When I saw the promo for Race To Escape the first thing that popped into my head was the episode where Penny and Sheldon take a test to see if they could fall in love with each other. The subplot was the other guys going to a mystery room where they had to figure out puzzles to get out. This show is that subplot with two teams of strangers trying to figure out the puzzles and beat each other out of the room for money.
Two things-- There are game shows on the Science Channel? and Yeah, I watched. Any team that has a member who thinks they are smarter than everyone always loses. Does this mean any Doper will automatically never get any money on this game show?
It’s a fun show except for the snide commentary by Pardo. I’m amazed at some of the intuitive leaps by some of the contestants. I know for a fact that I’d either freeze up or be irrevocably side-tracked by some red herring mere seconds into the episode.
They try to put a thin veneer of Science! into the show via the commentary, but it is really just a game show.
I’ve enjoyed it so far. I like that it lets the viewer play along, at least to a certain extent; we get the clue and have some time to figure out what it means along with he contestants. Of course, we aren’t in the room and able to interact with things, so there’s a limit to how much we can participate. I don’t think the show would work if the viewers knew all the answers, or none, and it strikes a nice balance.
There’s an escape room place opening in Boston very soon. I’m looking forward to trying it.
The commentary is a little disappointing, but there are interesting psychological things going on. In one episode, two of the players started out blindfolded and handcuffed to giant Q-tips, one end of which was embedded in a lattice maze. The third player had to tell them how to move their Q-tips to where the lattice was wide enough to get them out. The first code was painted in large numbers on the maze, but neither team saw it at first. They got so focused on the detail that they couldn’t see the whole picture. That’s kinda fascinating.