''You Don't Know Jack'' is a video game released in 1995, and the first release in the '' You Don't Know Jack'' video game series.

History

Jellyvision's website has this explanation as to why ''You Don't Know Jack'' was made: "Way back in the early 90s, Jellyvision decided to test the waters of mainstream interactive entertainment by beginning a partnership with Berkeley Systems, of "Flying Toasters" fame. Berkeley Systems asked us if we could apply the concepts of a game show to an adult trivia game. Since no one at Jellyvision at the time actually liked trivia games, we tried to figure out how to make trivia questions fun and engaging to us. When we realized that it was possible to ask about both

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

in the same question, ''You Don't Know Jack'' was born."

Reception

Sales of ''You Don't Know Jack'' surpassed 250,000 units by May 1996. According to market research firm

PC Data PC Data was an American market research and point of sale tracking firm founded in 1991 and based in Reston, Virginia. Its founder, Ann Stephens, had worked previously as the head researcher for the Software Publishers Association. Initially, t ...

, it was the 17th-best-selling computer game in the United States that year. Reviewing the Macintosh version of the original ''You Don't Know Jack'', a '' Next Generation'' critic praised the social nature of the game and the witty presentation. Calling it "An excellent, hip piece of work", he gave it three out of five stars. ''

MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, ...

'' named ''You Don't Know Jack'' the best strategy game of 1995. Less favorably, Ed Lomas of ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' found the title enjoyable, also felt the PC game format was unsuitable for an "after-pub game" like ''You Don't Know Jack'': "there aren't going to be many people who will want to bother setting up their PC after a drinking session." To Lomas, it also did not help the jokes felt labored, "the kind of humour that will only appeal to 35-year-olds who think Hale and Pace are funny". ''You Don't Know Jack'' won ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...

''s award for the best "Classics/Puzzles" game of 1995. The editors wrote that "it's great fun watching people whiff on answers at parties", and that "anyone who's ever wanted to see game shows skewered will have a ball with this." It won ''

Computer Game Review ''Computer Game Review'' was a print monthly magazine covering both computer gaming and video gaming. The magazine was started in 1991. Also known as ''Computer Game Review and 16-Bit Entertainment'', and then later as ''Computer Game Review and C ...

''s 1995 "Puzzle Game of the Year" award. The editors wrote, "''You Don’t Know Jack'' did more than simply provide a fun way to spend time at the computer. It also broke a lot of conventions including the need for flashy graphics to have an exciting game." ''You Don't Know Jack'' also received ''Computer Game Review''s "Best Voiceover Work of the Year" prize. In 1996, ''

'' declared ''You Don't Know Jack'' the 75th-best computer game ever released.

''You Don't Know Jack XL''

''You Don't Know Jack XL'' compiles the first ''You Don't Know Jack'' volume with an additional Question Pack. ''You Don't Know Jack XL'' won ''Macworld''s 1996 "Best Party Game" award.

Steven Levy Steven Levy (born 1951) is an American journalist and Editor at Large for '' Wired'' who has written extensively for publications on computers, technology, cryptography, the internet, cybersecurity, and privacy. He is the author of the 1984 boo ...

of the magazine wrote, "When it comes to creating a great party game that works on the computer, many have tried, and most have failed. Finally, fueled by

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

energy and

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s ...

cultural radar, there's ''You Don't Know Jack''." It also won the 1996

Spotlight Awards The Spotlight Awards (GDC) was hosted annually by the Game Developers Conference from 1997 to 1999. Its focus was on the video and computer game industry. GDC now hosts another video game award ceremony called Game Developers Choice Awards since 20 ...

for "Best Trivia or Puzzle Game" and "Best Script, Story or Interactive Writing" from the

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...

. The game received a score of 4.5 out of 5 from ''

'', whose editors named it one of 1996's top 50 CD-ROMs.

References

{{You Don't Know Jack 1995 video games Classic Mac OS games PlayStation (console) games Video games developed in the United States Windows games You Don't Know Jack (franchise)