Got Game? You Will Love Austin’s Only Game Show Experience
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Baptiste Despois
Got a competitive family? Have a score to settle? Need a team building activity? Whatever the reason, GameOn! ATX is the game show arena to host a little friendly competition.
“We wanted people to play games here that they couldn’t play somewhere else,” Jakeb White, GameOn!’s Arbiter of Fun explains. “It’s not something you could do at home.”
For 90 minutes, two teams face off and work their way through three rounds of vintage-inspired game show games under the guidance of an affable host who elevates the stakes from that of a typical game night to primetime television levels. To warm up, contestants are pitted against each other in “Survey Squabble” where teams appoint a representative to step up to the buzzer and provide answers within a predetermined category (think Family Feud). This is followed by “Whirly Words,” a game where team members are tasked with spinning a giant wheel for points, providing they can guess letters to build a mystery word correctly (read Wheel of Fortune). Finally, the two teams cap off the competition with a heated game of chance called “Cosmic Drop” – a game that resembles Plinko from The Price is Right – where someone drops a puck down an extra-large peg board hoping that it tumbles into a high-scoring slot.
The combination of intense suspense and the smiles and smirks of competition light a fire under Jakeb, who hosts a large number of these games himself. Expect quippy remarks and wordplay to accompany the incorrect answers that teams volley back and forth.
Jakeb never intended to be an Arbiter of Fun; the fun just found him. After graduating from UT Austin, Jakeb held many positions, including furniture salesman and high-rise window washer, all while pursuing improv comedy on the side. However, he says that when he saw the GameOn! job posting online, “I immediately fell in love as soon as I walked in, and they hired me on the spot.” After a stint as a part-time staff member, he quickly became the company’s first full-time employee and now co-owner.
Since he stepped onto the stage, GameOn! has continued to expand, adding additional content ratings for games as well as supplemental competitions for avid button smashers and trivia fiends.
“We are in the process of adding more games,” Jakeb reveals. “We’ve got a new one that we are designing inspired by Press Your Luck. We’ve got another one that we have already started testing, and we should be rolling it out pretty soon, based on a win, lose, or draw type game…like Pictionary.”
Even without the new suite of games, players can shake things up by selecting from a range of game ratings. Content ratings span PG, PG-13, or R levels, and Jakeb recommends PG-13 for most groups, especially for younger players and work teams. However, he encourages groups that are up for it to select an R rating, which he says is a racy adult game full of laughs.
Whatever version is played, be sure to bring your own refreshments; no food is allowed in the game room, but the space is BYOB. And be sure to bring enough for the hosts, too. “In fact, if you would like to leave a tip in the form of alcohol, most of our hosts are fine with that,” says Jakeb with a grin. “Of course, regular tipping is welcome, too.”
Contact:
(737) 209.0064
1515 Dungan Lane, Ste. 200
info@gameon.fun
Gameon.fun
