If you want an alternative to Jackbox, first decide what you are replacing: the purchase of a host game, the shared-screen setup, or the style of activity. Browser party games can simplify some of those things, but they do not all reproduce the same experience.
Keep Jackbox on the shortlist if your group likes its writing, trivia, and presentation. Pick a different game when its actual format suits your friends better.
Understand the host-screen difference
In a typical remote Jackbox setup, a host runs a game and shares its screen. Other players submit inputs through a browser, commonly on a phone. A browser controller is different from each player running the full game independently.
That distinction matters if you are organizing people with different devices. Someone carrying only a phone may suit a controller-based setup better than Banana Society's keyboard movement.
Alternatives by activity
| Your group wants | Consider | How it differs from a Jackbox night |
|---|---|---|
| Drawing and surprising reveals | Gartic Phone. | A telephone-style drawing chain rather than a selection of host-run party titles. |
| Drawing with competitive guessing | skribbl.io. | A focused draw-and-guess format with private rooms. |
| Team word clues | Codenames Online. | A shared word-clue game rather than a party-pack collection. |
| Hidden opponents and active movement | Banana Society. | Each player controls a monkey in a desktop browser; no host broadcast is needed for the game view. |
When Banana Society fits
Choose it when your friends want one active social-deduction game and can all use desktop or laptop browsers. Citizens collect colored bananas, Eaters secretly eat and interfere, and the group discusses evidence at councils.
The core game is free. Guests can join invitations without accounts, and practice bots help a host learn the controls before the group arrives.
It is not a substitute for every Jackbox activity. If your friends want trivia questions, creative writing prompts, or phone controllers, choose something built for those activities instead.
When drawing is the easier introduction
Drawing can give a group something funny to discuss without requiring hidden-role explanations. Gartic Phone emphasizes the chain of interpretations. skribbl.io centers on guessing what is being drawn.
Ask whether your friends want a reveal or a competition. That question is more helpful than ranking both games on a single universal “best” list.
Plan one main game and one change of pace
A practical evening might start with drawing while people arrive, then move to Banana Society once a full computer-equipped group is ready. Alternatively, stay with one game if everyone is enjoying it; switching is not a goal in itself.
Keep the links and device instructions in one message. Test the room flow in advance, and explain whether players should watch a shared screen or their own game.
Sources and review notes
Reviewed September 6, 2026 using Jackbox's remote-play instructions, Gartic Phone, skribbl.io, and Codenames Online. Check current prices and individual title requirements with the publisher. This article does not promise that every Jackbox title uses identical rules or player limits.
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