What is Jackbox?
If you’re completely new to Jackbox Games, you’re in the right place! Here are some answers to our most commonly asked questions. Spend a few minutes here, and you’ll unlock hours and hours of fun.
Jackbox Games is the party game-making studio best known for hit games like YOU DON’T KNOW JACK, Quiplash, Fibbage, Drawful, Trivia Murder Party, and more! Think of us as the child of classic social games like ‘charades’… the child who dropped out of college, then earned the family’s respect by founding a jam company.
Maybe you heard about us from an article, stream, commercial, or on social media. Maybe you heard about us from a friend. Either way, glad to meet you: we’re here to make parties and gatherings with loved ones weird, fun, and memorable.
We make a variety of games designed to appeal to everyone in the room, Zoom call, or Twitch stream. Drawing games, writing games, trivia games, hidden identity games… no party-goer gets left behind.
Every year since 2014, we’ve released a new collection of games, grouped together as a Jackbox Party Pack. In each pack, you’ll find 5 different games that can accommodate from 1-8 players. If you have more people in your group, then (1) congrats on your effortless popularity and (2) many of our games allow audience play-along, meaning they can still jump in and be part of the fun!
We also have some awesome standalone titles that exist outside of the Party Packs, like Drawful 2.
The Jackbox Party Packs are released on a variety of digital platforms. You can also find The Jackbox Party Pack 7 in some retail locations! If you’ve played video games before, you may already have your preferred platform. If not, your computer, and possibly other devices in your home, may be able to play our games! We recommend looking over our system requirements before making a purchase.
You can run Jackbox games on desktop PCs and laptops, gaming consoles like Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and even streaming devices like Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. To see a full list of compatible platforms, visit our games page and click a title you’re interested in: they’re all listed and will connect you to corresponding store pages.
After this, select your desired platform for playing Jackbox games. This is a one-time purchase: no pay-to-play or DLC models here. When you own a Jackbox game, play it as much as you want! For the rest of your life! Other game studios may avoid commitment, but we know our love is forever.
People often wish to play Jackbox games on a Windows or Mac computer, and our favorite method to do this is with a platform called Steam. Steam is free software you can download after creating an account, and it runs our products like a charm. Learn more about Steam here.
Starting up your Jackbox game is the only time a controller, keyboard, or remote is required: more details on this below. From here, each player can join by using just their mobile device! Phones, tablets, even laptops will work. Here’s how: each player opens a web browser on their individual device, and goes to Jackbox.tv. They’ll see fields to enter a room code and name… and they’re in.
All your players need is a smartphone or web-enabled device! Look at us, really lean into that prolonged eye-contact: there is no app or additional purchase needed in order for them to play. They only need a mobile device; a way to access the internet; and to be able to see the screen running the game.
You’ve purchased a Party Pack. You’ve gathered your squad. All you need is to start the game and play! We have a helpful video tutorial and step-by-step instructions for how to connect all of your players to the game here. That page also covers information about how to access additional features and customization options for each game.
The key is making sure everyone in your group (either in person or remotely) can see and hear the screen running the game. This will allow them to see the room code and join, and to see what’s happening in the game and play along.
Playing Jackbox games with others remotely is very possible: as a game host, it’s up to you to allow your remote friends to see your game screen. This can be done with a video conference call where you share your screen, or an online live stream. We have a whole page of tips about how to get started: it’s one of those things that may require some thinking the first time, and then you’ll laugh at how easy it was. You’ll laugh, and laugh, until the neighbors grow concerned.
For the best platform to play remotely, we recommend Steam (for Windows/Mac computers) because of how easy it is to share a screen on a video call. Gaming consoles or platforms like Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV don’t have the same ease of use when playing remotely. We’re constantly researching the best methods to make this happen.
We have an amazing support site, with lots of tips and troubleshooting methods, here. You can also submit a ticket to our support team. They endeavor to respond within 1-3 business days. Holidays may take a little longer if we’re slammed.
But here’s our biggest pro tip: if a player’s mobile device gets disconnected during the game… they should try refreshing their web browser. Very often they’ll be instantly reconnected. If not, let us know. Like we said: no party-goer left behind.
