You know that thing when you’re celebrating the holidays with your family and suddenly the food turns to ash in your mouth? And your blood begins to simmer and your house gets sucked into the earth? That’s a straight up holiday disaster. And the reason it happens is that you’re not playing Jackbox games as a family. We’re here to save your holidays by telling you all about the five new games in The Jackbox Party Pack 8 — available today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S — and the order in which you should play them.
Start with Drawful: Animate. It’s a sequel to one of our most beloved games, Drawful 2, so for devoted Jackbox fans, it might smell familiar. The big difference is: it’s animated! Okay, the title gives it away. Drawful: Animate is a drawing game, but you don’t have to be good at drawing. In fact, the worse you are, the funnier it gets. You can play with up to ten players and once you’re familiar with the game, try Friend Mode, where every prompt is about one of you!
Now that everyone understands the gist of the games (your phone is your controller, Dennis), it’s time for trivia. The Wheel of Enormous Proportions is a game of trivia, luck, and a dash of strategy. You’ll answer trivia questions and, depending on how well you do, you’ll earn slices on The Wheel. The more slices you earn, the better chance you’ll have of gettin’ rich when the The Wheel is spun. And in the end, the winner will be crowned with… wisdom. You can ask The Wheel anything and The Wheel will answer you and it will be the indisputable truth.
Okay, it’s time to start arguing. Hooray for families! Poll Mine divides you into teams and asks for your personal rankings on different subjects–like the sexiest office equipment, or the worst response to “I love you.” Then your team tries to figure out what the most popular answers are, but time is running out and be careful– the other team is listening. It’s kind of like if Family Feud were set in an underground cavern. And if Steve Harvey were a charming cave witch. Fun feature: you can choose your own teams (Dennis gets to be with Grandma). Or, if you’re playing virtually on a stream, the audience can be their own team and compete against their favorite streamers.
After things get spicy, Job Job is the ultimate palate cleanser. In Job Job, you’re applying for a job (job), but you can only answer the interview questions using words clipped from player-submitted phrases. It’s like high-stakes refrigerator poetry magnets. And here’s a secret tip: you can use just about any word on your controller, including the question itself. Also, the host is an anthropomorphic water dispenser, so if you fall in love easily…be careful.
Play Weapons Drawn last. The reason is that it might ruin your friendships and/or tear your family apart. You’ll want some time afterward to cool off, re-group, and eat some pie. Basically, Weapons Drawn is a murder mystery investigation game where every player is both a murderer and a detective. You hide your calling card (a letter from your name) in the drawing of your murder weapon, then other players try to deduce who you killed by studying the evidence. It’s the perfect game for people who love drawing, yelling, lying, sleuthing, and begging for forgiveness (Dennis…).
If you can pull off these five games, in this order, we can guarantee that the molten claw of Satan will not (will not) melt your house and destroy your loved ones. Happy holidays!
The Jackbox Party Pack 8
Jackbox Games, Inc.
$29.99
About The Jackbox Party Pack 8
The eighth installment of the beloved Jackbox Party Pack franchise is here! Five hilarious new games will energize your next game night, holiday party, happy hour, or video call.
No extra controllers needed – players use their phones or tablets to play along! Got a bigger group? Play with up to 10 players and up to 10,000 audience members.
The Jackbox Party Pack 8 is currently in English only. This game does not support online matchmaking but can still be enjoyed remotely using livestreaming services or video conferencing tools.
About Each Game
Drawful Animate (3 -10 players) – It’s alive! The guessing game with terrible drawings and hilariously wrong answers makes a dynamic return. In this revamped title, players create looping, two-frame animations based on weird and random titles.
The Wheel of Enormous Proportions (2-8 players) – Trivia has never been so large! A fantastic, mystical wheel challenges you with a variety of trivia prompts. Winners are awarded slices of the Wheel’s face with a chance to win big with each nail-biting spin. In the end, one player will have their most burning question answered by the great Wheel.
Job Job (3-10 players) – Use other people’s words to create unique and funny answers to classic job interview questions. Go head to head to see who scores the job!
The Poll Mine (2-10 players) – A survey game that’s all about YOU! Split into teams and see who can escape from the witch’s lair! Players individually rank their choices to a difficult question, then must guess how the group answered as a whole. How well do you know your friends?!
Weapons Drawn (4-8 players) – A social deduction game where everyone is both a murderer and a detective. Players doodle all the clues, hiding a letter from their name in the weapon drawings. Can you solve murders while trying to get away with your own?