Well, after my interview with Mike Bilder and Allard Laban at PAX Aus 2025, I was excited to try out ‘The Jackbox Party Pack 11’, developed and published in-house at Jackbox Games Inc. The interview must have gone well because, hey, we didn’t get blacklisted. /wink. So, if you haven’t checked it out yet, head on over to MKAU’s socials to hear the interview.

For those unfamiliar with Jackbox games, they can be quickly summed up as heavily social, party-focused games. The Jackbox Party Pack 11 has not broken with tradition, delivering five brand new games. I will break down each one below, individually, with my own thoughts and some from my family. Because if you are going to torture anyone with your horrible dad jokes, it may as well be family.

First on the list is ‘Doominate’. Doominate presents a basic question, an item, or a task that you answer. For example, it could ask you what your favourite game is. You type in your answer, then the rest of the players get to ruin it by adding humorous, crude, or disgusting answers. The easiest comparison to draw this game towards is ‘Cards Against Humanity’, but you get to be as imaginative and type in whatever you like. I mean, come on, what better time to tell your partner they should be enjoying their bubble baths with sewage instead of water? This was my second-favourite game out of the five, as it allowed my crass humour to shine through.

Second is ‘Hear Say’. Hear say is all about audio. The game poses a task or question that you have to make noise. For example, it will ask you to make the sound of a dial-up modem. Hilariously funny when you have a teenager in the room who makes the sound more like a dying cat. After all the noises are played and votes are in on the favourite noise, that noise is then played over a short video.

Let’s just say when you see an image of someone shovelling dirt over the noise of a dying cat, laughter ensues, and eyebrows are raised. This was by far my favourite of all the games, as my A1 humour is toilet humour, so we all know how shitty my noises were.

Third up is ‘Cookie Haus’. Cookie Haus is all about tapping into your creative side. You are asked to decorate cookies for customers with weird requests. Once you pick your cookie shape, use coloured icing and sprinkles to decorate the weird request, then name your masterpiece. One particular bake-off had us decorating cookies for dangerous playground equipment. Let’s just say the winner of that cookie has the same memory seared into their brain as hot as a metal slippery slide on a hot summer day. Can I get a TOASTY! This was my third-favourite game because the creativity was highly enjoyable.

Number four is ‘Suspectives’, and unfortunately, was the least favourite for all players involved. I think the primary problem was that the tutorial for this game wasn’t clear enough for players to grasp the concept. Once we had played it long enough, we started having more fun, but the laughs came more at the end when we discussed the outcome. Suspectives has you answer random survey questions, which are then used as clues for the other players.

One of the players is secretly identified as the criminal. It is then their job to convince the other players they are not the criminal, but by any means necessary. When I was playing as the criminal, I convinced my family I wasn’t and got away. Giving convincing answers, throwing shade on other players, and interrogating them until they get flustered can really test the bounds of blood being thicker than water.

The final game is ‘Legends of Trivia’. Legends of Trivia is a trivia game where you use your answers to fight monsters. Get the answer correct, you do damage and earn gold; get the answer wrong, and you take damage and lose gold. Run out of health, and you have to spend gold to revive. The trivia questions are presented in different ways, from standard multiple-choice to image questions to players having only one answer each to the question. Ultimately, teamwork and trust are key with Legends of Trivia. Unfortunately, this one ranked fourth on the list because the questions were too heavily centred on America.

Graphically, all the games are beautiful with a charming cartoon aesthetic. Each game also brings its distinctive flavour to the visuals. Doominate has a dark, looming feel; Hear Say has a scratchy CRTV feel; Cookie Haus feels bright and sunny; Suspectives feels gritty and black; and Legends of Trivia brings a cartoon-adventure feel.

The sound effects were present, but the show was stolen more by the music. The music never became repetitive. And although we had some technical issues with volume and microphones, that was more a setup issue than anything else. But certainly something to be mindful of when preparing your party. Each game, just like the graphics, had its own personality. Doominate brought rock and roll; Hear Say, being all about audio, was subtle and gentle; Cookie Haus was upbeat and fun; Suspectives was classic noir jazz; and ye olde instrumentals for Legends of Trivia.

There is a reason Jackbox Games Inc. is on its 11th iteration of party games. Though a particular game may not be to your liking, the fun had trumped overall with beautiful graphics, themed music, and a selection of games that you will find one you love. The Jackbox Party Pack 11 will bring big belly laughs to you, your friends, your family, and your community.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove