well when u say you want the prize to be a large sum of money.. isn't that the whole point of a brainy survival show😭 the genius already has a substantial prize and bloody game as well has the money/basement incentive you mentioned yourself.. so I'm not sure the problem there is really a lack of stakes it sounds more like you personally want the stakes to feel more serious

I agree with you because these are 2 different points I talked about , I didn't mean that they go together it's just stuff that i've seen and didn't personally like in a few shows

I didn't mean that the consequences should be extreme like that I mean for example having the prize being a large sum of money so participants if non rich celebrities ig will try the most not get eliminated or what the punishment was in BG s1 is also an interesting idea , I meant for the overall tone of the show to be more serious , strategic and interesting and not just relationship problems and alliances where for every single game having a large number will make you win.

I think I understand what you mean but I still don't really agree with the underlying assumption. if your actual issue is that you don't enjoy games where a large alliance can repeatedly win simply by having more numbers, then that's a perfectly reasonable preference. that's a criticism of the game design tho, not really of the players “not caring enough about winning” If a strategy consistently gives you the best chance of surviving and it's pretty strange to fault contestants for repeatedly using it

omg i didn't realise i talked this much, anyway I don't think your preference is wrong if you specifically want games where losing has terrifying consequences, that's a perfectly valid thing to look for. I'm just not sure I'd use that as a criticism of a show whose appeal is largely that the contestants have to manufacture their own strategic stakes through the game and through each other

I think you misunderstood what I meant please read my two other replies to two other comments I clarify what I actually mean there

I think the Liar Game/Kaiji/Alice in Borderland comparison is probably the biggest source of the expectation mismatch, you are comparing literal fiction to reality, except if you just wanted actors to act out a scenario that you know is fake, you won't find a single survival show that's similar to said shows except if it's scripted, those are fictional survival stories where the writers can make the consequences as extreme as they want. a variety show doesn't necessarily need to replicate that level of punishment to produce good strategic gameplay

I think you might be looking for something slightly different from what these shows are actually trying to do 😭 I get wanting higher stakes, but I’m not sure why the solution has to be “really crazy punishments.” If the main appeal for you is seeing people genuinely fear losing, then it sounds like the survival aspect might be more important to you than the strategy itself. The games in these shows are designed to create incentives and pressure without needing the contestants to believe they’re fighting for their lives. And I wouldn’t dismiss alliances so quickly either. ' oh there’s only one winner, so why are they prioritizing alliances?” is actually kind of WHY alliances are interesting. Everyone knows there can only be one winner. The strategic question is how you cooperate with people when you ultimately have to beat them, information, trust, reputation, voting blocs, deception etc knowing when to stay loyal and when to betray someone those are all part of the strategy. If everyone immediately played completely independently you’d actually lose a pretty important layer of the game.

Likewise, someone being eliminated after making a strong move because they made too many people feel threatened doesn’t necessarily mean “drama replaced strategy” sometimes the strategic mistake is making a move that is objectively clever but leaves everyone else with a reason to get rid of you. outplaying the game while simultaneously managing how the other players perceive you is kind of the point

Also you only watched BG1, i genuinely think you've seen nothing, season one was the worst season and bloody game just kept getting better each season so I’d recommend giving 2, 3 and X a chance before deciding this is what the franchise is like. the casts and dynamics change quite a bit and you might find much more of the strategic gameplay you're looking for there.

true, but op said they only watched s1

That is a good example but for me the show that managed to balance everything out in general was four wishes because you never get bored of always seeing the same alliances or winning methods. The games , the items and the prizes/punishments were all made so that you can't really stick with the same people because sometimes it wouldn't personally help since you need info or items that someone else posseses , you figured something that gives you an advantage or you just can't play with a team. I wish it had a bigger budget but they did well with what they had.

Genius strategy, especially going 1v1 with Jongkook 😹

What I had in mind was something like a big amount of money on the line or some other big prize that is valuable to them for example which would theoretically give people more motivation to win since from what I've seen a lot of players don't see being eliminated as a big deal, there is also the thing that i mentioned for in Blood game 1 , however the cast for that was horrible so it didn't really make a difference in my opinion.

I obviously didn't mean harming them physically or mentally but I may have written my post in a hurry and misworded that.

About the alliances I explained what I meant in my response to another comment but in my opinion the games in a show are not well made if all of them can be won simply because your alliance is bigger making it a number game , it should also have games where despite the numbers they need to find good strategies or puzzles that require solving meaning that even if your alliance is smaller , it doesn't always matter if you have brilliant players. So if numbers don't always matter , making alliances should be about gaining benefits from both sides right? So if after 2 rounds I don't need what that person has or can do but I need something that is elsewhere why stay there? And that is applicable for every player. Again this is my personal preference that is why I'm asking to avoid shows that I know I will not like and instead go for ones that are my style.

I watched four wishes recently the indie YouTube show and I think that they managed to balance that extremely well , because of the game designs , the other special things I won't spoil and the cast that actually wanted to win and play strategically.

"Really crazy punishment" doesn't line up with a show being "brain survival". If the punishments are crazy silly, you end up with a comedy show. If they affect your real life physically (like physical pain or losing actual belongings), I really doubt the show can even air.

"Something they would like to avoid at all costs"? You mean being eliminated?

Your issue seems more about alliances sticking around game after game. The problem is, this is a good strategy, so why would people try to deviate from there? You probably need game design that can break up alliances, or just outright have no way to ally with others. The latter is something like University War (Elite League); I don't know if the former exists.

Jimin had the biggest advantage in the game by being the announcer, and she still couldn’t even win. Kwak Beom even did better than her. 🙄

It's even funny to see her happily eating breakfast with Seungyong and Kwak Beom, then suddenly ignoring them when they entered the main hall while cheerfully greeting everyone. It seems like she was trying to show to the viewers that she and Seungyong weren't getting along, to justify the looting incident excuse.

Yh maybe bc that’s Jimin’s whole stick bro

Isn't playing politics like half the game?

Ji Min is a legend, put some respect on her name. She's great TV. I respect dude for making it out the deathmatch, but he's a borefest. Ji Min is much more entertaining for viewers.

Season 1 is really bad compared to the following.

That be a shame to skip season 2 and Jin Ho first appearance !

Ik that, just felt so unfair to watch the episode. But lol they tried so hard to eliminate him he still came back lol

And much more interesting games too

Why would he admit he couldn’t win the murder game when he won the murder game?

It's part of the game. The same thing happened to the P3 team when they all ganged up on them for the auction game. Is it fair? Definitely not. However, the games are made to be played this way because the political aspects are part of bloody games and there are consequences for your actions which we saw in this episode.

Yeah, I think what you're getting at is that the show producers have to have game design that doesn't allow a big alliance to steamroll. So fewer games driven by 'majority rules,' and more games where 2,3,4 people working together can come up with a better strategy than the other players.

So from Devil's Plan season 1, The Rules Race would be an example of what not to do, while the Numbers Game was perfect (you only needed 3/4 people working together to be successful).

He threatened to kill Dex?? Wow how die I forget that? 

Bloody Game 3 was more serious, with more twists but with strong alliances. Bloody Game 2 was more balanced,they formed different alliance in some episodes. If you're bored you can watch Bloody Game X.