annashay 
By Joshua Tyler
| Updated
Ask people what the most strategic game show is, and they’re likely to answer Jeopardy! or something like Wheel of Fortune. Geeks know better.
Even the brainiest of those traditional game shows are little better than a memorization game. Rote memorization isn’t thinking.
Over the past two decades, television has used reality programming to transform the broadcast game-playing space into a battle of wits. Super smart, sometimes rockstar-like contestants use their brains to outthink their opponents. It’s the most compelling and enlightening way to get an intimate understanding of human nature by watching a screen.
These are the best strategy game shows of all time, ranked.
5. The Mole
When The Mole premiered on ABC in 2001, it brought a new kind of reality game to television, one built less on physical endurance and more on psychological warfare. Based on the Belgian series De Mol, the show featured a group of contestants traveling together, completing challenges to add money to a group pot. But one of them, the Mole, secretly worked for the producers, subtly sabotaging those efforts from within.
Anderson Cooper hosted the original U.S. version before he became a household name at CNN. It returned in various forms over the years, including a short-lived celebrity edition and, more recently, a Netflix revival in 2022.
What makes The Mole stand out isn’t just the sabotage; it’s how the game is won. There were no tribal councils or popularity votes. Instead, at the end of each episode, players took a quiz on the identity and behavior of the Mole. The person who knows the least is eliminated. That means observation and deduction are the real skills being tested.
Unlike many reality shows, The Mole rewards quiet strategy, memory, and logic. It turns reality TV into a mystery novel, unfolding in real time, with the audience guessing right along with the players.
4. The Devil’s Plan
The Devil’s Plan is a Netflix production and the brainchild of Jung Jong‑yeon, creator of The Genius, a Korean show you’ll hear a lot more about later on in this list.
Unlike survival or vote-based formats, it brings 12-14 contestants to live in a staged environment where they play games to survive. Every day features a Main Match, a competitive strategy game where players wager and lose “Pieces.” Players with the fewest pieces go to prison, where they play against each other in a Death Match for survival.
Success hinges on negotiation, memory, logic, math skills, board-game tactics, and hidden deductions. Games range from Mafia-style “Virus” to auctions, logic puzzles, and collaborative challenges. Hidden chambers reward clever players, or cost them everything.
The first season of the show was a mild hit, but it never quite worked. Had The Devil’s Plan ended there, it would not have made this list, but in 2025, it returned for a second season on Netflix, tweaking the show to add new layers. Those new layers more strongly encourage backstabbing and self-interested play, elevating the experience for viewers.
If there is a third season, it’s easy to imagine The Devil’s Plan ending up even higher on this list.
3. Survivor
When Survivor debuted on CBS in 2000, it reshaped television overnight. Adapted from the Swedish series Expedition Robinson, the show dropped sixteen strangers into a remote location, initially Borneo, and challenged them to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other. The format was simple: compete in physical and mental challenges, form alliances, and vote each other out one by one until only one player remained to claim the million-dollar prize.
What made Survivor revolutionary wasn’t just the setting or the competition; it was the social game. Contestants had to build trust while planning betrayals. Winning challenges could earn safety, but navigating group dynamics was far more important.
Richard Hatch, the show’s first winner, cemented the idea that strategy was paramount by pioneering the alliance strategy, proving that manipulation and foresight were as valuable as strength or endurance. He made it possible for strategy games to exist on television.
Over 40 seasons later, Survivor has evolved, adding hidden immunity idols, secret advantages, and complex twists like Exile Island and the Fire Tokens economy. At its core, the show remains a social strategy game disguised as an adventure. It’s not just a survival contest. It’s a long-form game of chess played on a beach, where the board shifts constantly, and the other players try to flip it over.
2. Big Brother
When Big Brother premiered on CBS in 2000, it looked like just another reality experiment. In Season 2, the network totally revamped the show, and it quietly evolved into one of the most complex and enduring strategy games on TV.
The core premise is to lock a group of strangers in a camera-filled house, cut them off from the outside world, and have them vote each other out, one by one, until only a single winner remains. Underneath the simple structure is a layered, evolving game of social and strategic manipulation.
Each week, a new Head of Household (HoH) nominates two players for eviction. Then comes the Power of Veto, where alliances shift, threats get exposed, and loyalties are tested. What makes Big Brother strategic isn’t only its format, but also how much control is given to the players. Lies, secret alliances, backdoor blindsides, these aren’t show twists, they’re gameplay.
27 seasons in and still going strong, Big Brother US has added complexity: hidden powers, double evictions, team formats, and even fan-controlled missions. On the surface, it often looks silly and ridiculous.
The production goes out of its way to emphasize drama, romance and campiness. Hidden beneath all that silliness, the core of the US version is a psychological pressure cooker where you can’t hide, and every move is watched. It all happens in real time, with viewers able to watch what’s happening 24/7 on live cameras, totally unedited.
There are versions of Big Brother in many other countries. But no other version, except the Canadian version, is a strategy game.
Big Brother‘s greatest players are mastermind icons.
Dr. Will Kirby, a plastic surgeon, manipulated the entire house around him by telling him he hated them and didn’t care about the game.
Dan Gheesling, a high school football coach turned Twitch gamer, saved himself from certain doom by holding his own funeral.
Derrick Lavasser, an undercover cop, was a social chameleon who subtly changed his appearance and mannerisms to manipulate players.
Big Brother is an ever-shifting game of social chess unlike any other. And the best players? They don’t just survive. They convince everyone else to help them win.
1. The Genius
When The Genius premiered on South Korea’s tvN in April 2013, it introduced a razor-sharp competition centered entirely around brains, not brawn. Thirteen hand-picked players, ranging from students and mathematicians to comedians and politicians, competed in a week‑by‑week test of wit through meticulously designed games.
Each episode is split into two phases:
Main Match: All players battle in a unique intellectual or social game, anything from auctions to Mafia‑style deduction, strategic board‑game setups, and memory puzzles. Winners earn a Token of Life and additional in‑game currency called garnets, worth ₩1 million each
Death Match: The lowest performer in the Main Match faces off in a head‑to‑head duel—rock‑paper‑scissors, card games, logical puzzles. The loser is eliminated.
Strategy is everything. Players form alliances, broker deals with garnets, and parse hidden info. From Season 2’s “Seat Exchange” and Season 1’s “Zombie Game” to Season 3’s “Swords and Shields” and Season 4’s “Today’s Menu,” each challenge demands adaptability and foresight.
Across four seasons (48 episodes), The Genius is a landmark for cerebral gameplay. It’s a live chess match, with smart people playing smart games for smart viewers. For fans of strategy, it’s the ultimate master class.
In a game filled with beautiful models, physicists, and pro poker players, the show’s smartest ever player? Jang Dong-Min, a middle-aged, mid-level comedian with a high-school education and an incredible ability to think outside the box, read his opponents, and find a way to win.
