First Impression: Trivia Murder Party 3 is a Killer Standalone from Jackbox
The last time I played a Trivia Murder Party game was way back in (I think) Party Pack 3. I was playing in a crowd at C2E2, Chicago’s Comic and Entertainment convention, against a group of other convention goers. It was chaotic. I messed up some games because I felt super on the spot, but it was glorious, heady fun.
This exact type of browser-based, room-code casualness makes Jackbox Party Pack games so accessible and alluring for casual audiences—and Trivia Murder Party 3 continues that. Just now in a standalone format. But there are some extras that make this not only a standout title for Jackbox Studios, but also make playing with strangers even easier.
Traditionally packed within the Jackbox Party Pack, Trivia Murder Party 3 has broken out of its confines, and serial killer [Redacted] along with it. This time, the festivities take place at Camp Mass Acres, where you and fellow counselors will have to face off in a series of games that will test your trivia knowledge, your ability to decipher clues, and even your math skills. Get too many questions wrong, and you’re in danger of death—but not even death is permanent, and fortunes can change quickly in Trivia Murder Party 3.
Making Trivia Murder Party III standalone and based on Unreal Engine 5 allows developer Jackbox Games to do a lot more than if it was bundled with a bunch of other games. That includes “true online multiplayer and matchmaking.” Which means matchmaking with random strangers on the internet—exactly how video game murdering was meant to be done.
Of course, that doesn’t take away the ability to murder your friends. But now you don’t even need to wrangle a group of friends to play, yet you can still capture those big crowd moments like in the past. And you can even mix the groups together. The ability to fill out the rest of the ensemble of hapless counselors with internet strangers is a chaotically fun idea.
Being a standalone title also means multiyear support. It would be great to see Trivia Murder Party 3 be updated with new minigames, trivia questions, and more–instead of relying on new release packs.
I’m not saying I want the Jackbox Party Packs to go away, I’m just saying that having a dedicated Murder Party community stick around a game that has an ongoing roadmap is an alluring prospect.
Right now Trivia Murder Party 3 will be in Early Access for 6 months to 1 year. So that means they’re giving the community some time to provide feedback before it hits 1.0.
In its current state,Trivia Murder Party 3 is a polished experience, and I had no problems jumping in with friends and playing a few rounds. Though we did suffer from a disconnect or two using the traditional room code method. If you buy into Trivia Murder Party III Early Access you’ll get a game with over 800 trivia questions, 11 “Killing Floor” mini-games and four new “plot twists” that modify the game and help change things up.
I’ve always been a fan of Jackbox Games, so it’s hard for me not to recommend Trivia Murder Party 3. While the extra graphical panache that the Unreal Engine 5 provides isn’t essential, it does help amplify the experience without bogging it down. This will easily slot into the rotation of party games I play with friends, and I’ll be keeping an eye on it as it makes its way to 1.0.
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