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Ackery
Manyang Police Substation
Reality game shows shouldn't be fun just for the players
The Devil's Plan is a 12 episode reality game show, where 12 players must compete to gain the grand prize that can go up to 500.000.000 won (approximately 370.000 dollars). Being one of my most anticipated reality shows of 2023, I had certain expectations about it and after completing it, I'd generally say it was a decent watch that could be much better, if they handled some things properly.
Contestants: The 12 players taking part in the games seem to have different strengths and weaknesses.
The good:
+ All players are interesting to watch at first. Why? We don't know them, so like kids that get excited with their new toys, as viewers we are interested to learn more about their abilities, strategies and -of course- characters.
The bad:
- I am not sure what the production team thought when choosing some of the players. After the first 2-3 eps, some of them were literally invisible. They didn't know how to use any strategies and they offered nothing to the actual game. They just got to stay, because they were protected by the nature of the games.
The games: Here we go. The games are interesting and well-thought-out for the contestants that are taking part in them, but not as fun for the audience. There are two games in a day. I don't have any complains for the second one, since it was mostly suspensful, fast and fun to watch.
The first one is another case and here is why...
- Rules: Too many and complicated. In some games it is hard to understand, before they start playing. Why? The actual rules lasted up to 7 minutes. Am I supposed to stay focused, when someone with an awful mask is talking with an altered voice for 7 minutes straight?
- Time: The first games took too long. They could take an entire episode to finish and they got very boring.
- Revelations: Almost everything is secret about the identities or the advantages of the players in each round. As a result -the last 15 minutes aside where things got fun- it is not that easy for the viewer to immerse in the games.
- Advantages: The first few games are created in a way that even if you win and take an advantage, it's like you never got it. In other words, your previous win is worthless in the next game since you are in the same spot as all other players that could literally just have lost or done nothing.
- Pacing/Interaction with the audience: This is no Physical 100 where people fight and you have fun watching them trying to figure out who will win in one to one fights. This is a show about wits. If the audience can't somehow take part in the games, which is natural, they should at least be fast paced and fun to follow.
Even though I had fun watching the show and the time did pass relatively quick, it also felt like I was watching many people plotting and talking to each other about rules (that are hard to understand at first), while having secret roles they have revealed to one another (that I, as a viewer, don't know).
- Eliminations: They rarely happened in the first few eps. As a result, the games felt draggy and you didn't feel any suspense.
They could easily make this much more entertaining for the audience if they just changed some things.
1. This show needed more players. In that way, it would have more eliminations -so would be more entertaining to watch-, more capable contestants and most importantly it would be much more suspensful for the audience.
2. It needed one to one games. It had almost none and that made it hard to follow and it wasn't as investing as it could be.
3. Some players shouldn't have been chosen. They offered nothing but frustration and they are the main reason why this show wasn't as interesting as it could be.
4. Team games should have been less complicated. I am sorry, but I can't fully focus when someone is reciting rules for 10 minutes in a game that as a viewer, it is almost impossible to follow -at least in the first half- and I can't take any part in it.
5. Games should have been more entertaining for the audience. The games in the final are the perfect example of it. If they had decided to plan more games that the audience could follow from beggining to end and they didn't need huge teams to work, it would be an amazing game show.
All in all, the concept is interesting, the production quality is really good and many of the contestant choices were wise. I will also admit that the games are very well-thought-out and generally it is a very easy show to watch. However, it is a game show that it is much more interesting and fun for the contenstants than for the actual viewer that is watching it. It is a pity, because it could be a much better watching experience, if they had a different approach or at least a different editing team.
Contestants: The 12 players taking part in the games seem to have different strengths and weaknesses.
The good:
+ All players are interesting to watch at first. Why? We don't know them, so like kids that get excited with their new toys, as viewers we are interested to learn more about their abilities, strategies and -of course- characters.
The bad:
- I am not sure what the production team thought when choosing some of the players. After the first 2-3 eps, some of them were literally invisible. They didn't know how to use any strategies and they offered nothing to the actual game. They just got to stay, because they were protected by the nature of the games.
The games: Here we go. The games are interesting and well-thought-out for the contestants that are taking part in them, but not as fun for the audience. There are two games in a day. I don't have any complains for the second one, since it was mostly suspensful, fast and fun to watch.
The first one is another case and here is why...
- Rules: Too many and complicated. In some games it is hard to understand, before they start playing. Why? The actual rules lasted up to 7 minutes. Am I supposed to stay focused, when someone with an awful mask is talking with an altered voice for 7 minutes straight?
- Time: The first games took too long. They could take an entire episode to finish and they got very boring.
- Revelations: Almost everything is secret about the identities or the advantages of the players in each round. As a result -the last 15 minutes aside where things got fun- it is not that easy for the viewer to immerse in the games.
- Advantages: The first few games are created in a way that even if you win and take an advantage, it's like you never got it. In other words, your previous win is worthless in the next game since you are in the same spot as all other players that could literally just have lost or done nothing.
- Pacing/Interaction with the audience: This is no Physical 100 where people fight and you have fun watching them trying to figure out who will win in one to one fights. This is a show about wits. If the audience can't somehow take part in the games, which is natural, they should at least be fast paced and fun to follow.
Even though I had fun watching the show and the time did pass relatively quick, it also felt like I was watching many people plotting and talking to each other about rules (that are hard to understand at first), while having secret roles they have revealed to one another (that I, as a viewer, don't know).
- Eliminations: They rarely happened in the first few eps. As a result, the games felt draggy and you didn't feel any suspense.
They could easily make this much more entertaining for the audience if they just changed some things.
1. This show needed more players. In that way, it would have more eliminations -so would be more entertaining to watch-, more capable contestants and most importantly it would be much more suspensful for the audience.
2. It needed one to one games. It had almost none and that made it hard to follow and it wasn't as investing as it could be.
3. Some players shouldn't have been chosen. They offered nothing but frustration and they are the main reason why this show wasn't as interesting as it could be.
4. Team games should have been less complicated. I am sorry, but I can't fully focus when someone is reciting rules for 10 minutes in a game that as a viewer, it is almost impossible to follow -at least in the first half- and I can't take any part in it.
5. Games should have been more entertaining for the audience. The games in the final are the perfect example of it. If they had decided to plan more games that the audience could follow from beggining to end and they didn't need huge teams to work, it would be an amazing game show.
All in all, the concept is interesting, the production quality is really good and many of the contestant choices were wise. I will also admit that the games are very well-thought-out and generally it is a very easy show to watch. However, it is a game show that it is much more interesting and fun for the contenstants than for the actual viewer that is watching it. It is a pity, because it could be a much better watching experience, if they had a different approach or at least a different editing team.
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