Technologies

I’m a Longtime Jackbox Games Player. The New Party Pack 11 Might Be My Favorite

I spoke with the Pack Lead about Party Pack 11, which might be the most well-rounded collection yet.

The Jackbox Party Pack 11, launching Thursday, Oct. 23, offers the series’ trademark variety of casual party games, from trivia to drawing to joke writing. I own a handful of these bundles, breaking them out whenever I have a group of friends over and we want something with lower stakes and less of a time commitment than playing a full D&D session or even breaking out a game of Camel Up.

The great thing about a Jackbox title is that it mixes five different mini-games into one package, meaning almost anyone can find at least one they enjoy among the variety. The trouble is that the group may not always enjoy the whole pack, or even most of it. There may be only one or two of the five that really click with your group, perhaps neglecting the more experimental or complex challenges.

«There’s a lot of different people out there,» Rich Gallup, director of production at Jackbox Games told me. «There’s a lot of different types of parties [with different ways they] play our games, and not every game is gonna fit every group.» Gallup referred to the «power of the pack» — the idea that each Party Pack should have a game for everyone, and in some cases, more than one game.

Party Pack 11 manages the remarkable feat of being pretty even throughout. I played through the mini-games ahead of launch with a group of friends I would describe as «abundantly familiar» with prior entries in the Jackbox series. After playing through the entirety of the new Party Pack, we all agreed that almost every game felt equally interesting to us… even if we came out with some early favorites that we’ll probably go back to over and over again.

All the games in Jackbox Party Pack 11

Hear Say

The standout of the new Party Pack is Hear Say, a game where your group is asked to record sound effects in response to prompts like [example] and [example]. Then you vote on the best recording.

«It’s a whole new form of creativity for our players,» Gallup said. «Writing jokes is hard. Drawing is hard. Making a fart noise, y’know… maybe that’s a little more universal. And the game has shown you can make fart noises over a lot of things, and they make a lot of people laugh.»

The simplicity is a huge part of the charm. Unlike Jackbox staples like Quiplash, which asks you to carefully craft cerebral (or crass) jokes, Hear Say is all about blurting silly little sounds into your phone. Pretend to almost sneeze. Forget your coworker’s name. You only have about 5 seconds for each sound effect, so brevity is king.

Hear Say also gives you plenty of opportunities to make other players laugh. My group heard each other recording their sound effects, and sometimes had to redo our own because we burst out laughing in the middle of recording. If there’s a particularly popular sound effect, you can also replay it on demand after hearing everyone’s responses before voting is finished.

The result is a characteristically delightful Jackbox jumble of chaos, aided by some great details like the animations of your chosen avatar whenever your recording plays. I would fire up Party Pack 11 just for Hear Say, and could probably play it several times in a row without feeling bored of the gimmick.

Doominate

Look, I’m sure you’re not a bad person, but I’m equally sure you’d find it fun, occasionally and in small doses, to act like one. Doominate prompts you with nice, wholesome things, and then asks other players to ruin those things by twisting them out from under you. Then it ups the stakes by asking you to list extra things you enjoy so other people can spoil them. It’s a more personal brand of ruination.

Things come back around at the end when you get to un-ruin a prompt for someone. So maybe you ruined «puppies» with the answer «puppies… running away from you.» You can redeem yourself by twisting it back into a semblance of its original shape: «puppies… running away from you… into your home together!»

It’s a fun variation on the joke-writing format seen in prior Jackbox mini-games like Quiplash or Fibbage. And while you might wrinkle some relationships in the early rounds, the un-ruination in the final round gives you a chance to smooth things out again.

Gallup said the final, good-natured twist came through playtesting. «There was a lot of testing of, like, do we like how the game ends if you’re just ruining things, or do we like that, like, upnote at the end of, like, eh we made it better — we’re still friends, right? And through our playtesting, that stuck.»

My group liked it as a warm-up game to get the jokes turning in our brains. It’s a pretty zippy game, too, which makes it easy to come back to.

Cookie Haus

One of my favorite styles of Jackbox Games is games like Tee K.O., where you’re drawing something on your phone and matching the drawing with delectably funny titles. Cookie Haus asks you to do that by decorating cookies.

Customers will walk into the Cookie Haus with prompts for weird specific cookies they want. For example: «Mermaids, the wrong way.» Then it’s up to you to choose a cookie shape and get to frosting (and naming) their wildest dreams.

The music and art design also make it a pleasant game to play.

«Cookie Haus is magical. It’s cozy,» Gallup said. «The act of icing a cookie just feels so delightful. It just feels really good. It looks delicious.»

The cookies look surprisingly realistic, with smooth textures on the icing, and a variety of sprinkles you can place on top. I enjoyed the flexibility of working with different colors or sprinkles, but watch out for the restriction of only being able to undo your single most recent icing stroke or sprinkling. My whole group struggled with that.

Be prepared to make revisions to cookies later in the game, giving you a chance to improve upon (or, depending on your mood, totally ruin) someone else’s creation. Overall, it’s a great game for when you just want to doodle and maybe get a few chuckles out of it. I’ve been mentally sketching out cookie abominations since I last played.

Suspectives

Suspectives has everyone fill out surveys about themselves and then secretly casts one person as a criminal while the rest of the group is tasked with interrogating everyone as survey info about the criminal slowly rolls in.

Candidly, social dedication games are not my thing — I’m in the camp of people that finds them more stressful than fun. So Suspectives is the one game in Party Pack 11 that I don’t expect to replay much, although I did find it slightly less stressful than other games in the genre.

Gallup acknowledged that challenge. «We knew it needed to be a game where someone like you and I, who don’t love lying, could have fun and, at the very least, hide a little bit. And the surveys and the pacing allows for that. Generally, you only have to stand up to one round of grilling, more or less, maybe two. And if you can make it through that one, I’ve found, personally, I can do OK.»

What I appreciated most about Suspectives was the fun Noir-ish atmosphere. The game has a strong flavor, and if anything brings me back, it’s most likely to be that. But I did also enjoy filling out the surveys and having a more structured game instead of being forced to argue nonstop for 20 minutes about who the criminal was.

If you like social deduction games, there are a few neat inclusions in Suspectives, notably the ability to reveal one person’s answer to see if they’re telling the truth. These extra twists can mix up the formula and keep things interesting.

Legends of Trivia

While Hear Say is my favorite game in the pack, Legends of Trivia is the one I expect to play the most. Partly because it supports two players, which means my wife and I can pick it up at any time, but also because it blends together two things I love: trivia and roleplaying games.

It’s also the first time Jackbox is making trivia collaborative.

«The goal was: We want people to work together on trivia,» Gallup said. «We learned very quickly that making a collaborative trivia game is a little harder than a competitive trivia game. Because if it’s collaborative, there’s almost always going to be someone who knows the answer. And so this is also likely Jackbox’s most difficult trivia game, because you don’t want that one person who’s going to answer every single question. (Which is me. I’m that person.)»

Legends of Trivia starts unlike any other trivia game, asking you to choose your character, complete with stats that affect the game. Health gives you more of a safety net, attack rewards you more for getting answers right, and gold gives you resources to pick up items.

Then you set out on your adventure, where you’ll be stopped by trivia-obsessed monsters. Answer their questions correctly and you’ll deal damage to them and gain gold. Answering incorrectly means you miss an opportunity for damage, and you lose some health and gold. You can shop for items along the way, trading gold for trinkets that might heal your character or give you hints on tough questions.

Survive your trek and the game will measure the gold you acquired to determine whether you’ve reached «legendary» status.

My group loved the combination of collaboration and individual choice in a trivia game. It’s up to you to buy your own items (or save your gold). Don’t agree with the consensus answer? Everyone answers individually, so you’ll either bask in the glory of being the smartest person in the room… or be yelled at by your party because you’re the reason the monster didn’t die this turn.

Legends of Trivia also has the distinction of being an uncommonly long Jackbox game. While trivia tends to run a little longer than more joke-based entries, Legends of Trivia has three different levels for you to explore, each one taking around 20 to 30 minutes to complete, so a full run might reach an hour and a half. If you don’t want to trivia for that long, you can take a smaller slice, but I like the opportunity to keep going, similar to starting a «sequel» at the end of a Trivia Murder Party round.

Turn it up to 11

I’ve spent a lot of time in Jackbox games, and I expect Party Pack 11 to quickly rise near the top of my most-played list. Hear Say and Legends of Trivia tickle different parts of my brain and will both keep me coming back, and while I have the game open, there’s little reason not to also throw in a few rounds of Doominate and Cookie Haus.

«Whenever you create something, you never believe it’s good until it’s out. So we’re really excited for the game to come out and for people to hopefully tell us it’s good,» Gallup said, before adding a characteristic Jackbox quip: «But if they don’t, we’ll be ready for that because we’re creators.»

Jackbox Party Pack 11 launches on Oct. 23 for all major platforms.

Technologies

San Diego Comic-Con Draws a Line: No AI Art Allowed at 2026 Event

The long-running fan convention is banning AI-created works from its popular art show.

Like Sarah Connor in The Terminator, San Diego Comic-Con is fighting back against AI. The prestigious, long-running pop culture convention has banned all artwork created by artificial intelligence from the 2026 Comic-Con art show. Rules posted on the Comic-Con website now state that AI-generated art won’t be shown in any form.

«Material created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) either partially or wholly, is not allowed in the art show. If there are questions, the Art Show Coordinator will be the sole judge of acceptability,» the website reads.

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A representative for San Diego Comic-Con did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the past, the convention allowed participants to display AI artwork, provided it was clearly marked as such and wasn’t sold. But now, those artists can’t even bring it through the door. The rule change is a response to artist-led pushback, according to a 404 Media report. San Diego Comic-Con is one of the world’s most famous pop culture conventions, uniting comics, movies, television, gaming, cosplay and collectibles.

Jim Zub, writer for the Conan the Barbarian and Dungeons and Dragons comic book series, told CNET he supports Comic-Con’s decision and hopes other conventions will follow their lead.

«Hundreds of thousands of people attend San Diego Comic-Con each year, and the excitement that generates isn’t because they’re eager to meet a computer spitting out homogenized slop,» Zub said.

Zub, who’s also an artist, is scheduled to appear at Comic-Con in 2026.

Entertaining AI

The use of generative AI in comic book and pop culture art has generated controversy in recent years as AI programs have become more skilled at imitating creators.

A central focus of the 2023 actor’s strike involved backlash against the use of AI in movies and television. The issue has continued to roil Hollywood, as actors, special effects designers, and other film workers see the technology as a threat, while some movie studios view AI as a way to reduce production costs.

Netflix has already begun using AI-generated imagery in at least one series, Argentine sci-fi show El Eternauta. CEO Ted Sarandos praised the technology during a 2025 earnings call.

«We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,» Sarandos said at the time.

AI is also an issue in the video game industry, with publishers facing swift backlash whenever fans discover AI was used in a game. The Indie Game Awards rescinded two awards for the hit RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, after they found out that AI-made placeholder assets were included when the game launched. The game developer quickly patched the assets out.

While the movie and video game industries appear to have mixed views on using AI, Comic-Con has taken a firm stance, at least for now.

«Artists, writers, actors and other creatives gather and celebrate the popular arts in person because the people part of the equation is what matters most,» Zub said.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Jan. 24

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 24.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a long one, as per usual on Saturday. 1-Down made me awfully hungry! Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Snow day vehicle
Answer: PLOW

5A clue: Steam room alternative
Answer: SAUNA

6A clue: Show on which Jon Hamm had his breakout role
Answer: MADMEN

7A clue: Subject of negotiations with a 3-year-old
Answer: BEDTIME

8A clue: Respected veteran, in slang
Answer: OLDHEAD

9A clue: Gain back, as trust
Answer: REEARN

10A clue: Spooky
Answer: EERIE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Noodle dish garnished with lime wedges and crushed peanuts
Answer: PADTHAI

2D clue: Singing candlestick in «Beauty and the Beast»
Answer: LUMIERE

3D clue: ___ band
Answer: ONEMAN

4D clue: Decreased in size, as the moon
Answer: WANED

5D clue: More blue
Answer: SADDER

6D clue: Chaotic fight
Answer: MELEE

7D clue: Total snoozefest
Answer: BORE

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Technologies

iPhone 17 Pro Max Specs vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra: The Best Top-Tier Phones, Compared

The top premium phones from Apple and Samsung have the best specs, cameras, battery life and more among their lineups.

Apple’s full iPhone 17 lineup offers great phones that meet different needs, but one that rises above the rest for specs and sheer size: the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The company’s priciest top-tier iOS handset goes toe-to-toe with the top Android phones, and at the top of that list is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, that company’s highest-end conventional phone.

Both phones live up to their names, with nearly 7-inch screens, advanced cameras and the most powerful specs to date. While they have a lot in common, they follow slightly different approaches for assembling the most premium phone on the market.

Here’s how the iPhone 17 Pro Max specs match up to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Looking to order the iPhone 17 Pro Max? Check out our deals guide to learn if you can get it free and other great offers.

Want to buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra? Find out which carriers and retailers have the best deals on Samsung’s slim phone.

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iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra price comparison

iPhone 17 Pro Max (256GB of storage): $1,199
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (256GB of storage): $1,299

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is $100 cheaper than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which has been the same price gap between these phones in prior years. Samsung’s phone does have a notable hardware extra with its S Pen stylus (stored within the handset), but it’s also far more likely to go on sale than Apple’s big handset, assuming prior years’ trends continue.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra design and displays

iPhone 17 Pro Max: Heat-dispersing focus. This year’s Pro Max reverts to an aluminum frame and introduces a vapor chamber to better vent heat.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Best screen yet. The display’s new anti-reflective coating on the Ultra may be its best feature.

These are the biggest and densest phones beyond foldables, so they stack up pretty well, at least on the outside.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch OLED display, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 6.8-inch screen (both have 1-120Hz variable refresh rates). In Jan. 2025, when the Ultra was released, CNET Managing Editor Patrick Holland called it «the best I’ve seen» on a phone, thanks to its new antireflective coating that makes the phone more usable under direct light, along with 2,600-nit top brightness. For its part, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is easier to see in daylight with its 3,000-nit maximum brightness (up from 2,000 nits in last year’s iPhones).

Thanks to its titanium frame, Samsung’s phone is slightly lighter at 218 grams and potentially more durable than the aluminum frame on Apple’s premium phone (which is heavier at 233 grams).

But interestingly enough, it seems Apple reverted from the titanium frame on the iPhone 16 Pro Max back to aluminum in its new top-tier phone in favor of better thermal regulation. To handle heat even better, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a vapor chamber filled with deionized water sitting over the CPU and other chips to disperse heat away from the silicon. The S25 Ultra has its own vapor chamber (40% larger than its predecessor’s, Samsung said).

The S25 Ultra also has the advantage of its own stylus that tucks into a dedicated slot on the phone’s underside. Unfortunately, it’s not as smart as the S Pen of previous S-series Ultra models. Samsung removed the remote Bluetooth controls, which the company said were only used by barely 1% of Ultra owners, but it’s still disappointing to see tech revert.

Like all iPhones since last year’s models, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a Camera Control button on its right side. This button launches the Camera app, allows you to take photos and tweaks settings while shooting. The button can also activate Visual Intelligence, which lets you do a Google image search or prompt ChatGPT using what the camera is pointed at.

Comparing iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra cameras

iPhone 17 Pro Max: Nearly all cameras are now sharper. Everything but the main camera got a megapixel upgrade.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Better ultrawide camera. The 50-megapixel ultrawide captures more light and detail.

From the outside, not much looks different with either phone’s array of cameras compared to their predecessors, though the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s rear camera bump has been extended across the width of the phone. But the big changes are packed inside that «plateau,» as Apple calls it, with improvements to nearly all of its cameras.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 48-megapixel main and ultrawide cameras are largely untouched, but the telephoto camera is now also 48 megapixels (up from 12 megapixels in last year’s Pro Max). All three are «dual fusion» cameras that can zoom in twice at 12-megapixel resolution using sensor cropping. This effectively means the telephoto can go to the equivalent of 8x optical zoom, or up to 40x digital (up from 25x).

There’s the big upgrade for selfie lovers: The front-facing camera is now 18 megapixels (up from 12 megapixels in last year’s model), which is nice but less important than the larger sensor behind the lens. It’s square in shape, which allows users to switch between taking selfies in either horizontal or vertical orientation without rotating their phone. It also enables Center Stage, the video chat feature that first debuted on iPad Pro and Mac devices, which keeps the focus on the user even if they move around and can adjust the orientation if more people enter the frame.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra retains its four rear camera setup, fronted by an impressive 200-megapixel main shooter. But it’s the 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (up from 12 megapixels in the S24 Ultra) that delighted CNET reviewer Holland, who felt the larger sensor afforded crisper shots with more light in both very wide and close-up macro shots. The phone also has a 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom paired with a 50-megapixel 5x optical zoom for different levels of telephoto shots, topping out at 100x «Space Zoom.»

Both phones have dueling AI-assisted tools for video. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the Audio Mix feature introduced in its predecessor that isolates desired audio sources (like subjects talking) and cancels other ambient noise. The Galaxy S25 Ultra has its own tool, Audio Eraser, which trims away wind, music, street noise or other disturbances. As a last difference, the Galaxy S25 Ultra can shoot footage in 8K while the iPhone 17 Pro Max tops out at 4K video.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra specs compared

iPhone 17 Pro Max: Better specs, bigger battery. The Pro Max gets a new chip, better performance and longer battery life.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Great performance. The S25 Ultra boasts better performance than any other phone we’d tested.

Both phones are at the absolute top of their lineups and are in the running for the most powerful phone on the market anywhere in the world. Unsurprisingly, they’re pretty competitive in terms of specs and performance, with each edging out the other in specific ways.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max packs a new A19 Pro chip that, combined with the improved heat management, results in 40% better sustained performance compared to last year’s Pro Max, Apple said during the new phone’s launch presentation. Apple has continued not to state how much RAM the phone packs (conventional wisdom suggests at least 8GB to run AI features).

The iPhone 17 Pro Max comes with configuration tiers for 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and the new 2TB option. That max storage pushes the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s overall price to around $2,000. Apple also doesn’t release exact battery capacity, but did suggest the Pro Max has an even bigger one this year.

In CNET’s battery tests, the iPhone 17 Pro Max scored better than any phone we’ve tested, including the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It has a top wired charging speed of 40 watts or wireless at 30 watts, and built-in MagSafe magnetic attachment capability.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra packs a Samsung-customized Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM, both of which enable more on-device AI that runs smoother than the hybrid and cloud AI tools used in prior Galaxy Ultra models. In benchmark tests, the Galaxy S25 Ultra outperformed other leading smartphones, including the OnePlus 13 and last year’s iPhone 16 Pro, but we’ll have to wait for our tests on the iPhone 17 Pro Max to truly compare both. Samsung’s premium phone has 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage options.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 5,000-mAh battery, 45-watt maximum wired charging and Qi2 wireless charging up to 15 watts, though it doesn’t support magnetic attachments (unless you get a case with built-in magnets).

Of course, both phones have their own suites of generative AI technology. Apple didn’t introduce any new features this year, relying on the Apple Intelligence suite of assistive tech that debuted with last year’s iPhone 16 series. Samsung’s phone has its own suite of Galaxy AI features, like answering requests with info from apps and Google’s Circle to Search feature that can now recognize audio in videos and social media posts (or even tunes you hum yourself, supposedly).

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

	Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate, brightness	6.9-inch OLED; 2,868×1,320 pixel resolution; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.8-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate
Pixel density	460ppi	501ppi
Dimensions (inches)	6.43 x 3.07 x 0.34 in	6.41 x 3.06 x 0.32 in.
Dimensions (millimeters)	163.4 x 78.0 x 8.75 mm	162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm
Weight	233g (8.22 ounces)	218g (7.69 ounces)
Mobile software	iOS 26	Android 15
Camera	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide) 48-megapixel (4x, 8x telephoto)	200-megapixel (wide), 50-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 50-megapixel (5x telephoto)
Front-facing camera	18-megapixel	12-megapixel
Video capture	4K	8K
Processor	Apple A19 Pro	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
RAM/storage	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB	12GB RAM + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Expandable storage	None	None
Battery	Up to 39 hours video playback; up to 35 hours video playback (streamed).	5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	None (Face ID)	Under display
Connector	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None
Special features	Apple N1 wireless networking chip (Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 6, Thread. Action button. Camera Control button. Dynamic Island. Apple Intelligence. Visual Intelligence. Dual eSIM. ProRes Raw video recording. Genlock video support. 1 to 3,000 nits brightness display range. IP68 resistance. Colors: silver, cosmic orange, deep blue. Fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger.	Titanium frame, 2,600-nit peak brightness; 7 years of OS and security updates; 5G (mmWave); IP68 water and dust resistance; wireless PowerShare to charge other devices; integrated S Pen; UWB for finding other devices; 45W wired charging (charger not included); Galaxy AI; Wi-Fi 7; Gorilla Glass Armor cover glass; ultrawideband
US price off-contract	$1,199 (256GB)	$1,300 (256GB)
UK price	£1,199 (256GB)	£1,249 (256GB)
Australia price	AU$2,199 (256GB)	AU$2,149 (256GB)