Last Updated on Sep 17, 2026 @ 14:07:06 PM.
After numerous years of making the Jackbox Party Packs that the world has grown to love, the Jackbox Games team has taken a new approach to their upcoming game, Trivia Murder Party 3, as they released this game on its own while also providing it with a whole new style, with the game being developed using 3D graphics and even being based in a new location that fans of the previous Trivia Murder Parties will notice.
Moving From 2D to 3D
For those who are familiar with the Trivia Murder Party franchise, there is one change from the original games that players will instantly notice: the game has moved from a 2D art style into a 3D version, which is a massive upgrade from the original style, as all the different models and designs have been completely upgraded and revamped to keep the original style of Trivia Murder Party while improving on it.
One click and you're done. Thank you!
Whether it be the cute little voodoo doll-like characters in the games having a whole new design allowing them to interact with the game in a whole new way. For example, in the original games all of the death sequences were very simple, with things like the player being shocked or just simply exploding, but now players can experience a whole new set of death animations that work with the 3D graphics, as players can now be attacked with a hammer as it moves around and slams down on the camera or get exploded by a set of dynamite with the players running around it in fear.
Along with this, players can also expect a massively improved location within Trivia Murder Party 3, with the game now being set in a log cabin in the woods, but this entire location is filled with 3D assets, bringing more depth into the game rather than it just feeling like a simple slideshow of questions and minigames, but instead it feels like an actual game that has its own depth and character to it.
Because of this massive change for the developers, we can see how much effort they put into the game and this new design, as the overall mechanics of the game have massively improved with the question board being updated, the actual minigames being massively changed with them being fully 3D with even more minigames being involved, and so many more details that the game emphasises during the various cutscenes and transitions as they showcase the different 3D modelled assets that have been created for the game.
True to the Trivia Name
If you came to Trivia Murder Party 3 for the trivia gameplay, then good news, as Trivia Murder Party 3 continues its trivia madness by having some amazing questions that vary from the incredibly easy to the insanely complicated, but that is the entire fun of the game, as each question isn’t simply to win a trivia game but to survive to the end of said trivia game, where each wrong answer is a trip to the gallows.
Although these questions can be quite challenging, there is a reasonable level of guess, and you might succeed, as although the questions are hard, the answers lend themselves to being rather obvious in some cases, allowing for players to guess their way through the game if needed, but sadly that doesn’t always work out.
However, figuring out what answer is correct isn’t always so simple in Trivia Murder Party 3, as there is a new mechanic within the game known as a “plot twist”, which can massively alter how the game is played. One of these plot twists that I and my friends came across while we played the game was one that caused us to lose fingers within the game, physically taking away answers from the player; however, how the game decided who was punished was incredibly interesting, especially since it opted out from doing so.
Once this plot twist was triggered, the players were now in control of what would happen, as the players who had died earlier in the game are now provided with the option to choose who they can vote upon to lose a finger within the game. For us this consisted of a lot of ties, as players couldn’t decide who would lose a finger, meaning that the game eventually had to pick for us, but there were occasions where we could decide, and people lost fingers and subsequently their answers to the questions.
Due to this plot twist, a situation did begin where one of the players ended up with two fingers being removed, leading them to fail nearly all the questions, as the answers would be where their chopped-off fingers were. Although this was a very fun plot twist, there are more within the game that we didn’t get to experience, but the overall gameplay mechanic was incredibly fun as it added to the chaotic humour that these games are famous for.
After you fail these questions, the game throws you into a traditional punishment with a minigame that decides your fate and the fate of your friends as you compete to survive. In the past these games were always a lot of fun as players had to deceive their friends in order to beat them out in some familiar minigames from the original Trivia Murder Parties or new games that players haven’t experienced before.
As always, these games were such a fun addition to the game, as they allowed players to fight for their survival in a rather unique way, as I and my friends found out there was a lot of bargaining and begging taking place when these minigames took place in order to try and convince people not to kill us so that both the game can continue and not end quickly while also ensuring that we had an improved chance to win.
Another feature that continues from the previous games in terms of the trivia part of the game is that players are able to alter the settings to limit the America-based questions within the game. As players like me who are from the UK, I sadly don’t know much about America, so being able to reduce these questions for me and my friends was a big positive for us.
Always a New Feature to Include
Throughout the Trivia Murder Party games there have always been improvements to the formula to help make the game more competitive or more fun for the players. Whether it be the laser grid in the second game that encourages players to get all the answers right at the end of the game to escape or the plot twists that are being added in this game, there is always something new that makes the game more fun for the players.
Along with these gameplay mechanics, Trivia Murder Party 3 adds quite a few changes to the gameplay loop that players will be eager to jump into, one of which is the ability to use emotes throughout the game, whether it be within the opening menu, the trivia portion of the game, the punishment, or even the final cutscenes. These emotes made the game so much more fun, as I and my friends were constantly using them to throw each other off, and with their ability to be spammed, we had an absolute blast, making each moment in the game more fun.
The biggest change that we never got to experience but were teased during the final chase sequence was how, during this sequence, if numerous players made it to the final stage of the game where they need to answer the question perfectly to survive, there seems to be a cutscene in which numerous players can jump towards the survival truck in a chance to survive.
Although sadly we didn’t see the result of numerous people getting the perfect result in this endgame scenario, there is the hope that in the future that if multiple people manage to get to this section of the game without dying and multiple people get a perfect answer, there could be a chance for multiple winners, but for now we have no evidence of this.
This extremely excited us, as it was a complete surprise seeing the final dive for survival being a potential triple survival as the game suddenly pulled the rug out from beneath us in a humorous way as these games always do, but this surprise definitely made us want to play more to try and replicate the results, but sadly it is incredibly hard to do so.
Trivia Murder Party 3
Trivia Murder Party 3 continues the trivia murder that the first two games were famous for as they pit up to 8 players against each other as they try and answer challenging questions, beat minigames to stay alive, and ultimately outrun an evil murderer as they try and escape this game of death and hilarity.
Summary
Overall, Trivia Murder Party 3 was a fun experience, just like its previous iterations, as I and my friends had such a fun time answering the different questions and fighting for our survival by trying to deceive our friends in numerous different ways.
The plot twists were a fun addition, as this completely changed how the game played and made for a lot of entertaining moments where players could gang up on certain people if they chose to, making the game an absolute blast.
The biggest change was the 3D design, which really made the game feel more like a game than anything else, as seeing the different characters move around, interact with the game world, and just generally look alive, the game felt entirely different than those that came before.
- 3D graphics entirely changes how the game looks and feels for the player.
- Plot twists does what they say on the tin making each game fun and unique.
- Emotes provided a new form of interaction that made the game really fun.
- Customisation brings a new level of player choice to the game.
- Questions can be quite challenging but can be guessed through if you try enough.
For your next read, why not check out our review of The Blood of Dawnwalker, or check out our Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy review.
Thumb Wars reviews every game based upon the structure of our review policy, and every review is on OpenCritic.
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
