Review: Great Big Game Show attraction delivers great big fun
The Great Big Game Show is an all new concept from the people behind The Escape Game, in which guests compete against each other in classic game show fashion, complete with trivia questions, big spinning wheel, physical challenges and more. Is the Great Big Game Show a great big whammy or does it win the grand prize?
The first thing to note is while Great Big Game Show is from the same team behind The Escape Game, it’s a completely unique location-based experience. Instead of racing against the clock to solve puzzles and escape, guests are split into two teams of up to six players each and actually compete against each other in classic game show style competitions to score the most points over the course of a 60 minute “show.”
Our team of four was matched against a team of strangers who booked the same time slot and we went head to head through a series of different games. The games we played were all inspired by popular as well as obscure game shows including “Block Busters”, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader”, and Plinko from “The Price is Right”. The games were varied and allowed our entire team to contribute in their own ways. Those with more trivia experience shined at answering questions, while others were better at the physical challenges.
We were told after the fact that there are actually more possible events than we played in our experience, so guests who return could have a completely different set of games and trivia questions. Having a variety of types of games as well as borrowing heavily from preexisting game shows were both smart moves on the part of the designers. The tried and true games were already known to be fun and exciting, and getting to try out some of the exact types of games we’ve played along with from home was so much fun. The variety of games, including skill and luck based games, kept the scores tight from start to finish. Even if one team was doing well on the trivia, it could all come crashing down (at one point quite literally!) with a poor showing on the physical games or a spout of bad luck in the more random games.
The actual experience of playing the games was truly a joy from start to finish. The props we used felt sturdy and were fun to use and play with. Hitting an actual buzzer to ring in to answer questions felt just like we were on TV buzzing in with the correct (or not so correct) answer. The room features a surprising amount of technology with moving and flashing lights, sound effects, scoreboards, and a giant screen which explained each game, displayed the questions, kept time, etc. All the elements came together well to keep the pace high and add to the heightened feel of each game-play moment.
The entire experience is run by an in-room game master who plays the part of host, director, and hype man explaining each game and keeping score. Using a handheld tablet, the host was able to move us from game to game, control the lights and sounds of the room, and update the scores, along with plenty of other options I probably didn’t even notice. Truly, I think this experience, more than any other, will live and die on the back of the individual host you’ll get in your room. Our host was able to keep the energy level high while remaining personable (with just the right amount of game show host smarminess) and hyping us up just when we needed it – all that while running the game at the same time. I’m sure they screen for these skills when hiring for this position and as long as the standards remain high, this vital element should continue to impress.
All told, The Great Big Game Show was an experience I was not expecting, but one that kept me entertained from the beginning to the end (and a hard fought victory!) The production values felt high and the experience delivered on the promise of making you feel like you are actually on stage playing a real life game show. Competing against strangers was fun, though I could see this truly shining when all the contestants know each other. Family game night with a live host, trivia, and physical challenges sounds like an absolute blast.
The Great Big Game Show is currently only located in the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville, and in Grandscape in The Colony, Texas, but plans are already in place for more locations soon. For more information or to book your own experience, check out GreatBigGameShow.com.
