Game Changer Season 8 Episodes Ranked From Worst to Best

Season 8 of Dropout’s flagship show Game Changer came to an oversized end with “Last Talent Standing” airing Monday. The 23-contestant, nearly 90-minute finale was a reflection of the latest season with its big casts, big sets, and big laughter.

Game Changer season 8 was no doubt the series’ most ambitious, and that ambition produced great episodes like the premiere “Don’t Wake Standards & Practices.” Simplicity often works even better, such as in “Rulette 2,” which featured just three chaotic people being as chaotic as possible for 50 minutes.

Now that it is finished, there is no better time to rank the episodes of season 8. Much like ranking the 10 best Game Changer episodes, this is a challenging task because the season’s crop of episodes were so good and varied.

10. Night Shift (episode 3)

One episode has to come in last, and “Night Shift” takes 10th place. It is not a bad episode by any means since the show has 81 episodes now and they cannot all be “Bingo,” but “Night Shift” was season 8’s least memorable. Watching the two batches of contestants slowly figure out the game is a fun ride, and the night shift inadvertently working against their day shift counterparts produced great laughs. The most notable part of “Night Shift” might have been Ron Perlman’s unexpected appearance, which is not enough to make it one of the season’s best.

9. Last Talent Standing (episode 10)

“Last Talent Standing” shows that bigger is not always better. The America’s Got Talent riff with Squid Game aesthetics showed off just how deep Dropout’s roster of talent is, though network favorites like Vic Michaelis, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Zac Oyama were not even featured. The premise ran thin by the end. The episode was full of laughs, but it is a tough sign when contestants and a guest judge are more than ready to call it a day at the tail end of the episode’s excess.

8. I Spy (episode 9)

Season 8 featured many moments where the art department of Game Changer flexed its strengths, and “I Spy” was certainly the biggest showcase of that creativity. Contestants Lily Du, Brian David Gilbert, Michaelis, Jacquis Neal, and Ele Woods had a great time playing host Sam Reich’s devious twist on a childhood classic. Watching poor Neal unable to trust his gut and lose because of it made for great laughs, even if there were times I felt like Woods in not quite understanding the rules or scoring system.

7. Earwigs (episode 7)

“Earwigs” reminded me a bit of season 7’s “The Drinking Game” because players had to focus on each other’s behaviors while playing a game or improvising a comedic bit. Each round added more layers, roles, and minigames to the overall game, reminding viewers that Game Changer is at its core a game show, rather than just a vehicle for Reich to torture his friends like in season 5’s “Escape the Greenroom.”

6. What’s the Catch (episode 8)

Game Changer has handed out actual prizes in past episodes, though that has become less of a focus as the series has gone on. “What’s the Catch” starts as an episode all about giving out prizes until Kimia Behpoornia, Kurt Maloney, and Jacob Wysocki get hit with terrible twists. Behpoornia had to eat her fine dining meal at 4 a.m., and Wysocki could only visit Universal for a minute at a time, which is possibly my favorite bit of the season. These prizes may have only been intended as setups for sketches, but that does not change just how funny the episode and its sketches were.

5. Kangaroo Court (episode 4)

I never tire of watching players try to bullshit their way to victory, and that is what “Kangaroo Court” was all about. Aabria Iyengar, Michaelis, and Mulligan all had to complete a task and then convince a jury they had won while Reich rigged the game against them. Seeing the different strategies at play made for a great episode, and I never tire of watching Michaelis be chaotic or watching Mulligan try his best and still come up short.

4. Don’t Wake Standards & Practices (episode 1)

“Don’t Wake Standards & Practices” set the table well for the entire season with its paradoxical premise. Asking Ally Beardsley, Jeremy Culhane, and Lou Wilson to push the envelope with their comedy and discover just how much they could legally get away with is a winning and hilarious formula. This episode may have produced the biggest belly laughs from me all season. Who knew a game as simple as having comedians just be really funny could work so well?

3. Rulette 2 (episode 2)

Speaking of belly laughs, “Rulette” was a season 7 favorite, and bringing it back for season 8 was a winning decision alongside including Anna Garcia in the rules-based chaos once again. Like “Make Some Noise” or “Sam Says,” the simple premise of “Rulette” makes it a great game samer because there is no worry about diminishing returns. You just watch Demi Adejuyigbe, Garcia, and Josh Ruben find new ways to make each other crack up while obeying random rules, like curtsying to speakers or ending a sentence with a cool move. “Rulette 2” also gave us Ruben endlessly humping a person-sized mannequin in a suit, which will always be hilarious.

2. Noise Some Makes (episode 6)

Game Changer can never have enough of Mulligan, Oyama, and Ruben. Bringing them back for another “Make Some Noise” would not quite make sense since that premise already has its own spinoff show. Instead, “Noise Some Makes” ensured the Noise Boys made some noise with delightful twists, like having their prompts be drawings or given to them via a game of telephone. The episode flipped the script enough to feel original and separate from Make Some Noise, and it also spotlighted Kaylin Mahoney, the season’s breakout star and Reich’s assistant. Here is to hoping she returns as a contestant in season 9.

1. Count the Rice (episode 5)

While some later Game Changer episodes focus less on games and are just excuses for comedians to be funny, “Count the Rice” leans into the old-school spirit of letting game mechanics be front and center. The comedy comes from funny people staying within the confines of the game. The episode excels at keeping both the players and viewers guessing at every turn. Each added game builds on the previous layer in fun ways, and discovering the mechanics of “Count the Rice” alongside players like Dropout newcomer Catherine McCafferty was a joy.

Once the layers and twists of “Count the Rice” reveal themselves, it is a race to the finish line that keeps viewers and contestants like Demi Adejuyigbe and Ify Nwadiwe locked in to the very end. “Count the Rice” is the closest season 8 came to capturing the spirit of “Bingo,” the show’s all-time episode. It is not only season 8’s best episode, but easily one of the best in the entire series.