Gathering friends around the table for a night of gaming isn't always practical. Luckily, Jackbox games provide an opportunity for friends to play together at a distance. By logging onto a website with a shared code, players can participate in the same fun party games whether they're in the same room or across the continent. Jackbox games are the perfect companion to socially-distanced Zoom hangouts.
To make the most out of a virtual Zoom party, choosing the right game is paramount. Some Jackbox games are hard to play when participants aren't in the same room. Games like Fakin' It, a secret role game, are hard enough to play over video but even harder if participants have only joined with an audio connection. Something like Bomb Corp., where players must complete tasks while each only has an incomplete set of instructions, are fun but only allow for up to four players. These five games hit all the right notes for video-conferenced parties, ensuring maximum participation and limited strife.
Fibbage
Fibbage and its sequels pose trivia questions, but players aren't rewarded for knowing the right answer. Instead, they provide their own fake answer and get points for getting other players to fall for their lie. Fibbage, therefore, doesn't require extensive trivial knowledge, making it more accessible than the average trivia game. Because it doesn't test players' knowledge, Fibbage is fairly low stakes, encouraging even shy players to jump in.
Fibbage 3 also includes a great version of this game called Fibbage: Enough About You, focusing on trivia not just about the shared world but specifically about the participants. Players provide both a false and a true answer to a personal question, while other participants must suss out the truth. This more personal version of Fibbage means the game has great replay potential and can really build on existing relationships within the group of players.
Tee K.O.
Tee K.O. avoids many of the pitfalls of drawing games by not requiring a lot of talent and not taking a lot of time. This game asks players to design t-shirts by first drawing a selection of images and then submitting a series of unrelated captions. Choosing from a random selection of designs and slogans created by all participating players, they then try to create the best combination to appear on a t-shirt. These final designs are pitted against each other, allowing players to vote on their favorites over multiple rounds.
Where Tee K.O. excels is that it doesn't require great art -- no player needs to necessarily identify what has been drawn, and abstract designs can function as well as detailed images. The game also divides up the drawing and voting sections, so that players don't spend too much time in any phase. Also, combining a player's own work with ideas from other participants gives Tee K.O. a real collaborative feel. Players can vote for the t-shirt design they submitted or the one that features their artwork or slogan and still feel like a winner.
Quiplash
A staple of the Jackbox party games, Quiplash provides short questions or prompts that players respond to with witty remarks. Each prompt is answered by two players, and then the rest of the players vote on which response they think is best.
Quiplash has no right answers, which means that players can reference inside jokes and build up party-specific vocabularies that make each playthrough unique and fun. It's also fairly low-stakes -- each game goes quickly, and for most rounds, players just have to vote on their favorite response. With little necessary investment in creativity or time but great laugh potential, Quiplash is the perfect party game for any type of virtual hangout.
Split the Room
Like Quiplash, Split the Room asks players to finish a prompt. Rather than trying to win more votes than a competitor with a witty answer, however, Split the Room asks only a single player to answer at a time with a very different goal: providing a response so divisive that only half of the players agree with it. The more evenly that players can split the room, the more points they earn. This puts a unique spin on voting games, one that's bound to spark lively debate amongst participants.
Civic Doodle
Civic Doodle is another drawing game, but it's a much more fast-paced one than Tee K.O. Rather than drawing designs ahead of time, participants watch players draw in real-time. Each set of players starts with the same base design and then adds on to it however they wish. Everyone else votes for whichever design they like best, then the next set of two players adds on to the winning design.
During the drawing process, players who are not creating art get to respond to the half-finished drawings with emojis. Sometimes, these emojis can provide bonuses to a player's scores or contribute to who wins a tie-breaker, but more importantly, the ability to respond in real-time keeps everyone involved in the game. The idea of building on to one collaborative drawing also makes Civic Doodle great for community building. The final picture is something that many different participants have contributed to rather than highlighting just the best artist or most outgoing player.
These Jackbox games all allow for up to eight players, making them perfect for Zoom get-togethers. They also allow for an audience so that any additional party attendees or those who aren't ready to commit to full participation can still get a feel for what these Jackbox games are like. Any of them is sure to liven up your next Zoom party and help everyone have a fun time.