Jackbox Party Pack 4 review: So easy, an eight year old will beat you

Jackbox Party Pack 4 review: So easy, an eight year old will beat you

“Marry Dalibor”

The Fibbage: Enough About You question that my wife is tasked with answering is akin to “what was the dumbest thing you ever did.” She writes “Married Dalibor.” That’s me.

When it comes time for us to throw in our own lies and guess the correct answer, a myriad of options come up. Skinny dip. Ate too much turkey. Farted. Married Dalibor. And… Marry Dalibor?

There are two answers, essentially identical to each other. We kind of figured that my wife would post something like that, but TWO answers? As the round comes to a close and our selections are revealed, ‘Marry Dalibor” has the most votes. The creator of the answer?

My 8 yr old daughter.

My little girl just absolutely obliterates me, shattering my ego in a thousand pieces as uproarious laughter echoes in the house.

“Marry Dalibor”

Jackbox Party Pack 4, much like the previous iterations of the series, is full of these kinds of moments. And while it may not necessarily feel as groundbreaking any more, it’s a unique shift in focus that could make this edition have longer legs than the rest.

The Jackbox games are super easy to understand, no matter what kind of ingenious style of trivia questioning we’re engaged in. While trivia can be fun, the Party Pack games are always best when we’re forced to interact with each other instead of just answering queries. It becomes about knowing who we’re playing against, not so much knowing answers. The idea was sprinkled throughout the past three games, but with Party Pack 4 the developers have gone all in.

It’s best portrayed in that variation of Fibbage that my kid seems to have mastered. While Fibbage 3 is included, the Enough About You version is fantastic, asking us to be creative, inquisitive, and sneaky all at once. It can lead to backstabbing and possibly some ruined friendships, but it may well be worth it for the laughs. This “I know what you did last Summer” effect is often followed by responses of  “What?” and “Really??” when the truth actually comes out. We point fingers, we laugh, we swear and we surprise each other, often.

It’s the fresh injection that the series needed.

That’s not to say that the other included games are anything short of enjoyable, either. Civic Doodle has us sketching and drawing graffiti as we layer our best (or worst) art on top of each other. The basic painting tools and the tight match time even the playing field between experienced artists and those that probably draw better with their eyes closed. It ends up looking something like bad refrigerator art from a Kindergartener.

My 8 year old loves ponies right now, so that’s what we’ve been subjected to in the sketches.

Survive the Internet and Bracketeering have us picking on our friends’ choice of words or defending horrible ones, but with an emphasis on shaking our heads at each other’s often idiocy… often. Monster Seeking Monster is a novel take on a match-making dating game, but ultimately feels a little like a rehash of classic TV.

Having a family friendly mode in a few of the games is a great addition. Typically games like these are reserved for the few times when adults are together and the kids are either in another room or asleep, but the ability to let them play along allows families to enjoy the experience at any time now, no matter who’s around.

While we can often abandon these kinds of games, Party Pack 4 could enter our rotation far longer than just the holiday season, alongside Cards Against Humanity (for the adults) and Pie Face (for the kids). I’m fairly certain my kid has requested to play the game at nearly every family event over the past two months. Jackbox Party Pack 4 is a solid entry with a lot of replay value, and though it may not be as tight as it’s last couple of predecessors, it’s looseness may manage to keep it fresh far longer.

Besides, there are far dumber things one could do. Like, marry me.

This review is based on a retail eShop code for the Nintendo Switch sent to SideQuesting by the publisher.