8 Moments From Japanese Game Shows Are Next-Level Insane

American game shows follow a reasonably simple template. Contestants answer questions and they go home with money if all goes well. “Family Feud” and its stateside ilk generally follow this format. However, Japanese game shows are an entirely different beast.

Japanese game shows are about more than just winning money. In more extreme cases, the producers want contestants to answer trivia questions quickly lest dire consequences befall them.

Here are our favorite clips from Japanese game shows, and we’re not expecting to see Steve Harvey host them any time soon.

‘Tore!’

On “Tore!” one must answer questions while a machine wraps you in bandages like a mummy. It looks like a great way to trigger every game show contestant’s PTSD. Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “Why is she scared? What’s the big deal about being mummified?” All we can say about that is, better her than us.

‘Candy or Not Candy?’

As children on our daddy’s knee, we were taught a valuable nugget of wisdom — don’t bite into inanimate objects in the hope that they’re food. “Candy or Not Candy?” turns that homespun wisdom on its head by challenging contestants to bite into objects like shoes, framed artwork, and office furniture. Some creations that may or may not be food are pretty convincing, but not enough to make us bite footwear.

‘Gaki no Tsukai’

This show is known for segments in which contestants must keep their composure in various contexts, which they are spectacularly unable to do. Those who fail are given very humiliating punishments. For example, this unfortunate man failed to be quiet in a library setting, so he’s getting the chocolate fondue treatment, which is significantly worse than you imagine.

‘Dero!’

“Dero!” takes the concept of escape rooms and makes contestants want to escape from them. They must solve puzzles or answer general knowledge questions while trying to beat the clock and avoid a horrible fate. These fates were intended to qualify as “death” for the contestants, but some seem so unpleasant that they’re barely better than the real thing. If you have a fear of sinking into quicksand, even artificial quicksand, don’t go on this show.

‘Slippery Stairs’

This one is just upsetting. Contestants try mightily to climb a slightly inclined set of stairs that seem to be covered in some kind of viscous fluid. This, while wearing very sleek costumes makes it nearly impossible to gain purchase. Watch them struggle to reach the very top, sometimes over and over again, only to slide to the bottom of the staircase, taking all the other contestants down with them.

‘Marshmallow Rubber Band’

On “Marshmallow Rubber Band,” contestants must eat marshmallows hung by a string without using their hands. While that already sounds pretty difficult, the show goes further by stretching a rubber band over the contestant’s face, keeping their goal just out of reach while also creating some nasty indentations that will probably be on their cheeks for three days afterward.

‘Spread Your Legs’

While this title might suggest something untoward, in the context of this game show, it’s very literal. Female contestants sit in a chair that looks like some form of gym equipment while someone spins a numbered wheel. The numbers correspond to settings on the chair, with one being the most humane and ten qualifying as an Abu Ghraib stress position. Eventually, someone taps out from the agony, and it might just be the viewer.

‘Brain Wall’

Unlike other shows on this list, “Brain Wall” actually has a cool premise. Contestants in unitards stand at the ready as a styrofoam wall with shapes cut out approaches them. They have only a matter of seconds to figure out how to contort their bodies into shapes that the wall will accept. Watching the clip, it may look like the wall is not coming at the contestants very fast, but that’s likely easy to say when the wall’s not approaching you.