House of Games

House of Games
Also known asRichard Osman's House of Games
GenreQuiz show
Directed by
  • Ollie Bartlett
  • John Smith
Presented by
Theme music composerMarc Sylvan
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series10
No. of episodes846
Production
Executive producers
  • Alexandra McLeod
  • Tamara Gilder
  • Richard Hague
  • Stephen Lovelock
ProducerStuart Harrison
Production locations
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companyRemarkable Entertainment
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release4 September 2017 (2017-09-04) –
present
NetworkBBC One (primetime)
Release20 November 2020 (2020-11-20) –
5 November 2021 (2021-11-05)
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.

Format

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.

Contestants

Weekly winners in bold.

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5

Series 6

Series 7

Series 8

Series 9

Series 10

Festive

Festive Series 1

Festive Series 2

Festive Series 3

Festive Series 4

Transmissions

SeriesPresenterEpisodesStart dateEnd date
1Richard Osman154 September 201722 September 2017
25028 May 201814 December 2018
31007 October 201913 March 2020
410012 October 202012 March 2021
514016 August 202129 April 2022
61005 September 20223 February 2023
710025 September 20231 March 2024
810023 September 20247 March 2025
910029 September 202527 March 2026
10528 September 20262 October 2026
Michael Sheen90 5 October 2026 TBA

Spin-offs

Richard Osman's House of Games Night

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.

Transmissions

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
120 November 202018 December 20205
Christmas Special28 December 20201
21 October 20215 November 20216

Contestants

Merchandise

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.

International versions

CountryNameHost(s)TV stationPremiereFinaleRef
Australia Claire Hooper's House of Games Claire Hooper ABC TV 21 April 2025 27 June 2025

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 This person finished on a negative score during one episode this week.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 This person won all five episodes in the week.
  3. ↑ The equal highest (20) and equal second highest (19) single episode score.
  4. ↑ The equal second highest single episode score (19).
  5. ↑ The equal highest single episode score (20).

References

  1. 1 2 3 Curtis, Chris; Farber, Alex (17 July 2020). "Entertainment shows wrestle with production restart". Broadcast.
  2. ↑ "Richard Osman on Twitter – 500th Episode". Twitter. 23 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Richard Osman quits quiz show House of Games after 'amazing nine years'". BBC News. 3 March 2026. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "Michael Sheen to host House Of Games on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  5. ↑ Stolworthy, Jacob (30 April 2026). "Richard Osman announces when he's handing House of Games keys to Michael Sheen". The Independent. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games". Kinetic Pixel. September 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 1, Episode 15". BBC Online. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 1, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 2, Episode 50". BBC Online. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 2, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 3, Episode 100". BBC Online. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 3, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  13. 1 2 "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 4, Episode 100". BBC Online. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 4, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  15. 1 2 "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 5, Episode 140". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 5, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  17. 1 2 "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 6, Episode 100". BBC Online. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  18. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 6, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 7, Episode 1". BBC Online. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  20. ↑ "BBC Two - House of Games, Series 10, Week 1: Monday". BBC. 28 September 2026. Retrieved 25 September 2026.
  21. 1 2 "BBC One – Richard Osman's House of Games Night, Series 1, Episode 1".
  22. 1 2 "BBC One – Richard Osman's House of Games Night, Series 1, Christmas Special".
  23. 1 2 "BBC One – Richard Osman's House of Games Night, Series 2, Episode 1".
  24. ↑ "BBC One – Richard Osman's House of Games Night, Series 1, Episode 5".
  25. ↑ "BBC One – Richard Osman's House of Games Night, Series 2, Episode 6".
  26. ↑ "Richard Osman's House of Games". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  27. ↑ Franks, Nico (25 March 2025). "Richard Osman's House of Games goes down under with new host on ABC". C21Media.net. Archived from the original on 8 April 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  28. ↑ Rugendyke, Louise (27 November 2025). "Australian TV 2026: What's new and what's back on our screens (and what's missing)". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 December 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)