Jet Lag: The Game: The Review
Originally published in mathNEWS Volume 152, Issue 2 (June 9, 2023)
Jet Lag: The Game is a travel show on YouTube, run by the same guy that’s behind Wendover Productions, Sam Denby. Five seasons of the show have aired on YouTube, and the first episode of season 6 just got uploaded last Wednesday.
Each season has a different format and a different setting. Sam, along with writers Ben and Adam, are the main contestants in each season. In all but one season, Sam is on a team with a guest (who is also a YouTuber), while Ben and Adam are on another team against Sam and the guest. Season 3 is the exception, which was a free-for-all type of game.
Season 1 was a short, 3 episode season of Connect Four. However, the spaces are the US states west of the Mississippi River, and you claim spaces by drawing a random card at the state capitol, and doing the challenge on the card (e.g.: Get One Team Member Intoxicated). Brian from Real Engineering was the guest. The season was a fun start to the format, and the twists and turns to get to the end was fun to watch.
Season 2 was 5 episodes, and its format was to circumnavigate the world. The guest was Joseph from Real Life Lore. Teams would have to earn budget by doing challenges from the same deck. This format was fun, however, the game started being broken by the latter half of the season, and a particular team not being able to finish the game was a real downer. It’s usually regarded as the least good season of Jet Lag, and I certainly think it’s the bottom 2 of the 5 fully released seasons.
Season 3 was a 7 episode game of Tag across Europe. One person is being chased while the other two temporarily work together to tag that person. There was no guest. However, each person has a different location they are aiming for. Sam is aiming for Zermatt, Adam is aiming for Jersey, and Ben is aiming for Borkum. At the end of the three days, if no one has gotten to their location, the win goes to the person who has the closest location to the person that’s being chased. It’s probably the best season of Jet Lag, and it really stems from the coin system introduced. In previous seasons, they had a monetary budget, and the cost of transport would be deducted. However, season 3 used coins instead, calculated based on a rate per minute that depended on the mode of transport. This was a great change that makes the gameplay much better.
Season 4 was a “Battle for America”. The team with the most claimed states wins. The guest was again Brian from Real Engineering. Each team has a budget, and they claim states by doing challenges from a hand of 7 cards drawn from a shuffled deck. Some cards, depending on difficulty, have one or two tokens for certain powerups, like swapping cards with the other team, being able to cross a state border in a car (driving or riding in an Uber/taxi), and turning on the other team’s tracker for 7 hours. If a team claims two bordering states of the other team’s state, they can battle for that state, and the winner locks the state into their possession. Also, there’s a 2-point bonus for the team with the most area.
In my opinion, this is the bottom season. I didn’t like the battle mechanic, there’s no cooldown for swapping back cards (which plays a critical role in the season), and it just felt like a worse version of Connect Four. However, it’s still a good watch.
Season 5 is probably my favourite team season. The guest was Toby from Tibees, a math channel, and she’s probably the best guest contestant. The format was to drive from the top of New Zealand to the bottom, using only the highway system in 5 days. There are challenges at certain cities and towns that have to be completed in order to unlock the path, and doing so unlocks it for everyone. Each challenge gives a certain amount of coins to the team that completes it, and you can use coins for “roadblocks” (tasks that a team behind you has to do if they drive into one), “curses” (penalties to make doing tasks harder), and challenge skips. The intense episodes in Auckland and Wellington made for great viewing, and it was an overall fun season.
Now, as stated before, season 6 just started being uploaded. I’ve already watched the first episode via Nebula, and it’s a very fun format. The guest is Scotty from Strange Parts, and the format is a capture the flag game using the Japanese rail system! The format is a bit complex to sum up, but basically, there are three rounds (where the game area gets bigger each round, with round 3 being all of Japan!), the flags are certain vending machine items in a certain location, and coins are used to travel by train in enemy territory. Judging by the first episode, this season is going to be a lot of fun! A bunch of mistakes were made made by both teams trying to navigate the complex Tokyo rail map (round 1 is just within the large Tokyo area), and there have already been a bunch of dramatic moments.
All this to say, go and get Jet Lagged.
[HE SAID THE THING!]
