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1 day ago


Kittystrophe completed Return of the Obra Dinn
Strong start, meandering middle, crappy conclusion. Return of the Obra Dinn has neat ideas and striking visuals with no follow-through.

The best part is the transition from the early- to the mid-game, when you start seeing cool sea monsters and have enough info to solve a big chunk of the core identity/cause-of-death puzzles. Once those are exhausted, it becomes clear that the game is just throwing all of its designer's ideas at you for the visual appeal, with no rhyme or reason behind their inclusion besides the nautical theme, and no plan for how they all fit together narratively. My working theory went from "this boat has been particularly dickish and the sea is fighting back" to "it's just cursed I guess." The 3 right answers = confirmation mechanic goes from a little bit of leeway for struggling players to mandatory guessing, e.g. for the 4 Chinese guys who are all visually distinct but provide no evidence of which name belongs to which person.

The ending/epilogue is a particular let-down, between the multiple redundant "how sad, the cruelty of Man" vignettes with no puzzle-solving, and the British telegram about what was done with the wages still owed to dead crew members. The latter repeats itself a lot, mostly saying either we tracked down this Brit's family and paid them, or they're a foreigner so we just gave their wages to a British charity. This sleazy practice is presented entirely without commentary, so it fails to be a criticism of easily criticizable Britain, and instead it's just... a depiction.

6 days ago



Kittystrophe reviewed The Jackbox Party Pack 9
This pack has the improved version of Fibbage: Enough About You, but it's pretty forgettable otherwise.

Fibbage 4 - A tier - The aesthetic isn't as striking as Fibbage 3, but they made improvements to Enough About You which, now that it exists, is what I'm really here for with Fibbage anyway.
Roomerang - C tier - You know a game has problems when it's carried by the charisma of the host. This one gives roleplaying prompts that make the experience vary wildly depending on the prompt and the player who receives it. The elimination fake-out gag is funny the first time, then leaves you wondering why Jackbox has an elimination game if it can't have eliminations.
Nonsensory - C tier - Gameplay is ok, but I hate that monkey so much.
Junktopia & Quixort - ??? tier - Haven't played these.

7 days ago


Kittystrophe played The Jackbox Party Pack 8
Solid entry in the series, some hits some misses. Nothing here is as good as Quiplash nor as bad as Lie Swatter. Better than other Midbox Mid Packs.

Job Job - B tier - Good at generating funny answers, but the process of getting there is a bit lacking. Feels overwhelming yet strategically shallow on repeat plays, as players learn to simply spam all bonus objectives in every answer.
Drawful Animate - A tier - For as much humor+novelty as you get from evolving drawings to 2-frame animations, there are equal downsides in difficulty of use + never having enough time. I kinda wish Drawful 3 was just the original again but with later Party Pack improvements like extended timers and captioning.
Poll Mine - B tier - This is fixed Guesspionage. Now the survey data is a relative ranking determined by the players themselves, and you're being tested on how well you know the preferences of the people next to you.
Weapons Drawn - D tier - The main conceit is hiding a letter within a drawing. Depending on which letter you get, it's a complete crapshoot whether that's remotely viable. There's no reason to play this with a better drawing game in the same pack.
Wheel of Enormous Proportions - D tier - All of the gamifications here leave me with a distinct feeling of "I don't get it." Magic 8-Ball is a dissatisfying third-act conclusion. I'd rather just have a Fibbage or Trivia Murder Party sequel in this slot.

8 days ago


Kittystrophe played The Jackbox Party Pack 7
This is the best Jackbox Party Pack, hands down. If you only want one, Pack 7 is the one to get. It not only has Quiplash in it, but also the best drawing game, and no duds.

Champ'd Up - S tier - Gauntlet of fighters with a tag-in feature that both keeps things from getting stale and combats recency bias. It's a lot like Tee K.O. but kind of a straight upgrade.
Talking Points - A tier - Improvised slide presentations are consistently hilarious. The only thing keeping this game out of S tier is the poorly thought out scoring system that actively detracts from enjoying the show if you actually try to engage with it.
Quiplash 3 - S tier - Quiplash 2 introduces Safety Quips, Quiplash 3 makes them actually relevant to the prompt. This is the best version of what was already Jack's best game.
Blather 'Round - B tier - So this is basically Jack's take on Taboo, but a lot more functional. Instead of being way too easy with a short list of banned words, it gives you a limited set you can say. Feels a bit antithetical to the chaotic shouting of a typical good Jackbox time, but not enough to ruin the game.
The Devil and the Details - C tier - It's okay. Well implemented, but feels like a remnant from earlier Jackboxes when player expression was less of a priority.

9 days ago


10 days ago


Kittystrophe played The Jackbox Party Pack 6
This is the beginning of the Jackbox golden age. All but one game is a banger, and they finally have captions!

Role Models - A tier - Competitive personality quiz! The Final Adjectives are often insults, but sometimes eerily accurate. This game can be hit-or-miss depending on the prompts/categories but it's mostly hits.
Push the Button - B tier - The Jackbox Among Us is unsurprisingly its best hidden role game. My favorite part is getting a different prompt and having to justify your answer.
Joke Boat - B tier - Pretty good, but I'd always rather play Quiplash.
Trivia Murder Party 2 - B tier - They didn't need to change much about Trivia Murder Party, so they didn't. It's still the best Jackbox trivia game other than Fibbage: Enough About You.
Dictionarium - D tier - Making up definitions can be funny, the word itself not as much. So 2 out of 3 rounds are dull.

10 days ago


Kittystrophe retired The Jackbox Party Pack 5
Where some Party Packs have 1-2 standout games and 3-4 forgettable ones, this Pack is consistently mid.

Split the Room - C tier - Neat variant of the "fill in the blank" game that tests player skill on something other than being funny/wacky. Something's off about the Twilight-Zone-parody framing device, feels like it drags down the atmosphere rather than supporting it.
Patently Stupid - B tier - A lot of these gimmicks just end up with a drawing game more awkward than the basic Drawful. It's better than Weapons Drawn at least.
You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream - C tier - I admittedly have not played this version, only the one in Party Pack 1, but it seems like they got it to support more players and made the Screw mechanic worse.
Mad Verse City & Zeeple Dome - ??? tier - I haven't played these.

10 days ago


Kittystrophe commented on Kittystrophe's review of Void Stranger
I already entered the infinity sigil before knowing what it does, so throwing Lily2 to the void doesn't appear to do much

10 days ago


Kittystrophe earned the Pinged badge

10 days ago


Kittystrophe commented on Kittystrophe's review of Void Stranger
@KyuuMetis that's a good point 😂 going back to easy mode and not looting this time would probably help with my issue, though I'm not sure how to do that besides to gay-up reinstall the game

10 days ago




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