The 16 best game shows on Netflix to watch right now

The streamer has no shortage of silly contests and social competitions.

Game shows provide a singular form of entertainment. In sub-60-minute episodes, you get competitions filled with high stakes, colorful characters, bonkers sets, and human drama. However, not all game shows are winners, and there’s a lot of reality TV roughage to dig through in pursuit of a few diamonds.

But that doesn't mean you have to stop reaching for that buzzer...er, remote. No more boring slogs through forgettable series; with this guide, you can start playing along at home. Here are the best game shows on Netflix right now.

Awake: The Million Dollar Game (2019)

It’s true that Awake: The Million Dollar Game is mostly built around a single gimmick, but trust us, it’s an enticing one. On this game show, contestants compete in challenges designed to test both body and mind. The antics aren't all that original, but what makes the show unique is that everyone competing has been awake for 24 hours straight. This makes challenges like calculating how much money they’ve collected incredibly difficult, and there’s a certain meta-enjoyment in watching contestants who look as tired as you feel during a late-night binge session.

Where to watch Awake: The Million Dollar Game: Netflix

Blown Away (2019–present)

It’s easy to scoff at how little reality is left in reality TV. That's not the case with Blown Away, though; the game show pits 10 glassblowers against each other for industry-specific prizes like an artist residency at the Corning Museum of Glass, and each contestant brings some major skills to the table. That emphasis on craft adds a captivating element to the competition because even if you dislike the personalities involved, it's impossible not to marvel at their amazing creations.

Where to watch Blown Away: Netflix

Bull---: The Game Show (2022–present)

Bulls---: The Game Show stands out in the quiz show subgenre because players can win points by giving the correct answer or, more interestingly, giving incorrect answers that their opponents think are correct. That structure will particularly resonate with fans of Jackbox Games (Fibbage anyone?). Fortunately, you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this series, and it's surprisingly entertaining to watch contestants pull off convincing lies in the search for cold, hard cash.

Where to watch Bulls---: The Game Show: Netflix

The Circle (2020–present)

If you can get over how much this dating game show feels like an episode of Black Mirror, The Circle makes for weirdly compelling viewing. Single contestants live in separate housing and can only mingle via technology, which allows them to potentially misrepresent who they are. This is important because each of these would-be influencers is rating each other, and the lowest among them gets kicked out, so staying popular through catfishing is a common tactic. Whether you love social media or are horrified by it, it's a wild time watching contestants fake and schmooze their way to victory.

Where to watch The Circle: Netflix

Related content: The Circle season 6 winner explains that shocking ending: 'I'm the silent killer'

The Devil's Plan (2023–present)

The Devil's Plan has a little bit of everything. This South Korean series alternates between competitive and collaborative contests, and challenges run the gamut from board games and card games to memory tests and social deduction. There can only be one winner, though, and there's plenty of drama stemming from how players spend their "pieces" (in-game currency) and even break ties to determine who among them gets sent to a virtual jail. Of course, the couch may become your own self-imposed prison once you begin properly binge-watching.

Where to watch The Devil’s Plan: Netflix

Flinch (2019)

Competitors are subjected to a variety of extreme conditions in this British series. If they avoid flinching, they're fine, but if they do shrink away, things get progressively worse for them. It's a show where players are zapped, submerged underwater, and even covered in maggots. Admittedly, that may make it a bit too gross and intense for some viewers, but for those seeking a horror movie masquerading as a game show, this will do.

Where to watch Flinch: Netflix

Floor Is Lava (2020–2022)

Most children have playfully leaped between furniture to avoid touching the ground (and, in their minds, escape certain death). Floor Is Lava brings that imagined fantasy to life by making contestants navigate difficult obstacle courses overflowing (literally) with red goo that simulates lava. The show adds some of its own rules (like the need to snag an exit pass to complete the course), but for the most part, it's a perfectly gonzo recreation of the original game, and the whimsical design leads to some surprisingly intense competitions.

Where to watch Floor Is Lava: Netflix

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The Great British Baking Show (2010–present)

The Great British Baking Show might be the most relaxing contest ever televised. Eschewing the bitter fighting and melodrama typical of other reality programs, this friendly competition instead features lighthearted hosts and hopeful contestants who only fight for glory. There are no misleading edits or false countdowns here, just good bakers trying to do their best. Such an approach naturally elicits warm fuzzies, making for a sublime streaming pleasure.

Where to watch The Great British Baking Show: Netflix

Related content: Big Brother star and actress Alison Hammond replaces Matt Lucas as Great British Baking Show host

Holey Moley (2019–2022)

Holey Moley turns putt-putt into a major competition, one where contestants play on a paradoxically oversized miniature golf course and complete a series of sudden-death matchups. This gives the show a brisk pace, and commentary from hosts like NBA star Stephen Curry adds an air of sports verisimilitude to the silly setting. It even reminds us a bit of Ultimate Beastmaster, because no matter who is playing or even hosting, the real star is the expert set design.

Where to watch Holey Moley: Netflix

Related content: Watch Holey Moley contestant make 'miracle' shot on tricky Dutch windmill course

Interior Design Masters (2019–present)

Interior Design Masters appeals to both industry professionals and enthusiastic amateurs (like most of us watching at home). In fact, the game show revolves around novices testing their design skills in various client challenges for a commercial contract prize. As a casual viewer, it's fun to vibe with the quirky contestants of this British series — and to ask ourselves if we could do it better.

Where to watch Interior Design Masters: Netflix

Is It Cake? (2022–present)

Is It Cake? may be the game show manifestation of a meme, but that doesn't keep it from being seriously entertaining. As the name implies, the series is all about chefs baking desserts that look like ordinary objects. Their goal is simple: to fool celebrity judges who must determine which of the objects placed in front of them is, in fact, cake. Even after watching them get made, it often feels downright impossible to believe some of these items are secretly sweet treats.

Where to watch Is It Cake?: Netflix

Related content: Shocking judging fail on Netflix's Is It Cake, Too? leads to emotional elimination: 'Let's shake that off'

Nailed It! (2018–present)

Nailed It! became a viral sensation because its producers realized the real appeal of cooking competitions: watching people fail spectacularly. On this Netflix game show, (extremely) amateur chefs do their best to recreate Pinterest-worthy sweets, and the varied results inspire more belly laughs than belly rumbles. Fortunately, hosts Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres keep things nice and light, and it always feels like they are laughing with the contestants rather than at them.

Where to watch Nailed It!: Netflix

Related content: Home bakers go 'haywire' in trailer for Nailed It! spinoff The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge

Snack vs. Chef (2022)

Snack vs. Chef has a fun culinary conceit: Instead of asking players to cook gourmet dishes, the hosts challenge them to create their own version of iconic snacks such as Oreos and Pringles. What's more, the next stage asks contestants to whip up a new snack that incorporates the best elements of the original. If nothing else, watching this game show will give you new respect for how hard it is to invent something new to nom.

Where to watch Snack vs. Chef: Netflix

Squid Game: The Challenge (2023–present)

The original Squid Game painted an appropriately bleak portrait of capitalism by showing poor contestants competing for cash, even though all but one of them will die. Eyebrows initially furled at the thought of turning the dystopian premise into a real game show, but Squid Game: The Challenge works surprisingly well within its limitations. The game's stakes aren’t life and death like in the fictional series, but as EW's critic put it, "Producers intensify the psychological pressure...Selflessness usually isn't rewarded, nor does selfishness guarantee safety, and it’s fascinating to watch the unexpected ways these opposing sentiments come into play."

Where to watch Squid Game: The Challenge: Netflix

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Related content: Squid Game: The Challenge players reveal what they ate, took from the set and more

Ultimate Beastmaster (2017–2018)

We were admittedly a little sad to discover that Ultimate Beastmaster had nothing to do with the wild Beastmaster films from the '80s and '90s. Still, this game show has its own animalistic appeal as we watch contestants compete against one another on "the Beast," an ever-changing obstacle course meant to challenge their physical prowess. The stark aesthetic appeal of the Beast is one of the main draws, and fans of American Ninja Warrior will likely enjoy the different tweaks this show has made to a proven reality TV formula.

Where to watch Ultimate Beastmaster: Netflix

Related content: Ultimate Beastmaster vs. Ninja Warrior: An honest comparison

Wipeout (2008–2014)

Sure, it's nice to see some of the biggest brains in the world compete over trivia questions. Every now and then, though, we're in the mood to see contestants navigate a bonkers obstacle course from hell for $50,000, and that's the kind of unique pleasure Wipeout delivers. If you imagine a weird mashup of American Gladiators and American Ninja Warrior, you'll have an idea of what the series is like. Complete with quippy ESPN-style commentary, this game show is seriously unserious — and that’s why we love it.

Where to watch Wipeout: Netflix

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.