How would a drunk rabbit embarass itself? What are signs that you may be a terrible babysitter? What are the three greatest words in the English language? (hint: flareon, vaporeon, jolteon) These are just a few of the prompts that you’ll be asked to answer in Quiplash!
Quiplash is a judging game created by Mike Bilder, the CEO of Jackbox Games. All players come up with a response to a random prompt, and vote on their favorite answer.
There’s no strict age requirement to play Quiplash, and I believe this is primarily because the players determine how lighthearted or dark the game gets. Since the game is so dependent on responses generated by the players themselves, the overall mood of the game is in their hands. I do think players should be mindful of the ages of other players, however, since a player ratio of 7 college students to 1 twelve-year-old, for example, could get messy pretty quickly.
Exhibit A:
Analysis of the game + types of fun
While the instructions say that Quiplash supports 3-8 players, it’s entertaining even for observers who aren’t playing. I can also easily see this becoming a partner game to accommodate up to 16 people, since each user has to submit two answers to two prompts anyways. The number of players Quiplash can accommodate is flexible.
Quiplash employs a multilateral competition structure as the person who earns the most points by the end of the game, wins. By the end of the game, however, the competition structure doesn’t matter too much – players (at least the group I played with) are focused on making each other laugh and having fun, instead of trying to come out on top. I enjoyed this balance between competition and fun because the competition still incentivized people to come up with the most creative answers as possible, instead of putting down a generic answer. This competition structure and the Quiplash prompts that players must come up with responses to naturally encourages players to hone in on their self-expression. Players show their sense of humor and personality within their responses; the timer also creates a sense of pressure so that players put down their answer without having time to second guess it. This shows their humor and personality in a raw, authentic way, rather than manufacturing something that isn’t true to themselves.
There’s definitely elements of challenge within Quiplash, as some prompts are simply difficult to come up with an answer for. The time pressure definitely doesn’t make this easier. Despite this, there’s a great sense of fellowship because players are experiencing exactly the same thing – everyone is bound to have at least one answer they aren’t proud of, or at least one prompt that they completely blank on. Players laugh together and encourage each other by voting on their favorite answers. The discussions that come after the reveal of who wrote which prompt also promote fun; players will justify their outlandish answers or ask another player how they came up with such an out-of-the-blue answer.
I find Quiplash to be a very fun and exciting game because despite the competition and challenge, it’s a game that allows people to get to know each other better through their answers, and a game that naturally brings people together through laughter. I have two improvements in mind: first, I think it’d be fun for players to be able to submit their own prompts, in addition to their own answers to prompts. If there was an option before the game started, of choosing a game mode where the prompts are generated by the developers of Quiplash and a separate game mode where the prompts are user-generated, there could be lots of potential for more fun and fellowship. Second, the game is only available in English right now, but I think this could easily become popular in several different countries if they supported more languages. I’d want to play Quiplash with my family, but since my parents are more comfortable with Korean than English, it would be a thousand times more fun if there were Korean prompts, and if we could answer prompts in Korean. Overall, I’m a big fan of Quiplash and think they’ve designed a great game.
Competitors
Quiplash is similar to games like as Cards Against Humanity and Drawful (also on Jackbox). In Cards Against Humanity, players also submit a card to the “Card Czar” who chooses the funniest answer in response to the question or prompt; and in Drawful, players submit a title to a drawing that another player drew. The main difference I see between Quiplash and Cards Against Humanity is that in Quiplash, democracy wins – answers with the most number of votes win, whereas in Cards Against Humanity, a player chooses their favorite answer, and that answer wins. I also think that since Cards Against Humanity is an in-person, card game, the added layer of social tension and excitement can influence the competition among players. Ultimately, they want to make the “card czar” laugh the most in order to win. Quiplash and Drawful are different, but it seems as though Quiplash provides a more equal playing field because some people simply dislike drawing.
I find Quiplash to be a more fun game than Cards Against Humanity and Drawful because I think the voting system and the fact that the game focuses on words, not drawings, makes it a more accessible and equitable game for people.
Vulnerability
I believe the level of vulnerability depends on who you’re playing with (e.g. perhaps the goal is to write the most sentimental answer), but in general, I don’t think Quiplash requires a great deal of vulnerability. I see Quiplash as a lighthearted and joyful way to get to know people through their sense of humor. Compared to games such as We’re Not Really Strangers, where it seems like you have all the time you need to reply to a question, Quiplash is speedy, exciting, and humorous.
Overall, Quiplash is easy to learn, fun to play, and an excellent judging game to break the ice. I would definitely play again 🙂
