You Don't Know Jack (video game series)

For other uses, see You Don't Know Jack.

You Don't Know Jack
File:You Don't Know Jack XXL.jpg
Developer(s)	Berkeley Systems, Jackbox Games, Starsphere Interactive, Iron Galaxy Studios, Webfoot Technologies, Flipside.com, Banana Zinc Team
Publisher(s)	Sierra On-Line, THQ, Jackbox Games, Berkeley Systems, SPELGRIM.Com, Majesco Entertainment, TopWare Interactive, Warner Bros. Games
Engine	EnElectriGine
Platforms	Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Nintendo DS, iOS, Android, OUYA
Release date(s)	1995–2000, 2003, 2011 (on physical formats) 1996–2000 (via netshow on Bezerk.com), 2001 (via AMC web game), 2007–2008 (via online beta), 2012 (Facebook), 2013 (Steam re-release)
Genre(s)	Party game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

You Don't Know Jack (commonly abbreviated YDKJ) is a series of computer games developed by Jackbox Games (formerly known as Jellyvision Games) and Berkeley Systems, as well as the title of the first game in the series. YDKJ, framed as a game show "where high culture and pop culture collide", combines trivia with comedy. While primarily a PC and Mac-based franchise with over two dozen releases and compilations for those platforms, there have been a few entries released for consoles: two for the original PlayStation, and the 2011 release which had versions on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Wii. In 2012, Jackbox Games developed and published a social version of the game on Facebook with cross-platform versions subsequently released for iOS, Android and Kindle. On November 5, 2013, the majority of the franchise’s many volumes and spinoffs were reissued onto Steam by Jackbox Games.

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." Jellyvision's website has this explanation as to why You Don't Know Jack was made:

"Way back in the early 90s, Jellyvision decided to test the waters of mainstream interactive entertainment by beginning a partnership with Berkeley Systems, of "Flying Toasters" fame. Berkeley Systems asked us if we could apply the concepts of a game show to an adult trivia game. Since no one at Jellyvision at the time actually liked trivia games, we tried to figure out how to make trivia questions fun and engaging to us. When we realized that it was possible to ask about both Shakespeare and Scooby-Doo in the same question, YOU DON'T KNOW JACK was born."

Gameplay

The game can be played by one, two, or three players. (The game can be played with up to four players on the tabletop version and the console versions of "YDKJ-2011". The 2011 PC version is limited to two players.) All versions of the game feature the voice of an off-screen host who reads questions aloud, provides instructions regarding special question types, and pokes fun at the players.

The game usually opens with a green room segment, in which the players are prompted to enter their names and given instructions for play. The audio during this segment includes rehearsing singers, a busy producer, and a harassed studio manager/host. The only graphics are a large "On Air/Stand By" sign in the middle of the screen, visual representations of the players' button assignments, and a box for name entry. On games after Volume 2, on certain days, such as Christmas Eve, or certain times such as a Saturday night, or even during Twilight, the announcer will mention the time of day or the special holiday, and sometimes grumble about it for playing the game at that time or day.

Most versions of YDKJ offer the choice of playing a 7- or 21-question game; some versions offer only 15 questions (Netshow, LFF, 5th Dementia, Mock 2), and others offer only 13 questions (The Ride), 11 questions (HeadRush, "YDKJ-2011"), or 7 questions (The Lost Gold). In a 21-question game, there is a brief intermission after the tenth question. Most questions are multiple choice, with some occasional free-entry questions, or mini-games. The Facebook version offers only 5 questions.

Before each question, one player is given a choice of three categories. Each has a humorous title that has some connection to the topic of the corresponding question. After a short animated introduction, which is often accompanied with a sung jingle about the question number, the host asks the question. Typically, the question is multiple choice, and the first player to "buzz in" and give the correct answer wins the money for that question and gets to choose the next category. If a player answers incorrectly, he or she loses money, but not before the host wisecracks about it. There are occasionally other question types offered (see below).

In multi-player games, each player is allowed one chance to "screw" an opponent in each half of a full game, or once in an entire short game. Using the "screw" forces the opponent to give an answer to a question within ten seconds. If the player who is "screwed" answers correctly, he or she wins the money while the player who "screwed" him or her loses money. This basic design has changed slightly in some versions of the game. For example, in the teen spinoff HeadRush, the screws are replaced by pairs of false teeth, so players "bite" their opponent instead. In The Ride, instead of just forcing an opponent to answer, players engage in "FlakJack", where they launch multiple screws into the screen, partially or totally obscuring the question. The player being "screwed" must then answer, even though the question may no longer be readable.

In the previous games, different category options were worth differing amounts of money, which was revealed after a category was chosen. This amount indicated how difficult the question would be. Amounts included $1,000, $2,000, & $3,000, and were doubled during the second round of questions. However, early volumes of the series occasionally featured questions hosted by guests spawned from Fiber Optic Field Trips and Celebrity Collect Calls; these were worth $5,000 and appeared as the first question of the second round. Later games in the series opted not to give players three randomly generated questions, instead giving a set amount of questions in a set order. Instead of random questions, players 'buzz in' to set the amount of money the question is worth. Values could range from only a few hundred dollars to $10,000 or more.

Some of the volumes have a feature called "Don't Be a Wimp", 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!", 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 Fifth 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.

Question types

The majority of You Don't Know Jack questions are multiple choice, with four possible choices. Some questions are fill-in-the-blank, requiring a typed response.

Special questions are also played during the game. Each version of YDKJ has its own different types of special questions, but some of the most common are:

• DisOrDat: Featured in all versions except Vol.1 and Sports, the DisOrDat is only played by one player (except in YDKJ-2011, OUYA, Party, and YDKJ-2015, where the other player(s) can steal the money after a wrong answer), with a 30-second time limit. The player is given two categories and seven different subjects, and it is up to the player to determine which category the subject falls under (or, in some cases, whether the subject fits both of the two categories). For example, a player might have to determine if Jay Leno was a daytime or a nighttime talk show host, if orecchiette is a type of pasta or a parasite, or if "Urban" is the name of a Pope or a Britney Spears song. Money is added for every correct answer, and deducted for every wrong answer, as usual; any questions not answered before the 30 seconds expires are treated as wrong, and penalized accordingly.
• Gibberish Questions: Featured in all PC versions except HeadRush, YDKJ 2011, iOS, OUYA, Party, and 2015. Players are given a mondegreen: a nonsensical phrase that rhymes with a more common phrase or title. For example, "Pre-empt Tires, Like Crack" could be the gibberish to The Empire Strikes Back. The question has a time limit of 30 seconds, and the first player to buzz in and type the correct answer wins the money. Clues are given as time passes, but the money decreases by 5% of the initial starting value with every 1.5 seconds that elapse. In The Ride, the value decreases steadily over the entire 30 seconds.

This question is famous for an Easter egg where if the player types in the phrase "fuck you", the host will respond in an annoyed way and will dock between $50,000 or $100,000 from their score and change their name. If another player does it, the host responds by chastising that player for a lack of originality. If a third player does it, the host will declare the game to be over and leave, forcing the game to lock, and if the player presses random keys, the host will stay an extra statement regarding that the game is ending regardless of what the player does. This Easter egg is different in the 2012 Facebook game. Instead, the host mocks the player saying that he can say the "nasty words" as well and proceeds to say a lot of them bleeped-out of context, no extra amount of cash is lost other than the one shown in the background when you type in the answer.

• Anagram Questions: These exist only in 5th Dementia and The Lost Gold, and follow the same rules as the Gibberish Questions; however, instead of trying to figure out a rhyme, players must rearrange the letters given into a saying, name, or other group (as in the famous example of "genuine class" being an anagram of "Alec Guinness"). Unlike in other question types requiring a typed-in answer, the answer to an Anagram Question must be spelled exactly right to win the money. This type of question has appeared in the Facebook version, as well, with the difference being the players are given four choices.
• HeadButt: Only existing in HeadRush, these also follow the rules of the Gibberish Questions. Players are given a word equation such as "color of pickles + opposite of night" and have to put it together to form a name or other group (in this case, the color of pickles is "Green", and the opposite of night is "Day", so the answer would be "Green Day").
• Fiber Optic Field Trip: These only exist in Vol.1, Sports, Vol.2, and Movies, and only appear in full-length (21-question) games. A random person is called from out of the phonebook and asked to come up with a trivia question. Fiber Optic Field Trips are initiated during the first half of the game, and the trivia question hosted by the special guest is the first question of the second half.
• Celebrity Collect Call: These exist in Vol.2 only and follow the same basic format as the Fiber Optic Field Trips. The host calls a celebrity who is asked to come up with a question. Celebrities include Tim Allen, Florence Henderson, and Vanessa L. Williams. Sometimes, the conversation between the host and the celebrity lasts a very long time.
• Pub Quiz: This replaces the Fiber Optic Field Trips and Celebrity Collect Calls in the British edition of the game. Instead of calling a random person in a city, the host calls a bartender in a random pub within the UK to host the question.
• Trash Talkin' with Milan: Only existing in HeadRush, "Milan the Janitor" (voiced by Igor Gasowski) hosts a standard multiple choice question about grammar.
• Bug Out: This exists only in 5th Dementia. The goal is simple: Bugs will crawl and display a choice. When you see a choice that does not match the clue, buzz in. In a multiplayer match, if you are right, your opponents pay you money, but if you are wrong, you pay your opponents.
• Fill in the Blank: Instead of having four answers to choose from, you have to type the answer out.
• Sequel Question: Some questions have questions that refer to them and are guaranteed to appear immediately after them. When this happens, all three selectable categories will refer to the sequel question. In The Ride, 5th Dementia, Mock 2, YDKJ-2011, the first iOS version, Ouya, Party, and YDKJ-2015 all questions are arranged into 'episodes' whose questions always appear in the same order. This allows for a question to refer to any previous question, and for running jokes to be made. In YDKJ-2011 as the question sets are set into episodes, you will get questions that are 20 or 30 questions after the first. ('A Harp out of Harp' related to Cookie's party episode.)
• Pissed About A Question: A special kind of sequel question. This exists in both Offline volumes. Jellyvision creates new questions about angry letters they have received from irritated players. Each of these question is based upon a letter from a viewer who complained about the previous question.
• Road Kill/Coinkydink: Exists in The Ride (as RoadKill) and Mock 2 (as Coinkydink). In this fast-paced question type, players are given seven pairs of clues. Several words fly past in rapid succession, and the players must buzz in when the word on the screen connects the two clues in a pair. At the end of the round, players can earn a bonus for choosing the attribute that all the correct answers have in common.
• Jack BINGO: Exclusive to The Ride. A five-letter word related to the episode's theme is first given (for example, R-I-F-L-E in a show about guns). A clue to an answer is provided, after which the letters in the given word are randomly lit. The contestants are to buzz in when the first letter to the clue's answer is lighted. (In the example, the clue may be "Finish the saying: '_______, stock and barrel'"; the player rings in when the "L" is lit for the word "Lock.") $500 and that answer's letter is given to the first player who is correct, and the next clue is given; a $500 penalty is received for wrongly timed responses. The first to collect enough answers to spell out the given word wins the prize declared before the start of this round; it can go unrewarded if nobody finishes the word after a set number of clues.
• ThreeWay: Found only in Vol.3 and the first PlayStation version. Players are given three words that have something in common (for example: solid, liquid, and gas) and several clues that only relate to one of the words (for example, "______ Plumr"). Players must match the clues to the proper words. The possible answers flash up on the screen, and the player must buzz in when the correct answer appears (in this case, "liquid").
• Wendithap'n: This only exists in Louder! Faster! Funnier! and Mock 2 and follows the same rules as the ThreeWay. The player is given an event (either in pop culture history, or in sequence order) and must decide if several other events occurred before it, after it, or never occurred at all.
• Guest Host Question: Someone else hosts and gives a question. Only appearing in Vol. 3 and The Ride.
• Impossible Questions: Only appearing in Vol. 3 and the first PlayStation version, Impossible Questions are worth very large amounts of money, but as the name implies, they are almost always very, very difficult. An example of an Impossible Question is one which asks the players what color eyes the bald guy has on the box of the sports edition, the number of years between the invention of the can and that of the first practical can opener within a two year range (high or low), or what number between one and nine is Cookie thinking of. The Lost Gold had a variation of this question as well, but it was more Pirate-oriented questions, for example "What was the name of Blackbeard's Parrot?"
• Super Audio Question: A sound will play, and the player is asked a question about it.
• Whatshisname Question: In this question, the host is trying to remember a certain name. A clue is provided every few seconds, and the players must buzz in and type the name. In HeadRush, this question type is known as Old Man's Moldy Memories and in YDKJ - 2015 as Foggy Facts with Old Man both featuring the character of "Old Man", voiced by Andy Poland in which he hosts the question.
• Picture Question: Similar to the Super Audio Question, but based on a picture rather than a sound.
• Who's The Dummy?: Exclusive to YDKJ - 2011, the iOS version, OUYA, Party, and YDKJ - 2015. Cookie Masterson has taken up ventriloquism, and asks a trivia question by way of his ventriloquist dummy, Billy O'Brien (or his sister Betty O'Brien). As the host explains, he has difficulty pronouncing consonant sounds such as B's, P's, and M's (which become D's, T's, and N's, respectively, and are translated as such in the text of the question and the answer choices), which adds a minor layer of difficulty to the question.
• Cookie's Fortune Cookie Fortunes (with Cookie "Fortune Cookie" Masterson): Exclusive to YDKJ - 2011, the iOS version, the 2012 Facebook version, OUYA, Party, and YDKJ - 2015, this round appears randomly and includes trivia questions inspired by cliche fortune cookie messages that Cookie receives. For example, the fortune "You have a magnetic personality." leads to a question regarding which metal-based fictional character might be most attracted to him.
• Funky Trash: Exclusive to YDKJ - 2011, the iOS version, the 2012 Facebook version, OUYA, Party, and YDKJ - 2015. In Funky Trash, the host roots through the trash of a famous person, and the players must identify that person by his or her trash. For example, a World War I ambulance driver's license, cigar butts from Cuba, and a can of ointment for 6-toed cats would be clues to Ernest Hemingway.
• The Put The Choices Into Order Then Buzz In And See If You Are Right...Question: Exclusive to YDKJ - 2011, the iOS version, the 2012 Facebook version, OUYA, Party, and YDKJ - 2015, the host gives up to four items and the player has to buzz in to the corresponding correct answer. The question is multiple choice, meaning that, technically, the player does not have to put the answers into the right order himself but rather just pick the right order out of the four possibilities. For example, the player might have to determine the order in which the McDonald's Golden Arches, the St. Louis Arch, and the Archie comic book series debuted. Answering correctly awards the player an extra $1,000, however, the extra money is not lost if a player is wrong.
• Nocturnal Admissions (with Cookie Masterson): Exclusive to YDKJ - 2011, the host tells the player about a dream he had, which is based on a movie. The player then has to tell which movie that dream was about. The characters of the movie are replaced by the host's cats and his mother, which often makes it difficult to figure out the correct one. For example, the host tells of a dream in which he transferred his mind into a fake cat body so he could learn the culture of his two cats. He does this to help with his mother's research, but falls into love with the cat world and is therefore attacked by his mother's troops. The correct answer to this dream would be James Cameron's Avatar.
• The Wrong Answer of the Game: Not a question in and of itself, The Wrong Answer of the Game appears in the 2011 and 2015 versions of the game, as well as OUYA and Party. Before the beginning of the game, the host announces a satirical sponsor for the episode (similar to YDKJ: The Ride); If a player manages to buzz in with the wrong answer associated with the sponsor, they win $4,000 (double in Round 2) and a 'prize' from the sponsor, instead of losing cash. For example, in the episode sponsored by 'Blood Co.', answering with the incorrect answer 'Dracula' awards cash and a bucket of human blood. The way to know you have found the 'Wrong Answer of the Game' is after you answer, that Cookie gives you the right answer straight away, then reveals your answer, instead of picking your answer and telling you why it's wrong, in a comedic way.
• Elephant, Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt or Dracula? / Kangaroo, Peanut, Albert Einstein, or Uranus?: Featured in the iOS and 2012 Facebook versions, questions in this category always have the same four answer choices: Elephant, Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt and Dracula. The question is posed in definition form, such as "Could be considered a Bull Moose". The player must decide, of the four answer choices, which one fits the definition. In this case, the answer is Teddy Roosevelt; he ran for President in 1912 as the Progressive Party's candidate, and his party was nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. In the new You Don't Know Jack 2015, the concept is the same but with Kangaroo, Peanut, Albert Einstein, and Uranus.

The Final Round

The final round of the game, called the Jack Attack in most versions and also known as the HeadRush in HeadRush, is a word association question. A clue is given, which generally describes the desired correct answers (such as "movie stars") and after that a word, phrase, or name appears in the middle of the screen, to which the contestant must find an associated word or phrase that fits the overall category. For example, Star Wars might be the associated word, and the correct answer fitting "movie stars" could be Harrison Ford. Other possibilities offered might include actors not in that film, or other objects or concepts related to the film but which are not stars of the movie. For each associated phrase, seven potential matches appear on screen one-at-a-time for only a few seconds each before disappearing, and only one is correct. The topics and/or potential answers are sometimes humorous.

Players win money ($2,000 in most YDKJ volumes; $5,000 in HeadRush, $4,000 in YDKJ - 2011, $1,000 in the 2012 Facebook edition) if they buzz in when the correct match is displayed on the screen. An incorrect guess deducts money from the player's score—not just once, but every time the player buzzes in incorrectly (it is possible to buzz in incorrectly multiple times while the same incorrect answer is shown). Multiple players play simultaneously, playing to the same words. The words that are not matched will be cycled back in once all seven words have been attempted.

Jack Attack ends after either (1) all seven phrases are correctly associated with their clue, (2) 7-14 total phrases (including cycled words) have been shown in the middle, and/or (3) all phrases are either matched or attempted twice. The exceptions are the 2012 Facebook edition (the faces of those who did answer correctly are shown) and 2015, where all seven phrases are only shown once.

The running total of each player's score is not shown anywhere on the screen during Jack Attack, and this part of the game is usually accompanied by ominous music or ambient sounds. This creates tension between players because of the uncertainty of ranking, and the unsettling atmosphere.

Commercials

One of the unique features of the game takes place after it has ended. Before you start a new game, you can choose to listen to YDKJ staff performing parodies of various radio commercials. The commercials vary in absurdity, selling products such as scented suppositories or foreign language cassettes to help you learn how to speak American.

They also featured phony news stories about everyday things. Examples: "Oxygen: Gas of Life? or Secret Military Death-Vapor?" or "People are falling unconscious for 8 hours every night. What is the 'sleeping disease'? Do you have it? Find out tonight."

Most YDKJ games feature recurring characters like "Chocky the Chipmunk", a breakfast cereal mascot with the catchphrase "Pink and tartie!" or "Xenora: Queen of Battle", a parody of Xena, Warrior Princess that gets involved in overtly erotic situations. Others are "The Movie Ending Phone", "1-800-me4-sale", "Cancer Stick tobacco lip balm", "Momma's Pride Human Breast Milk", "Buster's Bait Shop" and parodies of public service announcements from the fictional "United States Department of Condescending Paternalism".

The first CD-ROM for The Ride features a CD of a selection of these commercials from the previous games in the series. The Disk was titled You Don't Hear Jack and has since been released as a separate product on CD.

Hosts

There have been many different hosts of You Don't Know Jack over the years. The following is a list of hosts and the games they appear in.

• Nate Shapiro (voiced by Harry Gottlieb) – Nate Shapiro was the first host of the series. He hosts Vol. 1, the Netshow, the tabletop game, and hosts for part of YDKJ: The Ride. He is not to be confused with "Nate the Intern" from the Flash incarnation (voiced by Production & SQA Coordinator Nathan Fernald).
• Guy Towers (voiced by Andy Poland) – He appears in Sports, Sports: The NetShow, and part of The Ride.
• Buzz Lippman (voiced by Peter B. Spector) – This host has appeared in two versions: Vol. 2 and The Ride, the latter which he only appeared in briefly.
• Cookie Masterson (voiced by Tom Gottlieb) – He is one of the most well-known of the hosts. He originally served as the sign-in host, taking down players' names in the opening green room segments of Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Sports. He hosts Movies, Vol. 3, the Netshow, the first PlayStation version, part of The Ride, Offline, YDKJ-2011, the iOS version, the 2012 Facebook version, and YDKJ 2015. He also hosts the webshows and daily DisOrDats that appeared on the YDKJ website from December 2006 through September 2008, (With one special episode in November 2010.) Gottlieb was also the announcer for the short-lived YDKJ TV show in 2001.
• Josh "Schmitty" Schmitstinstein (voiced by Phil Ridarelli) – Josh Schmitstinstein, or "Schmitty", is the most recent of all the American CD-ROM hosts. He hosts in TV, part of The Ride, The Netshow, Louder! Faster! Funnier! (a second Offline game), 5th Dementia, Mock 2 (the second PlayStation game), & The Lost Gold. He also hosted one particular question in Cookie's volume of Offline. He also announced the sponsors in the 2011, iOS, and Facebook versions of the game.
• Bob (voiced by Andy Poland) – The host of HeadRush. Could be heard over Cookie's intercom in 2011 and the Facebook game.
• Jack Cake (voiced by Paul Kaye) – The host of the only British version of YDKJ.
• Quizmaster Jack (voiced by Axel Malzacher in Vol. 1 and Kai Taschner in Vol. 2, 3: 'Downward', PlayStation, & 4)  – The host of the German volumes.
• Troy Stevens (played by Paul Reubens) – The host of the 2001 YDKJ TV show.

Game list

This is a list of the You Don't Know Jack games released:

• YDKJ (Vol.1) – September 12, 1995
• YDKJ Question Pack – 1996 (YDKJ Vol. 1 must already be installed to play)
• YDKJ Sports – September 30, 1996
• YDKJ Vol.2 – November 30, 1996
• YDKJ the NetShow – 1996–2000
• YDKJ Movies – April 30, 1997
• YDKJ TV – May 9, 1997
• YDKJ Sports NetShow – 1997
• YDKJ Vol.3 – October 31, 1997
• Headrush (a teen spin-off game) – April 20, 1998
• YDKJ Vol.4: The Ride – November 30, 1998
• YDKJ Offline (the best of the NetShow on Disk) – 1999
• YDKJ (PlayStation, has similarities to Vol.3) – 1999
• YDKJ Louder! Faster! Funnier! (2nd Offline game) – March 28, 2000
• YDKJ 5th Dementia (1st Online playable game) – November 1, 2000
• YDKJ Mock 2 (2nd PlayStation game) – November 1, 2000
• YDKJ Vol.6: "The Lost Gold" – December 1, 2003
• YDKJ (Online beta game on the You Don't Know Jack website) – 2006–2008
• YDKJ – February 8, 2011
• YDKJ (iOS) – 2011
• YDKJ (Facebook) – May 29, 2012 (shut down March 1, 2015)
• YDKJ (second mobile game) (shut down March 1, 2015)
  • iOS - November 8, 2012
  • Android - May 19, 2013
• YDKJ (OUYA) - June 11, 2013
• YDKJ Party - September 19, 2013
• YDKJ 2015 (Part of the Jackbox Party Pack) - November 18, 2014

There is also UK version, a French version, a Japanese version, and these German versions:

• YDKJ Vol.1 – carbon copy of U.S. Vol.2 in German
• YDKJ Vol.2 – carbon copy of U.S. Vol.3 in German
• YDKJ Vol.3: 'Downward' – carbon copy of U.S. Vol.4 ("The Ride") in German
• YDKJ (PlayStation)
• YDKJ Vol.4 – carbon copy of U.S. Vol.6 ("The Lost Gold") in German

Compilations

There are also several YDKJ collections, which bundled different games into one box. These include:

• YDKJ (Vol.1) XL – Vol.1 and Question Pack together in one installation
• YDKJ XXL – Vol.1 XL + Vol. 2
• YDKJ HUGE: XXXL – Vol.1 (sorry, not XL) + Vol.2 + Vol.3
• YDKJ The Irreverent Collection – Vol. 1 + 2 + 3 + The Ride
• YDKJ Jack Pack – Sports + TV + Movies
• YDKJ JUMBO – Vol.1 (sorry, not XL) + Vol.2 + Vol.3 + The Ride + Offline
• YDKJ 2001 – Both Offline games in one package
• YDKJ Snack Pack – Vol.1 (sorry, not XL) + TV + Movies + The Ride
• YDKJ 5th Dementia Party Pack – 2 copies of 5th Dementia
• YDKJ Quiz Pack – the German Vol. 1 + 2
• YDKJ Free V! – TV + 2 of the following choices: Vol. 1 XL, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, The Ride, Vol. 6, Sports, Movies, HeadRush
• Not Ready for the Future – Vol.1 XL + 2 + Sports, certified not run on Windows Vista
• The Best of Cookie – Vol.3 + The Ride + Movies
• Mega Pack – Vol.1 XL + Vol.2 + Vol.3 + The Ride + The Lost Gold
• Classic Pack – Vol.1 XL + Vol.2 + Vol.3 + The Ride + The Lost Gold + Sports + Movies + TV + HeadRush

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 1998 by Running Press.

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 feature 4 players instead of 3 players. There were also "Sports", "Movies", and "TV" question packs that were sold separately.

An actual television show version of You Don't Know Jack had a brief run on ABC in prime time during the summer of 2001. It starred Paul Reubens (the actor and comedian best known for his character Pee-wee Herman) as over-the-top game show host Troy Stevens, with Tom Gottlieb's 'Cookie' as the announcer. The show lasted only six episodes, as it received very little buzz and most YDKJ fans weren't even aware of its existence until long after its cancellation.

After the You Don't Know Jack TV show ended, another show from the makers of YDKJ called Smush aired on USA Network in late 2001. 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.

External links

• Official You Don't Know Jack website
• You Don't Know Jack at MobyGames