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Choose by the activity your group actually wants. For phone-first hidden-role and prompt games, use partygame. For drawing chaos, choose Gartic Phone; for a quiz night, Kwishetwel or Kahoot!; for a large catalog of phone-controlled mini-games, AirConsole; and for a screen-free gathering, Herd Mentality. Jackbox Party Pack 12 remains the broadest mixed-format option when your host has a computer or console connected to a shared screen.
This guide compares player capacity, screens, phones, pricing, room setup, remote play, and the trade-offs that matter when your group wants to play from phones rather than buy additional controllers.
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What Jackbox Party Pack 12 offers
Jackbox Games announced on October 15, 2026, that Party Pack 12 was available for $29.99 on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. An October 1 gameplay page also lists Apple TV, iPad, and Mac App Store availability. The pack contains five new games for two to eight players: We Forgot a Card, MegaPals, Debate and Switch, Idol Factions, and Hyperface.
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The phone is the controller, not the host platform. Someone still needs to run the pack on a supported device, and the group normally needs a television, monitor, or projector so everyone can see the game. Jackbox describes the experience as requiring only a phone for each person to join, but that statement does not remove the need for the host device and shared display.
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That setup is why an alternative can be better even when it has fewer game types. Browser games can eliminate the purchase and the console, a dedicated quiz service can handle a structured trivia night, and a boxed game can keep a gathering entirely off screens.
Quick comparison
| Option | Primary style | Player capacity or tier | Access and equipment | Remote play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackbox Party Pack 12 | Mixed mini-games | 2–8 | $29.99; host device plus shared screen; phones join | Designed around a shared display; remote suitability depends on the group’s call setup |
| partygame | Prompts and hidden roles | Mind Match 3–10; Word & Deed 4–12; Undercover 4–10; Moon & Mask 3–10 | Free browser game; one phone per person; television optional | Face-to-face design rather than remote matchmaking |
| Kwishetwel | Quiz show | Room for 25 phones | Free tier; paid plans from €3.99 per month; host display on TV, laptop, or projector; QR-code joining | Built for a shared room |
| Kahoot! | Multiple-choice quiz | Free limit of 10 players | Paid personal plans from about $3 per month | Not positioned in the comparison as a remote-first product |
| Gartic Phone | Write, draw, and telephone-game interpretation | 2–30 | Free browser game; no account required | Yes |
| Skribbl.io | Pictionary-style drawing | 2–12 | Free browser game with private rooms and custom words | Yes |
| AirConsole | Phone-controlled mini-games | Free starter selection limited to two players; Hero removes the player limit | More than 170 games; browser or TV app with phones as controllers; free tier includes ads | The comparison emphasizes local controller play rather than remote matchmaking |
| Herd Mentality | Opinion and majority-answer party game | 4–20 | Boxed game with question cards, pens, and paper; no screen | No digital room |
Best for phone-first hidden roles and prompts: partygame
Partygame is the closest fit when every person wants to use a phone but nobody wants to buy a console, connect a television, or download a game. It runs in a browser and is designed for people sitting together, with the TV treated as optional rather than required.
Mind Match
Mind Match supports three to ten players. A prompt appears, everyone submits an answer on a phone, and the group reveals the responses together. It works when your group enjoys personal answers, guessing friends’ reactions, and conversation more than competition over a scoreboard.
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Word & Deed supports four to twelve players divided into two teams. The team structure gives a larger group a clear way to participate without putting one person in charge of a screen or a host console.
Undercover
Undercover supports four to ten players. Secret words create an information imbalance, and the group votes after discussing clues. It is the strongest partygame choice when the appeal of a hidden-role game is suspicion and table talk rather than drawing.
Moon & Mask
Moon & Mask supports three to ten players in a short hidden-role format. Use it when you want the same social deduction flavor in a quicker round.
How to run a round
- Open partygame in a browser on each participant’s phone.
- Choose the mode whose capacity matches your group and start a room.
- Pass phones around only when a mode calls for private information; otherwise each player keeps one device.
- Read prompts, submit answers or clues, and reveal them aloud so people without a television can still follow.
- Use a phone or laptop as the shared display only if your group wants a larger view; the television is optional.
Partygame is not the right choice for friends joining from separate locations. Its guide describes face-to-face play rather than remote matchmaking, so a video call would be an improvised workaround rather than a built-in mode.
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Best for a quiz night: Kwishetwel or Kahoot!
Kwishetwel for a larger room
Kwishetwel is a browser-hosted quiz show. The host displays the game on a TV, laptop, or projector, while players join by scanning a QR code. Its free tier includes unlimited multiple-choice, open-question, and word-association quizzes. Paid plans start at €3.99 per month and add more round types.
The service is stated to accommodate 25 phones in a room. If you have more people than phones, teams can share one handset. That makes it practical for a classroom, family gathering, or office room where the host wants one visible question and a simple joining step.
- Open the quiz host view on the device connected to the room’s display.
- Create or select a quiz using one of the free round types, or choose a paid round type if the subscription is appropriate.
- Show the QR code on the host display.
- Have players scan the code and answer from their phones.
- Read open responses aloud when discussion is part of the round; do not treat every question as a speed-only contest.
Kwishetwel is focused on quizzes. It does not offer Jackbox Party Pack 12’s combination of drawing, joke writing, and other mini-game formats.
Kahoot! for a small multiple-choice group
Kahoot! is the simpler recommendation when the night is specifically multiple-choice trivia and the group is small enough for its free limit of 10 players. Paid personal plans start at about $3 per month. It is a quiz option, not a replacement for a mixed party pack: the comparison does not credit it with drawing or joke-writing modes.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsChoose Kwishetwel when you need a stated 25-phone room and varied free question types. Choose Kahoot! when a compact group wants a straightforward multiple-choice session and the lower-cost personal plan is acceptable.
Best for drawing and telephone-game chaos: Gartic Phone
Gartic Phone is a free, no-account browser game for two to thirty players. Each round moves through a chain: players write prompts, another player draws a prompt, and a later player describes the drawing. The humor comes from the meaning changing at every handoff, so artistic skill is not a requirement.
Why it replaces only part of Jackbox
Gartic Phone is a strong substitute when your group’s favorite Jackbox moments involve revealing bizarre drawings and watching a phrase mutate. It is not a mixed catalog: there is no equivalent here to a quiz round or a hidden-role round. Start it when everyone is comfortable typing and drawing quickly and when a remote room needs a game that explicitly supports remote play.
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Round checklist
- Open the browser game and create a room.
- Share the room invitation with everyone, whether they are in the same room or on a call.
- Set a player count within the game’s stated two-to-thirty range.
- Have each person write a prompt, then draw and describe according to the phase shown.
- Reserve time after the reveal to discuss the original prompt, each drawing, and the final description.
Because no account is required, Gartic Phone is useful for a spontaneous session on shared or personal devices. A shared screen can make reveals easier for a room, but the game’s browser format does not depend on a host console.
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Skribbl.io is a free browser Pictionary game for two to twelve players. It supports private rooms and custom words, so a group can keep the vocabulary specific to a birthday, fandom, workplace, or family without using a public lobby.
Pick Skribbl.io over Gartic Phone when you want the traditional “one person draws while others guess” structure rather than a written prompt becoming a later description. Remote play is supported, and the private-room option gives the host control over who enters. The smaller stated capacity makes it a better fit for a compact group than for a large party.
- Create a private room in the browser.
- Add custom words if the group wants a themed vocabulary.
- Send the room invitation to participants.
- Take turns drawing while the rest of the room guesses.
- Use the final round to remove words that were too obscure or too easy before starting again.
Best for the broadest phone-controller catalog: AirConsole
AirConsole turns a browser or TV app into a console and phones into controllers. Its catalog contains more than 170 games, making it the strongest choice when variety and controller-style interaction matter more than writing jokes, drawing, or social deduction.
The free starter selection is limited to two players and includes ads. A Hero subscription removes the player limit. The free tier therefore works as a trial for a pair, while a larger gathering needs the subscription before the session begins. The catalog is broader than a single quiz or drawing game, but individual games can feel more like conventional short-form video games than a Jackbox-style conversation prompt.
AirConsole setup
- Open AirConsole in a browser or the TV app on the host display.
- Choose a game from the catalog and check whether its control scheme suits the group.
- Have each player connect a phone as the controller shown by the host interface.
- Confirm the free-tier player cap before inviting more than two people.
- Use Hero when the group needs the player limit removed, and account for the ads on the free selection when planning the pace.
AirConsole is the answer to “What can we play on a TV with phones as controllers?” when you want many short games rather than one social format. It is not the closest free replacement for Jackbox’s writing and drawing mix.
Best screen-free option: Herd Mentality
Herd Mentality is a boxed party game for four to twenty players. Everyone answers an opinion question, and players score by matching the most common answer. The box uses question cards, pens, and paper, so phones, downloads, a console, and a television are unnecessary.
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This is the clearest choice when the goal is to put devices away rather than replace a screen with another browser tab. The majority-answer rule also scales differently from hidden-role games: you are rewarded for predicting the group, not for proving that your personal answer is correct.
- Give each player paper and a pen and place the question cards where everyone can hear them.
- Read one opinion question aloud.
- Have everyone write an answer privately, then reveal answers together.
- Identify the most common answer and award points according to the game’s rules.
- Repeat until the group reaches its chosen stopping point.
Herd Mentality is a physical product, so verify the current Amazon listing, price, and stock before buying. Those details can change by region and date.
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Everyone has a phone and you have no shared screen
Start with partygame. Its television-optional design lets the phones carry both private input and the basic game flow. Gartic Phone and Skribbl.io also avoid a console, but they are drawing games rather than prompt or hidden-role games.
You want a display everyone can see
Use Kwishetwel when the host can connect a TV, laptop, or projector and the night is built around quizzes. Use AirConsole when that display should show a rotating catalog of controller games. Jackbox Party Pack 12 remains the mixed-format choice if the host already owns a supported device and wants five different games in one purchase.
You need a free alternative
Partygame, Gartic Phone, and Skribbl.io are browser-based free options with distinct formats. Kwishetwel has a free tier for its listed quiz types. AirConsole has a free starter selection, but its two-player cap and ads matter. Kahoot! has a free 10-player limit for its multiple-choice format.
You are playing remotely
Gartic Phone and Skribbl.io are the clearest choices because the comparison explicitly supports remote play. Jackbox can be used through a video call with a shared host display, but that is a group-arranged setup rather than a built-in remote matchmaking feature. Partygame is described as face-to-face, and Herd Mentality has no digital room.
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You want no screens at all
Choose Herd Mentality. None of the browser or phone-controller options delivers the same screen-free experience because each depends on phones, a browser, or a display.
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Planning a smooth phone-based party
Match the game to the number of people
Check the mode’s capacity before opening a room. The limits differ sharply: the Jackbox pack is two to eight players, while Gartic Phone’s stated range reaches thirty and Kwishetwel’s room is stated for twenty-five phones. If phones are scarce, plan teams before the first round instead of discovering the problem at the join screen.
Decide who owns the host role
Assign one person to launch the host view, read instructions, and keep the next round moving. This matters most for Jackbox, Kwishetwel, and AirConsole, where one device or display presents the game. In browser games, the host can still control the room without owning a console.
Choose whether answers should be private
Hidden-role modes such as Undercover depend on private information, so players should keep their own phone screens away from other participants. In a quiz, drawing game, or majority-answer game, answers are expected to become public during the reveal, so the host can focus on a readable display and clear pacing.
Prepare a fallback format
If a browser room fills, move to a second mode with a lower capacity or form teams around shared phones. If the host display fails, partygame can continue with phones alone, while Herd Mentality can continue without any device. A backup that changes the activity is more reliable than trying to force every option into the same hardware setup.
Common problems and practical fixes
A player cannot join
- Confirm that the person is using the current room code or invitation rather than an old session.
- Check the game’s stated capacity before asking more people to retry.
- For a QR-based quiz, show the code again on the host display so late arrivals scan the active room.
- If the browser session is stale, close that tab and re-open the host or player view before starting another room.
The room has more people than phones
For Kwishetwel, teams can share one phone when necessary. For a drawing or hidden-role game, sharing can expose private information or slow the round, so reduce the number of active players or switch to a format that tolerates team answers.
The group cannot see the host screen
Move the host device closer to the display, enlarge the browser or game view, and have one person read each prompt aloud. Partygame does not require a television, but Jackbox and Kwishetwel are designed around a visible host presentation; if the display cannot be restored, switch to a phone-first browser option.
The game feels repetitive
Change the activity rather than repeating the same format. Move from a quiz to Gartic Phone, from drawing to Undercover, or from digital play to Herd Mentality. The alternatives are useful precisely because they divide the party experience by style instead of pretending one game covers every mood.
Bottom line
For the closest free, phone-only replacement, choose partygame for prompts and hidden roles, Gartic Phone for collaborative drawing, or Kwishetwel for a hosted quiz. Choose AirConsole when a TV and controller-style variety matter most, and Herd Mentality when the best technology is no technology. Buy Jackbox Party Pack 12 when you specifically want its five-game mix and already have the host device and shared screen required to run it.
Quick Recap
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