Television series
Ellen's Game of Games
Ellen DeGeneres takes the goofy party games from her talk show and blows them up into an hour of giant, ridiculous spectacle - people plunging into foam pits, sweating under trivia pressure, chasing a cash prize while she needles them from the control booth. It's bright, broad, disposable fun: the TV equivalent of a birthday party, built for easy laughs rather than suspense or skill.
If you liked this
Holey Moley2019
Same giddy DNA - giant obstacle courses, gleeful commentary, contestants getting drenched and humiliated in equal measure - just filtered through a mini-golf theme instead of talk-show games.
But If sports parody isn't your thing, the golf framing might wear thin faster than the general chaos does.
Wipeout2008
Pure slapstick obstacle-course carnage with hosts riffing over every faceplant - the closest thing to mindless joy television has produced.
But No trivia, no strategy, just falling into mud repeatedly - the novelty can wear off after a few episodes.
The Wall2016no page yet
Same network, same appetite for huge cash stakes, but swaps physical comedy for genuine white-knuckle suspense as balls drop toward life-changing money.
But Quieter and more trivia-driven - if you want physical chaos, this feels almost sedate by comparison.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Squid Game2021
Strip away the comedy and the two shows share identical bones: strangers, giant games borrowed from childhood, one enormous cash prize at the end.
Ordinary people compete in oversized childhood games for a life-changing purse - the exact structural skeleton of Ellen's show, minus the laughter and plus real dread.
But It's a violent, subtitled Korean drama where people die - tonally about as far from studio-audience fun as television gets.
More like this (7)
Minute to Win It2010no page yet
Bite-sized physical challenges against the clock, with a host whose enthusiasm never dips - satisfying in short, snackable bursts.
But The format repeats itself quickly and the stakes look smaller on screen than they should.
Fear Factor2001
Takes the same premise - ordinary people, absurd challenges, cash prize - and cranks it toward genuine gross-out extremity and real nerve.
But Much darker and grosser in tone - if you wanted comedy this delivers dread and bug-eating instead.
American Ninja Warrior2009
Trades the jokes for genuine athletic awe - the obstacle-course structure escalates beautifully and the stakes feel real.
But It plays it straight as sincere sports competition, with none of the goofball host energy you came for.
Idiotest2014no page yet
Puzzle-and-trivia games with a wry comic host duo - smaller scale, but the same delight in watching smart people momentarily lose their minds.
But Lower budget, smaller stakes, and a quieter sense of humor than the supersized spectacle you're used to.
Supermarket Sweep2020
Frantic shopping-cart chaos and retro game-show energy make this an easy, breezy watch when you want zero stakes and maximum fun.
But One-note format with far less variety than Ellen's rotating roster of games - can feel thin over a full episode.
Takeshi's Castle1986
This is the actual ancestor of the giant-games-ordinary-people format Ellen's show repackages with better lighting and higher production values.
Giant absurd obstacles, cheerfully humiliated contestants, gloriously bad English dubbing - the chaotic joy of watching people flail through impossible courses, decades before Wipeout existed.
But The dubbing is deliberately ridiculous and the production values are ancient - it can feel like watching a museum piece rather than a show.
Legends of the Hidden Temple1993
A proto-version of the elaborate physical-game-show-with-a-host template, made for kids before adults got their own supersized copy.
Nickelodeon's own oversized obstacle courses, complete with costumed temple guards and pendulums of doom - the format's earlier, scrappier, kid-sized cousin.
But It's a children's show with a plastic trophy for a prize, not cash - the stakes and pacing feel deliberately smaller.
People
Cast
Ellen DeGeneresHost
Stephen "tWitch" BossAnnouncer
Production
- Daniel NorrisCo-Executive Producer
- Noah BonnettCo-Executive Producer
- Andy LassnerExecutive Producer
- Daniel NorrisExecutive Producer
- David A. HurwitzExecutive Producer
- Derek WesterveltExecutive Producer
- Ed GlavinExecutive Producer
- Ellen DeGeneresExecutive Producer
- Jeff KleemanExecutive Producer
- Kevin A. Leman IIExecutive Producer
- Mary ConnellyExecutive Producer
- Noah BonnettExecutive Producer