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Quick Summary
- The Crystal Maze and Fort Boyard are classics that can’t be beat.
- The Mole is a great show for those who enjoy action-packed challenges.
- Taskmaster adds a side of silliness to out-the-box thinking.
In honor of World Television Day, we are taking a trip across the pond to discuss British adventure-style game shows. As someone who grew up the UK, these programs not only looked like fun to participate in, but also paved the way for my passion for puzzles that carries through to today. If you’re an escape room enthusiast, you’ll be sure to find some familiar favourites in this list, including well known shows such as The Crystal Maze. However it also features some more obscure programs you might not recognize, that’ll leave you feeling inspired to dive into discovering more for yourself.Â
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The Crystal Maze
Let’s start with an oldie but a goodie. It may not surprise you that this show was created by Jacques Antoine, who was the brains behind Fort Boyard (which you’ll also find featured below). The show’s format focuses on a team of shellsuit-clad adventurers, who dramatically traverse between several distinct zones, each containing a series of mysterious doors. Each of these doors would lead to an individual challenge, and the group would thrust one of their teammates into the room, whom they deemed to posses the skillset which would fair best. Was this always successful? Absolutely not. Often their questionable performance would result in the tasks failure, and consequently the player would be locked in. The rest of the team could choose to (foolishly) sacrifice a time crystal to release them, and often did, much to my dismay when, let’s be honest, the team would be done better without them.
I don’t know why I am explaining all this, because if you’re an escape room enthusiast, you’ve probably already seen The Crystal Maze a million times before. You also probably have a favorite zone (Medieval, for me personally), and a favorite presenter…although any answer other than harmonica-tooter Richard O’Brien, would be wrong.
Fort Boyard
First broadcast in 1990, Fort Boyard paved the way for many similar adventure-style game shows. Set and filmed on a real Napoleonic fortress off the west coast of France, contestants would beat challenges in order to win prize money. These would often require physical strength, endurance, and dexterity to complete. The tasks would also often play on common fears, no I don’t mean taxes and a phone ringing with no caller ID, I mean the dark, heights, snakes, creepy crawlies, and water.
There were several notable cast, such as the Professor stationed inside a watchtower, alongside other various characters who would give out keys, riddles, clues, and code words to help you along your way. Once the team had earned four keys across the timed challenges, they could open the door leading to a treasure room, that is, of course, if the tigers were not patrolling the area. Spell out the correct password, and two minutes would be granted to collect gold doubloons, which were subsequently converted into cash…although I couldn’t tell you the exact exchange rate for that one.
Jungle Run
Imagine The Crystal Maze, but with an expanded Aztec section, and instead of receiving disparaging comments from the host, you’re instead pelted with coconuts by a couple of monkeys. That’s pretty much the entire plot of Jungle Run, a kids television show which first aired in 1999.
Each episode, a team of children would live their best Indiana Jones life, and enter a mythical jungle ruled by the Jungle King. Their epic journey would see them traverse through swamps, waterfalls, and jungle terrain which would all contain mazes, obstacle courses, and puzzles. Through successful completion of challenges along their way, they would collect monkey statues and golden bananas, culminating in more time during the final stage. Much like The Crystal Maze, bananas could also be forfeited to release trapped team mates, but would decrease their time during the final boss section. Once the Temple of the Jungle King had been reached at their journey’s end, the players would have limited time to enter each chamber, complete challenges against the clock, and ultimately earn sacred idols in order to win the game.
The Mole
You’re probably familiar with the American version of The Mole, but did you know there was also a British series released in 2001, which ran simultaneously to the first American season? This version of the show had an interesting location, being set on the largest Channel Island, Jersey, which is only 5 miles long and 9 miles wide. The show comprises of 10 contestants, 9 of which are genuine participants, and 1 which is specifically chosen by producers. Their goal? To sabotage the other players every step along the way, by jeopardising each and every episode’s challenge. This mole must be subtle in their actions in order to remain undetected, as at the end of each day, the remaining players vote for who they suspect.
The challenges themselves ranged from thrilling stunts, such as sky diving and jumping off bridges, to more mental and psychological tests. In one task, the group were woken up intensely in the middle of the night and taken to a corn field. Their mission was to stay ‘alive’ within a maze to avoid being caught by the hunters. Another involved the group having 90 minutes to locate a hostage, by using only a preprogrammed phone with limited capabilities, and searching through an obstructed field of vision using a plane, car, and boat. It was action packed, exciting, and enthralling viewing.
Incredible Games
There is barely any information available online regarding this show, and no one I know watched it, which as a result made me doubt my own memories a few times. But now with the internet at our fingertips, I can indeed prove that Incredible Games did happen, as evidenced by its existence on Wikipedia. It’s most likely so obscure, because it aired for only a year, with just 24 episodes total.
The format of the show was set up as an elevator, where each floor of a skyscraper would play host to a different challenge, with the doors opening directly into each game. Occasionally the elevator doors would open to reveal the show’s villain, terrifying the contestants and causing them to button smash the doors closed again. Bizarrely, if contestants lost a game, they would be sent down to the ‘laundry room’, which is a bit weird when you think about it. One of the most iconic parts of Incredible Games was an ominous figure known as The Dark Knight. He would challenge the team to a duel upon a human-sized chess board-esque floor. Players moved square to square, in a specific formations, with the goal of reaching the exit. Seems simple, but the foreboding Dark Knight, menacingly moved simultaneously in an attempt to capture you within his cloak..which acted somewhat like a black hole when opened.
Knightmare
This cult classic game show challenged kids to a series of medieval quests, in a style reminiscent of text-based computer games which rely on descriptions and commands. For its time (1987) the format was pretty groundbreaking, with their use of blue screen chroma key, and virtual reality interactive gameplay.
Each episode would focus on 4 children, where 1 of which assumed the role of Dungeoneer and wore the ‘Helmet of Justice’. That’s a convoluted way of saying they’re unable to see anything, and the other 3 participants must direct and instruct them, guiding the Dungeoneer through each puzzle and noting vital information. After successful completion of 3 levels, the quest is rendered complete, however it’s worth noting that the game was pretty difficult, with only 8 teams managing to win over 8 whole seasons. The show was extremely popular, attracting around 4-5 million viewers per episode at its peak in 1991-1992, and even had a revival in 2013 for YouTube’s Geek Week, much to the delight of nostalgic OG fans.
Raven
Presented by a man that possessed a staff of power, and the ability to shape shift into a raven (the clue’s in the name), this fantastical themed show would see a select group of budding warriors battle it out against each other. Each of these warriors was given a distinguishing color, symbol, and name composed of several letters of their real name, rearranged to sound ‘cooler’, such as Arnor, Obra, and Druan.
Each contestant would take on a series of physical challenges over the course of several weeks. As they successfully passed through stages of each quest, they would eventually go on to have the chance to become crowned Ultimate Warrior. Games consisted of crossing rivers and catapulting rocks, as well as shooting a bow and arrow, along with traversing mazes, rivers, and other treacherous terrain. They could even find themselves having to carefully carry (totally real) dragon eggs, or being quizzed by a mystical tree.
Taskmaster
This list has focussed on nostalgic viewing from the 1990s and early 2000s, which shaped my childhood. However if you’re looking for a more recent show that is a slam-dunk for lighthearted puzzle-lovers, you’ll want to check out comedy game show, Taskmaster. It requires competing celebrities (somewhat used in a loose sense), to think outside to box and complete tasks given to them by, you guessed it, the Taskmaster.
It’s equal parts entertaining and engaging, and I always recommend seasons 5 and 7 to new viewers. Yes, it’s a bit very ridiculous at times, and if you prefer to take your puzzles seriously you may not enjoy its somewhat non-sensical format, and often opinion-based scoring. But if you don’t mind a bit of silliness over seriousness, you’ll enjoy the lateral thinking aspect as you watch them attempt to draw the biggest circle, film the best stop-motion video of a potato, make the most exotic sandwich, or impress the mayor.
Choose your own adventure!
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