Jackbox fans will return to Tee Shirt Island this fall, as Tee K.O. 2 has been announced as the first game included in The Jackbox Party Pack 10. The official announcement was made during Jackbox Games’ appearance today at the PAX East exposition in Boston.
Debuting in 2004, the five-game party pack releases each autumn, and this year will be no different, as Jackbox Games had already announced last month. However, no specific games had been revealed for inclusion in the pack at that time, and with the news of Tee K.O. 2 now arriving, fans can still speculate on the other four games yet to be announced.
If you’ve never played the original Tee K.O., which was introduced all the way back in Party Pack 3 but still has a large following, the mechanics are pretty simple. First, you’ll draw a couple of tee shirt designs, and then you’ll whip up a couple of fun slogans. Both your designs and slogans get assigned to other players, who then get to assemble the funniest tee shirt. Shirts go up against each other one-on-one in a series of group votes for the best of the best, and each round your shirt survives as the superior garment, you rack up more points.
During a press-only event held earlier this month, the Jackbox team revealed a few of the changes coming to Tee K.O. 2, such as the addition of hoodies, a new final round, and upgraded drawing tools. “We are excited to announce that we’re adding new functionality to our toolset to benefit those who felt limited by the prior release,” Jackbox’s Chief Creative Officer Allard Laban stated in direct response to a question from DualShockers. “Players will now have access to an eraser, which will allow them to rub out the nasty bits with ease. We are going to strike a balance between retaining the humor and spontaneity of the game while providing the necessary tools for users who put a bit more love into their drawings.”
A successor to the popular You Don’t Know Jack trivia games of the ’90s, each Jackbox Party Pack contains a variety of party games that can be played from the same couch or by a group of friends spread across the world. While each grouping of party games is different, there are running themes involved in each pack, like the inclusion of a trivia game and a drawing game. However, last year’s Party Pack 9 contained Nonsensory, a three-round game of anticipating other players’ reactions to certain phrases or images. Of those three rounds, only the second used the drawing tools, and there were no other drawing games in that pack.
“Tee K.O. is a very popular game among our players, and we get a ton of requests for a sequel,” Laban responded to DualShockers. “So Tee K.O. 2 is in Pack 10 mostly because of the community love, but also because we try to include at least one drawing game in each of our packs. Party Pack 8 had two drawing games while Party Pack 9 had only one drawing activity, so it’s flexible. That said, we believe packs should have at least some drawing for play balance and Tee K.O. 2 is the perfect game for Party Pack 10.”
As for other changes coming to Tee K.O. 2, promotional materials provided by Jackbox Games indicate that players will be able to alter their designs between rounds and change the size of the font appearing on the shirts. More announcements regarding The Jackbox Party Pack 10 — hopefully including the other four games to be included — have been promised to keep coming over the spring and summer.
