The Jackbox Survey Scramble review: Checking off the right boxes

For the past decade, Jackbox Games has become known for party game compilations that are good for livening up any family or friend gathering. These games are usually drastically different from one another and some can take upwards of 20-30 minutes to play. By comparison, The Jackbox Survey Scramble is fairly different from the studio's previous efforts and one that proves to be a quick and entertaining go-to for any game night.

Would you like to take a survey?

While there are different ways to play, The Jackbox Survey Scramble focuses on a singular idea. It's about surveys and competing to see who can guess the answers. On the surface, it feels like popular game show Family Feud, but there's a little more nuance (and less Steve Harvey) involved.

I previously touched on the Hilo and Squares modes during our recent Steam Next Fest preview. Hilo acts as the game's primary mode, tasking players with picking the most and least popular answers on a given topic, and can often be entertaining depending on the subject matter. Squares, meanwhile, is a Tic-Tac-Toe variation where teams battle for squares by guessing answers across the entirety of the survey's response range. These sessions can get tense once squares are locked after selecting their top answer.

The third game mode is Speed. It's the most straightforward, as well as the dullest, of the Survey Scramble offerings. It simply has players punch in answers as quickly as they can before time runs out. That's all there is to it. There's no twist other than double points being offered after a halftime break. This is a game mode that plays out quickly and doesn't offer much else in the way of stimulation.

Bounce mode is Survey Scramble's most creative mode, channeling the paddle gameplay of the classic Breakout. During their turn, teams move the paddle by guessing answers across a survey's range. Most popular answers place the paddle on the left side while least popular ones put it on the right. This results in some fast-paced play with teams scrambling to come up with different answers to keep the paddle moving. It's possible to use the same answer, but the paddle grows smaller when using repeats. This mode wasn't as popular as Squares in this household, but it was close.

Brevity is the soul of wit

The typical Jackbox Party Pack title is known for lengthy rule sets and a bombastic presentation. There's pomp and circumstance in just about every Jackbox title, whether it's the game show presentation of something like You Don't Know Jack, the round-based structure of something like Drawful or Fibbage, or the almost narrative-like structure of something like Weapons Drawn or Fakin' It.

Comparatively, The Jackbox Survey Scramble is straightforward. There's a host, voiced capably by Charles Schoenherr, but those looking for the bells and whistles of something like Fibbage won't find that here. This game throws players right into the action and, as a result, games fly by. Nearly every game mode can be played in just a few minutes. In fact, it almost goes too fast. A game mode like Hilo, specifically, almost demands a longer structure to truly get the most out of the concept. It's nice to have the abbreviated sessions of modes like Speed and Squares, but it would have been nice to have at least one way to play that stretches the fun out for a little longer. The closest option available is Tour, which takes all players through every game mode back-to-back.

Sample size

The Jackbox Survey Scramble feels like an almost basic outing for Jackbox Games and that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's one central concept, but that concept is executed well. The four game modes are mostly winners, each offering a fun pick-up-and-play option for the whole family. Sessions go by quickly (arguably too fast) and none of the modes overstay their welcome.

One of the best parts is that if a category comes up a second time for whatever reason, the answers may not be the same, since Jackbox Games is planning to keep surveys in rotation. Since Jackbox allows players to fill out surveys during any downtime they have while waiting for sessions to start, there's no reason this game shouldn't still feel fresh years down the road. This should especially prove true with Jackbox Games promising to add more game modes down the road.

Not every party has to go all night long. The Jackbox Survey Scramble is less of a party pack and more like a lunchtime activity. There's room to play and you'll still have time to finish your sandwich.

This review is based on a Steam code provided by the publisher. The Jackbox Survey Scramble is available now on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch for $9.99 USD. The game is rated T.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?