As of recent years, the release of a new Jackbox Party Pack seems to be an almost annual tradition, and I’m absolutely here for it. After the original You Don’t Know Jack titles took root in my brain, it’s become an anticipated event when the team at Jackbox cobbles together a new collection of party games. Like so many, I have my favorites and my counter opinions (Party Pack 3 is fine but overrated), but it never stops me from wanting to grab the latest installment when I can. I was a little late to the party this year, but I’m glad that Jackbox Party Pack 10 arrived to help round out what was, inarguably, an amazing year of gaming.

Like before, this handful of socially-driven madcap moments is a blend of originals and sequels, though Party Pack 10 relies heavily on newer ideas. Dodo Re Mi is a completely fresh take on group rhythm games, FixyText actually uses the smartphone mandated interface well, and Hypnotorious is a solid if ambitious take on trying to get friends to turn against each other. Timejinx is a return to form as a trivia focused game, but there’s enough to set it apart from the classic You Don’t Know Jack to keep it from feeling like a rehash. The only true sequel is from Jackbox’s most profitable title, Tee K.O. 2, which was in desperate need of a revamp anyways. 

Before we dive into the titles themselves, I like to acknowledge the under-the-hood improvements that went into Jackbox Party Pack 10. Besides the usual QOL notions (extended timer, subtitles, not forcing Twitch integration), there’s the importance of knowing your audience. Having a quick and easy “Family Friendly” button that not only affects all titles universally but also can be toggled without diving into the options is essential. My kids are older now, but that just means they’re able to play better, they still don’t want to be subjected to inappropriate things. On that same point, my kids also speak English as a second language, and I don’t want the older one to accidentally drop the F-bomb when we’re doing a game against their cousins online because she heard me use it when I was playing Wario Ware.

Starting from the bottom, the lowest of the five games in terms of fun is FixyText. On paper, I understand the concept: you have a prompt and then the entire player base works together to craft a response, literally typing over one another in order to try and get the best jokes, words and ideas out. The backspace and delete buttons are disabled, so any typos or mistakes stay there indefinitely. Players can inject words into other words, move their cursors anywhere and have a very short window in which to write something humorous, memorable and coherent. At the end of the round, a robotic voice might read your text aloud, which should maybe be funny. Points are awarded based on player votes for the best words in each text sense.

This game is clearly geared towards someone, and my guess is it’s the “tween attractor” for Jackbox Party Pack 10. Despite texting most of my adult life, I’m fairly slow and don’t pointedly fire off random messages to people in my address book. So trying to compete with other people to craft non sequitur humor from oddball prompts is fine, but it just becomes a subjective popularity contest. My kids voted for each other’s nonsense words, and I didn’t feel like there was a good vector for actual joke writing. If you were wondering what kind of game will attract people that drop “Skibidi” into conversation like it’s a genuine joke, this is a great way to discover which of your friends spends too much time in YouTube comment sections. FixyText is going to be the focal point for Zoomer level humor that does not gel with my Oregon Trail generation ideals.

Hypnotorious, a party game of who’s who, is more elevated because there’s potential here when played correctly. Players are divided into teams that are secret, with a common thread connecting some to others. Using prompts and the team assigned to you, you have to drop clues to help others figure out who you are and also what they are. If done correctly, you’ll figure out who shares a commonality with you, squad up, and get the most points. You’ll also, as a whole, discover who is NOT part of the game. For example, two players might be Ice Cream Flavors (Chocolate and Vanilla), two might be Tea Flavors (Jasmine and Chamomile) and one person is Party Favors (Birthday Candle). Look at the responses to figure out who is the odd one out: it might even be you!

When played correctly, Hypnotorious is a solid variation of the old school titles like Werewolf, Mafia or whatever analog Among Us game you played at a sleepover. You use the prompts and your imagination to project what you feel the persona should sound like and see if anyone has a similar vibe. In that same vein, it’s a game that also lives and dies by people playing it correctly. You never realize how easily someone can screw up a simple concept until a player types “I’m cauliflower” and then the whole air goes out of the room. Being able to have cleverness and subtlety is the key to success, and this one clearly angles towards players who enjoy puns and entendres to get the point across.

Tee K.O. 2 might be the star of the Jackbox Party Pack 10 in terms of promotion, but I give it a solid middle seat when it comes to the overall experience. This sequel to the beloved Tee K.O. brings in a slew of improvements over the original, which released over seven years ago. Once again, players go head-to-head to design their best MS Paint clothing prints, give them incredible slogans and then see who is more enjoyed by the party as a whole. This sequel gives players more color backdrops to work with, better tools, and even different clothing stock, since some things look better on a t-shirt, a hoodie or a sleeveless. 

What I really love about Tee K.O. 2 is the acknowledgement of Jackbox Party Pack’s own roots in the gaming world. Frequently, players look just to the classic Jackbox Head as the sole mascot of the franchise, but Tee K.O. 2 brings in a bevy of sprites from all manner of other Jackbox Party Pack games as avatars to use. The robot from Mad Verse City, the Twilight Zone inspired cat from Split the Room, even the weird little space dude from Zeeple Dome. I love Jackbox leaning into their own lore, and I realized that I would love for their to be a Smash Bros. style brawler on their next Party Pack.

Also, the experience of Tee K.O. 2 is as entertaining and endearing as the first. If you’ve got art skills, awesome. If you have none, even better! A janky drawing and a horribly inappropriate catch phrase can win the whole thing. My wife designed a shirt with a ribbon my daughter drew (aww) and the tagline “Wanna see a dead body?” I HOWLED with laughter, as did the kids, and the winner was decided before any other shirts could even make an appearance.

So why only 3rd place? Well, as fun as it is, it just wasn’t my favorite. I’ve played this before, and, despite adding more tools, the song remains the same. You spend a lot of time drawing, and then you see the shirts, and it’s great and that’s all. Sorry, Jackbox, there’s not a chance that I’m dropping actual cash for this design that was thrown together in literal minutes. Having said that, I know people who have bought them, and will definitely buy hoodies as a result, so kudos on keeping the party going.

The two final games of Jackbox Party Pack 10 are a tossup as to which is better. On the one hand, you’ve got Dodo Re Mi, a group rhythm game where you have to play notes that appear on your screen. Each player is an adorable bird with a different instrument (electric guitar, tall bongos, burps) and everything has a different difficulty level. Play well and get a ton of points and applaud your skill! Do poorly and a massive plant eats you all. If that reminds you of your own time in the music industry, congratulations: you were in a collegiate marching band.

With everything being either public domain songs or tracks from previous Jackbox titles (I do love the theme of Murder Trivia Party 2), you might think it’d get old fast. However, Dodo Re Mi continues to be entertaining to this day because the parameters are less limiting than most. Even if you’re terrible at rhythm games, you can pick an easy instrument and tamp down the responsibility considerably. If you’re good at them or at least spent too much time with Tap Tap Revenge, then pick a hard instrument and do the heavy lifting for everyone! Since it’s an “everyone lives or everyone dies” situation, there’s no hard feelings if you’re awesome and other players aren’t so good: we all become chow!

It also works that you can dip out at any point. Whereas other Jackbox Party Pack games have a set number of rounds, you can do Dodo Re Mi for a single song or like eight in a row. When my kids want to play the funny bird game and I want to break my thumbs doing the guitar solo from In the Hall of the Mountain King, we all get to have fun together. I just wish there was a way to solo it on the Switch without needing a smartphone so I could hurry and unlock all the songs. Still, the fact that this is one of two titles that allow for single player accessibility makes it valuable, in my eyes.

Lastly, the big winner of Jackbox Party Pack 10 has got to be TimeJinx. I adore trivia games, and ones that my family can fake their way through are the best. Typing out legitimate answers or being precise with reading? Hard pass. Being asked when the jockstrap was invented and then picking a year within a certain range? YES. I love history, especially history that isn’t covered in books, so a time-centric trivia game where all you need to do is be sort of close to the year is PERFECT. No, I don’t remember when the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, but I’m pretty sure I can get within ten years or so!

This history trivia game hits fast and furious, with a race to have the lowest score and plenty of opportunities to lower your penalty points as time goes on. Answer questions about Shakespeare, Mr. T and Tupac in the same game. Fix errors in the space time continuum. Know who the wrong time doppelgänger is by recognizing some weirdness in what they say. It’s a trivia game where you have enough time to punch in a year but not enough to try and stealth search it on your secondary device. What’s not to love?

And clearly trivia isn’t for everyone, but it’s my cup of tea and it makes TimeJinx the best for me. The rush of getting questions right is incomparable, and knowing, with certainty, the year that Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the Pope on SNL was the highlight of my day. Yes, my days are weird and sad, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t dunk on two elementary schoolers with an oddly specific event that never affected them in any capacity!

Jackbox Party Pack 10 is the next great step forward in the franchise, and I cannot believe there’s already been ten of these things. It also serves as a valuable jumping off point for people who’ve never played one before. The quality is outstanding for the young and old, friends and family, longtime players and greener than greens. You’ve got something for everyone (art, writing, trivia, music and psychology) and it scales wonderfully for all age ranges. Jackbox has done fantastic, and I highly recommend grabbing this as a party favor to distract and delight whomever you surround yourself with this holiday season.

Graphics: 7.0 Love the inclusion of different characters in Tee K.O. 2, floating brains of Hypnotorious are fun, but you’re staring at your phone most of the time, so it’s a bit of a moot point other than when it comes time to glance up and see who won or lost.	Gameplay: 9.0 Really excellent build to keep players coming back again and again with a variety of interface means. Works wonderfully on older phones and tablets, so players don’t need to worry about cutting edge technology to play some fun party games.
Sound: 7.0 Most of the music is forgettable, though credit to Dodo Re Mi for having some jaunty tunes and a solid track selection. Announcers countinue to sound like the people who love their jobs more than anything in the world.	Fun Factor: 10 After a couple of lukewarm years, Jackbox Party Pack 10 stands proud as a repeatedly engaging game that reminds me that zany fun can come from mixing media and modes for maxmimum mayhem.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Jackbox Party Pack 10 is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Jackbox Party Pack 10 ias provided by the publisher.