Skip to main content

This free Steam tool will make your Jackbox Party Pack nights even better

A screen from Jackbox Games' Tee K.O. 2 that shows a mountain with the words "Make a shirt" at the top.
Jackbox Games

Picture it: You’re at a party and you all decide you want to play a Jackbox party game. However, the person in charge has every single pack. How do you choose which game you play? If you want to play, say Trivia Murder Party 2 , how do you even go about finding it? Now the party isn’t fun anymore.

Well, in an announcement on Thursday, Jackbox Games revealed The Jackbox Megapicker, a free launcher that helps you view your entire Jackbox library and find the games you want.

Right now, it’s only been announced for Steam, but it’ll be launching sometime in July. No other details were revealed, including what the launcher will look like. Jackbox wrote in an announcement that it’ll be releasing more information closer to release. On launch day, it’ll also be running a Reddit AMA on r/jackboxgames.

The party games company preceded the reveal with some of the feedback it’s gotten from users about how complicated the experience has gotten. “How has Jackbox released seven party packs and not a unified combo-pack launcher?” one read. There have been a lot suggestions and complaints calling for a launcher. If you go into the subreddit, you can see the asks going back at least seven years.

There have even been some fan projects looking to rectify this problem. One is the Jackbox Utility, an open-source launcher you can use with Steam, on PC, or with the Steam Deck. Jack’s Trunk is another that’s been around for a few years; not only does it put all your owned Jackbox games together, but it can filter by your most played and by which titles are trending.

Jackbox Games’ popularity spiked during the pandemic as a great way to virtually socialize with others, and it’s been continuing to make updates. In April, the company announced the Jackbox Naughty Packwhich includes three games “full of spicy surprises,” although the pack hasn’t been released yet.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
The Steam Deck may not run your whole Steam library
A player using a Steam Deck on a couch.

When Valve announced the Steam Deck on Thursday, the company said that the platform "can pretty much run anything you could run on a PC." Although that's true in most cases, the "pretty much" qualifier could make a big difference. As it stands, popular games like Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and Rainbow Six Siege won't work on the platform.

This comes down to an issue with SteamOS, a compatibility layer known as Proton, and anti-cheat software. SteamOS is based on Linux, which is a problem because the vast majority of games available on Steam are built to run on Windows. That's where Proton comes in. Proton is a compatibility layer from Valve that allows Windows games to run on Linux.

Read more
Don’t like SteamOS? You can install Windows on your Steam Deck instead
A player using a Steam Deck on a couch.

Valve's recently-announced Steam Deck will be able to run Windows, according to a hands-on demo run by IGN. The portable gaming handheld runs SteamOS by default, but IGN claims that users can completely wipe that operating system and install Windows if they want.

Users will also be able to use the handheld like a PC: it can connect to a mouse and keyboard, run web browsers and videos, and access other digital game storefronts like Origin and the Epic Games Store.

Read more
Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed remakes are in the works
Basim perched on a ledge overlooking Baghdad

In a company interview with CEO Yves Guillemot posted on the Ubisoft website Thursday, the executive reveals that there are remakes of Assassin's Creed games in the works, although he doesn't specify which ones.

"Players can be excited about some remakes, which will allow us to revisit some of the games we've created in the past and modernize them," he says, implying that it could pertain to games made before Odyssey. "There are worlds in some of our older Assassin's Creed games that are still extremely rich."

Read more