Trivia Murder Party 3 puts a Halloween quiz on your PC and the answers in everyone’s hands. Two to eight players can join a local game with their phones, answering trivia and trying to survive minigames at Camp Mass Acres. Jackbox’s seasonal event adds spooky questions, double XP and costumes for the game’s dolls through November 5.
Your phone works as the controller: open jackbox.tv in its browser and enter the four-letter room code on the game’s screen. The game itself runs on a Windows PC. It’s available in Early Access on Steam and Epic, with animated violence and horror themes that make this a better fit for a grown-up Halloween gathering than a young children’s party.
Price: $11.99 USD on Steam, discounted from $14.99; offer ends November 2
Where to buy: Steam
Pick the room you want to play in
For friends sitting together, local multiplayer keeps the familiar Jackbox room-code setup. Give everyone a view of the PC’s game screen, let them join from their own web-enabled devices, and the phone takes care of their inputs. That gives a small Halloween gathering something everyone can participate in without handing a gamepad around.
Online matchmaking is the other option. It can put you into a group of up to eight, so you can play even when you haven’t assembled a roomful of friends. The distinction also affects the Halloween rewards: the costume unlocks require matchmade games.
Three costumes take three days
The October 22 update adds the Bloodsucker Suit, Fearleader and Regular Clown costumes. Complete a matchmade game to earn one reward per day, and play on three separate days during the event to collect all three. A Halloween-night marathon won’t compress that schedule into one evening.
You can also log in during the event to claim the Batpack back item. Double XP applies when you play during the event, alongside the seasonal trivia. Jackbox’s window runs from October 22 at 2 p.m. CDT until November 5 at 2 p.m. CST, giving you several days after Halloween to finish the costume collection.
The update brings a new Shadow Puppets minigame, too. You rotate a severed hand to match shadow shapes, trading trivia recall for a visual puzzle.
Set up the PC before your guests arrive
Steam lists Windows 10 or later, 12GB of RAM and 8GB of storage as minimum requirements, along with a GTX 1050 3GB, RX 560 4GB or equivalent integrated graphics with at least 4GB shared memory. Broadband internet is required. Check the full system requirements against your host computer before buying; the phone-controller setup doesn’t make this a phone-only game.
Price: $11.99 USD on Steam, discounted from $14.99; offer ends November 2
Where to buy: Steam
For XP and cosmetic unlocks, sign in to your Jackbox Games account at jackbox.tv before playing.
