Do you have a friend who loves Wheel of Fortune? Or perhaps they grew up watching Jeopardy? Or maybe they just love competition, but aren’t obsessed with sports? Well, next time their birthday rolls around, do I have just the thing for them! Great Big Game Show is just what it sounds like: a live, in-person game show you can do with your friends, with a real-life host and a variety of incredibly fun games. I recently brought one of my best friends to the Great Big Game Show for his birthday, and it was truly so much more fun and exciting than we ever expected.
The company that runs Great Big Game Show also runs The Escape Game, a series of incredibly well-produced and designed escape rooms. Luckily, I got the chance to do both of the events back to back, and while I was expecting The Escape Game to way outshine Great Big Game Show, I was pleasantly surprised when the novelty and production of the Game Show impressed my friends and me so much. That is not to say The Escape Game was bad; in fact, it was one of the best escape room games I have ever played, and I have done at least 10 different escape experiences prior.
The Escape Game has several options of beautifully decorated Escape Room games offered at each location, and my group did Timeliner: Train Through Time, which was legitimately so much fun. With a variety of different puzzles, multiple rooms, and well-crafted design pieces, Timeliner was one of the most immersive and exciting Escape games I have experienced. I would highly recommend anyone check out The Escape Game if they want to try a refreshingly well-produced Escape game.
Now, back to Great Big Game Show. I went with six other friends, so we were competing against each other on the Blue and Red teams in groups of three and four. The live host, Justin, was very kind and knowledgeable, and treated the event like it was a real game show you’d watch on TV. There areover 17 rotating minigames you can play, and each time you go to Great Big Game Show, only a certain number of games are randomly selected, so each visit is unique.
The games were fast-paced, but explained really easily with barely any confusion. The live game host controls when the games start, and was incredibly helpful throughout the experience. The games are also not just trivia; there are physical games, like seeing which team could build the bigger tower out of different-shaped foam blocks. Not only are the games well designed, but the props are very well produced, and not cheap. From massive oversized pencils to a big Plinko board, and even a life-size spinning wheel, it really felt like we were competing for real. It really was an impressive experience, way exceeding any of my expectations.
If you’re interested in playing Great Big Game Show, this specific event is offered at 14 different locations spanning across the United States, and it seems like they are consistently opening new locations. I went to the new Downtown Seattle location, which only opened a week ago, and they already seemed like experts. And, if you’re even more into the idea of trying out one of the many different rooms offered in The Escape Game, you can check out their more than 50 locations in 23 states! At my Seattle location, it costs $44.95 per person per game, so it is definitely not a cheap party, but in my opinion, it is more than worth it for a birthday event, major celebration, or a boring afternoon on a rainy day. Plus, my location was offering a discount if you signed up to play both Great Big Game Show and The Escape Game at the same time!
When I was heading to the Great Big Game Show, I was honestly getting ready to be a bit disappointed. It just sounded like something that could have been really easily phoned in, but boy, was I wrong! Not only was there so much care and attention put into designing the experience, but the live host made the whole thing feel so immersive and real. My friends and I were all having so much fun the entire time and couldn’t stop saying good things about it afterwards. If you want some fun team bonding with coworkers, to celebrate a birthday, or to just make a great memory with friends, I would highly recommend booking a visit to go play the Great Big Game Show… and why not break free from a room in The Escape Game while you’re at it!
Disclaimer: I was invited to attend both Great Big Game Show and The Escape Game for free in exchange for an honest review.
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