Jackbox Games returns with another new game to close out 2024, but it isn’t a Party Pack. Instead, The Jackbox Survey Scramble is built around answering survey questions and seeing how the rest of society thinks. ComingSoon spoke with the developer to see what’s fresh about the stand-alone title, which is out today on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC, as well as on streaming platforms like Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV.
“Discover how people across the country think! The Jackbox Survey Scramble is a collection of hilarious survey-based game modes, using real one-word answers from real people. Really! Grab some friends and start guessing!” says the description.
Tyler Treese: It’s been a bit since we’ve seen a stand-alone release from Jackbox. What led to the decision to release this as a smaller budget-priced game rather than part of a party pack?
Jackbox Games: The decision to release Survey Scramble as a stand-alone product was really driven by the concept itself. We’re always playing around with different ideas, and as we explored the idea of a massive survey, using as many answers as possible, with the game updating with new rankings as you play, we had a bunch of different ideas around “okay, what would we do with such a list?” As the different game modes came together, we realized this concept had the potential to be bigger than a typical Party Pack game, and the studio got behind releasing it as its own thing.
Are any modes playable solo, or are they primarily multiplayer or team-based?
All modes can be played with between 2-10 players, with two modes (HILO/SPEED) having everyone on their own, and two (SQUARES/BOUNCE) dividing players into teams. Although, I can tell you this: if you’d rather a solo game, it’s easy to log in twice and play SQUARES against yourself or SPEED where you’re working to clear the entire list on your own. (This is our producer Rich Gallup’s sneaky hack for solo play.)
There’s a long tradition of survey-based game shows like America Says, Match Game, and so on. Did you take any inspiration from these?
Those kinds of game shows were definitely part of the initial exploration, then we moved to using as many answers as possible, and interacting with the massive lists in different ways, which led us to new territory. There’s also a bit of more modern game shows, like Millionaire and Weakest Link, in terms of the look of the game.
The results are based on an internal database that constantly adds the player’s answers. Will it have to be exact matches, like are “dog” and “dogs” two different answers?
We do a lot of moderation to ensure an answer that’s close will yield the right result. Things like plural and singular versions of one word are taken into account, so that “dog” and “dogs” (as well as “dogg” and “doggo”) will all be accepted as correct.
How long has the idea been around for this ambitious survey game? The database is a brilliant idea that I could see being very tricky to iron out.
We have lots of ideas kicking around the studio that all feel like they’re on their journey. The “massive survey” idea had been around for over a year, and as development and studio interest around it picked up, we felt like the time was right. The updating database definitely was a new challenge and it’s been exciting to figure out.
Bounce is a really fun idea that combines survey answers with a more traditional video game activity. How rewarding has it been figuring out different ways to take the same core idea — answering survey questions — and applying it in different ways?
It has been QUITE rewarding. We tried to balance game modes where you think “Ah yes, this meets my expectations for what would be in this game” and modes where you think “I can’t believe they’re doing that with a list”. And different from a Party Pack, this is one product with different approaches to a core mechanic, the huge lists. It was cool to work within that and see where the limits were.
A free update will add additional modes. What led to this strategy? Will any of them be based on player feedback?
We determined a release date and then realized we were too excited about adding modes and couldn’t stop! Just as the database will keep updating and re-ranking, Jackbox liked the idea of the product itself changing and adding new play styles over time. The two new modes coming before the end of the year are meant to further expand on how you can play the Survey Scramble. And we’ll certainly be watching how people interact with the game when it’s released, to see if there’s something we haven’t thought of.