Games

Jackbox Team Discusses Inspirations Behind New Title Survey Scramble

Published

4 weeks ago

October 29, 2024

The Jackbox Survey Scramble, an all-new title from party game masters Jackbox Games, challenges players to guess the most (and least!) popular responses to a variety of survey questions about hilarious topics, ranging from “the best introduction” to “the best place to poop if a toilet isn’t available.” Although Survey Scramble is not part of a Party Pack, the team drew inspiration from several Party Pack games – as well as classic game shows – when creating their newest title.

In a conversation with Game Rant, the Jackbox Games team discussed the various sources of inspiration it drew from in creating Survey Scramble, including both previous Party Pack games and TV game shows. With Survey Scramble, it wanted to create a product that was familiar and fun for Jackbox Party Pack enthusiasts but was also new and exciting enough to stand on its own as a singular game. The result is a game that blends classic Jackbox fun with a slick, sharp look reminiscent of classic television shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

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Survey Scramble Is Most Similar To Two Previous Jackbox Games

Over the course of ten Party Packs (plus the bonus Naughty Pack), Jackbox Games has produced dozens of party games that have quickly become classics. Some of the most popular include Quiplash, in which players come up with funny responses to a variety of prompts, Fibbage, which involves answering questions by lying, and Trivia Murder Party, an ultra-spooky multiplayer trivia competition. The team revealed that it looked to two previous Party Pack games when making The Jackbox Survey Scramble.

“Survey Scramble shares some DNA with The Poll Mine from Party Pack 8,” the team explained. In The Poll Mine, players are trapped inside a magic mine and must make progress by selecting doors representing poll answers in order of popularity. Like Survey Scramble, Poll Mine involves “thinking about how other people would have responded to [a prompt].” However, the team revealed, there is one key difference: in Poll Mine, players are provided the answers to rank. Survey Scramble “supplies the questions and allows the masses to supply the answers.”

The other Party Pack game that inspired Survey Scramble is Guesspionage, which featured in Jackbox Party Pack 3. In Guesspionage, players are given a question and challenged to guess the answer in the form of a percentage – for example, the percentage of adults who enjoy pineapple in pizza. The two games both “[rely] on predicting public opinion,” the team explained.

It Also Draws Inspiration From Classic TV Game Shows

Being a game about answering surveys and predicting the public’s most popular responses, Survey Scramble naturally brings to mind Family Feud, a classic TV game show that also centers around surveys. The team, who grew up watching Family Feud, definitely used it as a source of inspiration, although Survey Scramble focuses on less popular answers rather than always using the most popular ones. However, the influence of TV game shows can be seen most obviously in Survey Scramble’s polished aesthetic.

“With many of us having grown up with
Family Feud
, I’m sure there’s some influence in there, although our lists get so much weirder and reflective of the thousands of people who answered…And the look of the game certainly nods to some of the slicker, high-production-value game shows in the more recent past:
[Who Wants To Be A] Millionaire, Weakest Link
, etc.”

Several Jackbox games stand out for their unique aesthetics, such as the old-fashioned martial arts dojo of Tee KO or the creepy atmosphere and chilling music of Trivia Murder Party. Survey Scramble‘s slick look, reminiscent of famous TV game shows, will help it find a place among the best of the best party games for families, friends, and other groups to enjoy.