Behind The Scenes of Doominate
A Jackbox Games blog… But it’s got a virus… The virus is just pop-ups of kittens! Cute!
See what I did there? That’s called a “parody.” What of, you ask? Doominate, our new game coming to The Jackbox Party Pack 11! Doominate is a game where you take something perfectly lovely and DESTROY IT! 😡 And then make it lovely again. 🥰
Recently we spoke to the people who made the game to learn more about where the idea came from, what went into its production, and the mystery of Shrump Skumpo. Read more below and wishlist Party Pack 11 so you don’t miss when it drops later this fall!
Please introduce yourself and your role on Doominate.
Hi, I'm Rammel Chan! I'm a writer and editorial lead for Doominate!
Hiya! I am Sarah Jo Townsley (aka SJ), QA Lead on Doominate.
Hi, I’m Pauline Ferraro, Producer for Doominate!
How did you come up with the idea for Doominate?
Doominate was the brainchild of creative director Warren Arnold, who pitched his idea of a game where players went head to head ruining nice things. - Rammel
Do you have any fun stories from making Doominate?
One day a few of us had the thought, “Is this game still fun if the players are boring?” We decided to do a playtest where all of us gave the most straightforward answers and answers we think a boring person would write. I think it was one of our funniest playtests. - SJ
There was a Friday afternoon where we were testing different voting mechanics and I started using Google Forms to simulate voting. While we did find what we liked and didn't like, the forms devolved into silliness incredibly quickly. I remember us just giggling for a few minutes while trying to return to the meeting agenda. - Pauline
What makes the Doominate dev team so special?
The Doominate Team is exactly that, a Team. We're absolutely full of goofs and chuckles, but we get down to business, openly communicating and treating each other with respect to maintain the good vibes. -Rammel
We would always come into our meetings having fun, but we also knew when to pivot to real stuff. The Doominate team always has fun together, but we also have a lot of respect for each other and make sure that we aren’t ignoring priorities that might be outside the team. - SJ
The Doominate team really clicked together, I really enjoyed being a part of a team that really uplifted one another. It was a really positive environment where everyone got to show off their talents while laughing at inside jokes. - Pauline
What was one challenge you had to overcome during production?
With Death and the pseudo-afterlife being the wrapper for our game, we had a lot of discussions about how to tactfully go about building this world. In a moment of brilliance, Kelly Shuda uttered the name Jim Reaper in a meeting and then we jokingly started to spitball on what that character might be like, finally landing on a 90's bad boy vibe. From there it started to click how we could approach this wrapper in a fun, accessible Jackboxian way. - Rammel
Early on in production we were ironing out our round structure and trying to formulate a good flow. We just started playtesting and trying a lot of different things, which led us to the second round where you ruin something another player likes or enjoys. It really snapped into place as a way to keep building on the game loop and provided players a more intimate experience. - Pauline
What is your favorite part of Doominate?
We built a game that puts you in the spotlight and showcases your sense of humor! My favorite part is seeing everyone's answers as the scrolls roll down. Hands down. I never not laugh. - Rammel
I end up playing this game alone through the testing process, so my favorite part really is seeing new people play. Every new group seems to think of new, fun ways to ruin the prompts I have been seeing for months. It’s such a joy to see people play, and I can’t wait for it to be out in the world! -SJ
Any fun glitches or unexpected gameplay moments that happened during production and testing?
"I was not there that day, but I heard tell of the legend of Shrump Skumpo" - Rammel
I don’t remember any glitches or bugs that were fun, but there was one day Jim came on for a mini tutorial, and he was very shaky. That one made me laugh when I saw it. - SJ
What has been your favorite memory of making Doominate?
One day, we were brainstorming on the Final Round, and Brooke [Breit, Director of Doominate,] asked, “Should we make it good?” Someone pointed out that it sounded like she was asking if we should make the game good. We all laughed about it, but then it became a running joke within the team, asking if we should make the game good. - SJ
Doominate is coming to Party Pack 11 on most major platforms, October 23rd! Wishlist now on Steam and Xbox!
