Category: Game Reviews

Split the Room is in a room that has a line down the center. This room shows us how many people end up on each side. The more split the room is on the prompt the more points the player gets. Whenever the game is starting a cat guy starts talking and tells us how to play the game. The cat also shows us an example of the game and what would happen. It is really interesting seeing what answers people choose with the given prompts. The last few questions are then doors which have a generated answer to the prompt or our own answers. We are then given a player and have to guess what they would answer. The game is pretty fun and it’s cool seeing what people come up with for answers to the prompts. I would play it again.

In terms of this game vs other Jackbox games I’ve played, I would say I’m a little underwhelmed. The idea of the game is to use a prompt (worded by another player) and draw an invention on your device that would solve the hypothetical problem. It sticks with a constant shape and color theme, which makes the game easier to understand and flow. The idea isn’t too original, and I would probably have liked it more if you drew for your own prompt. Another thing I noticed was how the automated voice had to repeat the prompt before every invention is shown. This is very repetitive, so maybe if they created more options for the computer voice or took that feature out all together. Usually Jackbox games are so original but this one seems a bit repetitive. I liked, however, how eight people can play at a time.

Patently Stupid is a game that sees players attempting to solve problems created in part by the other players. They use a sketch, name, and tagline to make a product to solve the problem and then present it. Each player then votes on the products they think would be the most successful and points are awarded as such.

Patently Stupid is a fairly straight forward game that is easy to understand and play even for new players. The directions are clear and simple. It is entertaining to see what kinds of prompts players will get and what their solutions will be. It makes for a great party game that can be played amongst friends or family.

Emily Buzzie – Game Design

The goal of this game is to finish various prompts, get shown 2 random prompts that were filled out by other players, draw a ‘stupid invention’ to solve the problem said in the prompt, and then vote on other players inventions, which are given a title and tagline before presented. 

Was the game fun?

This game was a lot of fun. I’ve never played it before, and it made a good first impression. Due to the mad lib style prompts, randomization, varying drawing skills, and creative titles and taglines made the game very different for each player. Even during the second round, when given the same prompt, everyone’s inventions, names, and taglines were so different from one another.

Interactions between players

Some interactions between the players include finishing prompts for other players. Each player gets to finish a prompt or two, which is then given to another player to pick from. So when you are drawing, you are creating an invention for other players’ prompt. Another interaction would be the voting process. Once everyone has drawn their invention, and created a title and tagline, all the other players vote on each other’s work. This determines points, and ultimately the winner. Everyone’s reason for voting is different, personally I choose the funniest invention or the invention that I would want and use. 

How long did it take to learn?

As mentioned earlier, this was my first time playing this specific JackBox game, and it didn’t take very long at all. There is a narrator that explains a little bit in the beginning, and continues to explain each step and each time something appears on the main screen and phone screen. It was very easy to pick up, no confusion, and very quick to catch onto. The title helps with this, as the goal of the game is to make a stupid, funny, helpful invention. 

Would you play again?

I definitely would. I have played JackBox before, but never Stupid Inventions, it is already one of my favorites, if not my favorite. Getting able to draw was fun, but getting to decide the title and tagline was somehow more fun to me. Voting was the most fun, in the whole game, it was super funny to see what everyone came up with. All in all, I would 100% play this game again. I feel like no matter how many times I played and who I played with, it would be different each time.

Patently Stupid opens with a great deal of dialogue. This dialogue has no obvious option to include subtitles.  Since the dialogue goes on for some time, subtitles would make it easier for people to follow and more accessible for those with hearing issues. The game includes an option to skip the dialogue entirely, but since it is all spoken there is no way to make the intro go faster without skipping it entirely.  This could cause impatience, particularly when a game is played with some players who have already played and don’t need the intro and other players that need it.

The different steps of the game include timers.  This is important because it prevents the game from being frozen forever if a player’s device gets stuck or if they stop playing without leaving the game.  However, the timers are only located at the bottom of the main screen and not indicated on the players’ individual devices.

During the presentation stage of the game, each player gets to choose between “Present for Me” and “I will Present”.  Choosing the “I will Present” option takes the player to a menu where they can control which aspects of their project are displaying on the main screen for the other players.  The issue with this is that the menu screen takes a moment to understand at first glance, and the entire presentation is done in real time.  This means for a first time player choosing this option, it is very possible they will be too pressured to think through what order they want to present different items in. The gameplay could be improved if the players all chose at the same time how they would present and then had time to prepare their presentation before being put on the spot.

As a whole, the game felt aimless until the final round. The structure of the game wasn’t clear until it was over, and at any given time there wasn’t a clear view of where it was going. Overall, the game was too close to the corporate brainstorming sessions it is trying to mock to be a fun experience.

I find some JackBox games interesting because most of the time you want to win in the end but you need the support of others to get you there. In Spilt the Room, you are given a hypothetical situation with a fill-in-the-blank. A few multiple choice answers are given. You win more points in a round if the majority vote picks the same multiple choice answer you did.

How long did it take you to learn the game?

At the beginning of the game, we are introduced to a narrator who looks like a cat butler. He explains the game and takes you through the different prompts that will show up on your phone. I have played JackBox before, therefore, I knew that I would using my phone to interact and a TV to see the responses. I thought it was helpful that the cat butler narrated through the whole game because it gave more context and personality to the game itself. After the second round of answering the hypothetical scenarios, I caught onto the game.

How do you interact with others?

You interact with other by seeing what answers they decide in each round. I find it interesting to see how everyone answers to a scenario. Depending on the people and scenario, you might not know how people will answer. There is not a lot of physical dialogue between players but I also think that depends on the group of people you are gathered around.

Would you play it again?

I would try it again. I would not play it as regularly as some other games I play because I think it requires a good group of people but given the right context, yes.

I have played many jackbox games over the years, and for the most part I enjoyed the majority of the games and think that they are well made, both from a artistic and technical standpoint. Sadly, Zeeple Dome is not as polished as the other games Jackbox has made. This is both due to the game itself, as well as the technical issues surrounding it. For starters zeeple Dome requires you to essentially aim your character in the right direction. While this would feasibly be a good mechanic when you are physically in front of the screen, when online the input delay is large enough that aiming resorts to aiming in the general direction and just hoping that your character will hit the enemy. Another aspect of the game that isnt really well explained are the enemies. Usually with jackbox tutorials they give you a good understanding of how the game works, while still keeping it simple and easy to understand. Zeeple Dome doesnt even explain the mechanics of the game, ESPECIALLY how the enemies work. In fact I didnt even know we had to hit the enemies specifically when they light up with our characters colors, until Tasia said so in the chat around 15 minutes in. Normally I think that the player could figure these things out on their own, but there are so many characters and particles bouncing around everywhere that analyzing what happens when you hit an enemy is unlikely. Overall, Zeeple Dome has fun mechanics that theoretically would result in a fun game, but the lack of explanation of how the game works, as well as the frustrating delay in the controls results in a unfun experience.