Wide Right Interactive brought an interesting idea to the table last year with What the Dub?!. It was essentially a game that mimicked Mystery Science Theater 3000, where you would input a blank line of text into a scene from an old show or movie and have it read back in the clip. I loved the concept and how much fun it was to play that style of game with multiple people. It felt like you were living the MST3K dream. What a dream that would be.
The good folks at WRI took that concept one step further by partnering with Rifftrax, you know those alum from MST3K, and integrating their level of humor and wit into the gameplay with Rifftrax – The Game. While the gameplay itself doesn’t deviate too far from the original concept of What the Dub?!, it is nice to see some familiar branding and occasional quip from the Rifftrax folks.
Let’s dig into this a bit.
Gameplay essentials
Rifftrax – The Game isn’t overly complicated in its design. There are two main game mode selections to choose from when you start it up. You get to either ‘Write a Riff’ or ‘Pick a Riff’. Writing a riff requires you to think on your toes and to be as funny as possible. It’s much tougher, but far more creative when it comes to impressing (or not) your friends. Once you input your answer, and everyone else does, then you vote on who had the best riff. Points are assigned with votes, and you have multiple rounds you go through for a chance to win. If you’re someone with a good sense of humor, you’re going to love this mode in the game. I spent a large amount of time on this mode and it was fun. The variety of movie clips and the places where you insert riffs were well done. They seemed to hit when they needed to on the correct riff stride.
The second mode has a silver lining to it but comes at a creative price. Pick a Riff mode gives you choices to choose from when it comes to inserting a riff, rather than writing your own. It’s kind of like Cards Against Humanity, but with fewer choices when it comes to deciding what to use, and less inappropriateness. The problem I have with this mode is that the choices don’t all refresh from round to round. If you use a choice, it gets replaced, but the rest stay there. That’s a problem because sometimes no choice really goes with the scene, which means it isn’t funny. And you have no control over choices except for the single refresh you can use per game. I will say that there is some unpredictable joy that comes with trying to make the square peg fit in the round hole, but it isn’t as gratifying as coming up with a riff all on your own. Now, the promised silver lining. You do get the riffs spoken by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, or Kevin Murphy. That’s a huge plus just hearing them in a game and bringing some personality to the gaming experience. Beyond that piece of lining, there isn’t much to love about this mode.
As for other odds and ends with Rifftrax – The Game, you do get a sweet set of options with streaming it. I know there are players out there that have never streamed a game before in their life, but having the ability to hide a room code, log into Twitch through the game itself, and have moderation as an option is cool and convenient. The complication of having to work around items like hiding a room code in Stream Labs or OBS during a live show can be tough. If you miss hiding a room code, you can get unruly guests in your multiplayer game. The fact some extensive options are built into the game for stream-friendly sessions is commendable and should be recognized. I wish more games did this.
Outside of the above, there really isn’t much else to the Rifftrax – The Game experience. Sometimes simplicity is a blessing.
Longevity
What you will find with Rifftrax – The Game is that longevity isn’t really its style with a single gaming session. This game isn’t meant to be played every night for hours upon hours, and it’s finite with content, especially if you choose ‘Pick a Riff’ mode. Much like the Jackbox series, it is meant to be played when you have good friends over that don’t want to commit too much to one game. Rifftrax – The Game is fun here and there, but not a full commitment. Honestly, it works just fine in that respect. You get to have some dumb fun, especially with writing riffs, and then you move on to another game. The gameplay lies somewhere between a full-blown experience and a mini-game. It’s that sweet spot that doesn’t take much effort to get started and won’t leave you wanting more when it’s done. It’s just enough for what it offers, and that’s mainly just goofy fun.
To push that even more, the game is only $9.99. Paying $9.99 to make my friends and family laugh is worth it. I like MST3K too, so it helps with selling the concept. The additional voices from the actual Rifftrax show push that price justification over the top. There’s a lot of positive beyond longevity.
Anyway, let’s wrap this up.
Conclusion
Rifftrax – The Game is a short stint of ridiculous fun. It can be as hilarious as you make it, though it does fall short in some areas when the game has too much control of the content.
