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| House of Games | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Richard Osman's House of Games |
| Genre | Quiz show |
| Directed by |
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| Presented by |
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| Theme music composer | Marc Sylvan |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 846 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Stuart Harrison |
| Production locations |
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| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Remarkable Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 4 September 2017 – present |
| Network | BBC One (primetime) |
| Release | 20 November 2020 – 5 November 2021 |
| Related | |
| Richard Osman's House of Games Night | |
House of Games (credited as Richard Osman's House of Games for its first nine series) is a British quiz show produced by Banijay UK Productions subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC. The show is played on a weekly basis, with four celebrities playing on five consecutive days to win daily prizes, and the weekly prize of being crowned as "House of Games" champion. Points are accrued depending on where each celebrity finishes on each day and the points are doubled on Friday's show.
Richard Osman hosted House of Games from its start in September 2017. In October 2026, he was replaced as host by actor Michael Sheen.
This section needs more citations. (March 2026) |
The host sits in a chair to the left of the screen, while the four celebrities sit in a line in individual chairs. The host hits a "buzzer" on his table, activating a round generator, which is displayed on a big screen. He then explains what the round is about and in what format it will take place – for example, whether it is a buzzer round, a pairs round, or one in which the players require use of their tablet computers. Five rounds are played each day, with the second round being played in pairs, and the final round always being "Answer Smash". The first round is quick general knowledge questions with a comic twist, such as rhyming words. The fourth round is typically "slow", where the question takes several minutes to be answered, and only one contestant receives a single point each time. In most games a point is awarded for each correct answer, but in "Answer Smash", points are also deducted for incorrect answers.
At the end of each day, the scores are announced and the winner wins a daily prize, which is usually a normal everyday object of some description with the "House of Games" logo imprinted on it (the logo being a turquoise-blue background with a depiction of the host's facial features). The points are then converted to four points for the winner, three for second place, two for third place and one for fourth place onto the weekly leader board; in Friday's "Double Points Friday" edition, the points awarded double to eight, six, four and two. The weekly winner receives the "House of Games" trophy (a silver cup with the host's depiction on it) from the host. If there are two players tied for first place at the end of the week, both players are declared joint winners and win a trophy each. In more recent episodes, a tie for first place is resolved by a tie-break question; the first to buzz in wins if they answer correctly or their opponent wins if they answer incorrectly.
Beginning with Series 3, special "House of Champions" episodes aired featuring players who had previously won a daily or weekly edition of the show coming back for another week to fight for the Gold Champions Trophy. There were also daily prizes, which were similar to the prizes on the regular version of the show. However, these prizes were mainly gold, rather than the turquoise-blue colour. From series 6 onwards, there were also special "Redemption" weeks with four previous losing contestants who had never won a day prize.
A week's worth of shows is recorded on a single day, so the celebrities are booked for only one day, changing outfits between shows.
This section may contain original research. (December 2023) |
Festive Series 1
Festive Series 2
Festive Series 3
Festive Series 4
| Series | Presenter | Episodes | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Osman | 15 | 4 September 2017 | 22 September 2017 |
| 2 | 50 | 28 May 2018 | 14 December 2018 | |
| 3 | 100 | 7 October 2019 | 13 March 2020 | |
| 4 | 100 | 12 October 2020 | 12 March 2021 | |
| 5 | 140 | 16 August 2021 | 29 April 2022 | |
| 6 | 100 | 5 September 2022 | 3 February 2023 | |
| 7 | 100 | 25 September 2023 | 1 March 2024 | |
| 8 | 100 | 23 September 2024 | 7 March 2025 | |
| 9 | 100 | 29 September 2025 | 27 March 2026 | |
| 10 | 5 | 28 September 2026 | 2 October 2026 | |
| Michael Sheen | 90 | 5 October 2026 | TBA |
On 20 November 2020, Osman launched a five-episode spin-off called Richard Osman's House of Games Night, broadcast weekly in primetime on BBC One. A one-episode Christmas Special aired on 28 December 2020. A second series, consisting of six episodes, began on 1 October 2021.
The series follows the exact same format as the main show, but with the addition of rounds not seen in the original. There are no double points in the final episode. Series 2 features a house band led by David O'Doherty. In 2022, House of Games Night was cancelled after two series.
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 November 2020 | 18 December 2020 | 5 |
| Christmas Special | 28 December 2020 | 1 | |
| 2 | 1 October 2021 | 5 November 2021 | 6 |
On 17 October 2019 BBC Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, published Richard Osman's House of Games: 101 new & classic games from the hit BBC series, a quizbook written by Osman and Alan Connor based on the programme.
| Country | Name | Host(s) | TV station | Premiere | Finale | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claire Hooper's House of Games | Claire Hooper | ABC TV | 21 April 2025 | 27 June 2025 |
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)