Genius Game

Yes, it's all very clever and I can keep up with the various strategies (where there were any) but what's the point of a TV show - to entertain! And, unfortunately, Genius Game falls way too short of that goal. It's too complicated for casual watching and I'm not convinced, by their actions, that many of the players had ANY kind of plan so trying to follow what they're up to is, therefore, impossible.

And, if you're after a show such as The Traitors where the social interaction, actions and the convincing lying is, indeed, entertaining then this isn't it. It could have been but I got half way through episode 1 of Genius Game and thought of watching paint dry instead.

If it was just the games, like a modern day Krypton Factor, the game show would be better. As it is they have shoehorned in backstabbing and it thinks it is the traitors - it isn't. It feels drawn out and doesn't move forward, if they just cut that out what made it about how well they outsmart each other in the challenges, it would be an 8 out of 10 instead of 6.

Perhaps the contestants just aren't very likeable, I couldn't relate to their goals and why they formed cliques and turned on each other except the obvious: to win. Perhaps I'm weird for expecting and wanting more.

The production value of the show is good, it just feels like it's half filler.

It's a "westernized" adaption of Netflix' "The Devil's Plan".

The Devil's Plan is a lot more complicated and the UK version is a little simplefied, which I find refreshing, because I want to be entertained and not lectured.

The Devil's Plan although, the very first game, I haven't understood the rules nor what to do. It's so overly complicated with 5 or 6 tiers to the game and even more plots and twists, while "Genius Game" has only 3 layers and at max one more twist.

But you decide for yourselves. I might be just to simple for either show. Maybe it is because I am a non-native (English) speaker.

But both shows are good.

This is infinitely closer to the original Korean show than the dull Dutch version was. The weakest element is David Tennant who clearly filmed all his appearances months before any of the rest was shot; giving very "Krusty sending a video tape of himself to Kamp Krusty" energy.

If you're a fan of the classic The Genius this is certainly well worth a watch. It's got big personalities and variations on some great Genius games.

PS I'm not a fan of this trend of 'mind sport' game shows (Chess Masters, this...) giving the players superhero nicknames ("The Student," "The Chemist"...). It's utterly daft.

This is a dumbed-down version of the Devils plan but cheesier and a larger social element.

Big personalities take over and create blocks of allies that gang up on people on the edges.

A lot of the games are designed to accommodate this so often most players don't even play the games they just hang around waiting for the chosen patsy to get booted.

Then there was one death match which wasn't a game at all - it was a literal populality test.

This seemed very unfair and goes against the spirit of the game.

For the most part the games don't matter, as there is no advantage to going against the crowd and it gets quite tedious.

The last few episodes I used a bit of zoom as it was just lame chatter and tactics talk that really didn't matter.