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Genius Game… and it’s just that… not, The Genius Game.
11 players have been selected for their exceptional qualities. It will requires their intelligence, lateral thinking and powers of persuasion.
They get a currency called Garnett? Like Alf Garnett? Either way, it’s worth £1000 and that’s what they start the game with. It can be used for bargaining and negotiation, but I’m more concerned that the box they’re given is like something from Hellraiser. Will David Tennant have such sights to show us?
The contestants have to play mind-bending games, and work with each other, even though they’re pitted against each other.
Each day has a Main Match and a Death Match. Win the former, and you’re safe; You can also save another player. Lose, and you’re a Death Match contestant. Lose that, and you’re gone.
The first game is Gold Heist. There are three vaults. Vault A has 5 bags of £1m each, B has 3 gold bars at£3m each, and C contains a gold crown containing £10m.
After going into the Diary Room… sorry, Dealer Room, and confirm what they’re going for. If they then successfully steal them, they get the cash value, but if too many go for it, they’ll be sent to jail until the next round.
Once they’ve all been in, the number of items stolen is revealed, but the thieves’ identities or players’ wealth are kept secret. After a total of four rounds, whoever’s in the lead will get two tokens of life and be immune from the Death Match. Whoever has the least will be the Death Match candidate.
If you steal at least £15m, you’re given a Garnett. Over £20m, and you get two Garnetts. The winner also gets one of these Alfs… I mean, Garnetts.
Also, if you can accurately predict another player’s Vault and their amount stolen, they go to jail. This process is called a tip-off.
So, there’s a lot to get your head round with this!
For the final game, The Death Game, there’s has shapes and colours, with additional background colours, all of which looking like it’s been lifted from The Adventure Game in the ’80s, when they came to the final round, The Vortex.
In this round, you have to put together a ‘set’, where the trio of items are either ALL completely different, or the same. Without explaining how it works, I think I got it. Watching additional episodes would help soothe my brain, same as when you’ve watched enough episodes of Countdown, for example.
Some of the contestants do feel a bit predictable, as it goes on, because they’re nasty buggers. For others, if you’re sent to jail, it does feel like you’re being picked on for no apparent reason. Also, there’s vox pops chat from each of them thrown in from time to time, although when they first arrive, almost every one of the contestants looks a bit… heightened, in some way.
However, additionally – and oddly – David Tennant is only ever on pre-recorded video, and not amongst the contestants.
Overall, though, Genius Game does feel far more complicated than it should be, and certainly shows who ISN’T a genius. However, can’t we just have Ultra Quiz back from the 1983? I loved that, and it went all the way round the world.
Genius Game begins tonight on ITV at 9pm, and then will be on ITVX.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but if it is in future, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Directors: Jeanette Goulbourn, James Tyndall
Presenter: David Tennant
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.