A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to preview the newest Jackbox bundle called the Jackbox Party Starter. Having been a huge fan of the original game back in the 90s and a legacy player with all the bundles that have come out within the last 10 years, I was intrigued by a party starter pack. If you’re not familiar with the series, then let me give you a quick recap about their purchase structure now:
- You can purchase party packs or bundles (they range from $24.99 – $99.99 – depending on what you want).
- You can purchase individual games instead of the bundles for $9.99, but not all games are available individually.
Beyond that, you don’t have a lot of options to try out the series before you buy them. On a side note, I highly recommend waiting for sales on the above depending on the platform of your choice and how you feel about the series.
If you can’t wait for sales or still are unsure about how to try the series out, then let us tell you about this preview event, which provided options for those wanting to be part of the Jackbox experience, but not quite committing to the idea of owning it all. The Jackbox Party Starter package includes three party games, which isn’t a bad deal if you consider the math. What we were shown in this party starter preview was Quiplash (pick the best answer to multiple questions and vote), Tee K.O. (creating slogans and art for t-shirts and competing to see who has the best of both), and Trivia Murder Party 2 (answer correctly or die), which were all bundled together for $19.99. Those are fantastic games that would cost around $32+ when purchased individually if they were available individually. They’re replayable at the very least, which bodes well when you want to get a party at your home started the right way.
The Jackbox folks explained that they came to this decision to do a party sampler pack because they did need an in-between option for people to try their games out before moving onto the bundles. It made sense, especially after announcing the price, and from what was presented the samplers will be some solid games from the bundles. To be quite frank, not all their party games are gold in their bundles, but some are incredibly replayable, such is the case with the above three. That happens with party games, as well as other family games of this type, such as Mario Party, which had releases that simply weren’t as fun as previous iterations. My favorite out of that family of games is either Mario Party 2 or Mario Party 3, which might have an edge on the second because my wife and I played the hell out of it before getting married. Anyway, my point is that if what they showed us pans out, then it’s nice to have a starter pack that is full of good games that can get more people into the series. There is a good reason that series has survived the test of time and having a loyal following is a big one. Also, they make fun games more than they don’t.
This sample size of Jackbox games will also feature localization for a lot of countries when it arrives, and everything that made the games good and family-friendly (an option you can turn on with the kids, or off with the adults you play Cards Against Humanity with regularly). Beyond that, the games speak for themselves and are a good jumping-off point for those who want to try before they fully commit.
Will this ultimately pan out and take off? We shall see. I think it’s a good way of getting players into the series, but I do wonder that if you can purchase the full-size games for $24.99-29.99, why not do that? Again, since not all the games are top-notch experiences (the cruel truth), getting a sample size that gets you interested in exploring more of the series might be the best way to first dig into it. I think this could work for newbies out there.
The Jackbox Party Starter arrives on June 30th on the Steam store, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.
