The Jackbox Party Pack series got me through the past three years. While everyone was socially distancing from family, friends and colleagues, it was nice to connect with them over video calls to catch up, play some casual video games, and pretend that this "new normal" didn't suck. Jackbox Games has maintained its pace of a new party pack every year, and The Jackbox Party Pack 9 debuted in October 2022. One of the new features in this offeringis that players can scan a QR code instead of manually typing the URL and room code to join a session.

The title features the usual five minigames that are designed to be played by as few as one person or as many as 10 players.  One person streams/casts the game over a video call or Twitch, and participants join from the web browser on their cell phones or tablets.

I scheduled a WorthPlaying game night, and we tackled the five minigames in The Jackbox Party Pack 9: Fibbage 4, Junktopia, Nonsensory, Quixort and Roomerang.

Fibbage 4

Fibbage 4 is the fourth entry in the Fibbage series, and it supports two to eight players. In Fibbage, a question is presented, but it's missing a word or a phrase. Each player comes up with a plausible lie, and everyone votes for what they think is the truth. Players receive points for correctly identifying the truth, and they also receive points for each person they fool with their lie. Each game is split into three rounds, and each participant gets a turn, so the game may take a while in larger groups.

The biggest change is to the final round, which presents players with two different questions with two different missing words/phrases. Players must submit a lie that could work for both questions. Points are awarded in the same way as in the regular rounds, but if a player's answer is chosen as the answer to both questions, they receive extra points.

Fibbage 4 is a dependable crowd-pleaser, and the visuals seem to have fully committed to the fever dream aesthetic.

Junktopia

Junktopia is a new offering, and it supports three to eight players. Think of it as an opportunity to be in a wacky episode of "Antiques Roadshow." Players are given a starting budget, and on their phone or tablet, each player is shown three random items. Players must buy one of the items, name it, and come up with some facts about the item's origins and usage. Players can try to haggle over the price, but I'm unclear what that is supposed to accomplish. You're either successful in spending a few bucks less than the original price, or the haggling can backfire, and you end up paying more instead. It feels random, and there's no way to influence the success of the haggling attempt.

Once that is done, each player presents their item, and other players vote to indicate their interest in the item. The more votes/interest an item gets, the higher its potential selling price — and the player's profit. Presentation gurus may get a kick out of enabling Presentation mode, which lets them control when and which piece of information is revealed to spectators. This goes on for two rounds.

In the final round, each player is given a chance to name the group of the items from the prior two rounds. The person with the most points across all three rounds of voting is the winner.

We weren't initially sold on the premise, but the team had a lot of fun with this minigame. It's the best title in the entire pack, and we can't wait to get back to it again. The aesthetic is also appropriate for Halloween, if that's your wheelhouse.

Nonsensory

Nonsensory is a new offering and supports three to eight players. There are a few rounds where players are prompted to write or draw something. When a player's response is revealed, the other players must guess where that response fits on the defined scale. One of our prompts was, "Write the first line of a dating profile." When shown the text response of "Posh AF," other players must guess the likelihood of the author of the dating profile being royalty. Is it closer to 10% or closer to 100%? Each player receives points based on how close they were to the correct answer.

The final round is the most difficult, as it asks players to draw something that is between two disparate objects – for example, an item that is 70% between a rhino and a dumpster. Again, the other players must guess where the drawing fits on the defined scale.

The text and drawing prompts are hit-and-miss. When the drawing prompts end up being slightly ridiculous, the resulting artwork can devolve into peals of laughter. Basing guesses — and subsequently, the score — on hastily drawn sketches is inexact and often maddening.

Quixort

Quixort is another new offering, and it supports one to 10 players — well, sort of. The competitive, head-to-head mode requires at least two players. There's a different, endless mode for one player, but that's a different experience and requires choosing "Play Forever" from the initial game screen.

If you choose the regular "Play" option, Quixort presents players with a question prompt, and answers must be sorted in the provided sequence, such as "oldest" on the left and "newest" on the right. An answer block slowly drops down from the top, and players use their cell phone or tablet to move the block to where they believe it belongs in the sequence.

This minigame encourages teamwork and communication, and we had some fun with this one. The enjoyment is heavily dependent on the question prompts. For example, "horror movies" from oldest to newest was fun, but the "lyrics to 'Oops! … I Did It Again'" in the appropriate order generated panic (and eye rolls).

Roomerang

Last — and unfortunately, least — is Roomerang. It's another new offering, and it supports four to nine players. It's somewhat modeled after reality shows, and that may have been why it was the least favorite among the team, which avoids reality shows. The first thing players are asked to do is choose a defining trait. They're urged to model their responses after that trait, but there's no reason to and there's no enforcement. Feel free to be yourself.

Players responding to prompts and other players voting on their favorite responses. The player with the most votes wins the round and an advantage in the following elimination. Eliminated players lose some points and are voted out of the mansion – only to return after about five seconds later. After five rounds, the player with the most points. The final round doesn't play any differently than the four rounds that preceded it.

There is a lot of unnecessary filler to Roomerang, so players spend more time waiting and watching than they do actually playing the game. The host narration goes on for too long, and although players must choose a defining trait before the game can begin, the selection has no impact on the gameplay. When an "eliminated" player returns for the first time, the reveal is amusing, even though everyone has to wait for the unnecessary character animations to finish. When an eliminated player returns in the fifth round, it is nauseating.

Overall, The Jackbox Party Pack 9 is average, so if you're looking for new material for virtual get-togethers, this is a serviceable option. Fibbage 4 is dependable, and Junktopia was a pleasant surprise. The enjoyment of Nonsensory and Quixort is heavily dependent on the prompts that players receive in each of those minigames. I can't imagine anyone willingly returning to Roomerang.

Score: 7.0/10