The Jackbox Party Pack 10 line-up is finally complete. After unveiling its first game Tee K.O. 2 way back in March–followed by FixyText, Hypnotorious, and TimeJinx–Jackbox 10 is going out on a high by completing its anniversary collection with a series first: a music game that looks a bit like Rock Band, if viewed during a fever dream.
Ahead of its anticipated fall 2023 release, Dodo Re Mi was announced today (August 1) by Jackbox Games’ Michelle Leatherby in a piece for the PlayStation Blog. It has all the hallmarks of the pack’s enduring favorite: Dodo Re Mi makes players use their phones as instruments to play songs together as “birdy bandmates feeding a hungry musical plant, therefore avoiding being eaten by said plant,” in what may be the most Jackbox “story” yet.
Dodo Re Mi combines both original songs and “familiar music played in unexpected genres,” understandably taking advantage of the copyright limits of classical music and more. You get the chance to choose an instrument to play through your phone, in the time-honored Guitar Hero way.
Senior software engineer Chase McClure sold Dodo Re Mi’s charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to PlayStation Blog: “It certainly innovates what a Jackbox game is just by being a new genre. But it also innovates on the entire genre of music game in the way your devices are producing audio in real-time and recording playback of your specific game session.”
You can also hear your bandmates’ instruments as you collaborate with them in real-time–a delightful decision, and the epitome of drunk Jackboxing. Those late-night sessions, close to Christmas–when people have had their fill of the buffet and they need a simple injection of laughter to keep them from falling into a meat/carb coma–are when Jackbox truly shines.
Here’s to The Jackbox Party Pack 10 marking the series’ milestone with something special. If not? Who cares. We all have our favorites–Trivia Murder Party 2 for me, because I always win, and conversely, Dictionarium, because I’m still trying to triumph over my wife at it–but it’s great to see an old dog learning new tricks with every release. Expect my review of The Jackbox Party Pack 10 in the next few weeks.
