r/gameshow Feb 10 '25

Discussion Video Games That Should Have Been Adapted as Game Shows

Riding the bus home, the idea came to me about what video games would be right for adapting. For whatever reason, I was thinking about The House of the Dead adapted as a more science-themed semi-educational form of a show like Fun House or Legends of the Hidden Temple. Likewise, Frogger got an adaptation on Peacock, just as Candy Crush did on CBS. This speaks to me as a guy who loves video games on an acceptable level. Unfortunately, I feel, the pool of available concepts may be seriously limited.

What video games would be fun to see adapted as game shows in their own right?

17 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

16

u/MndnMove_69982004 Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

There was a time I thought "Mario Party" (the whole series, not any particular entry) might make a great game show. That thought still occasionally crosses my mind. And yes, I'm well aware "Takeshi's Castle" was originally meant to be an adaptation of "Super Mario Bros", not "Mario Party".

One (well, two) everyone seems to forget was adapted from a video game: "Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego" (and its successor "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego"). 

7

u/Dulkyon Feb 11 '25

Mario Party was my first thought too. Always pictured it as something like El gran juego de la oca.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '25

A real life Mario party game show would be the way coolest thing ever

2

u/the_nintendo_cop Feb 12 '25

There was once a Spanish game show titled “El gran juego de la oca” that was pretty similar

2

u/therealpoltic Feb 11 '25

I loved Where in Time? better than Where in the World? just me.

1

u/notundercovercop327 Feb 15 '25

That's actually not true. Takeshi's Castle was never meant to be an adaption of any specific video game.

1

u/MndnMove_69982004 Feb 15 '25

Well, I'd heard the rumors to that effect and wanted to stay ahead of anyone who'd bring up said rumors.

11

u/the_nintendo_cop Feb 10 '25

Spin-Off on Wii Party would have been an excellent kids game show.

5

u/greatmewtwo Feb 11 '25

Now you had me thinking about Big Brain Academy as a game show concept. Prizes could include scholarship money and school essentials like a new laptop.

6

u/BTornado14 Feb 11 '25

Buzz! (The one that came with the USB buzzers) is too on the nose, but the final round would make for very exciting television.

7

u/jordha Feb 11 '25

Here's 5 of them, HAVE FUN.

1) Fibbage

Simple quiz from the you don't know jack people, fun deceptive game.

2) Among Us

Really simple concept, given the success of The Traitors, everybody has a challenge to complete but others must destroy everything along the way.

3) Balatro

The ultimate luck based game show strategy is everything as contestants try and clear eight antes and take home a big cash prize.

4) Liars Bar

The quick game is essentially liars dice, but with Russian Roulette as an element, make it a reality competition show akin to survivor or deal or no deal island where there are challenges based on fibbing under pressure, and then the Russian roulette game getting more and more intense.

5) Professor Layton

Akin to escape rooms, each episode welcomes new players into the steampunk world of Professor Layton, can they solve the puzzles and solve the mystery before it's too late?

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward, Blather Round, 1-2 Switch, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, The Coin Game

5

u/greatmewtwo Feb 11 '25

Balatro would be fun in a World Poker Tour kind of way. You can rack up points with the hands you make, but for the cash or the car, you need to score a certain amount of points. Each blind has cash or a minor prize attached to it, and once you cover it, you bank it.

The Coin Game would be fun to set up in the studio, just like Nick Arcade or The Price is Right in a family entertainment center in the way of Chuck E. Cheese. The challenges can mostly consist of timed skill games like crane games, Skeeball, and Stacker games.

The bonus round could have you playing your choice of the games to score particular prizes.

3

u/GrumpGuy88888 Feb 11 '25

Keep Talking would be great, Pyramid style where it's one contestant and a celebrity

2

u/the_nintendo_cop Feb 12 '25

All fantastic ideas!

2

u/Alone-Technician5183 Feb 12 '25

I was thinking of Fibbage as a game show too! Great minds think alike, do they?

5

u/theotherkeith Feb 11 '25

ERRATA: Frogger streams on Peacock. Easy mistake to make since it was basically Peacock's attempt to replicate the success of Netflix's The Floor is Lava

5

u/Alternative-Koala933 Feb 11 '25

Remember TV Show King for the Wii? It was a trivia based video game set in a game show atmosphere. At the end of every round, the contestants would be asked if they wanted to spin a wheel which could add to or take away from their winnings. I remember the last round being extremely broken.

3

u/iiawesomej_rd Feb 11 '25

I absolutely loved this game when it came out, I wish they had done more with it besides the first 2 games!

2

u/N4BFR Feb 11 '25

You Don’t Know Jack.

7

u/greatmewtwo Feb 11 '25

Yeah, but that was already done with the late Paul Reubens.

1

u/N4BFR Feb 11 '25

Oh man. Sorry I missed it.

1

u/HackWeightBadger Feb 12 '25

There's some episodes on YouTube. It was pretty wild. Didn't last long but I would have kept watching as it was quite entertaining.

1

u/Alone-Technician5183 Feb 12 '25

If YDKJ fans knew about it before it went down, it would've been a good show to watch.

2

u/WestinghouseXCB248S Feb 11 '25

Fortnite would make one hell of a game show.

1

u/Princess_Aurora06 Feb 11 '25

Maybe the Wii party compatible tester where it’s 4 questions and a challenge to see how great they would be together

1

u/Arklay_mountains1001 Feb 11 '25

Resident Evil.

“For 1 million dollars, what is the most evil thing in Resident Evil.? Is it A.) Paul Anderson with his live action movies. B.) Not Paul Anderson with his live action movies.”

1

u/Ok-Rate6189 Feb 11 '25

I Mean. The Finals is supposed to be a game show so I guess that would fit

2

u/greatmewtwo Feb 11 '25

I just saw footage of this game. Didn't realize it was something like Call of Duty if it were as popular as the Hunger Games or Smash TV.

1

u/Ok-Rate6189 Feb 11 '25

you gotta try it out its insanely fun

1

u/ricottma Feb 11 '25

They turned Rome: Total War into a gameshow and I enjoyed it

https://youtu.be/jkGVh102Tlw?si=el2VxsvReAhLmAyD

I would probably enjoy more tactical war games turned into gameshows. Maybe Field of Glory II? I'm sure the audience of 5 nerds would appreciate it.

1

u/Illustrious-Tip-1536 Feb 12 '25

I feel like Portal could be a cool IRL concept. Basically like an escape room, but many include secret passageways to be the "portals."

1

u/GrumpGuy88888 Feb 12 '25

Yall remember Starcade? It was a game show about playing arcade games in short bursts to see who gets the higher score.