Quiplash

Quiplash is a party game from Jackbox Games for three to eight people. Instead of quizzing knowledge, it has the group invent their own, as funny as possible, answers to short questions and sentence starters. A vote then decides which idea wins.

The game runs on a shared screen. Smartphones or tablets serve as input devices, so participants do not need their own controllers.

Quiplash was released for PC on June 30, 2015. Versions for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One followed in September 2015. A dedicated Apple TV app was added in October 2015. The Nintendo Switch version was released on July 23, 2020.

Jackbox also offers Quiplash for Amazon Fire TV. The original's game mechanics stay the same on these versions.

Quiplash has been released for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. On PC, the version covers Windows, macOS and Linux. For Xbox Series and PS5, playability of older console versions should not be equated with a separate re-release.

Apple TV and Fire TV are standalone versions. A smartphone with a browser, on the other hand, is mainly an input device for a game in progress and not a replacement for the main game.

Everyone answers absurd prompts with their own text. Two answers go head to head each time. The rest of the group picks the better idea, rather than looking for a set solution. This means the humour comes from the players and not from a fixed question list with correct answers.

Votes earn points and decide who wins the round. Spontaneous and unusual ideas can also hold their own against carefully worded answers.

For the original Quiplash, Quip Pack 1 adds extra questions. The pack expands existing games rather than replacing a game. On Steam, it is available as separate add-on content for Quiplash.

For the PC version, Steam lists a dual-core processor at 2 GHz, 125 MB RAM, 110 MB of free storage and a broadband internet connection. The originally listed Windows 7 is no longer supported by the current Steam client. If you use the Steam version now, you need a suitably newer operating system.

Quiplash gives short prompts and incomplete sentences. Players type their ideas on their phone or tablet. This can lead to wordplay, surprising twists or deliberately absurd suggestions. There are no knowledge questions with only one correct answer.

Answers appear in pairs on the shared screen. Anyone not taking part in the current duel can vote. Setting the suggestions directly against each other makes the group's reactions the decisive part of the game.

Alongside the three to eight active players, an audience of up to 10,000 people can vote. Viewers do not enter their own regular answers, but they can influence the result. This makes Quiplash suitable for groups with more people present than free player slots.

Players use a smartphone or tablet as their input device. The main game runs on a PC, a console or a suitable TV and shows questions, answers and results. An internet connection is required to connect.

Jackbox gives about 15 minutes per game. The short format makes it possible to play several rounds in a row and switch participants between games.

The original Quiplash is playable in English. Questions and the interface are not available in German. For a German-speaking group, players can write their own answers in German, but they still need to understand the English prompts.

According to Jackbox, Quiplash has settings for family-friendly games and moderation of answers. Especially when playing with larger groups or viewers, these make it easier to handle inappropriate entries.

Viewers of a stream can also vote using the audience feature. Active players are limited to a maximum of eight, while the audience decides the result. Questions and answer duels must be visible to everyone on the shared game screen.

Quiplash comes from Jackbox Games, the studio behind the party games Fibbage, Drawful and YOU DON'T KNOW JACK. The mix of a shared screen, self-written text answers and smartphone input shapes many Jackbox games.