Making The Jackbox Party Pack 3
On October 17, 2016, The Jackbox Party Pack 3 was released with five party games: Guesspionage, Trivia Murder Party, Tee K.O., Quiplash 2, and Fakin’ It.
The third Party Pack was received positively, particularly by fans with a 10/10 rating on Steam.
Senior Creative Director Spencer Ham recalls not knowing exactly what to expect when sharing this pack with fans. “I have so many good memories from Pack 3,” he recalls. “It was such a fun, frantic time for the entire studio. My favorite memory was during TwitchCon of that year. It was our first time attending as a studio and we were hopeful this pack would get a nice reception, but at the same time you never know until it's in front of people. During a particularly raucous game of Trivia Murder Party, I remember looking over at Andy Poland and Arnie Niekamp and sharing a nod that said, ‘It works! It really works!’ That was the best feeling.”
Party Pack 3 was Senior Audio Lead Brian Chard’s first Party Pack. “I’ll always remember it fondly,” he says.
On March 30th, some of the folks who created Party Pack 3 gathered to play games and share memories from the creation of this pack. Take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oLseyCILcjQ?feature=share&t=855
Guesspionage
Each turn in Guesspionage, a single player makes their guess between 0-100% based on the prompt. Then the other players wager whether the correct percentage is higher or lower than the guess. The player that guessed gets points for how close they were to the truth.
Brian Chard worked as the Editorial co-Lead on Guesspionage, which meant he spent a lot of time with the survey data that got plugged into the game. Brian recalls, “I remember it taking a long time to tally up the poll results for Guesspionage. Our respondents were very… creative… with their spelling.”
Fun fact: the brutalist building featured in Guesspionage is not just any scary rectangular edifice; it’s Boston’s City Hall building! Jackbox CCO Allard Laban often pays a visit when in town for PAX East.
Trivia Murder Party
Trivia Murder Party is the deadly quiz show where you match wits with a trivia-obsessed killer. Correctly answer trivia questions and win mini-games to escape alive.
Jackbox team members have a wealth of memories associated with creating what has become one of the studio’s most well-known party games.
Spencer Ham was not always the voice of the deranged hotel killer. VP of Audio and Editorial Andy Poland shares, “I was originally going to be the host for TMP but couldn't due to time constraints.”
Spencer remembers, “At the time we had a fairly crude recording booth that was placed in the corner of our studio. Every time I went into it to record lines, I would hear a clear radio frequency play in my headphones. Luckily, it was an alternative music station so it could've been worse, but I think it contributed to just how deranged the host became in Trivia Murder Party.”
Studio Art Director Dave Innis reflects on the complexity of the game’s development, saying “We had so many crazy complicated ideas for how the TMP ghosts could ‘steal’ back the life force if they take the lead, but just couldn't get it to work. That being said, the simple swap we ended up with was probably the best choice for keeping things paced well.”
Take a look at some of these unused art concepts for the avatars in Trivia Murder Party:
Fakin’ It
In each round of Fakin’ It, players get simple instructions on their phone like “raise your hand if you’ve continued eating food after finding a hair in it.” Easy enough. Except one player, The Faker, doesn’t have the instructions and has to blend in as if they do.
Most Jackbox party games go through a long brainstorming process before the team lands on the right name. However, Fakin’ It has always been Fakin’ It. Studio Editorial Director Arnie Niekamp remembers working on it for a couple of years before it made its way into Party Pack 3. “It was pitched before Drawful,” he says.
Party Pack 3 was Art Director Owen Watson’s first Party Pack gig. He was brought on as the Lead Artist for Fakin’ It. The game’s avatars quickly became fan-favorites… particularly “Orange Guy” who appears in the pack art, but does not have a category within the game. In the 2023 Party Pack 3 livestream, Owen and Arnie discuss Orange Guy’s omission from the final game.
“This was the last game in the pack and it was made on a very short timeline, and there was another category that just got cut,” says Arnie. “Orange Guy represented the ‘Make A Sound’ category. The Orange Guy logo has him farting.”
Quiplash 2
Like in Quiplash, players answer a wide array of fun prompts. Quiplash 2 picks up where its predecessor left off with new prompts and fun twists on the classic formula.
Dave Innis worked as the Lead Artist on Quiplash 2, and shared this early sketch of the game’s quips:
For a deeper-dive into Quiplash behind the scenes, take a look at our Party Pack 2 blog.
Tee K.O.
In Tee K.O., players are on the clock to create drawings and write as many slogans as possible. Then all the pictures and slogans are shuffled to other players at random. Whoever combines their drawings and slogans to create the best t-shirt wins, as designs are pitted against each other in head-to-head battles. The t-shirts with the highest votes in each round must survive the gauntlet to become the best.
Brian Chard was the Audio Lead for Tee K.O.. He remembers playing an early version, saying “The first time I played Tee K.O., it was still in paper test form. We were all laughing a lot. The early names for the game were definitely NSFW.”
Take a look at these early concept sketches for Tee K.O. game screens.
Huge news for Tee K.O. fans… Tee K.O. 2 is coming to The Jackbox Party Pack 10! Since its debut in Party Pack 3, Tee K.O. has been a fan-favorite and we’re excited to revisit this old game and bring new ideas to it. Learn more about Tee K.O. 2 here.
Throughout the upcoming months, we’ll be highlighting the work that went into each of the Party Packs. Stay tuned for more behind the scenes snippets, livestreams, discounts, and more. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to keep up with all the behind the scenes content.
