The Jackbox Party Pack 3 (Nintendo Switch) Review

With the instructions for each game shared on the TV, as well as prompts on each player's device, it takes only moments to get involved with the games of The Jackbox Party Pack 3. They are intuitive, too, often involving familiar mechanics you would see in traditional party board and card games. Indeed, these are games designed to be quickly understood and are highly accessible, so all the family can get involved. There are even options for child-friendly filters to ensure some clean fun.

Of course, this is assuming you are playing with people locally. While remote play is very much a possibility with streaming setups, something's lost when you are not in the same room. Some games are highly compromised when played remotely, unless you can manage video of each player and minimal delay of the game stream, which can be tricky. This is certainly a game better suited to gatherings in-person.

The five games included in this pack offer a terrific variety of party gaming fun:

Fakin allows up to six players to play, although plenty more can spectate. Each round, all but one of the players will receive a prompt on their device to perform some kind of action, such as raise their right arm, while the remaining player will be told nothing but to try and fit in with the group. The timer counts down and all players perform the action, or at least try to fake it, before everyone votes for who they believe is the faker. Points are then allocated for finding the faker… or avoiding being found.

Quiplash has players finish phrases, before voting for the response they like best. This has the opportunity to lead to hilarity as players give their funniest answers, testing everyone's quick wittedness.

Trivia Murder Party spoofs horror films and asks trivia. In the setting of a derelict building, trapped by a mysterious madman, each player must attempt to escape alive by answering questions and playing mini-games. Fail a mini-game and a foul fate awaits, but even as a ghost you may still win in the end.

Guesspionage challenges players to guess the percentage result of responses to daft questions from polled people on a bunch of topics. A single player picks the percentage, while the others guess whether they think the estimate is too high or low, before the result is revealed and another player gets to pick the percentage for another silly question. Points are awarded based on who comes closest.

Finally, Tee K.O. has players writing prompts and then drawing T-shirt designs based on those prompts, before voting on each shirt. There's even the option to order printed T-shirts based on the designs and, of course, hilarity ensues when people get creative.

Whether played with family or friends, The Jackbox Party Pack 3 offers a great selection of activities to keep a group amused and entertained. Furthermore, spectators can watch the fun unfold and even participate with additional votes a occasionally where appropriate, shaping the experience ever so slightly. Meanwhile, where players provide the prompts, such as in Tee K.O. and Quiplash, there's oodles of fun to be had time and time against without the fear of repetition.