The Jackbox Survey Scramble came as an unexpected but welcome addition to the popular party franchise. In a year when a traditional Party Pack was not set to release,The Jackbox Survey Scramble scratches an otherwise insatiable itch for fans and presents something new and fresh from the series. Unique in style and approach yet clearly inspired by some of the series’ most popular minigame entries, The Jackbox Survey Scramble fits into the mix comfortably, albeit whilst offering something totally original for players.
As the name suggests, The Jackbox Survey Scramble offers a series of game variants based around guessing the popular responses to survey questions. Each game takes 5-20 minutes to play, depending on player experience, and offers a fresh spin on a relatively familiar format for any Family Feud fans out there.
Hilo involves trying to guess both high and low-ranking responses to a survey prompt, offering a neat spin and challenge beyond the inspirations for the format. Points are distributed for finding answers higher or lower in the list in each round respectively, in what is perhaps the most straightforward variant offered within the The Jackbox Survey Scramble collection. Certainly, amongst my player group, this was also the most popular game mode (notwithstanding an overarching issue which I will come to shortly!).
Speed is very similar but instead challenges you to guess as many popular responses as possible within the scope of a timer. This mode was deemed more “stressful” by some members of my playing party but certainly added an element of urgency into the mix. Perhaps the most challenging in this variant is the no-duplicates rule. This can throw off even experienced players, somewhat levelling the playing field.
Beyond Speed, things start to get a little different in terms of format. Squares is essentially a Noughts and Crosses-style game mode whereby the ranges for responses to a given prompt are presented to you, and your challenge is to find an answer which fits within that range on the hierarchy.
This one got a little controversial at times, with what some players felt were clear synonyms of a correct response not being accepted by the game (this may have been present in other modes, too, but was certainly more apparent here to our group than elsewhere). Nevertheless, it was a fun spin on the base game format and perhaps the most thought-provoking mode in the collection.
And then there was Bounce. Bounce was an interesting, but perhaps overly-abstract entry which received mixed reviews from within our player group. Imagine Pong or Breakout, whereby you have to bounce a cube away from falling off your screen using a barrier in the correct location. However, in the style of the wider pack, here you have to find a survey response within the correct range across the bottom of the screen in order to produce your barrier and deflect the cube.
This demands a lot of lateral thinking on top of the base layer of guessing survey responses. Answers have to be found within pretty specific ranges and at pace, and this involved more stress than fun for some players. The mode was certainly funny and exciting, but the general feeling was that it was doing a little too much.
The basic premise of The Jackbox Survey Scramble is excellent. It does not require a huge amount of prior gaming experience or excessive niche subject knowledge – just the ability to think like your fellow human beings in the world. This simple yet fun and effective model fits right into the broader Jackbox picture, and was great fun to play with friends and family. However, one key difference with this game comes as both a blessing and a somewhat-fatal curse; user-defined responses.
Surveying players makes the game dynamic and interesting. Answers can be different in one month to another, for example, based on new responses submitted. However, the game felt like a little more moderation needs to fall into the mix, with silly responses scoring more than once on surveys where they simply didn’t belong. Regrettably, some enterprising players have discovered that they have the “hilarious” ability to manipulate the game’s answers in this way, which presents mild frustration and a consistent potential flaw across game modes.
Nevertheless, despite the single pitfall which befalls this new model and approach for Jackbox games, The Jackbox Survey Scramble proves that a single, well-executed format can merit just as much joy, entertainment value and popular success as a classic party pack from the veteran party game team. The game feels fresh yet familiar, and will absolutely hold its own in the regularly-played mix of Jackbox titles amongst my group. In lieu of a full Party Pack offering, The Jackbox Survey Scramble is a welcome and entertaining addition to a consistently strong franchise.
The Jackbox Survey Scramble Trailer
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