PlayMania Show Review: A New Interactive Gameshow on Game Show Network
The show’s concept is that a host introduces a variety of puzzle games each usually with multiple answers. For example, the game I first saw asked viewers to name the Top 5 highest grossing Jim Carrey movies. The #1 answer was worth $150, and #2 was for $80. The remaining movies were worth less and less.
To have a chance to win, you need to send a text message which gives you the opportunity to make it onto the board of upcoming contestants. It is very difficult to make it onto the board (which is constantly updated on your TV screen) as so many people are trying. You are limited to 10 text messages per show and each text costs 99 cents. Other restrictions apply.
If you are lucky enough to make it onto the board, you recieve a call from the show and are put on TV, live with the chance to give your answer. The show example I saw, the Jim Carrey movies took about 30 minutes to complete. Dozens of people kept trying to say Ace Ventura. It wasn’t in the Top 5, though. The show does not list the wrongly guessed answers so you need to keep track of them yourself so you don’t repeat one if you are on air.
It was the #3 Jim Carrey movie that took forever to get. The #1 was The Grinch, #2 was Bruce Almighty, #4 was Liar Liar, and $5 was Dumb and Dumber. Every Jim Carrey movie ever made (except The Dead Pool and Once Bitten) were named I believe but nobody got the third until one lucky person guessed Batman Forever and won $130. As the puzzle progress longer and longer, without a winner, the cash prize increases. That is how the third movie answer was worth $130.
The next puzzle they had was a 3-part puzzle where you had to make a word out of another word. The first word ADVENTURE and you needed to make a 5-letter word out of it. There is a catch though, it has to be a specific word, predetermined, on a piece of paper that the host has. People guessed every word in the book from Advent to Event before arriving at the correct answer – NERVE and winning $115. The other 2 parts of this puzzle were 5 letter words and 3 letter words. Simple huh?
Right now, as I type, the puzzle is called ‘Find the Missing Letters’. They give you the following ??AVE. If you think you know it, you can win $50. This is so fun, addicting, and easy. The last callers guessed BRAVE and SLAVE and were wrong. Again, the host has the predetermined answer in an envelope.
The best part of this show, other than free money, is that there are virtually NO commercials. Seeing as how the total budget must be incredibly low (compared to most other shows) and that each text message is 99 cents, they don’t need many commercials. I have watched for 90 minutes now and only saw one commercial break, and it lasted only 2 minutes.
The host has tons of energy, she is polite, friendly, and inviting. She greets each caller personally and asks where they are calling from. Each person also asks her how she is doing. She has answered that question approximately 200 times tonight. By the way, she is doing great.
It is late now and they still don’t have the correct answer for ??AVE. I am thinking SUAVE. Everybody else is guessing words that rhyme with brave. The cash prize is now up to $75. I should try to enter but I’m not because the word was just guessed. It was GRAVE. Oh well.
Other games I have seen include Hangman style games, word scrambles, find the connection; they gave us BACK, STAGE, and SHORT and we needed to guess one four letter word that can follow each. It was HAND.
You can also email in whatever you are thinking and sometimes they will read it on air. One viewer wrote in and said that they host was more attractive than a duck in a hat. That was quite the moment. It is true though, sh’e beautiful.
This is a show that everybody should watch. It is easy to learn, and you can win money instantly, just by watching. It is a fun game if you are alone or if you have a group of people around. And if nothing else, you can speak live on television. Say hi to your mom. You don’t need to be watching the entire show to participate. You can join text message in at any time during the airing. What do you have to lose? 99 cents, that’s all.
