With ten Party Packs available for purchase, plus several bonus mini-packs, stand-alone games, and more, the Jackbox Games team have learned how to create a successful party game. Titles likeQuiplash, Trivia Murder Party,and more have become standards for game nights and parties of all kinds. Their latest title isThe Jackbox Survey Scramble,a multimode game that explores the most - and least - popular answers to all sorts of bizarre questions. When creatingSurvey Scramble,the team relied on its tried and true approach to creating a successful party game.
In a conversation with Game Rant, the Jackbox Games team discussed the process of creatingSurvey Scrambleand provided just a glimpse behind the curtain at the making of their popularParty Packgames. The team revealed that they ask themselves a series of questions before making each game and that a key element to making a good party game is whether it can be described in simple terms to quickly catch an audience’s attention.
The Team Starts By Asking Themselves Important Questions
Before creating any party game, whether it isDrawfulorThe Poll MineorSurvey Scramble,the Jackbox Games team asks themselves a number of key questions. These include “Do players understand it right away?” and “Have we maintained and reinforced what made it fun in the first place?” Each game is designed to be simple to understand and have a core, easily visible element of what makes it fun.
Games that are too complex to explain can easily become not fun or humorous, the team explained, citing previousJackbox Party Packgames as examples of simple, effective descriptions:
“One indicator that things are going well is if a game can be summed up quickly: “You answer a prompt; then everyone votes on which is funniest” or “You make t-shirts fight each other.” If it takes a paragraph to explain why something is fun, it can probably be streamlined.”
A Good Party Game Has Something For Everyone
Another philosophy the Jackbox Games team focuses on when designing a party game is “something for everyone.” This is reflected not just inSurvey Scramble’smany available customization options, which includestreamer mode, family-friendly mode, and various accessibility settings, but in the four game modes available at launch (with more planned to come later.)
TheJackbox Gamesteam describedSurvey Scramble’sfour starting modes as follows: “When choosing the initial game modes forSurvey Scramble, we tried to have a balance: ‘easy to learn’, ‘twitchy’, ‘strategic’, ‘one with bouncing’.” Twitchy, they went on to explain, refers to game modes that require fast reaction times in order to claim victory.
Players looking for a more casualSurvey Scrambleexperience can try out “Hilo” mode, which focuses simply on identifying the most and least popular answers to various survey questions. Those wanting something a little more competitive can try out the aforementioned ‘twitchy’ mode - “Bounce,” in which teams of players control a paddle and must correctly rank survey answers to move the paddle and keep a sphere bouncing in the air. “Of the four initial modes, it’s our twitchiest,” they revealed.
Survey Scrambleis a stand-alone game, rather than part of a Party Pack, but the team promises it will offer tons of fun for players of all ages. In addition, they plan to add two more modes to Survey Scramble in the near future. Details of these modes have not yet been revealed. As for what might be on the horizon for Jackbox Games, the team couldn’t say, but they promised that they love making Party Packs filled with fun party games and have no plans to stop anytime soon. They plan to continue using their winning strategy to make many more laugh-out-loud party games in the future.
