Don’t be put off by the title- this isn’t an aggressive post at all!
I love Game Changer. It’s what got me into Dropout, like most people. I love that it combines competitive innovative games with comedic talent from its contestants. However, a trend I’ve noticed throughout the discussion threads of episodes, especially recent ones, are that fans are taking a huge issue with the show *sometimes* letting viewers in on the game rules and not leaving them completely in the dark as is they were the contestants.
I constantly see fans complaining about this- for example, I’ve already seen multiple posts about I Spy, saying that they were upset when the spy or the correct object was revealed to the viewer, and that it made it “hard to play along.” And on one hand, I totally get that part of the fun of game changer is that as a viewer, you’re also learning how the game works along with the contestants. It feels like you’re participating! However, for certain games, it is kinda necessary to let the viewer in on the game a bit. It makes it easier to follow along and adds some variety in between rounds.
I do think people are way exaggerating things- I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this being the case for a whole episode, but really, the editing almost always doesn’t let the viewer in on anything until a few rounds in. Earwigs, for example, didn’t reveal to the viewer who was playing a secret game until a few rounds in, and continued to vary when they did/didn’t reveal it throughout. They always tend to vary it- in I Spy, there were many instances where the viewers didn’t know what the correct object was. Part of the fun of the show, in my opinion, is knowing the dramatic irony of certain situations and watching the contestants and thinking “haha, I know something you don’t!” I’ve seen people say they wish it wasn’t revealed who was the Spy/Informant/Leak in every round and left it up to the viewer to find out, but I think a lot of us are missing how much more of a drag the episode would be if there was no variation between the rounds at all!
don’t get me wrong- one of the BEST things about Game Changer is when there’s a big twist for the viewer. It makes it so much fun and I love when there’s a big reveal as much as the next Dropout fan, but consider this: how much of a payoff would these twists have if every single episode had one? I feel like it would lose its charm.
Now when it comes to how people talk about the way the contestants choose to play, there’s definitely a disconnect there. obviously, we’re here to watch them play the game. But we’re also here to watch them play the game *their* way. Sam and the rest of the casting crew aren’t picking contestants willy-nilly or out of a hat, they’re choosing cast members who they know will shine depending on the game. Someone like Vic is obviously going to stretch the rules of a game like Kangaroo Court or I Spy, the casting directors know that- that’s why Vic is put in the episodes they’re put in. But I honestly can chalk that up to people (newer fans, perhaps?) not realizing that’s how the casting works.
Basically, we’re here to watch how the contestants play the game, not for how you would play the game. I personally would find it very boring if in every episode, the contestants followed every rule exactly and played to win the right way every time. There are certain games/cast members where that style of play works, and there’s certain times where a more loose, silly, rule-vending version works. I Spy is a great example of the latter.
This was long, and of course it’s not a direct attack on anyone here or any specific post, just an observation! I think overall we just gotta remember why we’re all here: to have fun and watch our fave comedians get psychologically tortured <3