The Jackbox Games corner of PAX AUS is a mainstay at this point, and 2025 was no different, with games being run all weekend; Mike Bilder (Chief Executive Officer at Jackbox Games) and Allard Laban (Chief Creative Officer at Jackbox Games) are sitting in and watching the games take place. I managed to get the guys away for a short period to discuss all things Jackbox Games in 2025.
In my chat with the two leads at Jackbox Games, we discussed the new release, Jackbox Party Pack 11, and how it stands as the first pack to feature only all-new games and no sequels. They also discuss the upcoming streaming platform that will bring Jackbox Games to smart TVs without the need for an Amazon Fire TV Stick or a video game console. Additionally, we touch on analogue board games, how their first release went last year, and what the plan is for future releases.
It’s always a great time speaking to the Jackbox Games team, and note that there were plenty of fun hijinks edited out of the interview for clarity, but we did talk about being able to play Jackbox Games on smart TVs and robots at some point.
I’m going to try and push you into doing something you probably don’t want to do—which is: what’s your favourite game in Jackbox Party Pack 11?
Allard Laban:
It’s easy, because this year we have a slightly different process. Each of the games had a different stakeholder from the leadership team. The game I was responsible for was ‘Legends of Trivia.’ I’m really excited about this. It’s essentially an RPG trivia game where you take your party and travel across three different lands, and you answer trivia from monsters who are kind of obsessed with trivia. We offer items that can be purchased at various stores, and it’s RPG-light.
That’s my baby. However, the rest of the pack is really impressive. Since we had no sequels, we really came in with our best foot forward on each of these games. There’s no big title carrying the rest of them, so they all had to shine.
I think another really great game is ‘Hearsay’, which scratches that 12-year-old itch of wanting to make weird sounds into a microphone. It essentially takes your voice and puts it into the game.
[Allard Laban proceeds to make a peculiar noise right into our microphone that I’ll hold onto for future uses.]
Mike Bilder:
It’s amazing how simple it is to make everyone laugh by making funny sound effects. The barrier to entry is really low. We’ve had other performing games where you have to get up and present in past packs, and some people don’t like that—they don’t want to be in the spotlight. In this game, everyone can make weird sound effects on their phone. There’s no intimidation, and the payoff is always very funny.
We also try to move our technology forward every year with new mechanics for the phone controller interface, and this one definitely does that.
Allard Laban:
And we also have a new hidden-identity game called ‘Suspectives.’ It’s kind of like everybody’s a suspect and everyone’s a detective. We start off with a survey, so you’re actually chasing down facts for each of the players. Rather than “they’re acting weird, they must be guilty,” you can actually deduce who’s guilty by elimination, which is, from a game-design standpoint, really solid thinking.
Then there’s ‘Cookie House,’ our cozy cookie-drawing game. Again, super accessible—like all Jackbox games. You don’t have to be a great artist, but you have to be able to make cute cookies.
Mike Bilder:
And the last one is ‘Doominate,’ where you take something and then ruin it. You’re given a prompt like “a beautiful sunrise,” and you have to ruin that sunrise.
Allard Laban:
At the end of the world.
Mike Bilder:
Right—exactly. It’s played in a similar manner to games like ‘Quiplash,’ where all the prompts go up against each other and people vote, but it’s a fun twist. The time-to-laughter on that one is really short as well. It’s a very fun, accessible game in the pack. Classic Jackbox.
“It’s all about iteration and finding the best execution.”
They’re definitely all different. I don’t recall Allard’s exact wording from our last conversation, but he mentioned that getting the packs right is akin to mixing a cocktail.
Allard Laban:
Yeah, it’s sort of a cocktail, right? Each pack is like “we did a little of this, a little of that.” Every year, we go for it as we determine what the next pack will be. We have a bunch of ideas come in; we say, “This would work well with this,” and at the end of the day, we just try to playtest games for fun. Some games will be rejected this year, but they may come back in subsequent years—we never let a game concept die. It’s all about iteration and finding the best execution.
Mike Bilder:
Variety is always important. People buy the pack—if they like a couple of the games, they’re usually satisfied. If they likeall the games, even better. This one, we’ve had some early looks and the reviews are very positive, so hopefully people will be pleased. And with no sequels, it’s all new experiences. Hopefully, people find something they like and have fun with it.
Allard Laban:
Yeah, I’ve seen the comments already: “It’s all bangers.”
I was trying to find an answer before this, but what was the last pack that included all the original games?
Mike Bilder:
We’ve actually never done one before!
Even more so than—what were the discussions around risk/reward versus including something you know people will like?
Mike Bilder:
We are currently working on a sequel, ‘Trivia Murder Party 3.’ This standalone game is scheduled to release next year. That was one of the reasons—if we’re already working on a sequel, let’s not do another sequel in the Party Pack. And last year, we did a little departure from normal—the ‘Naughty Pack,’ a three-game pack, plus a standalone game alongside it. We wanted to return to the traditional formula this year with the Party Pack and challenged ourselves to create five all-new ideas to see if they resonate. Early signs are good.
How often do you think about moving into one core game with DLC packs, or a streaming platform you subscribe to?
Mike Bilder:
How funny you mention that—we’re actually working on it. We are currently building a streaming platform.
It’s in a very closed beta. It’ll go into open beta by the end of this year, with a full launch next year. The idea is that it’s ad-backed: play a handful of games for free with ads, and then subscribe to access all games and disable ads. But the idea is, there’s no console needed. On smart TVs, the same way you launch a Netflix app, you’ll launch a Jackbox app. Log in, pick whatever game you want—go right in; you don’t have to load a pack and then a game—lots of utility, especially with our big catalogue.
Allard Laban:
We’re also hoping to have a sandbox to try out different game concepts—things too unusual to invest in for a pack until we gauge the response. We’ll experiment there. I’m excited—we’ll get to prove out really stupid ideas.
Streaming’s interesting because so many people have tried it and it falls apart—they’re trying to stream higher-bitrate games than you would be, I guess.
Mike Bilder:
Yes, the key differentiator is that these services try to be console or high-end PC replacements—4K, latest shooters, highest frame rates—but you encounter friction: delay/lag, controller pairing, etc. We don’t have those problems. We don’t need 4K/60. Latency is acceptable; we already built around phone-controller latency. We’re not trying to replace consoles. We want accessibility and minimal friction: use the TV remote to select a game, then your phone to play.
Our offering is simple and focused on our style of games; we’ll continue to add features as the service evolves. That’s the differentiator.
“We’re not trying to replace consoles. We want accessibility and minimal friction.”
Have you had to reach out to someone to make the platform work?
Mike Bilder:
Yeah—we’re working with Amazon. They have Luna and a service called ‘GameLift Streams’, which allows you to rent cloud game-streaming servers, just like you would rent AWS servers. We’re white-labeling that backend tech and building our infrastructure on top of it.
It’s kind of the last mile for us. We’re a video-game company, but our competition is analogue games—card/board games at parties. We’re not competing with Call of Duty; we’re competing with The Game of Life, Clue, Cards Against Humanity, and charades. If you have an Xbox/PlayStation, you probably know us. However, many households don’t have consoles—yet they have smart TVs and know how to use apps. If we can reach those casual households, that’s the strategy.
You need to steal the Xbox slogan and say, “This is a Jackbox.”
Mike Bilder:
I really like that campaign!
In the board game competition you spoke about, you had your first analogue game release last year—
[Allard walked off to get a surprise for us, a prototype copy of an analogue ‘Fibbarge’ game.]
Your first game came out last November. Were you satisfied with how that project turned out?
Mike Bilder:
We’re very happy. It’s been an experiment to see if our IP works in analogue; reception’s good, sales are good.
So we’re looking at something new now.
Allard Laban
I’d say it’s a hit—our partner Wilder’s probably top game right now in the US, is ours. However, we’re still looking for an Australian distributor.
And now we’ll have this, Fibbage. Coming, probably next year.
That’s one of the larger Jackbox IPs to be turned into an analogue game.
Mike Bilder:
Yeah, bigger, more well-known than ‘Fakin’ It.’ We wanted to start smaller with something we knew how to execute.
“If you get three, four, or five of these on a shelf, you can make one thing together and call it a ‘Party Pack.'”
Honestly, I love that the form factor is the same—the base colour and everything. That’ll look great on a shelf next to the previous game.
Mike Bilder:
If you get three, four, or five of these on a shelf, you can make one thing together and call it a ‘Party Pack.’ We’ve thought about it. We’ll see how it works.
You’re turning these around quickly if they’re one year apart. Who does all the play testing?
Allard Laban:
Our partner Wilder is helping. We help as well.
I do a lot of the design myself, including graphics and design. I have a background in print design, so it is fun to get back into it. We playtest the crap out of it.
And on the Australian distribution thing, there’s no news there?
Allard Laban:
Not yet. Apparently, a distributor is popping by here—talking to people. We’re going to make it happen.
Last year, we spoke about Survey Scramble and data, and Allard told us, “We play dumb with people’s data.” With the rapid growth of AI over the past 12 months, people are more concerned than ever. Is that something you’ve had to think about at all?
Allard Laban:
We’ve always been dumb. Our phone-as-controller system is intentionally unaware of who’s present. We transmit what you said, then throw it away. Even in TKO, those drawings remain active for a while; we don’t know who owns them, and they expire after a few months.
Mike Bilder:
On AI, we’re not using it to generate content or art. That’s a third rail. It’s all human touch.
Allard Laban:
Our philosophy is: believe in the human core of creativity. AI can assist with math/boring tasks—such as automating schedules—but not with content or art.
What’s coming up? You hinted before about a sequel.
Mike Bilder:
‘Trivia Murder Party 3’ for sure. It’s running on a brand-new engine, offering a completely new take on the game’s presentation. Minigames, fun, and writing are all still the core. But it’s a lot more cinematic. We want it spookier, scarier. We’ve brought on some big talent to help it feel like an AAA-style game—giving it a bigger presence. We’re super-excited about this one, cause it’s a new engine—we’re going to push it.
Alongside TMP3, we’ll have another release (unannounced). We’re working on party games—it’s what we do. This time of year, we release the Party Pack and enter the ideation phase, where we develop and refine ideas, so there’ll be another release next year. The streaming service is expected to go live early next year (Q1/Q2). We have a couple of other things with partners we can’t announce yet—you may see another game or two as well.
We’re busy. Still trying to take over the world. I’m excited—busy.
What are you missing? What else should you be doing on top of all of that?
Allard Laban (joking):
Oh—Formula One.
Thank you to Mike Bilder and Allard Laban for taking the time out of your schedules to chat with me about all things Jackbox Games.
