One of my all-time favourite British quiz shows is Tenable, the list-based questionnaire where contestants must name 10 items of particular categories, as related to popular answers or facts. It’s great for learning trivia, Warwick Davis is great as the host, and you get to poke a bit of fun at all the silly, wrong answers from contestants. While Tenable sadly concluded its run in August 2024, it appears its spirit is set to live on in the latest Jackbox game, The Jackbox Survey Scramble.
This new game is all about guessing the real-world answers to a range of survey questions. As in Jackbox style, these questions aren’t your typical Q&As – you’ll be trying to figure out such deep, compelling questions as: “In one word, what’s the cutest nickname for butts?” and “In one word, what’s the best sandwich topping?”
Across a range of modes, you’ll tackle these answers in various forms.
In Hilo mode, you’ll need to guess at the least and most popular answers to a random variety of questions, and you’ll be ranked by how many you get right. In Speed mode, you’ll need to discover answers on a list, as quickly as possible (this appears to be most like Tenable).
There’s also Squares mode, where you’ll compete in teams to claim rows on a grid, with each filled in by guessing survey answers correctly.
Read: 13 of the best board games for parties
Finally, Bounce mode will pit two teams against each other as they “control a paddle that sits on a scale between most popular to least popular answers.” You’ll need to work to ensure your paddle is in the right place with each answer, although it will get harder to maintain your position as rounds continue.
As you’re completing each mini-game, The Jackbox Survey Scramble will seemingly teach you a lot about how folks think, and whether your thoughts are on similar wavelengths. The important thing is you need to consider how other people think, so when you’re answering questions and trying to find the most popular answers, you should leave aside your own thoughts, and try to figure out what most people would think.
You might not like tomato, if you’re GamesHub managing editor Steph Panecasio, but other people will likely rank it as a highly-desired sandwich topping. It’s all about switching your thinking, and figuring out where you sit in the grand scheme of the universe.
Notably, there will be localised answers for multiple regions in this game, with the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia all having their own answer bases to work from. This is a particularly nice touch if you’re somebody used to playing regional versions of Trivial Pursuit or similar games, which always seem to have specially-localised answers that make it difficult to guess correctly. (How many questions about UK politics or daytime TV shows must there be, Trivial Pursuit?!)
During Steam Next Fest (14-21 October), keen players will be able to get hands-on with The Jackbox Survey Scramble via Steam, ahead of its launch later in the month. You can learn more about the game on its Steam homepage.
