Game Shows Without Home Box Games

[BillCullen1]

I don't recall a Couch Potatoes or a Wipeout (1988) home game. Then again, they were both one season wonders.

Wipeout did not have a box game, but there was a PC version. I played it at my friend's house. It used questions from the TV show.

[PYLdude]

I would like to see how they would've pulled off the Name's the Same. Seems like you'd need a card game meets 20 Questions kinda setup?

[The Ol' Guy]

50s style panel show home games can be tricky. The home games based on To Tell The Truth, Your First Impression, and I've Got A Secret either had ready-made questions and answers on their subjects, or, in the case of IGAS, borrowed a system from the game of Clue that had players figuring out which four phrases on the game board combined to make the "secret." You didn't have to be witty or have a broad range of knowledge to be a panelist or contestant. TV panelists are professional, glib, and have been auditioned before being chosen. The What's My Line? home game gave you a few sample panel questions and assumed you could be as deductive and witty as Arlene or Bennett, and the player pretending to have the occupation on their card knew enough about the job to answer questions with more than, "I'm not sure." Half (or more) of the entertainment from the classic panel shows came from the personalities on the panel and the laughs they generated. Those are a lot harder to duplicate at home, as compared to guessing a password or answering some quiz questions. Perhaps another reason a home game wasn't made was because the other shows had higher ratings than The Name's The Same, which bounced all over the place on the struggling ABC network. Then again, it's not like game companies never put out home versions of shows with so-so ratings. :-)

[gamed121683]

I don't recall a Couch Potatoes or a Wipeout (1988) home game. Then again, they were both one season wonders.

Wipeout did not have a box game, but there was a PC version. I played it at my friend's house. It used questions from the TV show.

I've always wondered this, could Wipeout be translated into a board game and if so how?

[The Ol' Guy]

First thought goes back to the classic MB or Pressman Concentration/Jeopardy setup. The company could modify their design to change the clear plastic windows board from 30 to 16 windows. Game material could be printed on sheets, placed behind a 16-spaced slotted grid with one answer showing through each window. The MC has the answer book. When a player calls out an answer on the board, the MC covers that window in the grid with a slide featuring either a dollar sign on it for a correct answer, or a black WIPEOUT slide if the player picked a bad answer. For the bonus game, use tinted transparent slides to cover your six answer choices. Could be done.

[JohnTheGameMan]

I know that Ideal made a rare home version of The Rebus Game, which lasted not even a year, so I thought of three more shows without box games that lasted a year or less:
The Big Showdown---if this lasted more than the five to six months it aired, I can see a home version of this.
Headline Chasers---Wink Martindale's one year gamer should have had a home game.  If MG's Crosswords had a home version, why not Headline Chasers?
The Money Maze---I would admit it would be harder to make a box game of this, but it could have been possible.

[Bob Zager]

I know that Ideal made a rare home version of The Rebus Game, which lasted not even a year

Now I've heard this before, but has a copy ever turned up?  It wouldn't surprise me if they had promoted a home game on the show, yet not be released.

A really good example of that happening was RunAround from Heatter-Quigley productions.  It was promoted every week, but I'd never found a copy in stores.  IIRC, it was an electric game from Lakeside Toys.  It may not have gotten released for safety reasons, or not meeting UL requirements.

[clemon79]

Headline Chasers---Wink Martindale's one year gamer should have had a home game.  If MG's Crosswords had a home version, why not Headline Chasers?

"This thing that sucked had a home game, so why not this thing that also sucks?" is not a compelling argument.

[The Ol' Guy]

I'm imagining we probably saw a prototype/test copy on The Rebus Game, unfortunately. It's such a memory. The ratings were not very good for Runaround. Only 13 episodes were produced and re-run until the year was up. With electronics involved instead of just ink on paper, Lakeside probably decided against the expense of producing a game that they found out was going to be dead in the water and probably going to be a Toys R Us red tag special almost as soon as it hit the shelves. Best guess, anyway.

[That Don Guy]

The ratings were not very good for Runaround. Only 13 episodes were produced and re-run until the year was up. With electronics involved instead of just ink on paper, Lakeside probably decided against the expense of producing a game that they found out was going to be dead in the water and probably going to be a Toys R Us red tag special almost as soon as it hit the shelves. Best guess, anyway.

What electronics did Runaround have, besides the lights?  Even the scores were kept by putting balls into the contestants' podiums.

Runaround had the same problem as JackPot (and yes, I know there was a home version of that; I owned it once) - it doesn't work very well without a lot of players.

[The Ol' Guy]

I read that all the tapes were wiped, which is one of the reasons why there's no  NBC episodes on YouTube. Maybe someone here has a copy on tape with the product plug, which has more details. Here's a video with the UK version - . If you'll pardon a guess, you'll note that once the kids stand under the answer they've chosen, the number of the correct answer lights up. Perhaps there was a similar design in the proposed home game where the answer reveal featured something on the board lighting up, either by the "mc" pushing a button, or some kind of question card with a code that could be inserted to make the lights work. 

[TimK2003]

The ratings were not very good for Runaround. Only 13 episodes were produced and re-run until the year was up. With electronics involved instead of just ink on paper, Lakeside probably decided against the expense of producing a game that they found out was going to be dead in the water and probably going to be a Toys R Us red tag special almost as soon as it hit the shelves. Best guess, anyway.

What electronics did Runaround have, besides the lights?  Even the scores were kept by putting balls into the contestants' podiums.

If you are talking the actual show, ISTR the kids would run up on and stand on one of 3 clear ramps, and the trilons(?) underneath would rotate around -- likely to reveal the correct answer.

[JohnTheGameMan]

I have happen to have two more shows without box games, both on GSN:
That's the Question---while this show lasted two seasons, there was never a box game, only an online game at the GSN website.
Russian Roulette---Another two season show, but maybe a little harder to replicate for a box game.
And yes, Lingo did have a home version made by Imagination Games, but does not have the number boards or Lingo balls.
The Chase did have an app version, but never a U.S. home game.  (In the U.K. they did have a board game that I know of.)

[clemon79]

Russian Roulette---Another two season show, but maybe a little harder to replicate for a box game.

Friend or Foe, for that matter. Because MY GAWD would that be a dreadful box game. (Which, you know, follows.)

[Unrealtor]

Russian Roulette---Another two season show, but maybe a little harder to replicate for a box game.

As long as you aren't expecting trap doors, it wouldn't be hard. Some multiple-choice questions, poker chips to keep score, and a spinner or die to determine whether a wrong answer eliminates you. For that matter something with six LEDs and a couple buttons to simulate the drop zones spinning wouldn't be that hard or extremely expensive to create either.