The Gogglebox Australia cast reckons the new show The Traitors is a little too reminiscent of some of our favourite childhood games, and we can’t help but agree.
ICYMI – the premiere episode of the “murder mystery” reality show saw 24 contestants come together in a posh AF hotel to complete a series of challenges, hoping to earn a LOT of moola. However, there’s a catch (because, duh!).
A chosen few contestants — AKA “the Traitors”- met secretly to devise a plan to “murder” their fellow players, known as “the Faithful”.
During the October 20 episode of Gogglebox Australia, our fave TV gurus sat down to watch The Traitors and they couldn’t help but compare the somewhat violent premise to a certain game from our youth.
NGL, we were also making a fair few comparisons to other titles (both playground and video games) while watching the show, so here are all the pastimes that hit us right in the nostalgia during The Traitors Australia.
Duck, Duck, Goose
Adam Densten kicked off the comparisons as host Rodger Corser selected the secret Traitors by putting his hand on the contestants’ shoulders while they were blindfolded.
“This feels like Duck, Duck, Goose,” he said.
In the children’s party game, one person is “it” and walks around outside the circle – just like Rodger did.
As the “it” person walks around, they tap the player’s heads (or shoulders, you do you) and say out loud whether they are a “duck” or a “goose”. Once someone is the “goose”, they get up and try to chase “it” around the circle.
Okay, someone needs to edit the audio of “duck, duck, goose” over that scene ASAP!
Heads Down, Thumbs Up
Meanwhile, we were getting major Heads Down, Thumbs Up vibes from the same selection segment.
There’s just something about the eyes closed, childhood-era ASMR energy that we can’t just get past.
BTW, if you lived inside a literal bubble as a child – Heads Down, Thumbs Up is a game where kids put their heads down while someone pinches their thumb. Then, each selected participant has to guess who chose them.
To be fair, it would be a short-lived game if they were playing Heads Down, Thumbs Up: “I pick Rodger,” … “I pick Rodger, too!”.
Murder in the Dark / Wink Murder / Killer, Killer / Lonely Ghost
If you ever did drama in school, this one has got to be familiar. TBH, there are few things more satisfying than pulling out an overdramatic, mimed death after your mate winks at you!
If you have no clue what we’re talking about – Wink Murder is a party parlour game where a secretly selected player “kills” others by winking at them; while the surviving players try to identify the killer.
Honestly, we wish The Traitors Australia was a little MORE like Wink Murder because Millie’s “death” during the premiere was pretty damn anti-climatic.
Werewolf / Mafia
If you’re trying to work out how “Werewolf” and “Mafia” could relate – congratulations, you never read fan fiction or Mills and Boon novels. But we digress!
In this context, the game Werewolf (or Mafia) is practically identical to the premise of The Traitors Australia.
Seriously, we half reckon one of the producers must have walked in on a children’s birthday party and thought, “Hey, that’s a good idea for a show!”.
If anything, the OG party game is actually more complex.
The game’s object is to identify and kill the werewolves (or mafia) amongst the villagers (general public). Replace those titles with Traitor and Faithful, and we’re pretty much good to go!
However, the party game has two extra roles – a doctor and a seer. Well, The Traitors does have the Doctor, Doctor!
The doctor must choose someone they think might have been killed to heal. The seer gets to guess one person they suspect is a werewolf, often collaborating with the other villagers.
Apparently, there are also wild cards like the Drunk, the Witch, and the Alpha Werewolf – but now we’re just confused, scared and a little excité…
Want even more goss? Listen to episode 224 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
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