Rules and Reviews
Click on the links to go to the page and find the complete rules and a review of the game.
*=special section devoted to shows with numerical titles, exemplary foreign shows, and unaired pilots.
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A
All-Star Blitz
Two players play a derivation of "Hollywood Squares" with four celebrities, then try and solve puzzles from bits of words shown on screen. The winner plays a bonus puzzle for over $10,000.
The Amazing Race
Teams race around the world, completing tasks and solving clues. The winners divide $1 million, the rest are eliminated.
Nickelodeon Arcade
Two teams of kids play video games, answer questions, and solve puzzles to move a video game character to the goal. The winning team plays a video game of themselves against a green screen like the local weather guy uses.
B
Battle of the Child Geniuses
Dick Clark asks moderately difficult questions to a gaggle of child prodigies, one of which wins the elimination contest, and a big trust fund.
Battlestars
Two players play "Hollywood Squares" with Alex Trebek. Except the squares are triangles, and the answers are given to the celebrities.
The Better Sex
A team of six men and women challenge the legitimacy of answers provided to questions. The winning team plays the same game against 30 members of the opposite sex in the audience.
Big Brother
Twelve Americans enter a house, play games, and vote each other out of the house. The evictees then vote on which of the two remaining players should win the $500,000 jackpot.
The Big Moment
A group of friends or family members has a week to practice a difficult task, then one chance to complete it in studio for $25,000 in cash and prizes.
The Big Showdown
Three players pick categories worth 1-6 points, hoping to reach the payoff point. The winner gets to roll the dice for $10,000 more.
Blackout
Two celebrity/contestant teams play "Pyramid" with a censoring device, where words go into a pun. The winners play an incongruous but nifty game for $10,000.
Blockbusters
A solo player takes on a family pair in an adaption of the board game "Hex". Connect sides of a game board by answering questions when given the initial letter of the answer.
Body Language
Teams play a cross between Charades and Password Plus, winners can play for $10,000 in 80 seconds or less.
Boot Camp
Sixteen civilians enter Marine boot camp for a month. Every three days, two of them are voted out of the game. The two finalists run the Gauntlet for $500,000.
Born Lucky
Bob Goen harasses mall shoppers and gives them a chance to win $2,100 in cash by completing inane stunts.
Break the Bank
Three different games for three different decades: a hard quiz akin to the $64,000 Question, a "Hollywood Squares" spin-off, and a "Password Plus" clone. A pattern here...?
Bullseye
Jim Lange hosts a slowed down version of "Joker's Wild". Winners can get bonus prizes by avoiding the lightning bolt in the bonus game.
Bumper Stumpers
Two pairs of friends decipher license plates for cash. Originated from Toronto, and was the second game show made specifically for the USA Network.
C
Caesar's Challenge
Three players answer questions, unscramble words, buy prizes, and try to win a brand new car by unscrambling a nine-letter word.
Camoflauge
Two players answer either/or questions to have a chance to find the hidden picture in the drawing on screen. Winners get 15 seconds to find a harder picture to win a car.
Card Sharks
Two players answer survey questions, and guess whether the next card is higher or lower than the previous one. Winners do it again, this time for money: big money.
Card Sharks 2001
A watered down format of the classic game show.
Cash Cab
Contestants answer questions asked to them by a New York City cab driver while en route to a local destination.
Catch Phrase
Two players vie to guess picture puns as drawn by a computer. The top cash winner gets to win $10,000 by solving five in a row within 60 seconds.
Celebrity Sweepstakes
Given a tip sheet and the categories, two players bet which of six celebrities will answer a question correctly.
Chain Reaction
Two teams (or players) try to fill in letters on a board where one word leads to another, and the right word leads to up to $40,000.
The Chair
Players answer seven questions for $250,000, but can only do so if their heartrate is below a predetermined maximum.
The Challengers
Dick Clark hosts an updated version of "Who, What or Where Game" where three-day winners can answer three tough questions for $50,000 or more.
The Chamber
Players answer questions for money, all the while their physical limits are pushed by the chamber.
Classic Concentration
The prize-matching and rebus-solving game is brought back for another go, this time with a car matching bonus game.
Click
Three teams of high schoolers pick categories from a giant screen, and answer questions from audio, motion clips and pictures.
College Bowl
Teams of four students answer questions in the Varsity Sport of the Mind. Hosted by the venerable Allen Ludden.
Couch Potatoes
An adult version of "Remote Control". Teams of three answer TV trivia questions, and the winners can claim $5,000 more by ID'ing TV shows from cast photos.
D
Debt
Three contestants play Jeopardy! with all pop-culture questions, then the winner tries to get out of debt in the bonus round, or perhaps win double the amount.
Double Dare '76
Two contestants play "Twenty Questions" in twin isolation booths, the winner takes on three Ph.D's for $5,000.
Double Dare (Nickelodeon)
Two teams of teenagers answer trivia questions and complete messy stunts for the chance to run the obstacle course for a grand prize trip.
Double Talk
Celebrity/contestant teams decipher "in other words" phrases.
E
Endurance
Young people's Survivor.
Every Second Counts
Bill Rafferty poses "real/made up" questions to three couples, worth time that the winning couple uses to win a car in the bonus round.
Eye Guess
The omnipresent Bill Cullen asks questions to players, and the answers are revealed before the round, but the players must memorize the positions.
F
Face the Music
Three players play Name that Tune and Password Plus smushed together. The winner plays the previous champion for up to $10,000 in cash.
Family Feud
Two teams of family members compete to guess the answers most often given by a group of 100 Americans.
Fear Factor
Six contestants compete in extreme challenges, usually dealing with fears and phobias, other times just being gross for gross' sake.
Finders Keepers
Two teams of kids hunt for hidden pictures, then hidden items in a life-sized house. Winners try to do it again, this time in all of 90 seconds.
Friend or Foe?
Three teams answer general knowledge questions, then decide whether to split their pot amicably, or to screw the partner and try to take it all away.
G
Gambit
Two couples answer questions and play blackjack. Winners do it again, without the questions, for a new car.
Get the Picture
Two teams of kids answer questions and solve picture puzzles for money. Winners play a speed up version of "Eye Guess" for a trip.
Go
Two teams of five play "Pyramid" but each clue giver says only one word at a time. It's the bonus round of "Chain Reaction '80".
Greed
A team of five players answer questions as a team, then try to eliminate each other, all in the name of $2,000,000.
Guts
Three young people compete in a junior athletics competions.
H
Headline Chasers
A mix of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, two couples decipher newspaper headlines for $5,000 in cash.
High Rollers
Two players answer questions and roll the dice, eliminating the numbers from 1-9 on the big board. Winners do it again for $10,000.
History IQ
Players answer tough questions on world and US history, then place events in order for $25,000. The Tournament Edition gave 81 players a chance to win $250,000 at the end of eight weeks.
Hit Man
Players are shown a short film, and must remember what information was presented.
Hollywood Showdown
A mixture of pop culture trivia, and a head-to-head version of "Jackpot." The champ must answer five consecutive questions for the jackpot, worth over $10,000.
Hollywood Squares
Two players must guess whether answers from celebrities are true or false. Results are posted on a 12 foot tall tic-tac-toe board. Winners play the bonus round for a car, loads of cash, or other stuff.
Hollywood Squares '98
Revival of the daytime NBC series.
Hot Potato
Two teams of three similar members answer questions with multiple parts, trying to stay in the game. The winners answer five dual-choice questions for at least $5,000.
I
I'm Telling
Brothers and Sisters match answers and prize picks in a Junior version of the Newlywed Game.
It's Your Chance of a Lifetime
A single player answers questions and bets on the likelyhood of a right answer. Winners can take home over $1,280,000.
Idiot Savants
Four players compete, and the winner gets a chance to test his or her knowledge in a specialized subject. Winner after five shows wins a neat prize.
Inquizition
Four players answer A, B, C questions in a bare bones environment under the watchful eye of a very strict host.
J
Jackpot
Sixteen players answer riddles to build up a jackpot, and special riddles can lead to up to $50,000 payoffs.
Jeopardy!
Three contestants provide the questions to answers provided. A fast and serious quiz show, and immensely popular.
Jeopardy! (1984- )
Revival of the NBC daytime quiz show.
Joker's Wild
Players spin a giant slot machine and answer questions from the categories showing.
Joker's Wild 1990
A less popular revival of the format, but with bigger prizes and tougher questions.
K
Kidnapped!
A group of friends tries to rescue a fourth "hostage" by predicting video clips and answering questions about each other for a spring break trip.
L
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Six teams are whittled to one by a series of physical and mental tests, the winners move through a temple obstacle course, trying to recover the "lost artifact of the day".
Let's Make a Deal
Traders must say whether they would like the box of macaroni on stage, or what's behind the curtain, which could eventually be worth over $30,000.
M
The Magnificent Marble Machine
Celebrity/contestant pairs solve "TV Scrabble" type clues for a shot at playing an enormous pinball machine for cash, prizes, and maybe a car.
Make Me Laugh
Contestants are subjected to comedy routines, and win $1 per second that they don't laugh.
Make the Grade
Three kids play Bingo Jeopardy! with physical bits thrown in.
Mall Masters
Three players answer survey questions then answer general questions based on stores in the leviathan mall. Winners play for $5,000 cash.
Manhunt
Thirteen players are caught in a paintball game, and must race 50 miles without being hit three times. First over the finish line wins $250,000. More famous for what was left on the cutting room floor...
Match Game
Fill in the blank as the celebrities did, and you could win $11,000.
The Mole
Fourteen players play physical and mental contests to put money into a group pot, which only one player will win. One is The Mole, who is trying to sabotage the group efforts. Players are eliminated via a quiz every three days. The player who gets the highest score on the Final Exam wins the pot.
My Generation
Two teams of people from different high school classes answer music trivia questions in order to win a trip to the Las Vegas Hard Rock Cafe.
N
Name That Tune
The title says it all, but the prizes can total over $100,000.
Name That Video
Name That Tune for the VH1 music video generation, where ten right answers could win a truck.
Now You See It
The answers are hidden in a jumble of letters, all you have to do is find them.
O
On the Cover
PAX's pop culture quiz show, where the questions are all about 'covers'.
P
Paranoia
You're not hallucinating, the entire country IS out to get you, and your chance at $1,500,000.
Pass the Buck
Four players try to supply legal answers to categories provided by Bill Cullen. Derivative of "The $20,000 Pyramid".
Password
Try to get your partner to guess the password using only one-word clues. Classic in its simplicity and longevity.
Password Plus
Try to get your partner to guess the password using only one-word clues, then guess what the passwords have in common.
Peer Pressure
Parents punished their kids by making them watch or compete on this show that inspires to excrement.
Pick Your Brain
Three junior-high age students try to win a college scholarship by answering questions.
Pictionary (FOX)
The FOX network tried to recreate all the fun of Picture Charades, and for the most part, it worked.
Pitfall
Cross the bridge and try to recall which sections will stall your progress.
Play the Percentages
Two couples try to predict how many people correctly answered various questions. Sort of a precursor to "Street Smarts."
Play Your Hunch
Which one is the real deal, X, Y or Z?
Press Your Luck
Spin the board, and hope the light marker lands on something good.
The Price is Right Starring Bill Cullen
Get as close as you can to the actual retail price of an item to win it.
The Price is Right Starring Bob Barker
Bid closest to the price of an item, and maybe you'll luck into the Showcase.
Pyramid
Revival of the classic communication game of the 70s and 80s.
Q
Quicksilver
Quiz Kids Challenge
Three kids compete against three adults in a quiz game.
QuizBusters
High School Quiz Bowl from Michigan.
R
Remote Control
The show that answers that burning question "What would it be like if MTV did a game show?"
Russian Roulette
Wrong answers force players to play a dangerous game where losers drop out of the proceedings. Literally.
S
Sale of the Century
Players answer easy questions, hoping to pile up enough money in order to buy nifty prices at the end, or win enough shows to capture a $100,000 jackpot of cash and prizes.
Scrabble
Players decipher clever clues and play Speed Hangman against the clock and each other.
SexWars
Stealing elements from nearly every format ever, this Battle of the Sexes game lasted one season.
Shop 'til You Drop
A cross between Price is Right and Beat the Clock, and worse than either. Somehow managed to stay on the air forever.
Split Second
Don't forget to take a breath, make sure your trigger finger is warmed-up, because if you're too slow, you'll get to answer the hardest question.
Sports Geniuses
A derivative of Sports Jeopardy, but with enough humor and levity thrown in to make it a fun half hour for diehard fans and neophytes.
Street Smarts
The 'Jaywalking' bit from the Tonight Show is brought to new heights on this syndicated effort. And they have a Dunce Cap, so it can't be that bad.
Super Decades
Interactive half-hour, where the host was better than the format. An elimination tournament format of the 5-minute interstitials known as "Decades."
Super Password
A jacked-up, more money version of "Password Plus."
Supermarket Sweep
Teams play various games concerning the supermarket, then get let into a supermarket and get about three minutes to raise hell.
Survivor
Sixteen strangers are, marooned on an island, and must survive, all the while trying to outlast each other in an elimination contest. The winner receives $1 million.
T
Tic Tac Dough
Seminal trivia game played with a board game twist.
Top Card
Blackjack infused with country music questions.
To Tell the Truth
Can you tell which of three guests is the real McCoy?
Trashed
College-age contestants put up their prized possessions to try and win the grand prize trip.
Treasure Hunt
Does this box have a head of cabbage or $20,000?
Trivial Pursuit
The classic box game given the TV treatment.
Trivia Track
GSN original with number questions and a horse-racing theme.
Trivia Trap
Mark Goodson cashed in on the "Trivial Pursuit" craze two years too late.
Trump Card
A standard Q/A game coming from Atlantic City.
2-Minute Drill
Possibly the best sports quiz show ever.
U
Ultimate Fan League
Teams of sports fans from various cities test their mettle in a 60-episode tournament of trivia.
V
Versus
It's like Clash, but less so.
Video Power
Young kids play in a ten-week long tournament of video games and trivia.
W
Weakest Link
Players answer questions and vote each other out while enduring the taunts and digs from the host, but only the winner keeps the cash.
Whammy: the All New Press Your Luck
The 2001 remake of, well, you know.
What's My Line?
Take this job and guess it. Please?
Wheel of Fortune
Can you solve the puzzle? Probably. But you're not winning $100,000 either.
When did THAT Happen?
Game Show Network show revamped "Super Decades" and lasted about seven weeks.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Based on the computer game of the same name, three detectives play one of the best game shows to ever be shown on PBS.
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
Based on the version of the computer game...
Whew!
Fast-paced, fun-filled show hosted by John F. Kennedy.
Whose Line is it, Anyway?
The show where everything's made up and the points don't matter.
The Who, What, or Where Game
Pick your question, and bid on it.
Win Ben Stein's Money
Every question you get right takes money from the host's pocket, up to $5,000.
Win, Lose or Draw
Pictionary in the creator's living room.
Winning Lines
If you can get by the other 48 contestants, you'd have a shot at $1,000,000. Or the show might get cancelled and you get nothing.
Winning Streak
If you can figure out the format, you'll win $100,000. Best of luck.
WinTuition
Go from first grade to high school in thirty minutes, and you just might win a $50,000 college scholarship.
Wipeout
Pick the right answers from the choices to win a Beretta. Not too bad a gig.
Wordplay
Celebrities play Balderdash, with a Blockbusters bonus round.
Y
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