To think that Jackbox Games started out small, with a fun little trivia game called You Don’t Know Jack! But over the years, its legacy has grown into something greater.
Thanks to key additions like Quiplash and Trivia Murder Party (among a number of others), Jackbox Games has become a quintessential “party game” studio. What’s more, it’s incorporated a style of play into these games, where streamers can play alongside their fans and others can join in with a simple name and login. From there, the party never ends.
The company recently celebrated its latest release, Jackbox Party Pack 10, along with its mega-collection, The Jackbox Party Quintpack 2.0, which includes volumes 6 through 10 in one convenient package.
So how did we get here? And where do we go next? We had a chance to talk to three staffers – Drawful: Animate game director Spencer Ham, Quiplash game director Warren Arnold, and Trivia Murder Party 2 editorial director Arnie Niekamp – to get a better idea. (Sorry, Cookie Masterson is still on vacation in Vermont.)
Congratulations on the success of the Jackbox Party Pack games. Looking back, how proud are you of the legacy that it’s created?
Spencer: I’m super proud. I grew up being a fan of the studio back when it was called Jellyvision Games so to be a part of the company history that helped usher the brand to new generations and heights has been a real thrill.
Arnie: I’m very proud of the success we’ve had with the Party Packs. And thankful too. Back when we were making Party Pack 1 there was a real threat that the studio would have to shut its doors. It’s been a thrill to be a part of making nearly fifty games since then and knowing how much they’ve meant to people. And it’s still great to come into work every day and say, “I have a really silly idea. Let’s try it.”
Warren: It’s been a big source of pride for sure. I’ve been able to meet a lot of fans who day that our games have helped bring their families together or got them through some tough times. So, the fact that we’ve been able to impact so many people is amazing.
Would you say that these games have created a great social gateway to people online that normally wouldn’t partake in “party” games such as this?
Spencer: For sure. I think one reason behind that is that we’re pretty critical of the party game genre ourselves so we’re constantly trying to develop games that we’d actually want to play.
Arnie: Absolutely. We worked really hard to make it as easy as possible to jump into a game. Back in the early days we’d say, “If your grandparents can use Facebook on their phone they can play our games.” I especially love hearing about families who have made it a tradition to play our games over the holidays. I’ve heard a lot of stories from people who’ve said playing our games over Zoom with their friends or family helped get them through the pandemic. I think about the little things that have helped get me through hard times and it’s such an honor to hear we’ve been a small good thing for other people.
Warren: Definitely. I think our “phones as controllers” philosophy and our editorial voice makes playing party games a lot more approachable and enjoyable.
What kind of creative process goes into putting together games such as this? Do you sit around a meeting room and go, “You know what would be great here? A smart aleck robot trying to create order!” Or something like that?
Spencer: There’s lots of different approaches we take to finding ideas, but one common denominator is that we’re constantly searching for a good, simple twist on an existing game mechanic. Everything else (theme, personality, etc.) is built around that core idea.
Arnie: We spend a lot of time trying out weird ideas or half ideas. Papertesting lots of ideas, usually realizing something like, “Oh, this doesn’t work… but there was something going on with this small part of it… maybe that’s the game.”
Warren: We take a lot of different angles but usually, we start from a place of thinking “What is the game asking from the player?” and then try to create the environment or jokes from there. During that time, the game team is usually throwing out ideas that the mechanic of the game inspires and then we make sure the creative and the mechanical mesh.
What would you say is the toughest game you guys had to put together? Or did they all equally have their challenges?
Spencer: I don’t necessarily want to speak for the team, but our rhythm-based game DoDo Re Mi was an absolute beast. From navigating legal patents to building tech that works seamlessly with our existing tech, it took a ton of effort to pull off.
Arnie: I could probably name a dozen games that were tough for one reason or another. Just off the top of my head, Monster Seeking Monster involved a lot of secret powers interacting with each other in unexpected ways and that was a big part of the fun but was also a nightmare for QA.
Warren: They’ve been equally tough in their own unique way. The social deduction games require a lot of balance and just when you think you’ve got it figured out, somebody plays in a way you didn’t think of and makes you rethink the rules. Even a game like Quiplash 3 was challenging because we wanted to do a different final round. We tried a few different iterations before Thriplash rose to the top.
Were there any games you created that became “dark horse” favorites amongst the community? Like Trivia Murder Party, maybe?
Spencer: TMP was pretty popular right out of the gate. One game I’ve noticed ascend to more prominence years later would be Survive the Internet (at least according to all the tier lists I’ve read and I do read ALL of them.)
Arnie: Trivia Murder Party is definitely one of our most popular games. One game that I think is lowkey really popular but maybe gets overlooked because it’s not as easy to play over twitch is Fakin’ It.
Warren: I’m glad to see Push The Button get the love that it does. My favorite types of games to write for and direct usually veer towards making the players yell at each other.
Is it possible we’ll see You Don’t Know Jack! pop up again in the future? We still fondly remember the PS1 games. Not to mention that TV show with the great Paul Reubens!
Spencer: I grew up playing YDKJ on my parent’s computer and I was hired by the studio to be a writer for YDKJ: 2011 so it’ll always have a special place in my heart, too! I imagine it’ll resurface (like cicadas) at some point.
Arnie: I love YDKJ. My love of YDKJ is what brought me to the company in the first place. I’m especially proud of some of the big swings we took with YDKJ: Full Stream. I think some of the light story elements about streaming services and algorithms was ahead of its time. That said, YDKJ is always the hardest game for us to make. Just the editorial alone is so much more labor intensive than any other games we make. So, that’s part of why you probably don’t see new installments as often. But I’m sure there will eventually be more YDKJ.
Warren: Anything’s possible! I’d love more YDKJ. I hired on as a writer for the Facebook version so I’ll always have fondness for that game.
What would you say is the strongest component that makes your games work so well?
Spencer: From the technical side, we have a relatively frictionless onboarding process. From the creative side, we value a variety of gameplay styles.
Arnie: We spend extra time trying to figure out how to make the games more fun for the players that are the worst at them.
Warren: I think we prioritize the user and the experiences they’ll have playing our games. We want you to laugh as much as we do when we’re making our games.
When you go to conventions and see hordes of people surrounding TV’s playing your games (instead of exploring the floor or something like that), what sort of feeling do you get from that?
Spencer: I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several PAX events over the years where I’ve witnessed this firsthand. There’s a real sense of community and respect at these events, which makes our games go over really well. It’s a treat to watch humanity be good for once!
Warren: It’s always super-gratifying. Just seeing so many people get joy from our work is a reminder of how special Jackbox is and how lucky I am to get to do this for a living.
What’s next for Jackbox? More Party Packs in the future, we hope. And more tyrannical robots?
Spencer: One thing our studio is really invested in is harvesting honey. It’s quite a departure from what we’re known for, but passion is passion. You may just see us soft launch a product or two at your local farmer’s market this summer…
Arnie: I don’t think we can say much besides that we’re very busy working on a lot of stuff. And there are some fun surprises coming.
Warren: “coy shrugging emoji that confirms and/or denies nothing”
Big thanks to Jackbox Games for setting up this interview! You can get the Quintpack 2.0 and other Jackbox Party Pack games on Steam and other platforms now!
