You Don't Know Jack (franchise)

Last updated • 43 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
You Don't Know Jack
You Don't Know Jack Logo.png
Genre(s) Party
Developer(s) Berkeley Systems, Jackbox Games, Starsphere Interactive, Iron Galaxy Studios, Webfoot Technologies, Flipside.com
Publisher(s) Sierra On-Line, THQ, Jackbox Games, Berkeley Systems, SPELGRIM.Com, Majesco Entertainment, TopWare Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, Tsukuda Original, Telltale Publishing
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Nintendo DS, iOS, Apple TV, Android, Roku, OUYA, Nintendo Switch, WebTV
First release You Don't Know Jack
October 22, 1995
Latest release You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream
October 17, 2018

You Don't Know Jack is a series of video games developed by Jackbox Games (formerly known as Jellyvision Games [1] ) and Berkeley Systems, as well as the title of the first You Don't Know Jack game in the series. You Don't Know Jack, framed as a game show "where high culture and pop culture collide", combines trivia with comedy.

Contents

While it is primarily a PC and Mac-based franchise with over two dozen releases and compilations for those platforms, there have been a few entries released for consoles: two for the original PlayStation, and the 2011 release which had versions for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Wii. In 2012, Jackbox Games developed and published a social version of the game on Facebook [2] with cross-platform versions subsequently released for iOS, [3] Android [4] and Kindle. On November 5, 2013, the majority of the franchise's many volumes and spinoffs were reissued onto Steam [5] by Jackbox Games.

On November 18, 2014, You Don’t Know Jack 2015 was released as part of The Jackbox Party Pack on Windows, macOS, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and later Nintendo Switch, iPad, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Nvidia Shield, Apple TV, and Xfinity X1. On October 17, 2018, You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream was released as part of The Jackbox Party Pack 5 for the same platforms as You Don't Know Jack 2015, with the exception of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

History

In 1991, Jellyvision's former identity, Learn Television, released the award-winning film The Mind's Treasure Chest, which featured lead character Jack Patterson. When Learn Television sought to use new multimedia technologies to create a more active learning experience, the company teamed up with Follett Software Company and developed "That's a Fact, Jack!", a reading motivation CD-ROM game show series covering young adult fiction, targeted to 3rd through 10th graders. The game would give a title for a child to read, and then ask questions related to that title.

The idea for You Don't Know Jack began while That's a Fact, Jack! was still in development. The game's title comes from the more vulgar version of the phrase: "You don't know jack shit".

Gameplay

Most versions of the game can be played by up to three players. The game can be played by only one player on the website and the iOS app. The game can be played by up to four players on the tabletop version, You Don't Know Jack 2011 (except for the PC, WebTV, and Nintendo DS versions, which are limited to two players), the OUYA version, Party and the game in The Jackbox Party Pack titled You Don't Know Jack 2015. The Full Stream edition in The Jackbox Party Pack 5 can accommodate up to eight players plus up to 10,000 additional "Audience" members. All versions of the game feature the voice of an off-screen host, who reads questions aloud, provides instructions regarding special question types, and pokes fun at the players.

The game usually opens with a green room segment, in which the players are prompted to enter their names and given instructions for play. The audio during this segment includes rehearsing singers, a busy producer, and a harassed studio manager/host. The only graphics are a large "On Air/Stand By" sign in the middle of the screen, visual representations of the players' button assignments, and a box for name entry. If the players take too long to think of their names or if the players press the "return" or "enter" key without typing in their names, then the announcer will name the players.

In games starting with the Netshow, on certain days, such as Christmas Eve, or certain times such as a Saturday night, or even during Twilight, the announcer will mention the time of day or the special holiday, and sometimes grumble about the game being played at that time or on that day. There is no box for name entry in the second episode of The Ride. In the PlayStation versions, after the game is finished, players can name themselves next to the score recorded. In the console versions of You Don't Know Jack 2011, the OUYA version, and the single-player games of You Don't Know Jack 2015, the players are prompted to choose their names that they typed in before starting the game. (The console versions of You Don't Know Jack 2011 also allows players to make new names in the "Contestants" section.)

If one or more players choose the "I don't care" option, the announcer or the host will tell that they refused to enter their names. Additionally in these games, the sign-in screen is famous for an Easter egg where if the player types in the phrase "fuck you" as their name. The phrase will be changed to a good name afterwards. In You Don't Know Jack 2011 and OUYA, the announcer will tell the player that they have no friends or didn't use proper English.

In You Don't Know Jack 2015, the host will punish the player for typing the offending name. If the player does it once, the host will deduct $1,000 from their score. If the player does it again, the host will deduct $50,001 from their score. (The deduction is only cinematic, and does not persist to the first question of the game.) If the player does it three or more times, the host will end the game with a goat, forcing the player to return to the main menu of the game.

Most versions of You Don't Know Jack offer the choice of playing a 7- or 21-question game; some versions offer only 15 questions (the Netshow, Louder! Faster! Funnier!, 5th Dementia and Mock 2), and others offer only 13 questions (The Ride), 11 questions (HeadRush, You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, OUYA, Party, You Don't Know Jack 2015 and Full Stream), or 7 questions ("The Lost Gold" and the Flash website). In a 21-question game, there is a brief intermission after the tenth question. Most questions are multiple choice, with some occasional free-entry questions, or mini-games. The Facebook version offers only 5 questions.

In its original format (Vol. 1, Sports, Vol. 2, Movies, TV, Vol 3, HeadRush, Offline, Louder! Faster! Funnier! and "The Lost Gold"), before each question, one player is given a choice of three categories. Each has a humorous title that has some connection to the topic of the corresponding question. After a short animated introduction, which is often followed by a sung jingle about the question number, the host asks the question. Typically, the question is multiple choice and players are given 10 seconds to select an answer. The first player to "buzz in" and give the correct answer wins the money for that question and gets to choose the next category.

If a player answers incorrectly, they lose money, but not before the host wisecracks about it. If all players answer incorrectly, or if none of the players buzz in and answer the question before the timer runs out, the host will reveal the correct answer; failing to answer doesn't affect a player's score, the host will then randomly choose a player to select another category. In The Ride, 5th Dementia, Mock 2, the website, You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party, You Don't Know Jack 2015 and Full Stream, the category is chosen by the host or pre-assigned to an episode.

Players can still buzz and answer within 10 seconds in The Ride, 5th Dementia and Mock 2, while in You Don't Know Jack 2011, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party, You Don't Know Jack 2015 and Full Stream, all players answer separately within 20 seconds (more than one player can select the same answer). There are occasionally other question types offered (see below).

In earlier versions' multi-player games, each player is allowed one chance to "screw" an opponent in each half of a full (21-question) game, or once in an entire short (7-question) game. Using the "screw" forces the opponent to give an answer to a question within 10 seconds. If the player who is "screwed" answers correctly, they win the money while the player who "screwed" them loses money. This basic design has changed slightly in some versions of the game.

For example, in the teen spinoff HeadRush, the screws are replaced by pairs of false teeth, so players "bite" their opponent instead. In The Ride, the feature is known as "FlakJack" and allows a player to fire multiple screws into the screen, partially or totally obscuring the question and answers. The player then chooses an opponent, who must answer even if the question is no longer readable. In German-language versions of the series, nails are used instead of screws.

In You Don't Know Jack 2011, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015, if a player uses the screw on an opponent, they only have 5 seconds to answer the question. If the screwed player answers incorrectly or fails to answer before the 5 seconds are up, the player who used the screw takes the money from them. It is possible for a player to use a screw on themselves, but after the host tells that player about the screw, they will still lose the money based on the time they used it at.

In Full Stream, either one or two screws (depending on the total number of players in the game, not counting Audience members) could be awarded in one of two ways: (1) they could be given to the player(s) who gave the fewest correct answers in Question 3, the "DisOrDat" round; and (2) to the lowest-scoring player(s) at the break before Question 6, which starts Round Two. (Several factors—too numerous to name here—determined how many screws would be awarded in each case, and players could only hold one screw at a time.) Unlike previous versions of the game, screws can affect all other players instead of just one (most notably if they have not yet answered before the screw is activated), and they make the question more difficult to answer for the players instead of forcing them to answer within a short amount of time.

Those include removing all vowels from the answers on their devices, flipping the text of the question and the answers upside-down or backwards on their devices, making the text of the question and the answers on their devices extremely small or large, making the answers hashtagged on their devices, putting the answers on their devices into shades of gray, or bouncing the answers around the screen in the style of a DVD screensaver program. Others include forcing the players to enter a password, scroll through an excessively long "Terms of Service" form, or change their screen names before being able to select an answer. After the correct answer is revealed, the player who used the screw earns extra money depending on how many players got the question wrong.

In earlier games, different category options were worth differing amounts of money, which was revealed after a category was chosen. This amount indicated how difficult the question would be. Amounts initially varied between $1,000, $2,000, & $3,000, and were doubled during the second round of questions. However, Vol. 1, Sports, Vol. 2 and Movies occasionally featured questions hosted by guests spawned from Fiber Optic Field Trips and Celebrity Collect Calls; these were worth $5,000 and appeared as the first question of the second round.

Later games in the series didn't give players three randomly generated categories, but instead gave a set number of questions in a set order. In The Ride, players 'buzz in' to set the amount of money the question is worth. Values could range from only a few hundred dollars to $10,000 or more. In 5th Dementia, the amounts of money each player sets add up to the total amount. In Mock 2, the host chooses a category and sets the amount of money to either $1,000, $2,000, or $3,000.

In the website, You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015, players win money based on how long it took to answer correctly within the 20 seconds. The money is not doubled on the website or the Facebook version, but it was doubled in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. In Full Stream, all questions in categories the host selected are worth $1,000 (double in Round 2).

Some of the volumes have a feature called "Don't Be a Wimp", which is activated if one player has a very large lead. If no one answers a question, the host may deride the leading player, calling on the audience to shout "Don't be a wimp!", and forcing the leader to answer the question.

In some volumes, the host also punishes a player who buzzes in too early; the question disappears and a text box shows up, leaving the player with 10 seconds to type the answer. [6] For The Ride and 5th Dementia, this is replaced by different punishments: the player is forced to pick from a list of four nonsensical answers, all of which are wrong, or both the question and answers are scrambled. This punishment is only triggered if a player buzzes in at the very instant that the question appears on the screen. In those three instances, the player that buzzed in too early is not permitted to "screw" the other players.

In some volumes, the host removes the question so the players don't cheat; the four possible choices are still shown.

Question types

The majority of You Don't Know Jack questions are multiple choice, with four possible choices. Some questions are fill-in-the-blank, requiring a typed response.

Special questions are also played during the game. Each version of You Don't Know Jack has its own different types of special questions, but some of the most common are:

Jack Attack

The final round of the game, called the Jack Attack in most versions and also known as the HeadRush in HeadRush, is a word association question. The category for this final round—which generally describes the desired correct answers—was determined differently, depending on which version of the game is being played. In earlier versions of the game, this was based on the final selected category; in later versions, the category is selected by the game or pre-assigned to an episode.

In most versions of the game, a word, phrase, or name appears in the middle of the screen, to which the player must find an associated word or phrase that fits the overall category. For example, Star Wars might be the associated word, and the correct answer fitting "movie stars" could be Harrison Ford. Other possibilities offered might include actors not in that film, or other objects or concepts related to the film but which are not stars of the movie. For each associated subject, several potential matches appear on screen one-at-a-time for only a few seconds each before disappearing, and only one is correct. The topics and/or potential answers are sometimes humorous.

Players win money if they buzz in when the correct match is displayed on the screen. An incorrect guess deducts money from the player's score—not just once, but every time the player buzzes in incorrectly (it is possible to buzz in incorrectly multiple times while the same incorrect answer is shown). The money earned or lost was $2,000 in most You Don't Know Jack volumes, $5,000 in HeadRush, an amount set by the players in The Ride and 5th Dementia, $4,000 in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS and Roku, $1,000 in the Facebook version, and $100, $500, or $1,000 in Full Stream depending on how long it takes the player to press the answer. Multiple players play simultaneously, playing to the same words. The words that are not matched will be cycled back in once all seven subjects have been attempted.

Jack Attack ends after either all seven subjects are either (a) matched with the right answer, or (b) attempted twice (some subjects are attempted three times). The exceptions are in some episodes of You Don't Know Jack 2011 and iOS, and all episodes of the Facebook version and You Don't Know Jack 2015, where all seven subjects are only shown once.

In Full Stream, only six subjects are given per "Attack". In each case, the same clue and subject in the center of the screen are presented to the players, with six associated words—added two at a time—can all be available at once, and more than one answer can be correct. Players earn money for correct choices and lose money for incorrect choices. Then the players choose their answers, the less money is earned or lost per choice (either $1,000, $500, or $100). And since each player answers separately on their device, all players can score—either positively or negatively—on all the answers, but only once per selected answer.

In all versions of the game, the running total of each player's score is not shown anywhere on the screen during Jack Attack, and this part of the game is usually accompanied by ominous music or ambient sounds. This creates tension between players because of the uncertainty of ranking, and the unsettling atmosphere.

Game show theme

Throughout the You Don't Know Jack franchise, there has been a running theme of You Don't Know Jack taking place on a self-titled televised game show where the players are the contestants. This idea is shown by satirical fake commercials that can be heard while starting the game, and in most games, after the game has finished (see below).

In Full Stream, instead of the game taking place on a traditional broadcast TV game show, the game becomes a show hosted on a fictional streaming service called Binjpipe. Between questions, the game navigates through the Binjpipe interface. During the game, a new female host (representing Binjpipe) speaks before the game, and hosts some question types like Binjpipe Recommends and Data Mining.

Commercials

One of the unique features of the game takes place after it has ended. Before you start a new game, you can choose to listen to You Don't Know Jack staff performing parodies of various radio commercials. The commercials vary in absurdity, selling products such as scented suppositories or foreign language cassettes to help you learn how to speak American.

They also featured phony news stories about everyday things. Examples: "Oxygen: Gas of Life? or Secret Military Death-Vapor?" or "People are falling unconscious for 8 hours every night. What is the 'sleeping disease'? Do you have it? Find out tonight."

Most You Don't Know Jack games feature recurring characters like "Chocky the Chipmunk", a breakfast cereal mascot with the catchphrase "Pink and tartie!" or "Xenora: Queen of Battle", a parody of Xena, Warrior Princess that gets involved in overtly erotic situations. Others are "The Movie Ending Phone", "1-800-me4-sale", "Cancer Stick tobacco lip balm", "Momma's Pride Human Breast Milk", "Buster's Bait Shop" and parodies of public service announcements from the fictional "United States Department of Condescending Paternalism".

The first CD-ROM for The Ride features a CD of a selection of these commercials from the previous games in the series. The disc was titled You Don't Hear Jack and has since been released as a separate product on CD. A second disc titled You Don't Hear Jack 2 was also released featuring commercials from newer versions of You Don't Know Jack. Both are available for digital download.

In Full Stream, commercials for Binjpipe are heard during the sign-in screen while players join in the game. In the post-game, radio shows are heard instead of commercials.

Hosts

There have been many different hosts of You Don't Know Jack over the years. The following is a list of hosts and the games they appear in.

Releases

This is a list of the You Don't Know Jack games released:

PC/Mac

Main series

  • You Don't Know Jack – September 12, 1995
    • You Don't Know Jack Question Pack – 1996
  • You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2 – November 30, 1996
    • Regional versions released in the UK, Germany, France, and Japan.
    • Released in Germany as You Don't Know Jack.
    • Released in Japan as You Don't Know Jack Presented by Masatoshi Hamada.
  • You Don't Know Jack Vol. 3 – October 31, 1997
    • Released in Germany as You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2.
  • You Don't Know Jack Vol. 4: The Ride – November 30, 1998
    • Released in Germany as You Don't Know Jack Vol. 3: Abwärts!
  • You Don't Know Jack Offline – September 8, 1999 [13]
    • Contains 800 questions from The Netshow plus 200 new questions. [14]
  • You Don't Know Jack Louder! Faster! Funnier! – March 28, 2000
    • The sequel to Offline.
  • You Don't Know Jack 5th Dementia – November 1, 2000
    • The first game with online functionality.
  • You Don't Know Jack Vol. 6: The Lost Gold – December 1, 2003
    • Released in Germany as You Don't Know Jack Vol. 4, featuring online functionality.
  • You Don't Know Jack – February 8, 2011 [15]

Spin-offs

  • You Don't Know Jack Sports – September 30, 1996
  • You Don't Know Jack: The Netshow – 1996
    • Required an Internet connection.
    • The servers went offline in 2000.
  • You Don't Know Jack Movies – April 30, 1997
  • You Don't Know Jack Television – May 9, 1997
  • You Don't Know Jack Sports: The Netshow – 1997
  • You Don't Know JackHeadRush (a teen spin-off game) – April 20, 1998

Console

Jackbox Party Packs

Mobile

Other

Reception

The You Don't Know Jack series shipped 500,000 units by December 1996. [19] Shipments in the United States alone rose to nearly 1 million by February 1998. [20] By 2001, the You Don't Know Jack series had totaled sales of 3.5 million copies. [21] YDKJ sold above 4.5 million copies and drew revenues above $100 million by 2008. [22]

Inside Mac Games named You Don't Know Jack 2 the best puzzle game of 1996. The editors wrote that it "continues the high standards established by Berkeley's breakaway classic". [23] It received a score of 4 out of 5 from MacUser . [24]

You Don't Know Jack Movies was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World 's 1997 "Puzzle Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Smart Games Challenge 2 . The editors called Movies a "hilarious party game", and noted that it "came a close second". [25]

You Don't Know Jack XL won two 1996 Spotlight Awards, for "Best Script, Story or Interactive Writing" and "Best Trivia or Puzzle Game". [26]

You Don't Know Jack Vol. 3 was the finalist for GameSpot's 1997 "Best Puzzles and Classics Game" award, which ultimately went to Chessmaster 5500. The editors wrote, "[I]f it weren't for the addition of the Threeway question format (which is a complete dud), You Don't Know Jack III would have reached instant-classic status." [27]

You Don't Know Jack Vol. 4: The Ride won Computer Gaming World 's award for the best classic game of 1998. The editors wrote, "You Don't Know Jack Vol. 4: The Ride ranks easily as the best since the first of the series found its way into the CGW Hall of Fame. And for that we salute the folks at Berkeley Systems and Jellyvision, game designers who really do know Jack, at least where our funny bones are concerned." [28] It also won the 1998 Spotlight Award for "Best Trivia, Puzzle or Classic Game" from the Game Developers Conference. [29]

You Don't Know Jack: Huge received a score of 4.5 out of 5 from Michael Gowan of Macworld, who wrote that the game "will strain your brain while amusing you with its witty banter and rapid-fire action." [30] In 1998, The Huge collection was named the 48th-best computer game of all time by PC Gamer US, whose editors called it "essential stuff." [31]

Other media

During the 2000 United States presidential election, David Grenewtzki, president of Sierra On-Line, challenged the presidential candidates to play a political version of You Don't Know Jack. The game had been distributed to a few radio stations, and was described as a "litmus test" of the candidates' political knowledge.

You Don't Know Jack also appeared as two books: You Don't Know Jack: The Book and You Don't Know Jack: The TV Book. Both were published in 1998 by Running Press.

There was also a Tiger Electronic tabletop game of You Don't Know Jack, emceed by Nate Shapiro. It featured question cards with a number code on them and a grey button to open a sliding door to show the answers. It was the first game to feature 4 players instead of 3 players. There were also "Sports", "Movies", and "TV" question packs that were sold separately. A standalone handheld version was also released.

An actual television show version of You Don't Know Jack had a brief run on ABC in prime time during the summer of 2001. [32] It starred Paul Reubens (the actor and comedian best known for his character Pee-wee Herman) as over-the-top game show host Troy Stevens, with Tom Gottlieb's 'Cookie' as the announcer. The show lasted only six episodes, as it received very little buzz and most You Don't Know Jack fans weren't even aware of its existence until long after its cancellation.[ citation needed ] A previous attempt had been made by Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Television in 1996, produced by Ron Greenberg in Chicago; this version, intended as a weekday syndicated show, was not picked up (after initial tests and run-throughs necessitated a retooling of the show; Telepictures subsequently chose to drop the project). [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]

After the You Don't Know Jack TV show ended, another show from the makers of You Don't Know Jack called Smush aired on USA Network in late 2001. It was a game of taking two or more words and combining them into one long word. The show started late at night, but was later pushed to later and later times, even up to 3:00 A.M.; until it was eventually canceled.

In 2001, AMC released You Don't Know Jack about MonsterFest, an online game on their website emceed by Schmitty, and the MonsterFest movie marathon was hosted by Clive Barker and Carmen Electra, who gave clues for the game.

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You Don't Know Jack is a Facebook game application based on the long-running series of trivia games created by Jackbox Games. It was released for public play on Facebook in May 2012 after a beta period. The game builds on the success of the relaunch of the series from the 2011 video game for consoles and personal computers, though has altered some features to work better on the social media platform. The game is presented as a fictional television show, emceed by "Cookie" Masterson; players answer five trivia questions, typically multiple-choice, during each episode, earning virtual money to track their score within the game and in the larger meta-game. Players compete asynchronously, playing alongside other participants that have already played the present episode, and later compared to the scores of their friends that play that episode later. As part of the series' theme of "high culture meeting pop culture", the questions are often phrased eloquently and combine general knowledge with contemporary entertainment and celebrities references. A mobile version for iOS was released in December 2012, and for Android in May 2013; both mobile games will allow cross-platform play with the Facebook application.

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Jackbox Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Chicago, Illinois, best known for the You Don't Know Jack series of quiz-based party video games and The Jackbox Party Pack series. Founded by Harry Gottlieb, the company operated as Jellyvision Games from 1995 until its closure in 2001. After seven years of dormancy, Jellyvision Games was revived in 2008, and the company rebranded as Jackbox Games in 2013.

<i>The Jackbox Party Pack</i> Video game series

The Jackbox Party Pack is a series of party video games developed by Jackbox Games for many different platforms on a near-annual release schedule since 2014. Each installment contains five games that are designed to be played in groups of varying sizes, including in conjunction with streaming services like Twitch which provide means for audiences to participate.

<i>Ellens Game of Games</i> 2017 American TV series or program

Ellen's Game of Games, also known as Game of Games and stylized as ellen's GAME OF GAMES, is an American television game show that aired on NBC. In March 2017, NBC ordered six hour-long episodes of the series. Ellen DeGeneres serves as host, while Stephen "tWitch" Boss appears as announcer/sidekick. The series is based on game segments from DeGeneres' daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The series premiered on December 18, 2017. On February 18, 2020, DeGeneres announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the series was renewed for a fourth season, which began airing on October 6, 2020. In January 2022, the series was canceled after four seasons.

<i>Cheggers Party Quiz</i> 2007 video game

Cheggers Party Quiz is a quiz video game developed by Oxygen Games, featuring the TV personality Keith Chegwin as a host. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows on 26 October 2007, and on the Nintendo Wii on 7 December 2007.

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