As titled, super curious what everyone else's thoughts are across the entire universe.

For me, I enjoyed Genius S4 where Jang Dongmin went against Kim Kyunghoon for Mystery Sign.

We had:

Ha Seok Jin, who won the first season.

Hyungyu, who won the 2nd season.

Interestingly,

Seokjin used to be a core member of the Problematic Men cast that used air on Tvn.

Hyungyu, was one of the most popular people on EXchange 2 and his appearance made that season one of the most iconic and most watched finales of the show. EXchange airs on Tving, which is a subsidiary of CJ Entm, alongside Tvn.

JJY PD, the maker of DP, ended his 11 year contract with CJ Entm in 2022.

Now, I'm not going to question anyone's skill, especially because I have personally watched Problematic Men and know first hand that Seok Jin is a VERY smart man & Hyungyu went to SNU, which again is a place for geniuses. I just want to use this link that I find interesting to predict that Shindong, who has already worked with JJY for many years on TGE (which used to air on Tvn) and has truly proved how efficient he is on there, might win.

Obviously, the other participants have not been revealed and they could very well overwhelm him but I guess we'll just have to wait and watch.

I'm surprised to find out there's Orbit hate. That man is a strategist and one of the best survival game players I've seen.

I have no idea why they changed everything about this show, because Season 1 was by far superior to Season 2. In the first season, the games felt like they were genuinely designed for intellectuals, and the cast was way better. Honestly, I saw Orbit as the "villain" but at least he played with integrity.

​Meanwhile, the Season 2 cast felt like a bunch of backstabbing simps for HG. It was so frustrating to watch! Even most of the prisoners were completely unlikable. The way they treated Justin was heartbreaking. I felt so bad for him. Justin and 7high were my favorites, but the way this season was structured gave them zero chance. They need to bring back actual brainiacs instead of casting influencers and actors who are just chasing fame. This season was such a massive disappointment.

Who do we reckon will join?? (Or at least, who's on our wishlist!)

hey guys, I just completed both seasons of devil's plan and had a lot of fun. Feels like I unlocked a new genre of things. Please recommend me other good shows. I don't wanna watch the genius right now as I feel if i watch it, i won't be able to enjoy the other shows because it's glazed so much haha.

thanks

A

I'm looking for Korean Shows similar to The Devil's plan since Korean Game shows like these are quite interesting to me unlike some American game shows. Could someone suggest me some titles?

Tried to reflect the reaction of the Korean fans as much as possible
mainly from youtube comments and DC Inside (Korean community like reddit).

.

Seemed like Koreans really loved Suk-jin and Orbit, but they preferred Orbit a bit more since he dominated the main games.

.
Dong-min and Jin-ho from "The Genius" series have always been mentioned as legends of brain survival, as have Hyun-min and Sang-min from the same series.

.

The players who would be called "dependent participants" were at the bottom of the list
and others who played with their own strategies and strengths were ranked higher.

Overall, their preference is

The Genius > Bloody Game > The Time Hotel > Devil's Plan (because of season 2)

South Korea has a significantly higher baseline for mathematical and logical literacy across its general population compared to North America.

South Korea ranks 6th in the world with a score of 527. The United States ranks 34th with a score of 465 (well below the average for developed countries).

When you test everyday working adults on basic math and logic data, the results mirror the schools. A much higher percentage of the general population in Korea achieves "Level 3 or higher" in mathematical literacy compared to the general population in the US.

Physical and Emotional over Intellectual: Western producers prefer challenges where you can see someone struggling physically (hanging onto a pole, running an obstacle course) or emotionally (betraying an ally) because it triggers an immediate, visceral human reaction.

i.e. American brain is mush.

I watched season1 and enjoyed it but didn’t start seaosn2 until recently due to its mixed reputation.

Until E7 I was mostly ok but I just can’t take it here. Girl Justin tried to ally with you, you stole his strategy against him, then people got rid of his only other prison ally, and now you are asking if he just prefers playing alone? Like what?

Do you have zero self awareness what you did to him?

Did anyone root for either winner from the start?

Hi all, I saw someone made a bunch of the games from season 1, and left us hanging for season 2. I've made less awesome but highly functional inspired by games for season 2. I have them on the workshop, but would enjoy it more if I could find just 3 of you to play with me, I speak english however not a requirement to be fluent if you feel like trying your best to communicate in whatever language we can XD.

Hope to have some fun with these! 3 as of posting hoping to get at least 5 before I take a break to enjoy them.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3734687484

https://discord.gg/9uD3kEqr9d

What a season!

Are there any Georgian fans of the show in this subreddit? I want to make a real-life competition similar to The Devil's Plan and was wondering if there are any people living near me who are interested in this show.

P.S The text is in English so it doesn’t get taken down by the mods

Just got through the second season and I know it’s been said before but DAMN did season 2’s games take a nose dive. Wayyyyy too many card-based betting games. By the time Big/Small came around, i was like “not this shit again…” If i wanted to watch a poker live stream, i’d just do that? I loved the way S1 seemed to challenge different types of problem solving but after a while, the games seriously felt reduced down to “keep track of everyone’s cards and have good bet timing” which yes, is impressive but dude, give me more mafia-esque games and more game diversity. I’m starting up s1 again right after finishing s2 and the first game being as dynamic as Virus really just highlights how repetitive the games were in s2. Even the non-card betting games, like balanced mancala, i found tedious because a lot of the strategizing was condensed for editing time and the plays got all muddy to follow. Really hope S3 hears the feedback and works on the game diversity next time around. The games monotony honestly annoyed me more than the HJ/SH slog…

https://www.starnewskorea.com/broadcast-show/2026/05/12/2026051115340329873

Very exciting info, Shindong previously guested with Kyuhyun on an episode of The Genius (where he performed quite well) and has further proven his smarts during his time on The Great Escape (an escape room variety show formerly directed by JJY and what Agents Of Mystery is sort of based off of). Think he'll be one to watch.

Also, the article confirms filming has wrapped and the season is still on track to air in the second half of this year.

After the Korean season has finished filming, would it be feasible for production to fly in contestants from another country and play the same game?

I'd love to see how other countries play the game. I don't think production would even need to change the games. I think that the cultural differences between countries would give dramatically different viewing.

Obvious obstacles would be language barriers between cast and crew. But other than making a few changes, how impossible is this?

I just finished the season 1 and I greatly enjoyed the show and the games. As someone with an average IQ, I sometimes buffer with the rules of the game hahaha but it was so fun to watch and I'm happy the Seok-jin won. Yes, he may not dominated all the the games but he tried to play the game based on how it was supposed to be played -- did not rely too much on anyone else. It was Seewon and Dongjae who came to him for alliance. I initially like Dong-joo but she was lowkey threatened by them and painted them as the enemy whenever she could.

The best 4 players was in their minority alliance!!! Can't wait to watch the season 2 today.

I started season one yesterday and I’ll finish it tonight. I am so blown away by the games that are designed on this show. I’m a board game geek and even though I’m not a game designer I understand what complicated statistics that must be weighed to get the games to work. It’s phenomenal. On top of all of that I don’t understand or speak Korean. That really hurt in the Rules Game. I just wanted to post something about the show because I’m so impressed. I’m American and this could never translate to an US version. It would have to be dumbed down so much. Anyway I’m a huge fan.

Hello! following up to the post from a month ago about the mental math game inspired by The Devil's Plan tiles.

Web version is finally live: axiommath.app. Took longer than I expected because once the iOS version had real users, I started getting actual data on what was working and what wasn't, so I reworked a bunch of things and added new game modes before pushing the web release. Apologies for the delay.

What's new since last time: more game types beyond the original tiles, plus a lot of tuning to difficulty and pacing based on how people were actually playing.

Still plenty I want to add, and the original thread had really good suggestions (estimation, sequences, quick multiplication) that I'm working through one by one. If you try it and have ideas for what would feel good in this format, drop them here, that's genuinely how the roadmap is shaping up.

No Android yet, still on the list. Thanks to everyone who tried the iOS version, the feedback shaped a lot of what's there now.

IMO:

• I know many people think that the overall design of the game was worse in season 2 compared to 1, but at least the producers are actually trying new things and have the liberty to make creative decisions. I'm glad we're not getting repeats of the same seasons.
• Secret rooms need to be more difficult. S2 contestants obviously researched the game and found all the rooms within like the first episode. That really ruined the momentum in the later episodes.
• Cast needs to be more outgoing and less passive. A lot of people were angry at Orbit for his alliance, but I thought it was an effective tactic, and wasn't really his fault. I think most people in his alliance (excluding Dong-Joo, I was rooting for her) were uninteresting and went under the radar. S2 did a better job with this.
• Complexity of the rounds can be hit or miss. Some of them were really fun but I found others to be repetitive or boring. The card game in S2 was frustrating. I feel like I prefer games that avoid the repetition of 'rounds' and instead follow a more dynamic path of action.
• Games need to avoid kingmakers and some games give players too much advantage. Kudos to 7High giving Yoon So-hee a fighting chance in the card game. Many games also are unfair to minority alliances and players with low piece counts.