izigame.me

I'm not gonna lie, this is extremely disappointing as a hardcore Jackbox fan. First of all, there are only 3 games for this year compared to the 5 games every other year has gotten in their respective party pack (at least the price for this was somewhat reasonable for what it offers). But the worst thing about this pack is that it just isn't funny. Which is shocking considering Jackbox games are famous for their great sense of humor. However, this game just comes across as trying way too hard. Every single joke in each of these games is begging to get a laugh yet only resulted in groans from my party. The thing that makes Jackbox games so great is that the maturity of the games depended on those playing. If you wanted to be family friendly, you could play family friendly. If you wanted to be dirty, you could play dirty. And all of the dirty jokes are funny because they would come from players trying to twist the innocent Jackbox prompts into something dirty. Anywho, now I think it's time I get more specific and discuss my issues with each individual game.
Faking It All Night Long (8/10):
Easily the best game in this pack however, that isn't because the game is dirty. It's because Faking It is a great game on its own. The original Faking It is one of my favorite Jackbox games, despite it's many issues. And this new rendition fixes almost every issue I had with the original game. Specifically, the remote game feature is easily the best thing about this sequel (I'd love if they'd go back and add it to the original). This would easily be a 9/10 or a 10/10 if it wasn't trying WAY TOO HARD to be dirty. Every single thing in this game from the animations to the sound effects are 'adult jokes'. And all they do is ruin the experience. This especially sucks because without them, this could easily be one of the best Jackbox games.
Dirty Drawful (5/10):
It's just Drawful. That's it. The only difference is that every prompt is now 'adult-related'. The strangest inclusion of this game is the undo button (something the Drawful series is known for NOT HAVING). Aside from that, it's just another Drawful game. You're not going to get any more out of this than you do with Drawful, Drawful 2, or Drawful: Animate.
Let Me Finish (1/10):
This game may genuinely be the worst Jackbox game in party pack history. Hell, I had more fun playing ZEEPLE DOME than this. Not only is it painfully unfunny, but the gameplay loop is an absolute slog to get through. Players get absolutely NO time to draw on the screen in order to prepare for their presentation but also, most prompts don't even allow for much creativity and are, as I said previously, painfully unfunny and just plain weird. Genuinely, not even halfway into the game, everybody in my party just wanted it to be over. Presenting wasn't fun, nor did it allow for any creativity. This game is just absolutely atrocious and I'm shocked that no playtesters gave the same feedback.
Conclusion:
Overall, this pack's release deeply saddens me. This pack's existence just feels straight up wrong. Watching the animations in Faking It and Dirty Drawful feels like Jackbox taking their iconic characters and just absolutely mutilating them. I was already worried when the pack was announced however, I kept my faith in the Jackbox team. I know how creative and funny they can be and I figured they'd find a way to do something unique with the concept of an adult Jackbox Party Pack. But instead, we're left with an absolute slopfest of an original game, Drawful but less funny, and a genuinely good Faking It sequel hindered by the juvenile humor found throughout it. And that is the word I'd use to describe this pack. Juvenile. It feels like they hired a bunch of middle schoolers to create a party pack.
I'm genuinely worried about the future of Jackbox Games. After the absolute mess that was the launch of Party Pack 10, the company desperately needed a win this year. But this is an even bigger disaster of a pack than 10 was. I can at least appreciate the team for trying with this game but it just wasn't it. I'm honestly even considering refunding it because this feels like a waste of my hard-earned $20. Please Jackbox, cook with Party Pack 11. I know you guys can do it. And it sucks that I have to be this critical about one of my favorite game companies, but it's the truth.