Ellen's Game of Games
Ellen's Game of Games, also known as Game of Games and stylized as ellen's GAME OF GAMES, is an American television game show that aired on NBC. In March 2017, NBC ordered six (later eight) hour-long episodes of the series. Ellen DeGeneres serves as host, while Stephen "tWitch" Boss appears as announcer/sidekick. The series is based on game segments from DeGeneres' daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The series premiered on December 18, 2017. On February 18, 2020, DeGeneres announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the series was renewed for a fourth season. The fourth season premiered on October 6, 2020.
| Game of Games | |
|---|---|
 Game of Games Season 2 Logo | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Ellen DeGeneres |
| Developed by | Mary Connelly Ed Glavin Andy Lassner Kevin Leman |
| Presented by | Ellen DeGeneres[1] |
| Narrated by | Stephen "tWitch" Boss |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 47 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Production locations | CBS Television City, Hollywood, California (season 1) Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California (season 2—present) |
| Production companies | |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | December 18, 2017 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Ellen DeGeneres Show Ellen's Design Challenge |
Format
In each episode, contestants are selected to play in one of four preliminary games. The winner of each game advances to the semi-final round to play "Know or Go". The last remaining player will play the "Hot Hands/Hotter Hands" game for a chance to win $100,000.
Preliminary games
Most of the games listed have been a part of the series since the first season of the show unless otherwise specified in the description. Games like "Make it Rain" and "Tuba Toothpaste" were later replaced.
- Aw Snap!: Standing back to back, two contestants are connected to opposite ends of a bungee cord and must each attempt to retrieve five apples in their respective colors (green or red) from a row of stands in front of them. They may only use their mouths and teeth to hold the apples. The first contestant to move all five apples into a scoring basket wins.
- Blindfolded Musical Chairs: Five contestants are chosen to play this game and are blindfolded. The contestants dance around until the music stops and must find a randomly placed stool to sit on to stay in the game. Ellen will press a button to determine where the chairs will appear on the dancefloor. As in musical chairs, the contestant who is unable to seat themselves is eliminated. After four rounds, the last contestant to survive the round advances to play Know or Go.
- Buckin' Blasters (Seasons 3-4): Two contestants mount giant cannons and must shoot their opponent’s three portraits to win. While the contestants control when to fire the cannon, Ellen will control the cannons from her podium to mess with their aiming ability. When a contestant’s portrait is hit, their cannon will spin like crazy. The first contestant who shoots all three of their opponent's portraits advances to Know or Go. If time runs out, the contestant who shoots more of their opponent's portraits wins. If there is a tie, a sudden death round is played, in which the portraits are reset, and the first contestant to shoot one of their opponent's portraits wins.
- Burst of Knowledge (Season 4): Three contestants stand around a triangular platform. One contestant at a time answers questions while standing over a slowly inflating balloon filled with shaving cream; a correct answer ends their turn and allows them to pass the balloon to the next person in line. When the balloon pops, the contestant holding it is sprayed with the contents and eliminated. The remaining two play again to determine the winner.
- Danger Word: Similar to the game show Password, played with two teams of two. One person on each team is shown a "winning word"; they alternate giving one-word clues to their partners. A team earns a strike (and a spray from a cannon) if the opposing team guesses correctly or if they guess a "danger word" related to the winning word. The team is also assessed a strike if the clue giver gives an illegal clue (such as a two-word clue, or giving any form of either word to the receiver. A team with three strikes is eliminated, and one member of the winning team advances. In Season 3, Episode 1 Ellen and tWitch become the partners for two audience members.
- Dirty Laundry (Season 3): In this game which debuted in Season 3, two teams of two are conjoined inside of a huge shirt and are given three clues to what the host is describing. The teams then must grab their color corresponding ball and throw it into the giant washing machine. The first team to do so gets the choice of either answering the question or passing it to the other team. The first team that gets three points wins the game and must choose one player to advance to play Know or Go. A similar game debuted on the Australian version of the show, except that there are questions in this.
- Dizzy Dash: Contestants are asked a trivia question. They are then spun around in chairs and must run to a podium and grab a ball from it before they can answer. The first to correctly answer three questions advances to play Know or Go. In the Christmas special, this game is also known as "Dizzy Dasher".
- Don't Leave Me Hanging: Three contestants are suspended in harnesses and take turns naming things which fit a given category, receiving a strike if they give an incorrect answer, repeat an answer previously given or take too long to respond. A contestant with three strikes is eliminated and launched to the top of the studio.
- Great Taj Mah Wall (Seasons 3-4): Slightly similar to Don't Leave Me Hanging, five contestants are strapped behind 5 walls. Ellen will then reveal a picture with many images for about 10 seconds. Then each player randomly take turns saying an image in the picture. However, if a player says an incorrect image or an image already said, or takes too long, they will be eliminated and blasted through the walls.
- Heads Up! (Season 4): Two pairs of contestants are chosen. One contestant in each pair is shown a series of words on monitors above and behind their partner's head and must get their partner to guess them, scoring one point each. The giver may use verbal clues for the first 30 seconds, but must only gesture for the next 60 seconds. The receiver may pass as often as desired. The higher-scoring pair sends one member to Know or Go.
- If I Could Turn Back Slime (Season 4): 3 contestants will have 60 seconds to do a certain task. The clock stops for any competitor who finishes the task. If a contestant fails to complete the task before their time expires, they will get slime poured on them. Once all contestants have either completed the task or been slimed, a new task is given to the contestants, who must complete the task within their remaining time. The last contestant with time left on their clock wins.
- In Your Face, Honey (Season 1): Two teams of couples compete. One member from each team of two attempts to throw a ball as close to a target as possible. Each team have two attempts, the team with the most points decides who will advance.
- Knockin' Boots (Seasons 2-3): A similar game to Don't Leave Me Hanging and also Song Association - Ellen, where contestants answer questions about songs with one primary word. If Ellen does not believe the song has the word either in the title or in the song, the contestant gets a strike. Three strikes and then they will face being kicked by the boot above them. In Season 3, The musical artists standing with Ellen and Twitch to play a game.
- Make It Rain! (Seasons 1, 4): Two contestants answer trivia questions for turns at pulling down an umbrella. Several umbrellas are filled with water; one has a $10,000 cash prize and the right to advance. This game does not appear in seasons 2-3, but it came back in season 4 with no cash prize and an umbrella filled with confetti.
- Master Blaster (Season 1): Three contestants on harnesses have to compete to solve a jigsaw-style puzzle. The losing contestants are "blasted" into the air.
- Mazed & Confused (Seasons 3-4): Two players are sent into a giant mirror maze and must find their color corresponding orb, then bring it back to the original exit and place it upon a podium, while trying to avoid several traps and scares along the way. If a player exits through the incorrect door, they need to go back inside and exit through their correct exit point. First player to complete the task will advance to Know or Go.
- Mt. Saint Ellen (Seasons 2-4): Three contestants climb a mountain which tilts and shakes, and some climbing ropes are not attached. The first contestant to collect three diamonds advances.
- Name Dropper (Season 4): Slightly similar to See Ya Later Alligator and Dirty Laundry, three contestants are strapped on an indoor roller coaster, then Ellen reads text messages from one of her celebrity friends. The contestants have to guess who that celebrity is. If the contestant guesses correctly, they pick who to send up the track, but if they guess incorrectly they'll get sent up the track, and if a contestant already reaches the maximum height of the ride they'll be eliminated and dropped from the top of the ride.
- Oh Ship! (Seasons 2-4): Contestants are asked multiple-choice questions and race to holes corresponding to the choices. Incorrect holes spray water in the players' faces. The first to collect three correct answers advances. In episode 12 of Season 3, a female contestant named Jazmine won Oh Ship!, breaking the men’s winning streak.
- One-Eyed Monster (Seasons 1-2): Contestants standing inside the jaws of a giant prop monster must pull its removable teeth for wrong answers; one tooth will cause the jaws to close, eliminating the contestant. If the contestant answered incorrectly, they had to pull as many teeth as the margin of error. A correct answer ended the turn without pulling any teeth. In season 2, the contestant in control predicts how many of 100 audience members said yes to a survey question, and the opponent guesses whether the actual number was higher or lower (similar to the game show Card Sharks). A correct high/low guess sends the contestant in control to the jaws, while a miss sends the opponent instead.
- Runaway Bride (Season 3): Slightly similar to Mt. Saint Ellen, the players are in dresses and are on a treadmill trying to stay on the treadmill while getting 3 slices of cake onto their plate. Obstacles like a bell and two spinners will get in their way, and there’ll be slices of sandwiches and cheese flying at them as well, and whoever gets 3 cakes first advances.
- Say Whaaat?: Two teams will wear headphones with loud music. They must relay a message using lip reading, earning points based on the number of words in their answer compared to the original phrase. The team with the most points chooses one member to advance if both teams get the same number of words correct, they must do it again. The game is based on Telephone/Chinese Whispers.
- Scary-Go-Round (Seasons 1-2): Contestants take turns moving three large balls across a series of rotating platforms while their opponent launches balls to impede them. The contestant with the fastest time advances. If the contestants finish it in the same amount of time, they must do it again. From season 2, the game is played with teams of two.
- See Ya Later, Alligator (Seasons 2-4): Four players are shown pictograms; the first to correctly state the phrase they make up gets to eliminate an opponent. The last person left advances.
- Son of a One-Eyed Monster (Seasons 2-3): Slightly similar to Make it Rain!, the host reads a list of words and the first contestant to correctly state what they have in common gets to choose one of eight giant eggs. One of the eggs allows the contestant to advance; the others spew slime on the contestant. An incorrect guess allows the opponent to hear two more words before guessing. In Season 3, there are only seven eggs.
- Stink Tank (Seasons 2-4): Similar to You Bet Your Wife, but the roles are reversed. (Those standing with DeGeneres will be providing the answers while those above the pit of slime will conduct the bidding.) In Season 3, the celebrities who are standing with the host answer.
- Taste Buds (Seasons 2-4): Two teams of two are blindfolded with arms interlocked, and take turns tasting food and describing it to their teammate. Whichever team can guess more items correctly in a certain amount of time chooses one member to advance.
- Tuba Toothpaste (Season 1): Answering a trivia question incorrectly requires a contestant to press up to 3 of 10 buttons that resemble tuba valves. One button blasts toothpaste into the contestant's face and eliminates them. This game does not appear in seasons 2-4.
- You Bet Your Wife: Normally played with two players to compete. One player will be hooked into a harness above a pool of food while one player to represent their team as bidders. The bidders will be given a topic question and asked how many items of that topic can their partner in the harness give. In alternating fashion, the bidders will give their guess as to how many items corresponding to the list can their partner name. The opposing team bidder will either counter that bid with a higher bid or challenge the prior team to give that many correct answers. The players in the will be allotted 30 seconds to give the challenged number of answers. First team to be dunked three times will lose.
Know or Go
The winners of the four preliminary games stand on a row of trap doors and take turns answering questions. An incorrect answer results in the contestant being eliminated from the game and dropped through the trap door, sliding down a chute that empties below the stage. The last contestant standing advances to the final game for up to $100,000.
- For Season 1, a contestant drops when they get a question wrong. The last contestant standing moves on to Hot Hands.
- For Seasons 2-3, the game shifts to "Sudden Drop" rules when only two contestants remain. If one contestant misses a question, the opponent can eliminate them by giving the correct answer. If the opponent misses as well, the game continues.
- For Season 4, the "Sudden Drop" rules are modified. The host asks each contestant a different question; if both answer correctly or both miss, a new pair of questions is played. If only one contestant answers correctly, that person advances to Hotter Hands while the opponent is dropped.
Hot Hands (Season 1–3)
The contestant has 30 seconds to identify the faces of ten celebrities that fit a certain category. After identifying a celebrity, the contestant must press a button to move on to the next face. Contestants may pass if they are unsure but will need to wait three seconds until the next face appears. Contestants earn an escalating amount of money based on the number of faces they correctly identify, as shown in the table below. Correctly identifying ten celebrities earns the grand prize of $100,000. In season 2 and 3, the contestants choose their preferred category from amongst three options, where the third one is always the most specific, difficult and humorous which no one chooses. This game does not appear in season 4.
| Correct answers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money won | $100 | $1,000 | $2,500 | $10,000 | $20,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 | $50,000 | $75,000 | $100,000 |
Hotter Hands (Season 4)
A modified of version of "Hot Hands" is played starting in Season 4. The contestant has 60 seconds to answer a series of questions, each with two answer choices represented by images, and must press a button for the desired choice. Each consecutive correct answer increases the contestant's winnings, but a miss at any time requires them to start over from zero. When time runs out, the contestant wins the value of the longest chain made, or the top prize of $100,000 for a chain of seven, instead of 10.
| Correct answers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money won | $1,000 | $5,000 | $10,000 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $75,000 | $100,000 |
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 8 | December 18, 2017 | February 6, 2018 | ||
| 2 | 14 | December 12, 2018 | November 27, 2019 | ||
| 3 | 16 | January 7, 2020 | May 12, 2020 | ||
| 4 | 20 | October 6, 2020 | TBA | ||
International Broadcasts
International versions
Legend:
Currently airing
No longer airing
Upcoming
| Country | Local title | Channel | Presenter | Premiere date | End date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia[2] |
Game of Games | Network Ten | Grant Denyer | October 7, 2018 | December 15, 2018 |
 Brazil[3] |
Game dos Games | RecordTV | Rodrigo Faro | 2021 | |
 Finland[4] |
Gameshow | MTV3 | TBA | 2021 | |
 Germany[5] |
Game of Games | Sat.1 | Bülent Ceylan | September 14, 2018 | October 19, 2018 |
 Italy[6] |
Game of Games | Rai 2 | Simona Ventura | 2021 | |
 Portugal[7] |
Jogo de Todos os Jogos | RTP1 | Filomena Cautela | October 12, 2019 | January 18, 2020 |
 Argentina |
Juego de juegos | Telefe | Susana Gimenez | 2021 | |
 Spain[8] |
Juego de juegos | Antena 3 | Silvia Abril | February 15, 2019 | May 3, 2019 |
References
- Schwindt, Oriana (March 2, 2017). "NBC Orders Ellen DeGeneres Game Show 'Ellen's Game of Games'". Variety.
- "Game of Games for TEN". tvtonight.com.au. May 19, 2018.
- Ricco, Flávio (January 17, 2020). "'Game of Games' é o formato que a Record adquiriu para apresentar no programa 'Hora do Faro'". tvefamosos.uol.com.br (in Portuguese).
- https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=601411497119267
- https://www.sat1.de/tv/game-of-games
- https://www.davidemaggio.it/archives/189745/simona-ventura-game-of-games-rai-2
- Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de. "Jogo de Todos os Jogos - Concursos - RTP". www.rtp.pt.
- García, Ricky (April 3, 2018). "Silvia Abril será la Ellen DeGeneres española: presentará 'Game of games' en Antena 3". elperiodico,com (in Spanish).
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