Who lives in a smart TV made by LG? SpongeBob SquarePants!

LG cloud gaming in partnership with Blacknut

(Image credit: LG)

If you have a webOS smart TV from LG and you reside in the US, there are two new cloud games you can now try for free: the family-friendly, character-packed racing of Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway and the multiplayer party bundle Jackbox Party Starter. Both games will be free to download and to try.

Smart TV gaming is growing in popularity; according to LG's gaming partner Blacknut, there has been a 134% year on year increase in the number of cloud gaming app-opens, and a 145% increase in the number of unique TVs opening those apps. And these new games are clearly hoping to increase those numbers further as they're aimed at more casual players than hardcore gamers.

The games are available to LG gamers who have an LG Smart TV 2021, 2022, 2023, & 2024 model running webOS 6.0 and both games have a 30-minute demo that you can play before deciding whether or not to subscribe. Subscriptions are month to month and can be canceled anytime.

What are the new games on LG smart TVs?

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway is the third instalment in the family-focused racing franchise, and it features more than 40 characters from the networks' most popular kids' programs including SpongeBob, Garfield and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There are nearly 40 different tracks and you can play solo or in multiplayer mode; up to four controllers can be connected at once.

The Jackbox Party Starter is a bundle of party games designed for short bursts with multiple players and can be controlled via the TV remote, with smartphones or with game controllers. It features titles including the murder mystery Trivia Murder Party 2, the competitive T-shirt battler Tee K.O., and the quip-based competition Quiplash 3.

Neither game is exclusive to LG – they've both been available for consoles and on Steam since 2022 – but they have a different payment model here: where you can buy both titles outright on the likes of Switch or Xbox, they're both subscription-based here. Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway is $4.99 per month and Jackbox Party Starter is $2.99 per month. By comparison, the Xbox store is currently listing the racer for $49.99 and the party pack for $19.99.

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.