After many years of developing standalone games—most notably the long-running You Don’t Know Jack series—Jackbox Games shifted their development strategy in 2014. That year, and every year after, saw the release of a Jackbox Party Pack—10 in total—each a collection of four to five games designed for group gaming. The key innovation was that, through the use of their web app, players did not need individual controllers. Instead, they could use devices everyone typically has with them: a mobile phone, tablet, or even a PC. This means that groups of friends and family can gather around a television and jump into game sessions, or, as I have done quite a bit over the years, join Twitch streams of a few favourite creators and partake in their community Jackbox Nights.
The games offered in each pack have varied—from pretty average to highly memorable—but for the most part, the offerings were unique and creative. These ranged from one-off releases such as Civic Doodle (drawing art pieces to decorate a town) and Survive the Internet (creative meme writing), to regular features like Fibbage, Quiplash, and Trivia Murder Party. If you want to see what the series is about, jump onto Twitch, find someone streaming the game, and type in their room code!
In 2024, Jackbox Games opted to forgo the traditional Jackbox Party Pack and instead dedicated the year to The Jackbox Naughty Pack—a collection offering a trifecta of titles aimed at mature audiences: a social deduction game called Fakin’ It All Night Long, a new instalment in the Drawful series called Dirty Drawful, and a presentation game named Let Me Finish. Previous party packs were never without a few mature prompts and moments—even if just from the audience you are with—and typically had optional content filters and censorship options if you wanted to avoid awkward moments with friends and family. This pack forgoes that, embracing its mature nature for all it’s worth.
Although I can applaud Jackbox Games for expanding their tried-and-tested formula and embracing something different, the at least potty-mouth nature of The Jackbox Naughty Pack can significantly limit the audience you can comfortably play it with. While the standard Jackbox games can be enjoyed by a wide range of groups—family gatherings, friend groups of all ages, or even work events—the overtly sexual and adult-themed content in this pack makes it inappropriate for many of those settings. The spicy prompts and cheeky humour are only for adult-only groups of friends who are comfortable with more risqué jokes around each other – I would not choose to play this game with my family, friends, or frankly even in a stream with others – more than a wee bit hesitant about tripping some content rules. Is it absolutely crude? Not in my opinion. But it’s more than a few steps up from the norm.
Fakin’ It All Night Long revisits the social deduction mechanics of the original Fakin’ It from Party Pack 3—this time with a provocative twist. The concept is more or less the same, with each player being given a prompt, except for one who receives a completely different scenario—with everyone needing to deduce who is, or hide the fact that they are, the ‘Faker’. Ultimately, this game is based on prompts that are decidedly more risqué, with its strengths primarily coming from what made the initial release enjoyable. It is more enjoyable the more players you have (to better obscure the faker), which enhances the potential for hilarious misunderstandings. However, the reliance on adult content sometimes feels forced.
Dirty Drawful tasks players with illustrating prompts that are intentionally suggestive or outright explicit. While the core mechanics remain unchanged, this time around players can look forward to more salacious prompts. Your mileage will vary, as, in all the games in this pack, the “naughtiness” comes from the prompts rather than arising naturally. As with other drawing games in the series, however, those with tablets or a laptop/desktop PC with an internet browser will benefit greatly compared to those confined to smaller smartphone screens.
The new addition to this trio (although not a new concept in the franchise) is Let Me Finish, a game that tasks players with defending absurd and often suggestive positions in a debate format. The concept is intriguing enough and is probably the only game in the collection that feels like it properly belongs in a pack like this, although again it comes down to how comfortable players are in portraying these perspectives. In practice, the game can be hit-or-miss; the forced explicitness sometimes overshadowing the fun, and those uncomfortable with on-the-spot speaking may find themselves disengaged. However, I genuinely enjoyed many of the unique prompts given to defend, and they genuinely went outside of the box and made me think about what I was given. Given the presentation nature of the game, it is less appropriate for streaming on a platform like Twitch – instead being better aligned with streaming on a communicative platform like Discord with a group of friends.
Mature content in The Jackbox Party Pack series isn’t uncommon; the highlights often are the spontaneous, unprompted—and, granted, sometimes awkward—moments that come out of the blue and elicit chuckles or roaring laughter from the audience or group of friends. The Jackbox Naughty Pack prompting these types of things takes away some of the joy in spontaneously coming up with these witty responses.
The Jackbox Naughty Pack stays true to the franchise’s signature style while adding a provocative flair. The user interface is clean and straightforward, allowing players to navigate menus and join games with ease. Visually, the games incorporate bold colours and suggestive imagery that align with the mature themes without venturing into distasteful territory. The Jackbox Party Pack series has always featured fantastic music, and this pack is no exception. The soundtrack can be aptly described as “sexy,” featuring a mix of vocal tracks, club beats, and seductive melodies—with Dirty Drawful even bringing in the horns. Voice acting is also top-notch; it’s always great when they bring in Tom Gottlieb to voice Cookie Masterson in a game. Here’s hoping that someday soon, we get to hear him in a new You Don’t Know Jack instalment.
The Jackbox Naughty Pack attempts to push the boundaries of the franchise by embracing more explicit and mature themes, territory that I’d argue was always best explored by players spontaneously in their other games. While the collection stays true to the series’ signature style and high production values—with clean and creative user interfaces, engaging music, and excellent voice acting—the overtly adult content I feel limits its appeal with the choice of game and implementation of “naughty” content. The forced risqué prompts hinder and overshadow the spontaneous humour that fans have come to love – and especially with the returning games, I felt like I’d rather have a new Drawful or Fakin’ It release not limited by a theme. If you’re in the company of close friends who appreciate a provocative twist, it could provide an evening of laughter and entertainment. Otherwise, I would recommend checking out some of the other offerings in the series.
Final Score for The Jackbox Naughty Pack
A PC (Steam) review code of The Jackbox Naughty Pack was provided to facilitate this review.
The Jackbox Naughty Pack is now available to purchase on a range of platforms, including PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Apple TV.
Check back on The Otaku’s Study soon for our review of this year’s other new Jackbox release – The Jackbox Survey Scramble.
