Let’s be clear here, if you hadn’t guessed I don’t love the Crystal Maze reboot. At its best it’s OK, but it shouldn’t just be OK, it should be one of the best things on TV.

From having fewer games to concentrate on the contestants’ personalities, to the tediously matey social media presence, to declaring the games to be “multilayered” which seems to just mean “you have to get TWO riddles right instead of one now” and various other issues in between, not least Richard Ayoade’s wildly inconsistent likability as Mazemaster, it’s been a very difficult series to love. And there are still eight more of this one to be shown! Instead of making The Ironic Crystal Maze, they should have just tried making The Crystal Maze.

And yet! There may be interest from an unlikely source in the form of the official Christmas cash-in book which I’m sure they’d love to advertise on telly, only there was very definitely always going to be a split in the series at this juncture. Out Thursday, it’s The Crystal Maze Challenge. It promises to let you play the show in your very own home with over 100 ideas.

And this might be ingenious. I suspect there is nobody reading, of a certain age and persuasion, who didn’t try and emulate The Crystal Maze in their bedrooms with friends in some capacity, even if it’s just endless variants of The Floor Is Lava or throwing things at cuddly toys. What will this book teach us? I do hope it’s not as disappointing as the show.

It’s priced £7.50 on Kindle, but the hardback version can be ordered in many places for £7. I hope to devour it over the next day or so when it downloads.

What were your homemade Crystal Maze games from twenty years ago?

About a year ago, unofficial Bother’s Bar German correspondent Nico W alerted us to new German digital channel RTL Plus and its idea of making new episodes of classic gameshows and rather cleverly using the same adapted set for all of them. We wrote about the new version of Jeopardy here. These still seem to be in production.

The other night we watched the new version of Der Preis ist Heiss which has just launched, apparently to decent numbers. It was quite interesting.

• They’ve got some of the music from the US show, and it’s gold and glittery everywhere. However quite clearly the set has also been built with a Geh Aufs Ganze/Let’s Make A Deal revival in mind seeing as it’s dominated by three large round doors in the background.
• Prize levels were interesting. In the main the range probably not all that different to what was on offer in the UK in the 80s – lots of small items, occasionally a major prize would be in the low thousands.
• It seems a real shame not much has gone into the game set ups really, largely it’s functional things bought on standard plinths.
• There were a couple of interesting things though. They seemed to have made an effort for their version of Cliffhanger although for whatever reason each of the three items has been given a range of about €30, and the mountain climber has 30 steps instead of twenty-five. It did feel like you could go down the middle each time and win but I may be wrong on that.
• They played a game with no US equivalent I don’t think called Ratselcent. Four products (worth €x.xx) and four prices. The contestant seemed to have two goes to put the prices in the right place next to the right product, correct placements locked in place. If they solve this bit of the puzzle, they must then select which column reading downwards was the four figure price of the major prize on offer (a nice table/bar thing) in order to win it.
• The Showcase Showdown is only one spin of the wheel. Don’t know if there’s a prize for landing on 100. Like in the US they spin after each half so there’s two players for the Showcase Final (or the Superpreis as they call it here)
• Showcase is quite fun, they’ve put some effort into making it feel like a bit of a comedy sketch. Both contestants bid on the same showcase, and if my understanding is correct not only do they have to be nearest they’ve got to be within €1000 without going over. This was a five figure showcase so that feels quite challenging.

So some fun ideas but can’t escape looking a bit cheap. If you are able to use the dark arts, you can find it on tvnow.de although be aware the catch-up service can put the ads in quite unusual places. You don’t have to be registered for free shows, which most of RTL Plus seems to fall under.

The Jackbox Party Pack 4 launches across digital channels over the next week and to celebrate we’re doing another Bother’s Bar Game Night next Saturday night, showcasing all the new games.

However I felt as this is a sort of special occasion it should have a special theme, therefore BBGN8 is going to be a Champion of Champions affair, with previous winners (and of course Team Audience) earning the right to battle it out on the new games first.

BUT! There are one or two who can’t make the night which is a pity, but I thought I would use this as an opportunity.

Are you or have you ever been a CHAMPION at something? Can you prove that? And are you free from just before 9pm to around midnight next Saturday? And do you want to be part of the panel? Here’s an opportunity. Get in touch.

Incidentally, if you want your own copy, Bundle Stars has 15% off if you pre-order the Steam version through them – you can put the Steam key into Steam immediately and it will be available to download it when it releases Thursday.

A producer has been in touch:

On Tuesday 17th October, we shall be filming a run-through of a brand new high-stakes quiz show. Hosted by award-winning comedian Jason Manford, this is a game that tests knowledge and nerve, a dramatic quiz show format that’s not for the faint hearted.

The event will take place next Tuesday afternoon at The Bedford in Balham.

If you like to join us for an afternoon of fun and excitement, then apply now through this link: http://www.sroaudiences.com/application.asp?show_id=3054

Quite short notice, but if you’ve got nothing better to do then go for it.

This has just popped up on my Youtube, an episode of Game Show Gauntlet I recorded with Cory Anotado of @pacdude and Buzzerblog fame last week.

We’ve covered GSG before, previously two people battled it out over challenges based on US and international gameshows, there were lots of games and it was fun.

Recently it’s been bought back in a Solo Mix format – five challenges, and then only the most brave and courageous can risk their winnings on Box 23. You’d struggle to call it balanced, but it’s an entertaining half hour regardless. Top two at the end of the series come back for an explosive finale.