You Don't Know Jack (series)

Background from YDKJ 2011

### Developers

Berkeley Systems, Jellyvision/Jackbox Games* Starsphere Interactive (YDKJ Mock 2)
* Iron Galaxy Studios (YDKJ 2011)
* Flipside.com (YDKJ Flash web)

### Publishers

Sierra On-Line, Jackbox Games, Berkeley Systems* THQ
* Telltale Publishing

### Platforms

* Microsoft Windows
* Macintosh
* Xbox 360
* Xbox One
* PlayStation
* PlayStation 3
* PlayStation 4
* Wii
* Nintendo DS
* iOS
* Apple TV
* Android
* Roku
* OUYA
* Nintendo Switch

### First release

YDKJ Volume 1 (as prototype game That's a Fact, Jack!)

## Number of Players

### 1-3

* Volume 1
* Sports
* Volume 2
* Movies
* Television
* Volume 3
* Headrush
* Volume 4: the Ride
* Offline
* Louder! Faster! Funnier!
* 5th Dementia
* Volume 6: The Lost Gold

### 1-4

* Tabletop
* 2011 on Wii, PS3, Xbox 360
* 2015

## Host

### Nate Shapiro

* Volume 1
* Tabletop
* Volume 4: The Ride

### Guy Towers

* Sports
* Volume 4: The Ride

### Buzz Lipman

* Volume 2
* Volume 4: The Ride

### Cookie

* Movies
* Volume 3
* Volume 4: The Ride
* Offline
* Flash Web 2007 - 2008
* 2011
* 2015
* Full Stream

### Schmitty

* Television
* Volume 4: The Ride
* Offline
* Louder! Faster! Funnier!
* 5th Dementia
* Volume 6: The Lost Gold

### Bob

* Headrush

***You Don't Know Jack*** (commonly abbreviated as *YDKJ*) is a recurring game series developed by Jackbox Games, back when they were formerly known as Jellyvision Games.

YDKJ is now one of the most successful interactive franchises of all time, with over a dozen products spanning CD-ROMs, console titles, online versions, books and one short-lived television show starring Paul Reubens on ABC. The franchise has won over 50 major awards within the software and design industries. In 1996, competing against all software released in the previous year from companies such as Adobe, Macromedia, and Electronic Arts, YDKJ won both the 'Most Innovative Interface' and 'Best Overall Interface' at Apple Computer's distinguished Human Interface Design Excellence Awards.

## History

In 1991, Jellyvision's former identity, Learn Television, released the award-winning film *The Mind's Treasure Chest*, which featured lead character, Jack Patterson. When Learn Television sought to use new multimedia technologies to create a more active learning experience, the company teamed up with Follett Software Company and developed *"That's a Fact, Jack!"*, a reading motivation CD-ROM game show series covering young adult fiction targeted to 3rd through 10th graders. The game would give a title for a child to read, and then ask questions related to that title.

The idea for *You Don't Know Jack* began while *That's a Fact, Jack!* was still in development. The game's title comes from the less vulgar version of the phrase "You don't know jack shit."

## Gameplay

The *You Don't Know Jack* series is a trivia game, but with questions delivered in a way where *"high culture and pop culture collide!"* In other words, instead of asking questions and answers in a straight forward manner, they are asked in a roundabout sense that ties in a completely unrelated subject to mask the original question and answers. Players that are right gain money; those that are wrong lose money.

Early games in the series allowed players to choose from three categories, with each question being a different monetary value. Some games functioned more linearly and had episodes that play preset questions one after the other. *You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream* is unique in that it uses the linear format, but the questions are usually randomized save for a few instances.

Most games also have a "Screw Your Neighbor" feature, where-in a player can "screw" one of the other players and force them to answer the question, even if they don't know the answer. Some games have slight variations on this, such as *You Don't Know Jack Volume 4: The Ride* allowing players to fire screws into the screen and obscure the question and answers, and *Full Stream* changing the screw functions entirely to affect everyone - including the audience.

There have been a few consistent rounds and round types that have appeared across multiple games in the series. These range from Dis Or Dat, where you categorize items into two seemingly unrelated groups; and the Gibberish Question, where a nonsense phrase is read out that rhymes with something more well known and players have to guess it.

### Other Features

Some of the volumes have a feature called "Don't Be a Wimp" („Sei kein Feigling“ in German), which is activated if one player has a very large lead. If no one answers a question, the host may deride the leading player, calling on the audience to shout "Don't be a wimp!" (in the German versions, chant „Feigling! Feigling! Feigling!“), and forcing the leader to answer the question.

In some volumes, the host also punishes a player who buzzes in too early; the question disappears, leaving the player with ten seconds to type the answer. For both *The Ride* and *5th Dementia*, this is replaced by different punishments: the player is forced to pick from a list of four nonsensical answers, all of which are wrong, or both the question and answers are scrambled. This punishment is only triggered if a player buzzes in at the very instant that the question appears on the screen. In those three instances, the player that buzzed in is not permitted to "screw" the other players.

### Setting

The *You Don't Know Jack* series is consistently presented in a game-show format. This is most evident in how the sign-in process is presented as a green room, with the only graphics being a large "On Air/Stand By" sign. Numerous crew members, including the host, can be heard in the background during the sign-in process talking among themselves, performing singing rehearsals, of just abusing each other. Sometimes, if a player waits around long enough, they would start playing satirical parodies of commercials that often promote a ridiculous product, such as scented suppositories or foreign language cassettes to help you learn how to speak American.

Throughout its lifespan, the show has been sponsored by strange and often ridiculous companies, with equally bizarre products or services. Initially, these sponsors served little purpose other than for comedic effect, but starting with *You Don't Know Jack 2011*, they began sponsoring the 'Wrong Answer of the Game.' If a player correctly identifies a wrong answer that relates to the sponsor, they will "win" a ridiculous prize associated with that company, along with bonus cash that goes to their score.

In *You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream*, the show is partnered with the streaming service Binjpipe. However, given the implications made by the 'Escape the Simulation' episode, it is possible that the show is all a fabrication created by Binjpipe for Cookie Masterson to host.

### Jack Attack

The final round of the game is called the ***Jack Attack.*** A word or phrase will appear in the middle of the screen, and multiple answers will appear one after the other for a brief moment. When a player sees an answer associated with the given word or phrase, they buzz in and either earn money if they are right or lose money if they are wrong. Answers usually follow a specific rule - or *clue* - as determined either by the player if they had the option of the game otherwise. For example, the clue might "Hail To The Chef" and the associated word is *Hell's Kitchen;* therefore, the correct answer could be Gordon Ramsay.

Once the Jack Attack is complete, the final scores are shown. The player with the most money is declared the winner... Even if—

**YOU DON'T KNOW JACK!**

## Easter Eggs

In a number of *You Don't Know Jack* games, there are several Easter Eggs that carry over and are expanded upon each time.

### "Fuck You"

One of the most common and popular Easter Eggs in the series is the Gibberish Question Easter Egg, also known as the "Fuck You" Easter Egg. Starting from the first game, if a player types in "fuck you" ("fuck off" in the UK version and „Arschloch“ in the German versions) at certain points of a game—generally during a Gibberish Question or HeadButt—the game will swear back at the player and punish them. In a game of three players, this means it can be done up to three times in a row with different effects each time. The exact results for each iteration of this Easter Egg have stayed largely consistent over the years, but the 'story' to each Easter Egg has been expanded upon and exaggerated for more hilarious results.

The first player to trigger the Easter Egg will have a LOT of money taken away from them (usually $150,000 but the amount can vary) and their name changed; the second player won't receive anything instead being told that it's "not original"; and the third player will cause the host to shut the game down. Additionally, players can press any key during the host’s rant after the third activation to receive extra dialogue; usually the host telling the player off for doing so.

In most instances, there isn't much to the Easter Egg other than the hosts showing their disappointment at the player for swearing at them. *You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2* is largely the same, except Old Man steps in to take over from Buzz. Old Man appears again in *Movies*, *TV* and *Vol. 3,* though largely just to be a nuisance to the hosts. Later games introduce other characters to take part and have comically expanded upon stories behind them, such as *Headrush* featuring Abraham Lincoln and a goat.

*The Lost Gold* is the first game in the series to do something different; both the first and second players have random large amounts of money taken away from them - with the first player still having their name changed, while the third player causes a "minigame" to appear called 'Gorilla Hunter.' This minigame cannot be beaten as there are no targets and no way to reload your ammo, effectively soft-locking the game. (This minigame was not present in the German Vol. 4, on which US Vol. 6 was built. In German Vol. 4, a traditional, Vol. 1-style "fuck you" response is done.)

In *2011,* if you enter the game with the name “Fuck you”, Donny, the green room organizer, will disapprovingly acknowledge your name, and give you a different name, with no penalty.

In *You Don't Know Jack 2015*, upon entering the game with the name "Fuck You", Cookie will change the players name before telling them off. The first time a player does this, they have $1,000 taken away before play starts; the second time, they have $50,001 taken away—although this amount doesn't carry over into actual play. On the third and all subsequent times after that, a screen showing a goat will appear, effectively ending the game before it has even started. In all instances, however, Cookie will still change their name.

*Full Stream* does not punish the player(s either), instead making Cookie ruminate for a moment on how long the gag has been running, and giving the player a description of the Easter Egg's history on their device. This description also includes a link to an unlisted YouTube video that serves much the same purpose but with the "Wrong Answer of the Game" chicken in the background, which ends up exploding at the end. If the player enters their name as "Fuck You," it will be changed to something else prior to the game starting.

### Special Names

Later entries in the series began adding in unique reactions for either the host or sign-in host to say upon a player entering a specific name. Most games from *You Don't Know Jack 2011* onward feature Cookie acknowledging some pretty unassuming names, such as Gavin. There are also a few specific ones, such as "Fard" (pronounced foh-rahd), a long time fan of the *You Don't Know Jack* series that even worked on the *Facebook* version. Another is "Cookie" - an obvious nod to the host, Cookie Masterson. All of these name references only ever play once, however.

In both *The Ride* and *You Don't Know Jack 2011*, an extension of the above-mentioned "Fuck You" Easter Egg can be triggered when entering your name. In *The Ride*, the sign-in host will kick you out of the game instantly before it has even started. In *2011*, they will instead show their disapproval of the name before changing it. Additionally, some sign-in hosts will also acknowledge a player's name and/or mock it; or if a player takes too long to create one they will give the player a name on their behalf. In most You Don't Know Jack games, using the name "Jack" will trigger a special intro where in *You Don't Know Jack 2015*, the host will tell you about how long they have been waiting for this to happen, and then proceed to put out a weird noise they were keeping secret.

### Special Introductions

Starting from *You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2*, on certain days or at certain times, the sign-in host will mention the time of day or the special holiday if you are playing on that specific day... and then sometimes grumble about the game being played at that time or on that day. These usually vary from something simple like a Saturday night to more specific days, such as April Fools Day, American Thanksgiving and President's Day.

## Other Media

During the 2000 presidential election, *Sierra On-Line* president David Grenewetzki challenged the presidential candidates to play a political version of YDKJ. The game had been distributed to a few radio stations, and was described as a "litmus test" of the candidates' political knowledge.

YDKJ also appeared as two books: You Don't Know Jack: The Book and *You Don't Know Jack: The TV Book*. Both were published in 2001.

There was also a Tiger Electronic Table-top game of You Don't Know Jack, voiced by Nate Shapiro. It featured question cards with a number code on it and a grey button to open a sliding door to show the answers. It was the first game to features 4 players instead of 3 players. There were also, "Sports", "Movies", and "TV" question packs that were sold separately.

You Don't Know Jack was briefly aired as an actual television game show in 2001 on ABC. Starring Paul Reubens (best known for his role as Pee Wee Herman) as over-the-top game show host Troy Stevens, with 'Cookie' as the announcer. The show lasted only six episodes.

After the You Don't Know Jack TV show ended, another show from the makers of YDKJ called Smush aired on USA Network. It was a game of taking two or more words and combining them into one long word. The show started late at night, but was later pushed to later and later times, even up to 3:00 A.M.; until it was eventually canceled.

In 2001, AMC released You Don't Know Jack about MonsterFest, an online game on their website hosted by Schmitty, and the MonsterFest movie marathon was hosted by Clive Barker and Carmen Electra, who gave clues for the game.

In 2002, during the "Global Color Vote" (to choose the new color for M&Ms candy) the M&Ms website had a game called "You Don't Know Color", mostly based on the same game used for the MonsterFest game. It was hosted by Billy West as the Red M&M and you played for points, not dollars. At the end of the game, after finishing the "Color Attack", you made a choice between the 3 colors to vote for.

## Cast

### Hosts

The series has had a variety of hosts over the years. Each host is remarked for their fast and witty sense of humor and their ability to mock players for doing badly.

* Nate Shapiro - known as the original *You Don't Know Jack* host; cousin of Buzz
* Buzz Lippman - known as the host of *You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2*; cousin of Nate
* Guy Towers - known as the host of *You Don't Know Jack Sports*
* Cookie Masterson - originally the sign-in host, became a main host starting with *You Don't Know Jack Movies*; the most recognized host in the series
* Josh "Schmitty" Schmitstinstein - started hosting with *You Don't Know Jack TV* and has hosted the second most amount of games behind Cookie; became a sponsor announcer starting with *You Don't Know Jack 2011*
* Bob - the host of *Headrush*; not the same person as the sound guy from *2011* also named Bob
* Quizmaster Jack - The host of all 4 German versions
* Jack Cake - The host of the British version
* Jacques - The host of the French version
* Masatoshi Hamada - The host of the Japanese version and real-life TV personality and comedian

### Crew

Aside from the hosts, there is a whole cast of crew members that work behind the scenes. Though not all of them are known to be helpful.

* Helen - one of the lead producers; has been present in just about every game of the series
* Bob - one of the producers; not to be confused with the host of *Headrush*
* Billy O'Brien - first appeared in *You Don't Know Jack 2011, the first iOS game, OUYA, Party, 2015 & 2018*; Cookie's Ventriloquism puppet and question reader of the "Who's the Dummy?".
* Old Man - first appeared in *You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2*, an old man that more often than not causes trouble for the hosts
* Sandy - the sign in-host for *You Don't Know Jack Louder! Faster! Funnier!*
* Donny - the sign in-host for *You Don't Know Jack 2011*; speaks in a warped version of English with over-extended words
* The Captain - the sign-in host for *You Don't Know Jack Vol. 6: The Lost Gold*; he is cursed after finding Jack's Gold to remain within the game unless the player/s can amass $1,000,000 in total.
* Gerard - the sign-in host for 5th Dementia.
* Kim - first appeared in *You Don't Know Jack 2011*, who would occasionally interrupt questions in order to point out mistakes in the questions or Cookie's comments in great detail.
* Chad - first appeared in *You Don't Know Jack 2011*. He is remarkably dimwitted and frequently annoys Cookie with his idiocy and his habit of losing the quotes he’s supposed to hand Cookie.
* Milan The Janitor - the Trash Talking With Milan host for *Headrush*, a question type which involves English and grammar.

## Games

Listed below are the major releases in the *You Don't Know Jack* series:

* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 1* - the original high-culture meets pop-culture trivia game; hosted by Nate Shapiro
* *You Don't Know Jack Sports* - a game themed around sports trivia; hosted by Guy Towers
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 2* – the general knowledge sequel to the first game; hosted by Buzz Lippman. Regional versions released in the UK, Germany, France, and Japan.
* *You Don't Know Jack the NetShow* – 1996-2000
* *You Don't Know Jack Movies* – a game themed around movies; hosted by Cookie Masterson
* *You Don't Know Jack Television* – a game themed around television; hosted by Schmitty
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 3* – the third general knowledge installment; hosted by Cookie Masterson; ported to Playstation.
* *You Don't Know Jack* *Headrush* – a teenager spin-off title; hosted by a one-off host named Bob
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 4: The Ride* – the fourth general knowledge installment, now featuring themed episodes; hosted by Nate, Buzz, Guy, Cookie and Schmitty
* *You Don't Know Jack Offline* – a disk-based version of the NetShow from 1996-2000; hosted by Cookie Masterson
* *You Don't Know Jack (PlayStation)* - a PlayStation release of the game from 1996, featuring questions from *Volume 3*, *Movies* & *Offline*; hosted by Cookie Masterson
* *You Don't Know Jack Louder! Faster! Funnier!* - hosted by Schmitty
* *You Don't Know Jack 5th Dementia* - the first version of the game to feature online functionality; hosted by Schmitty
* *You Don't Know Jack Mock 2* – the second PlayStation game, set in a galaxy themed dimension with questions from *The Ride*, *Louder! Faster! Funnier!*, & *5th Dementia*; hosted by Schmitty
* *You Don't Know Jack about Monsterfest – AMC web game – 2001*
* *You Don't Know Color – M&Ms web game – 2002*
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 6: "The Lost Gold"* – the sixth general knowledge installment, set in a strange dimension and with the goal to make enough money to free the pirate trapped inside; hosted by Schmitty
* *You Don't Know Jack 2007-2008* (Online beta game on the *You Don't Know Jack* website) – 2007–2008. The first version to feature the question-timer-as-dollar-amount system used in 2011, Facebook, and 2015.
* *You Don't Know Jack 2011* – a version released for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC, this format would be re-used for later iOS and Facebook versions of the game; all versions hosted by Cookie Masterson
* *You Don't Know Jack for OUYA* – hosted by Cookie Masterson
* *You Don't Know Jack (2012)* - trail and paid Mobile Version of YDKJ for iOS and Roku. Both have been shut down since 2015 and are not playable on IOS 11+
* *You Don't Know Jack Party* – an updated version of the YDKJ 2011 game – 2013
* *You Don't Know Jack Facebook* - an online version featuring online play, in-game currency, and the ability to play online with users of both this game and the IOS game. Shut down on 2015
* *You Don't Know Jack: VMA Edition* – MTV Video Music Awards web game – ~2011/2015?
* *You Don't Know Jack 2015* - an evolved version of the 2011 game, part of The Jackbox Party Pack; hosted by Cookie Masterson
* *You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream* - a version available in The Jackbox Party Pack 5; hosted by Cookie Masterson

There is also a British version, a French version, a Japanese version, and the following German versions:

* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 1* – based on U.S. Vol. 2
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 2* – based on U.S. Vol. 3
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 3: Abwärts!* – based on U.S. Vol. 4 ("The Ride")
* *You Don't Know Jack Volume 4* – later used as a base for U.S. Vol. 6 ("The Lost Gold")

### Other

* You Don't Know Jack tabletop edition (from Tiger Electronics) – 1998
* You Don't Know Jack (Game Show) – real show that aired on ABC – 2001
* *JackPad* – controller on the phone to play YDKJ OUYA – 2013

## Trivia

* The game has its very own Twitter.
* In You Don't Know Jack 2011, Question 4our has it's own story. in summary, 4 gets shot, and is replaced with an f, making it four. In addition, the next YDKJ game, You Don't Know Jack 2015, the question segues have a ghost 4our, and an easter egg that shows 4our's dead body floating above a river.
	+ The game after that, You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream, continues this story with 4 Jr., as they now have a stepdad named Brian and still mourn the loss of their previous parental figure.
* The PC games up to Volume 6: The Lost Gold do not play on Windows 7 and later. They require the use of a compatibility layer, a virtual machine, or Steam re-release to play on a modern Windows machine.

* The bald head in the box art and game graphics is called the Jack Head. Before the computer graphics version began to be used, the Jack Head is portrayed by the model Vladimir Tomljenovic, also known online as "Mick T".[↑]
* The series is a shortened form of the insult "you don't know jack shit", only cutting out the "shit" part. This is a visual indicator of the series overall mean-spirited tone.