Hardest Game Show To Understand

[TimK2003]

After reading the thread on "You Don't Say" over the last week or so and seeing how a few people had a hard time understanding the object of the show at first, this poser crossed my mind:

Have there been any game shows in the past that you saw that took a while for you to grasp the concept &/or format of the show, or were there any shows that you never could understand due to confusing &/or silly rules?

[chad1m]

It took me an episode and a half to understand everything that was going on with Who's Still Standing?, simply because they didn't bother fleshing it out or explaining much on-air.

[Craig Karlberg]

Most confusing?  How about Play the Percentages.  Just when you think you had it figured out, they either change the rules/format/set or tinker with the bonus round every so often, I could never get it squared down permanently.

[BrandonFG]

Reading the rules to Whew! and Go confused me on paper. I didn't understand either until finally seeing an episode.

It also took me awhile to figure out the 90s version of It Takes Two's bonus round. I could never wrap my head around Dick's explanation of being within 20% (or whatever the percentage was)...

[dazztardly]

Most confusing?  How about Play the Percentages.  Just when you think you had it figured out, they either change the rules/format/set or tinker with the bonus round every so often, I could never get it squared down permanently.

It was certainly difficult to keep up with. Some members of the staff at Barry & Enright, even jokingly refered to Percentages as "Game Du Jour".

[Matt Ottinger]

I've said before that one of my favorite games to show a non-fan is Three on a Match, especially since the episodes we have are from so late in the run.  I'm sure they explained the rules a lot more in the early going, but dropping a novice into the middle of that show without some explanation is almost guaranteed to make his head explode.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

It's been said that Jay Wolpert games took seemingly forever to understand. But I was able to understand Whew!, Hit Man, and Shopping Spree in no time.

[Dbacksfan12]

It's been said that Jay Wolpert games took seemingly forever to understand. But I was able to understand Whew!, Hit Man, and Shopping Spree in no time.

One of these is not like the others.

[MSTieScott]

I was watching "Wheel of Fortune" with a friend who hadn't seen the show in about five years. When a contestant landed on the $1,000,000 wedge, we had to pause for nearly a full minute while I explained how it worked. Pause again for the Free Play wedge. Pause again for the Mystery Round. If one of the newer categories had come up, we would have had to pause again.

[TLEberle]

I was watching "Wheel of Fortune" with a friend who hadn't seen the show in about five years. When a contestant landed on the $1,000,000 wedge, we had to pause for nearly a full minute while I explained how it worked. Pause again for the Free Play wedge. Pause again for the Mystery Round. If one of the newer categories had come up, we would have had to pause again.

I can understand for the Free Play wedge since it isn't explicitly called out or explained during the show; but really? You had to explain the $1m wedge and the Mystery Wedge? You couldn't just say "That's a special case, it'll get explained when it happens?"

/Maybe Jim Caldwell wasn't so far off after all.

[William_S.]

The Debt bonus round still confuses me to this day. I get winning the front part (get all 10 in 60secs). But it's when you lose that part is where things get confusing.

[TLEberle]

The Debt Bonus Round still Confuses me to this day. I get winning the front part (get all 10 in 60secs). But it's when you lose that part is where things get confusing.

It does? "You won $4,000 in the first two rounds of the game. You can bet that amount on a question from your Specialty Subject. Get it right and you double that amount to $8,000. Get it wrong and you leave with the $1,000 consolation. Or you can choose to pass on that and keep the $4,000 that you've won to this point."

How is that hard?

[Steve Gavazzi]

How is that hard?

You're saying this to a person who's still employing random capitalization.

[TLEberle]

How is that hard?

You're saying this to a person who's still employing random capitalization.

I didn't See that. You're right, I shall learn to temper my expectations in the future.

[parliboy]

The Debt Bonus Round still Confuses me to this day. I get winning the front part (get all 10 in 60secs). But it's when you lose that part is where things get confusing.

simplified and syntactically awkward:  (Maybe that means I should learn Python)

int winnings = moneyEarnedSoFar
if getOutOfDebt == "Win"
winnings = debt
 case (betYourDebt)
"Win": winnings *= 2
"Lose": winnings = 1000 + (500 * (getOutOfDebt=="Win"))
"Pass": break  // nothing happens