The judging game that I chose to play this week was “Tee K.O.” from Jackbox Party Pack 3, published by Jackbox Games in 2016. The game has 3 – 8 players create drawings on their computer or smartphone within a certain time limit, and then create a series of slogans. Players will then mix and match slogans and pictures created by other players in order to create a T-shirt with one picture and one slogan. Players will then compare the T-shirts against each other one by one and vote on their favorite shirt tournament-style until one winner remains. When a T-shirt wins a vote, the creator of the shirt gains points. The player who created the picture and the player who created the slogan also gain points. At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins.
The mechanics of the game are not complex to understand, and most can pick it up fairly quickly. The game seems to target a more mature audience, as the player-generated drawing and writing aspects lend nicely to lewd material. Also, the Jackbox Party Pack as a whole seems to contain several lewd jokes throughout. However, there is nothing that would prevent a younger audience from being able to play the game.
While the player with the most points is declared the winner, the true objective of the game does not seem to be collecting the most points, but rather to create the most amusing drawing, slogan, or drawing/slogan combination. If the primary objective were to win the game, it might make more sense for a player to submit weak drawings and slogans, making other players unable to create good combinations. However, this would result in a very unrewarding experience, as the game would not be entertaining if there were no humor to be found in the shirt design. The game is not particularly fair in terms of point-collection either, as shirts that randomly appear earlier in the bracket have a higher chance of going on a winning streak, and thus earn more points. Therefore, helping other players to create amusing T-shirts to laugh at together is the true objective of the game, which players can best accomplish by creating humorous drawings and slogans.
The game rewards players that successfully create funny shirts and entertain their fellow players by providing them with fun in the form of fellowship. As the T-shirts are displayed on screen, players feel a sense of fellowship with each other as certain shirts prompt laughter from everybody, bonding the players closer together. When a shirt goes on a winning-streak, players feel bonded in their unified agreement over which shirt provides the most humor. The game does not require vulnerability, but players that take risks with more risqué T-shirt designs might be more likely to earn laughs, and subsequently more votes. Players that opt to be vulnerable might feel an increased closeness to their fellow players, strengthening the sense of fellowship.
One moment from our play-through provides a good example of how players attempting to create an amusing shirt can lead to the creation of a sense of fellowship. One slogan that ended up on a popular shirt in our play-through was “THE CS247G EXPERIENCE.” This slogan was accompanied by a lewd image. The players who created the slogan and shirt knew that other players would be amused due to the trait that we all shared: being students in CS247G. This shared understanding created a sense of fellowship.
One flaw with the game’s design is that the creation of drawings and slogans can be too open-ended. Players can create whatever drawings and phrases they wish to, which can lead to some bland T-shirt designs. One fix for this might be to give players prompts that they could use to inspire their drawings or slogans.
