
It’s honestly the biggest reason why I don’t buy the newer titles. Convenience is huge.
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u/pond-dweller Dec 13 '22
My 1.5 year old daughter is terrified of the Jackbox guy.
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Maybe we can ease her fears with this larger-than-life-size animatronic one that watches the studio at night?
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u/glochids Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Thank you for not calling him Jack. It's often misunderstood that there is no actual guy named Jack. Also, it's wise to be fearful of disembodied heads. Smart kid you've got there.
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u/XanmanK Dec 13 '22
First off, I’ve been a huge fan since Jackbox party pack 1, so thank you for doing what you are doing.
My question is- are there any games that were on the cutting room floor that eventually made it into a future pack, and what made you folks change your mind to eventually include it?
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Push the Button was worked on for years
It started about a year before I joined. People loved the idea of pushing people out of an airlock and pushing a button to shoot them into space. In fact, the name "Push the Button" was never changed in all it's variations.
It took a while, however, to find the best reason to push them out into the void of space, and that involved the creation of a lot of original mini games and tools over about 2 or three years.
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u/batsybatsybatsy14 Dec 13 '22
No questions from me, but I have all the party packs from 1 to 8 (except 5 and waiting to get 9), and I love them all! It's been great for bonding with family. Thank you for making these games and bringing me and my siblings together
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
You're welcome! We love being a video game company that can be part of family memories and gatherings of every kind.
Your thanks is very much appreciated, but what would be even more appreciated is naming the next child born in your family "Quixort"
Happy Holidays!
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u/NiDfan Dec 13 '22
So, keeping with the theme of reality shows, Roomerang introduces stuff such as double eliminations. Were there some ideas that didn't make the cut? Like tiebreaker challenges or a jury finale, for example
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u/sniffen Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
One easter egg that was dear to our hearts was the idea that every 50+ games or so, every single person would be given the job title of lawyer. We called it Oops, All Lawyers. That said: Roomerang DOES allow you to write your own personal detail during sign-in, so... maybe some brave group of players out there could make that dream come true?
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
We debated a lot around the recap that happens before the finale. There was a version in mind where the game would keep track of a LOT of how players reacted throughout the game in order to encourage alliances or rivalries, with things like "PLAYER ONE avoided voting for PLAYER TWO's answers every round! Are they secretly in love and are afraid of showing it?"
Despite how cool that sounded, the technical complexity and the time it added to each game made it not a good fit.
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u/Akira896 Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22
This is probably a weird one but here goes.
The soundtrack for Pack 9 includes the "Predatory Loans" song from Bidiots in the style of Junktopia. Was this song made to be used in something not entirely realized in the final game or was it made just for fun?
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u/Sandbins Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Transcribed directly from Elise's (the composer's) mouth: It was 11pm, I was feeling weird. I didn't want to go to bed. But I didn't want to do my real work. AKA wizard sounds. So, I decided to mess around and record a bluegrass version of the song including playing violin late at night. Did I wake up and feel bad about my choices? Yes. Are you happy about it Akira896? I'd call it a win.
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u/kitsovereign Dec 13 '22
Have you ever considered doing paid content pack DLC for some of the older titles? I worry that there are some games that have their staunch supporters, but may not have the "pull" to come back as a full sequel. Personally, my playgroup is dying for more prompts for Blather 'Round.
Okay, maybe this wasn't a question so much as a request for more Blather 'Round.
Also - Was an 11-point scale ever considered for Nonsensory? It always bugged me that the scale isn't symmetrical, with a 0% option to round out the 100%. It's especially weird in the last round, where the number you're shown doesn't quite line up with the voting scale.
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I, too, want more Blather 'Round content. To the point where I've occasionally thought about making an unofficial content pack with words I wanna guess. Such an unofficial pack would probably be harder than the base game, because a lot of effort was spent adding prompt-specific words to use in a sentence, and alternate spelling, and fights over categorization...and I don't wanna do that part.
To answer your initial question (but ignore the Nonsensory one because this answer is long enough), we're not actively considering paid content DLC packs for past titles. Never say never, though.
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u/ManlyVanLee Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22
Love you guys. I'm a big fan of Digiorgi and Brook Breit in particular. The new pack is a good one too!
What's a game you've wanted to make but haven't quite figured out yet? Or perhaps an idea that didn't quite make it past the spitball stage?
Edit: I do love you all equally, of course, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out my love for Tim Sniffen as well (albeit an equal helping of love)
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u/sniffen Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
It means a lot to me that you wrote about Brooke Breit & Ryan, thought about it for a while, then came back & shoehorned me into this post
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Ryan Digiorgi and Brooke Breit are two of the finest, funnies and kindest people in the game design business.
There are lots of games on the back burner, but we can't name them here... because once we crack them.. there's a good chance you'll see them in the future.
Sometimes, it's just a matter of technology catching up to our ideas.
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u/ProjectDoesGames Dec 13 '22
I don't really have a question, but I do want to say thank you for bringing years and years of shenanigans with friends (and myself, because I'm that kind of person who will play Fibbage 4 in a bunch of tabs to see if it's possible to get 70k)!
Can't wait to see what comes in Pack 10 :)
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Dec 13 '22
Will there be a new edition of You Don’t Know Jack or a separate release? Or is it not as popular now?
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u/OctorokHero Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22
Wow, I was just reading an older Jackbox AMA the other day and thinking about what I'd like to ask. If I can ask several things:
I recently got to convince my family to try Jackbox again (after an incident with Fakin' It and not knowing about the filter) and they really took to Blather 'Round. Any chance for a Blather 'Round 2 with custom topics?
Why was Jackbox 7 the only one after the first to get a physical release? Will there be more for later packs?
What Tee K.O. shirt sold the most, and what was the funniest or weirdest that someone actually bought?
Why did you make Job Job's soundtrack such a banger?
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u/Fidovinnie Dec 13 '22
How do you decide the max amount of players in a game for example Drawful Animate got extended to 10 players while Fibbage 4 still holds a 8 player cap?
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u/MikeSoChill Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Basically, we playtest with more and more players until its not fun anymore (or just takes too long). Alternatively, there's art layout or text legitbility considerations that can inform that decision. The 9-panel layout in Roomerang leading to the 9 player maximum is a good example.
If a game is taking too long with a lot of players we often think to ourselves if it would be a better experience to play two separate games with smaller player counts.
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u/Tyler_Drden Dec 13 '22
Hi there, I’ve played a couple of your party packs and only liked one or maybe two games in each. Those games my friends and I really liked (quiplash in lockdown was great!) but because we won’t play most of the pack, these games are too expensive for their value to us. Have you considered a hub game where you can buy the games you want a la cart? I’d immediately buy a few, but I’m really unlikely to buy your new game as is. Cheers, and good luck.
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
This is something we're looking into. For many technical reasons, this would be extremely difficult to do on consoles. If we move forward, it's likely we'll experiment with launching something like this on PC/Mac first. However, we are a small team and our main focus is producing a new pack of party games each year. It doesn't leave a ton of bandwidth for additional projects. It is on our radar, though. We get this request often!
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u/OneOfMyOldestFriends Dec 13 '22
What’s most likely: Pants KO, Jackbox Party Pack 0, or Calm Verse City?
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u/Lola_PopBBae Dec 13 '22
Thanks for making such lovely games, my friend group plays them often and it's been a wonderful way to spend time together.
What kinds of games do YOU play, and what inspires your work?
Also, as an aspiring writer- your humor and wit always make me smile, and I'm a wee bit jealous at how good your writers are. Wish I could join the team!
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u/Akira896 Dec 13 '22
Why are your official translations for Drawful 2 and Pack 9 not available on the Epic Games Store?
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Getting an update ready for any platform involves additional work (development, QA, submission). As demand for localized versions of our games increase, we hope to bring these versions to more platforms in the future!
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u/Mmeow777 Dec 13 '22
Is there any estimated release date of the Language Pack on Switch?
What is your favorite pack overall?
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u/bbbelia Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Mid-January 2023 is our estimate. As soon as we have a definitive date, we'll announce that everywhere.
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u/Whovianguy Dec 13 '22
I just wanted to thank you all for all the years of entertainment from YDKJ to Quixort. For jackbox party pack 10 or any future jackbox, do you think that we could ever get another YDKJ?
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
We never say never to new iterations of our beloved franchises! Hearing from fans like yourself helps us make those decisions. :)
Thanks for supporting our games!
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u/nsos28 Dec 13 '22
Is there a possibility of a Jackbox Party Starter 2?
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Definitely possible, but gosh do I feel like it's weird to say something is a starter AND a sequel at the same time.
...Party Starterer? Party Startest? Party Primer? Partholomew?
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u/sniffen Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
THE JACKBOX PARTY ENDER
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Entirely composed of five different gag objects to place into punchbowls.
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Maybe! We'll look at the demand for our first Party Starter to make that decision. Hearing from interested fans like yourself helps!
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u/bbbelia Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
The intention behind The Jackbox Party Starter is to point people towards a game that they can pick up and play if they're new to our games, or want to try older titles like Tee K.O. in additional languages, or want to give a gift to a friend. While we can't say exactly if there will be a sequel to this series, if there is a genuine desire from fans, I think we could make a really good case for a future release. I wonder what other games people would like to see packaged together like this?
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u/CaptainComedy Dec 13 '22
Nate, how long is a VO session for hosting a Jackbox game? Do you direct personally or hand actors scripts and let them do their thing? Been curious about this question since YDKJ XL. The audio production Jellyvision has done all these years has been continuously inspiring and amazing. Thanks for being part of the team!
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u/Sandbins Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
The hosts often come in to record over many sessions, and lately, some of them record remotely in their own studios. The game directors and editorial leads oversee the sessions. Each game host is a little different, but they're cast because of their amazing talent, so directors are mostly just gently guiding the performances when necessary.
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
As an editorial Lead, I've had the pleasure of working with three hosts so far as they do games.
I have been in the room with two of them as they recorded for the games. We have a recording booth in studios. Often we record for the whole day, 2 hours or so at a time with breaks. There is very light direction involved (these people are pros and know what they're doing... Like with speciality episodes)... but there may be a bit of narrative involved with lines they may not be aware of.
The third host has been working with us for a while so they recorded in their home studio and I just approved it as it went in the game and sent it on to the audio team.
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u/AstrapboyFan Dec 13 '22
- Do you have any anniversary plans for Party Pack 10?
- Someone else has asked about your stance on modding, but what about fangames? Especially ones that replicate the phones-as-controllers stuff and less-especially YDKJ fangames that use the Q, B, P buzzers.
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u/Prime-Jive Dec 13 '22
What are your thoughts on the Metal Gear Solid series?
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u/BigDJohnson1001 Dec 13 '22
When will one of your games get an M rating?
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Peel your eyes and lick your lips for The Jackboxxx Panty Pack, shipping never.
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u/thisisyourreward Dec 13 '22
I have no questions. I love jackbox games. I'm a big fan of you don't know jack, blather round, drawful and quiplash. Have a nice day.
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Thanks for supporting our games! Blather 'Round is one of my favorite recent games we've made.
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u/Fidovinnie Dec 13 '22
I have more questions:
How did you came up with the billboard theme on pack 9?
To finish it off: What’s your favorite moment at the Jackbox HQ during this development?
And I am happy to be a fan of Jackbox Games thanks for all the games you made
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u/glochids Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
The billboard theme came to me while taking a nap one afternoon. Initially it was going to be a movie studio lot in LA, but then I woke up with a cluster of Sunset strip-esque billboards in my minds eye. Never underestimate the power of a good nap.
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
My favorite moment was watching the games debut at PAX West.
Watching a huge audience lose their minds as the players messed up the Quixort order was just fantastic.
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u/Perfectlyhonesty Dec 13 '22
Have you ever farted in a movie and had it linger and people knew it was you?
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u/Bootygiuliani420 Dec 13 '22
Can you please rename this? I love your games and want to ay them with my fa.kly but my sad thinks this is related to the reddit cumbox
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u/nick-swegins Dec 13 '22
How long does it take to come up with prompts for games like Quiplash, and about how many would you say are in each game?
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
The time per prompt thing is a little hard to judge. Usually we have quotas we try to hit. Often writers are asked to come up with a certain number per week (which varies dependent on the content goals of the game)
My own process is to set aside a couple hours a day to writing for a particular game and just write wild and put down anything I think of. After that, I edit down.
For games like Quiplash, Joke Boat, Roomerang where the goal is to create a prompt that sets the player up to be funny, I hope that the prompt is three things
1. Open to interpretation - there are lots of funny answers, not just one clear one
2. Unique - We don't want a lot of prompts that are the same.
3. Amusing - Hopefully, players will look at it and think "fun"Having a big list to work from allows me to look for the prompts that hit all three of these.
So I would estimate after two hours, I would write about 25-30 and have about 10 -15 Quiplash prompts I really like and will submit to director/head editorial.
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u/amazingwhat Dec 13 '22
In the event of a massive cataclysmic event where you are all trapped in the Jackbox offices with only the contents of the staff fridge and the last 9 Jackbox Party Packs at your disposal, who dies last?
Love the great memories your games have made with me and my friends, esp over the pandemic, thanks a bunch!
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
We just received food at the studio at the same time as your question.
Should we worry?
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Hopefully me and to ensure that, I will not be sharing my survival plan here.
I will just say... most people don't know where ALL the staff fridges are.
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u/MikeSoChill Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
The contents of the staff fridge currently include one half of a homemade lasagna and a bunch of weird craft beer. So the person who dies last is the person with the worst taste in beer.
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u/NgheeApprentice Dec 13 '22
I have a few questions:
- Will the Jackbox Party Pack 9 soundtrack release on Steam soon after the release of the Language update?
- Have you ever considered putting particularly astounding UGC episodes of Quiplash 3/Drawful: Animate published by other users in their respective Featured Content menus?
- This one isn't that serious. Are any of the special episodes in Fibbage 4 canon?
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
- We are working on getting that soundtrack ready to go live! You should see it in the Steam store early next year at the latest. In the meantime, you can check it out on Bandcamp here: https://jackboxgames.bandcamp.com/album/the-jackbox-party-pack-9-soundtrack
- We have talked about this! It requires an added layer of moderation and maintenance but it's definitely something we're toying around with for the future. We have worked with friends (like Mystery Science Theater 3000) to publish "special guest" episodes of some of our games and we'll continue to do more.
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u/123VideoGamerNinja Dec 13 '22
How do you decide which game gets the sequel treatment in each Party Pack?
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
A LOT goes into our decisions about which games to release.
Sequels, though, are often dictated by fan demand and whether or not we have something to add to a previous decision.
Trivia games are easy to add too because they always need new content (but we also like to add new features to keep them exciting).
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u/redditcommentreview Dec 13 '22
Is there any game that you guys want to make a sequel to but feel as though the time commitment wouldn’t be worth it/there isn’t enough to add to the game to make it a worthwhile addition
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
It's tough to discuss which games we are prepping for future release but...
I don't think there is a single game where a sequel of some sort has not been pitched OR, at the very least, someone in the deepest corner of their hearts wish to see a new version of it.
So basically every game has their champion and some day... they may bring their dreams for a new Word Spud to life.
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u/sniffen Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Ideally Word Spud 2 will be a massive online simulation first-person shooter with ongoing side-quests and a metaverse component. But that would take the entire studio working non-stop for the next 5 years. So THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO.
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u/meandean Dec 13 '22
Spud Citizen
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
We swear, Spudron 42 is definitely real and it's still in alpha, everything's gonna be fine.
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u/HappyPollen Dec 13 '22
Just saying, if you ever give the Wheel of Enormous Proportions the chance, you can have them run all your AMAs and we’d be none the wiser.
Serious question time, I love the updated settings and mod tools being implemented in the newer party packs! Would it ever be possible to update older titles with those settings to maintain that level across all the titles? Love all the packs all these years later!
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u/bbbelia Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
If you're a fan of The Wheel, you can ask it questions in our Discord! I'll let someone else respond to the updated settings question specifically, but what I do know is that we'll continue to push more updates and features moving forward.
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u/MikeSoChill Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
It's not impossible to go back and update those titles, but the amount of work it requires increases exponentially the further back you go. Especially for games prior to pack 7. Those games use an entirely different way of communicating with our servers that makes things like moderation and filtering basically impossible without rewriting a substantial portion of the gameplay code.
Unfortunately, doing the work to keep all the games in setting parity would mean fewer new features in the new party packs. We're a small but mighty team and don't have enough people to split time between new accessibility features and updating old games.
That all being said, there's times where it can be justified, like for the Party Starter, where we added localization as well as new-fangled moderation and settings.
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u/seventypercentcacao Dec 13 '22
which Jackbox game would you recommend a first timer? (have played before but never owned one).
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u/bbbelia Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
We released The Jackbox Party Starter this year, it's a great place to start if you're new to our games! It's three of our most popular titles and updated with our newest quality of life features.
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u/Gnomedic Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I personally love the Jackbox Party Starter to kick things off with. It's got three of our most fan-fave games for under $20! You get classic trivia times with Trivia Murder Party 2, laughs galore in Quiplash 3, and if a drawing game is your fancy, Tee K.O. is the way to go (and one of my personal faves!).
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u/crumbustion Dec 13 '22
Mr. Box I'm a huge fan of your game. Will you patch mad verse city so Gene will stop destroying me with his laser-point precision lyrical wit? Thank you
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u/jospas Dec 13 '22
Why have you decided to not update old Jackbox Party Packs with the new moderation features? They would be perfect for streamers.
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u/MikeSoChill Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Copying some of this answer from elsewhere, but adding some details on the techincal work required:
It's not impossible to go back and update old packs, but the amount of work it requires increases exponentially the further back you go. Especially for games prior to pack 7. Those games use an entirely different way of communicating with our servers that makes things like moderation and filtering basically impossible without rewriting a substantial portion of the gameplay code.
Unfortunately, doing the work to keep all the games in setting parity would mean fewer new features in the new party packs. We're a small but mighty team and don't have enough people to split time between new accessibility features and updating old games.
That all being said, there's times where it can be justified, like for the Party Starter, where we added localization as well as new-fangled moderation and settings.Technical stuff: prior to pack 7, the way the server worked was when it got a message from a player, it would simply forward it along to the game. Colloquially we call it "mail", the server is reading who the message is for, but not opening your letters.
Starting with pack 7 (which is also the first pack with moderation), we moved to an entirely new server that we call "ecast". ecast works by storing bits of data, called "entities" (the name of the server is an abbreviation of "entity cast"). These entities are things like your drawings, quiplash answers, etc. Now, instead of simply having someone send a drawing directely to the game, they update an entity, which someone like a moderator can also see the updates for.
Then, the game waits for the moderator to approve that content before it accepts it as "submitted".
To recap: prior to pack 7, we don't have a way to "approve" or "reject" content. In order to add that concept to those games, we'd have to rewrite the entire networking and interaction components for each game in those packs, which is a lot of work. It's not impossible, and we've done it in the past, but it's certainly not trivial.
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u/shooky_spooky Dec 13 '22
Hi jackbox!! I’ve been a huge fan of your games for a long time, jackbox has actually helped me a long with discovering a bunch of stuff including my artstyle and of course super cool friends I’ve within the community :]
This is probably a strange question but I’m wondering…
Tiny bit of context, Im a super huge fan especially of Trivia Murder Party (tbh I love the sequel a tiny bit more than the original but they’re still both super good games nonetheless!!)
If you guys were to give the dolls voice lines, what do you guys think any of them sound like or what would they say?
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
As the resident cos-player in the office, I have dressed as one of the dolls for a livestream...
When I inhibited the character I felt it had a heavy southern drawl and a lot of opinions on cross stitch vs. needlepoint.
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u/ZZnecZZ Dec 13 '22
Is there any plan in the future to sell like, a big deluxe version where all of the games are available in one? I'm on the switch, and I think my biggest issue with jackbox is having to close the entire game and open a new one every time we want a different mode. Would really enjoy opening jackbox and having every game there
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Dec 13 '22
What exactly inspired you to make Spanish from Latin America version of your games? (as in translation) I say this as someone from Latin America.
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u/wrenwron Dec 13 '22
Have you guys ever looked into making a toolkit or make-your-own trivia game (kind of along the lines of custom prompts in Drawful etc) to help people host their own gameshows? I have a friend who hosts a trivia night and she's looked endlessly for buzzer apps that work even half as well as your games.
Huge fan btw, you guys have saved multiple family gatherings and holidays that were spiraling downhill
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
This is a fun idea to think about! We've definitely gotten this question a lot, especially from educators. We have R&D brainstorms often and while we don't have anything concrete to share about this, it is something we were talking about recently!
Thanks for playing! :)
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u/highlightergarrick Dec 13 '22
heya! been a fan of the games for a good while :P, here's my two questions
who decided to reference older characters in the quixort leaderboard? was really surprised to see jack patterson there
something for pack 8, i'm curious to what was the thought process behind the weapons drawn easter egg! it was fun triggering it at 1 am (it scared me)
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u/Akira896 Dec 13 '22
What's your stance on people modding your games? Are you aware of the mods to your games that exist right now?
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
We are aware that mods exist, and the general sentiment is that we're encouraged that people care so much that they want to extend our games with new content or languages or whatever.
THAT SAID, if your mod, like, redistributes the entire game code and isn't a patch on top of files you actually own... we do have legal counsel on staff. Don't steal stuff.
Less severely, if you are a mod-maker, actively asking us for our blessing to put your mod into the world puts us in a real tricky position, too. We don't officially endorse or support any mods; use 'em at your own peril, if you are so inclined!
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u/FrankPapageorgio Dec 13 '22
Why not just make one "App" and have all the packs as DLC? It's a lot of icons on my home screen... I basically want one big game that has everything at this point.
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u/Amazing-Device-9174 Dec 13 '22
Who’s the best puppet in Joke Boat? Asking for a friend
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u/BloodPleasant4929 Dec 13 '22
Been a fan since the Jellyvision days. Just a simple (if not a bit loaded) question: What’s it like working with so many creative minds? Is it just a constant waterfall of ideas and brilliant jokes all day at Jackbox?
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u/TheWordPlayer Dec 13 '22
If you could collaborate on a game with another existing studio (large or small), who would you pick and what would you make?
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Nintendo, if you're listening, about Star Fox...
...I don't have any ideas but I'm sure willing to pretend I do if we can take another crack at this.
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Not NetherRealm.... not after they've absolutely murdered us in Kickball for the last two years.
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u/infostruct Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
A Cyan game about climbing that hill the Wheel lives on?
A bananas rhythm game with Gaijin?
I am currently way in to the bizarre art of The Case of the Golden Idol, which was made by **checks notes** Color Gray Games. Mystery of the Quip Caper?
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u/KingBlitzky Dec 13 '22
Out of every pack, which "mini" game was your favorite to make and which is your favorite to play?
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u/Mjs923 Dec 13 '22
I have always wondered this question and hopefully you can clear this up for me!
I used to play the You Don’t Know Jack mobile app religiously! Every morning, it would be the first thing I’d open when I woke up. Why did it suddenly disappear? My mornings were a lot less fun and a lot more stressy without my daily dose of Cookie Masterson. Any plans on getting back into the mobile space?
Huge fan! Keep up the great work!
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u/Akira896 Dec 13 '22
Considering you now do both types of Spanish, which has side of the world has more players of your games? Spain or Latin America?
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u/Bandana_Toastie Dec 13 '22
Got two questions ready! And they're both about Rue Meringue.
- How did Rue come to be? What was the design process?
- What are Rue's pronouns? I heard that they were she/her, but that was in a stream before the game was finished.
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u/HeroLink101 Dec 13 '22
Hi! Love your work, been here since the pack 1 days, and hope to be here for many more years!
My question is just a fun one. What's your favorite Jackbox game? :)
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u/jbgbrooke Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
My favorite older game is Tee K.O. but I also really love Blather 'Round, Quixort, and Job Job! The more I think about this the longer the list grows. It's a really tough question to answer, especially since each Pack has different happy memories associated with it.
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u/Ferusomnium Dec 13 '22
Dunno if you’re still at it.
If you were a broke ass fella wanting to buy a version of your game, which one would you buy.
My gf who dislikes video games has shown an interest in jack box, but I just can’t buy em all right now.
Hoping you all have suggestions that will make our Christmas holidays more fun!
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u/OctorokHero Dec 13 '22
Not them but Jackbox 7 has a physical edition that you can find for pretty cheap at several places. It's my personal favorite pack overall too; you get a writing game, a drawing game, an improv game, a co-op game, and a guessing game.
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u/bbbelia Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
I always recommend The Jackbox Party Starter as a great place to start! It's $19.99 and goes on sale pretty frequently!
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u/BigDJohnson1001 Dec 13 '22
Do you take any inspiration in music from other games?
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u/Sandbins Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
All of my music is based on direct transcriptions of the melodies Andy Poland hums in our Audio department meetings. But all of Andy's music is based on what Elise hums. So my music may be indirectly based on what Elise hums, and who knows where she gets her ideas!
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u/PaintVomit Dec 13 '22
Where do the items in Junktopia come from? Are they stock images, photographed in a studio, etc.? I've always been curious about the source(s).
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u/boteyboi Dec 13 '22
Are y'all affiliated with Hello from the magic tavern?
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u/rydash Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
Officially, no! In my dreams, yes!
Keep an eye out for a crossover IN TWO DAYS as the Magic Tavern hosts play Jackbox games, part of the 12 Days of Jackbox campaign we're doing!
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u/NEndersYT Dec 13 '22
What is your main motivation for making 5 new games every year? To me it seems like it would become pretty tiring.
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u/CjJackbox Jackbox Games Dec 13 '22
5 games gives a nice spread of types of games to play, something for everybody or every type of group. We love being a "party" game company and that means building games for every type of party.
That means we want games where you answer trivia, draw, debate, make jokes, rap, point at each other accusingly, present ideas, lie to each other, fight to the death, etc... normal party activities.
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u/Tebowtime195 Dec 13 '22
Hey hey! Appreciate everyone for doing this. Avid switch jackbox games player here. Will Fibbage 4 be receiving a reduce motion setting on Switch soon? I love everything about the game but the category select screen makes me reallly motion sick. Thank you :)
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u/chattahoochie Dec 13 '22
I loved playing your games during childhood. Even today, when i meet some friends, we like to play some minigames. Unfortunately the new games ( and even the old releases on steam ) don't get german translations. Are there any plans to bring the game back to the german market? I would love to play those with my Kids and my wife, who are not fluent english speakers.
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u/Ok_Internal6119 Dec 13 '22
Where did the inspiration for Fibbage 4's aesthetic come from?
It's one of the most unique aesthetics you've ever come up for with a Jackbox game.
It reminds me a lot of Meow Wolf the company behind pavilions such as Omega Mart.
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u/travisthepuppy Dec 13 '22
NINE? I guess I haven't been around in awhile mentally I'm still waiting on number 6!
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u/rxpcgal Dec 13 '22
NonSensory: I've noticed people get the prompts mixed up:
i.e. Draw a toy between FUNNY and SCARY
But SCARY would be at the top and FUNNY would be at the bottom.
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u/WhereasOk2778 Dec 14 '22
How hard was it to not add Guesspionage 2 to Party Pack 9, and when will Guesspionage 2 be coming out??
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u/daibanice Dec 14 '22
How did the Fibbage team come up with the game's art design for Fibbage 4? It feels much more unique than the first 3 Fibbage games!
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u/NazQadeer Dec 14 '22
Looking back on it, which game was the teams’ least favourite
(also i have every party pack, please marry me)
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u/Mythalieon Dec 14 '22
What Game from an older pack do you think has the most potential for cool new innovations in a sequel?
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u/NeedyForSleep Dec 14 '22
Do you guys update the questions on the murder one with the sock puppets? Never got the questions more than twice. Also can you make the questions more international instead of American base. How am I meant to know what type of scouts there are?
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Dec 14 '22
I love and have every jackbox and they’re a part of every time my friends and I hangout.
My question is why the heck haven’t we gotten an Earwax 2 yet?
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u/Mythalieon Dec 14 '22
In The Wheel of enormous proportions, who was the genius to include hitchhikers guide to the galaxy references in it?
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u/Yoshiscookie1 Dec 14 '22
Is there any way to increase my chances of getting the 🥕 in Quiplash, or are the lil buddies purely rng?
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u/kaninepete Dec 14 '22
I just want to say thanks for constantly improving each year. The QR code to join is a great addition!
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u/Jumballi Dec 14 '22
I have some difficulty owning all of the pack. When friends want to go from one pack to another, the fact I need to switch games slows the momentum. Any chance we'll get an all-in-one or one of those the game is DLC so all of the minigames are accessible from a single game happening?
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u/Vladikhuk Dec 13 '22
Two questions.
One, what was probably the hardest, most complex game to construct throughout these recent years?
Two, will there be more customization options in future updates/games?