The RiffTrax company has been making fans of B-movies laugh since the mid-2000s. Originally set up as a successor to Mystery Science Theater 3000 the group has gone on to find massive success in its own right, becoming incredibly influential to plenty of early internet content creators.
With the release of RiffTrax: The Game, players can now participate in the creative process that goes into making the show that popularized the term “riffing” – essentially a professionalized way of talking over a movie in a humorous manner. The end result of this experience is an incredibly fun party game that has a lot going for it that ultimately culminates in several things that make it one of the most fun party games of the year.
9 It Features The Voices Of The RiffTrax Crew
Right out of the gate one of the first things that you notice when booting up RiffTrax: The Game (link to be inserted) is that it features two modes, “Write a Riff” and “Pick A Riff”.
What is really fun and interesting about “Pick A Riff” is that it not only does it contain 2000+ jokes written by the original RiffTrax crew but that the crew’s involvement goes even further to include voice acting by the people who made the original web series so fun in the first place.
8 The 2000+ Included Jokes Are Great
On the topic of the “Pick a Riff” mode, the huge amount of options available to the player is reflective of the commitment the game has to represent the very best elements of RiffTrax. The incredible range of choice presented to the player really reflects the improv and off-the-cuff style of the show it is recreating.
This extreme element of choice can lead to some jokes being chosen in a hurry and falling flat, but this could be viewed as reflective of how sometimes, not every joke works out.
7 “Write A Riff” Mode Is Actually Really Funny
Many fans who were excited about the game’s release were initially apprehensive about the game’s “Write A Riff” mode which features a bog-standard Text To Speech voice. This apprehension is easily understood as traditional Text To Speech programs are not the best at conveying comedic timing or inflections.
And while it is the case that the program they went for in the game is pretty basic and only literally translates text to speech, the oddness of this voice delivering home-crafted lines ends up working really well in the format and context of the game.
6 The “Riffing” Material Is Great
One of the things that the developers at Wide Right Interactive had to nail down was the selection of movies available to the player. Luckily it seems that the developers completely understood the task at hand and delivered on an excellent and varied selection of B-movies, from the well known to the more obscure.
Wide Right’s love of B-movies is extremely apparent from their previous game, What The Dub?!, which is probably the first “B-Movie Party” game ever to be made.
5 The Game Is A Great Alternative To JackBox
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the JackBox party game series, which offer, for the most part, an excellent selection of fun party games. It is true though that many players eventually got sick of the endless JackBox Zoom calls, leaving the games feeling quite stale in the minds of many players looking for new party game experiences.
RiffTrax: The Game is a wonderful alternative for those looking for a new Party Game experience.
4 Riff-Bots Add Total Chaos
While the recommended (and maximum) party size for the game is 6 players, the addition of "Riff-Bots" into the game means that those who can’t get 6 friends together to play this game can still have the optimal experience, no matter the group size. Additionally, the "Riff-Bots" aren’t half bad at actually playing the game.
While sometimes the answers they give can be fairly lackluster, other times it seems they were programmed to at least trying in the case of the “Pick A Riff” mode. And even when the Bots falter, they still add in a level of chaos into the experience, adding a sort of “Mario Party”-Esque energy to the overall gameplay.
3 The Cross-Platform Play Works Really Well
RiffTrax: The Game gives players from all over the world the chance to experience a fun party game together, however it doesn’t just stop there. While the game can be streamed from one device and is generally interacted with using Smartphones there is also the option for cross-platform play.
This lets players using any of the main consoles currently available play from their consoles with people using PC’s. Playing this way also offers a much more stable internet connection for people playing on different types of connections and across the world from each other.
2 It Is Really Well Optimized For Twitch Streaming
The developers of the game really understood the multimedia climate that their creation would be released into and so geared the game towards being stream-able, at least on Twitch. This “Twitch” friendly content is quite exhaustive and shines a light on the needs that many streamers, on all platforms, have when attempting to play games with their audiences.
The game includes the ability to have “in-game” moderators that can approve or reject anything that might get the stream shut down or that might ruin the streamer’s reputation. On top of this, the game also features an in-game “Twitch Chat Voting” function which can really simplify audience interaction with the game and streamer. There is so much more on top of this, but needless to say the game provides so much great streaming material.
1 The Game Has A Great Level of Customization
While it is certainly not perfect the game does actually offer a decent amount of customization for those with special needs or for special situations. Here are two examples. Firstly for players who specifically have problems with processing information or who have concentration issues, the developers have included the option to have the clips that are being riffed on played multiple times in a row, with the default setting being two, but this can be increased to more repetitions.
Another example of great customization is one that is geared towards those with an aversion to swears and other bad language, with a filter that can be toggled on and off, which can see the game being made more age-appropriate for family gameplay sessions or for concerned parents. Additionally, all of these customization features work out great for general rowdy party situations, with the two provided examples above can help to create a more chilled-out situation or can help players feel free to talk over the game more and interact with each other directly.
RiffTrax: The Game is available on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch.