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Rifftrax: The Game serves the fun, will make you laugh

    Rifftrax: The Game serves the fun, will make you laugh

    wide right games

    At Ars Technica we are fans of the Jackbox Party Pack series, in which friends gather around a TV to play social mini-games full of jokes that revolve around pranking and voting for the group’s favorite jokes. Really, any game that turns trading jokes into a group game is for us.

    For my money, at least, I’m fine with removing the filler in these games and getting to the core of what they often remind me of: my own Mystery Science Theater 3000 experience, where my friends and I take humor out of the everyday. Turns out there are already a few games that address exactly this premise, although the most recent has a significant brand advantage.

    Of this week Rifftrax: The Game is pretty much what it sounds like, and it’s as close as you can get to playing with the founders of that series (who themselves have deep ties to MST3Kestate). While this $10 game on PC and all major console families isn’t the first of its kind, it clearly understands what’s great about the concept — and strays from simplicity, which is usually worth it.

    *beep* *a-hooga* *baby cries*

    • “Write a riff” is the superior mode.

    • “Pick a riff” is for boring people, I guess. I don’t recommend it.

    If this game is a lot like What the dub?!which launched on the same platforms last year is because Rifftrax: The Game was created by the same developers at Wide Right Interactive. Like most jack box spell, load RTG on a larger screen with a PC or console, after which a URL and “room code” appear on the screen. Up to six players can load an instance into their phone’s web browser where they can type and vote during a single game. So you don’t really have to be in the same room; join on Zoom or Discord, use the same URL and room code, and you’re in. (If you have more than six people, either in person or through streaming platforms like Twitch, crowded viewers can join the “audience” and participate through voting.)

    As long as you have a smartphone and know the room code for your specific game, you can participate. This makes it easy for friends who can't visit in person to join.
    enlarge † As long as you have a smartphone and know the room code for your specific game, you can participate. This makes it easy for friends who can’t visit in person to join.

    When everyone is together, a short video clip plays, and this content strays to the side of low production values ​​and terrible acting. These clips are long enough for music and dialogue to develop, and they end with a blank “RIFF HERE”, usually implying that you’re typing on behalf of the character on the screen about to speak (although comedic narration is easy to understand). decipher). Players are urged to type in their own riffs at this point, which may also include sound effect triggers, found via a convenient drop-down menu. (Sketches, boi-oi-oings, and terrified screams: Yep, the classics are here.) Once all players have submitted their ideas, a text-to-speech robo-voice reads out the group’s inventions, one at a time. . Then vote for your favorites and repeat for as many clips as you want.

    • A selection of what the clip selection is in Rifftrax: The Game resembling. I’ll spare you the usual “joke-in-caption” stuff this time, because in this game, your job is to come up with the jokes!

    • A selection of what the clip selection is in Rifftrax: The Game resembling. I’ll spare you the usual “joke-in-caption” stuff this time, because in this game, your job is to come up with the jokes!

    • A selection of what the clip selection is in Rifftrax: The Game resembling. I’ll spare you the usual “joke-in-caption” stuff this time, because in this game, your job is to come up with the jokes!

    • A selection of what the clip selection is in Rifftrax: The Game resembling. I’ll spare you the usual “joke-in-caption” stuff this time, because in this game, your job is to come up with the jokes!

    • A selection of what the clip selection is in Rifftrax: The Game resembling. I’ll spare you the usual “joke-in-caption” stuff this time, because in this game, your job is to come up with the jokes!

    • A selection of what the clip selection is in Rifftrax: The Game resembling. I’ll spare you the usual “joke-in-caption” stuff this time, because in this game, your job is to come up with the jokes!

    The built-in clip selection is RTG‘s biggest selling point. Besides the usual suspects like public service announcements, public domain movies, and low-budget sci-fi (yes, Plan 9 from space is here), the game mines a few other crazy resources for its “riffable” content, as it can split 5 to 15 second clips from shorter videos that wouldn’t otherwise make sense for a longer format like MST3K or traditional Rifftrax episodes. For example, the clips of an average game can alternate between a Goldilocks-themed movie starring real bears and a chilling late 90s explanation of how the World Wide Web works.