Roomerang

Roomerang

Roomerang game tile
Internal name	MakeFriends
Part of	The Jackbox Party Pack 9
Game type	Roleplay, Writing
Hosted by	Rue Meringue
Number of players	4-9
Game duration	30 Minutes
Languages	English, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Latin American and Castilian)
Genre	Party
Director	Brooke Breit
Producer	Alex Weick
Website	jackboxgames.com

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Roomerang is a roleplay party video game and one of five games featured in The Jackbox Party Pack 9.

In this game, described as "reality TV-inspired", players assume the role of a reality TV star whose goal is to come out on top, by answering prompts and avoiding elimination.

Gameplay

After joining the lobby through the Jackbox.TV controller, the game asks the player to confirm their name, as well as provide brief details about their character. The player could choose from one of three different roles, or type in a custom role.

Afterwards, they then get to choose one of twelve "roomie" avatars, each with a different monochromatic color. After selecting the avatar, the player's name and avatar they selected appear in the lobby screen, accompanied by their matching voice sound.

Once the required amount of players are in, the game can begin. The players are introduced to the game's host Rue Meringue (voiced by Dezi Bing), who guides the players on how to play the game, before she introduces the roomies and their role.

Each player begins with 5 points in their private bank—no one will know anyone else’s score (except their own on their controller screen) until after the final round.

The game consists of five rounds. The first four rounds are presented as follows:

• Introductions - Players are given a generic prompt that involves introducing themselves.

• Connections - Players are given a prompt which involves connecting with another player that is randomly selected. The player mentioned in a winning answer receives points, and sometimes can get safety from elimination.

• Quickie - Players are given a generic prompt, except all players' identities are not revealed until after the voting round.

• Firestarter - Players are given a prompt which involves blaming another player and why. It plays similar to Connections, only the player gets to pick another player.

In each of the first four rounds, players are presented with a challenge where they answer a prompt, preferably in character. (If Audience is turned on, non-players can answer a separate poll.)

After all answers are submitted, the responses are revealed one-by-one, before players (and the audience) vote on which is the best.

After everyone casts their vote (or time runs out), the votes are counted, with each vote representing one point. The player with the most votes wins the challenge, and receives a special advantage—advantages can consist of:

• Safety
• Safety plus giving another chosen player safety
• Safety plus audience gets to choose who to eliminate (Only available when Audience mode is turned on.)
• Safety plus player mentioned gets safety (Only available in Rounds 2 and 4.)
• Swapping points with another player (Only available in Rounds 3 and 4.)
• Winner chooses who to eliminate (Their vote is also doubled.)
• Winner chooses who to eliminate that voted for the winning answer (Their vote is also doubled.)
• Winner's vote counts as two
• Winner can cancel another player's vote

Next, comes the elimination: Players (except the winner with safety) will have to vote on who should leave the Roomerang house, and why. After the votes are casted, Rue Meringue reveals who got eliminated in an animated sequence where she pulls out a card from an envelope, before coming up close to the screen and showing the eliminated player name on the card. (The animation gets slightly faster per round.)

The "eliminated" player is then given a chance to send a goodbye message before the doors are shut on them—however they quickly come back with an accessory (such as a hat, glasses, or mustache), as well as  a new name and role. (If family-friendly mode is turned off, the first vowel in the player's name is always changed. If it's turned on, an affix is added to their existing name instead.)

Throughout the game, players can access an inbox on the bottom-left corner of their controller, so they can see who tried to eliminate them previously or who won the challenge, giving them suggestions on who to eliminate next.

After the first four rounds are finished, players move onto the Finale Round, where players are given one final prompt to answer, usually involving a lesson, moral, or learning experience.

After all responses are submitted, players then vote on who they think should win the game—point values are doubled per vote. Afterwards, players then vote and who should NOT win the game, with a point taken away from a player that receives a vote.

After the final round has concluded, the final scores are shown in ascending order, until the top 2 players are shown side-by-side. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins, and has an opportunity to put in a victory speech, before the door is inevitably closed on them.

If there is a tie with 2 or more players, there is an algorithm that goes like this (in order):

• The player with the most "who should win" votes is the winner.
• If above still results in a tie, the player with the least "who shouldn't win" votes is the winner.
• If above still results in a tie, the player picked by the audience to win is the winner.
• If above still results in a tie, then a random player is chosen as the winner.

During the end credits, the VIP can replay a game with the same players, continuing the season where they left off with the same identities—however the scores are reset. (Starting with Party Pack 9's November update, an option was added to keep scores entering into another game.)

Development

The design team for the game are as follows:

• Brooke Breit - Director and Original Concept
• Alex Weick - Producer, Design Lead, and Original Concept
• Tim Sniffen - Lead Editorial and Original Concept
• Farhan Noormohammed - Lead Gameplay Engineer
• Hector Padilla - Lead Artist
• Brian Chard - Audio Lead
• Ryan McGill - Lead Jackbox.TV Engineer
• Sarah Jo Townsley - QA Lead
• Hero Paul See - Game Artist
• Allison Flom - Senior QA Anaylst

Trivia

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Gallery

• 
  The main menu screen for Roomerang.
• 
  The lobby screen for Roomerang.
• 
  The title screen for Roomerang, after the game starts.
• 
  A group of 9 players (or roomies) in the Roomerang House at the start of the game.
• 
  The intro screen for one of the players.
• 
  What it looks like when the Audience votes to eliminate someone
• 
  A player giving their elimination speech
• 
  A player returning shortly after being eliminated
• 
  An answer reveal during the Quickie Round
• 
  A player giving their winning speech

Controller

• 
  The controller screen prompting the player to confirm their name.
• 
  The controller screen where the player chooses a detail about their character.
• 
  The controller screen prompting the player to choose one of twelve avatars.

Promo Art

• 
  Party Pack 9 countdown promo art, featuring some of the roomies from Roomerang.
• 
  Jackbox Games New Years Day artwork for 2023.
• 
  Jackbox Games' Disability Pride Month promo art, featuring the Purple Roomie from Roomerang.
• 
  Jackbox Games promo art for Memorial Day 2025, featuring the Purple Roomie.

Concept Art

File:Red quip with construction helmet.svg	HEADS UP! This page is under construction.
	Pardon our dust—not all information is available.