Five YouTubers. Five games. $10,000. ⋮ Money: the full series

I invited Rohin from @MedlifeCrisis, Sophie from @SophsNotes, @MikeBoyd, Sam from @Wendoverproductions, and @MiaMulder to play some games. They'll be tempted by individual profit over group wealth, in an environment designed to slowly break their team apart. But all they knew is: they'd be sat around a table trying to win cash: over $10,000. This is a show about trust, about loyalty... and about Money.
Games Producer: David Bodycombe
Games AP: Liam MacLeod
Production Assistant: Molly Williams
Runners: Edward Hubbard, Alice Rostant
Dealer: Chahna Windross
Camera operators: Jamie MacLeod, Aidan Bryan, Elisa Spigariol, Ami Bevilacqua
Camera trainee: William Davis
DIT: Rachel Hutchings
Stills Photography: James Gowdy
Gaffer: Marc Spicer
Spark: Jamie Montgomery
Lighting Trainee: Luigi Truscelli
Sound Operators: Tom Bartlett, Ollie Drummond
Graphic Design: Simon Buckmanster, Kate Willaert
Motion Graphics: Dom Burgess, Elsie Heersink, Josh Sherrington
Composer: Benjamin Squires
Editor: Jamie MacLeod
Edit Assistant: Rachel Hutchings
Colourist: Ciaran O'Brien
Sound Mixer: Dan Pugsley
Production Designer: Louis Grant
Special thanks: Khyan Mansley, Edith Windle, Caroline Hardman, Chris Dickson, Charlotte Dann, Grace Lee, Graeme Cole, Howard Swains, Jonathan Richards, Jonathan Warschauer, Joshua Felix, Kav Benepal, Mark Norman Francis, Matt Gray, Michelle Martin, Nat Aves, Nick Gates, Rita Wilcox, Ross Hroff, Sally Le Page, Tim Hall
Director of Photography: Ciaran O'Brien
Producer: Ashley Horne
Series Director: Sammy Paul
Series Producer: Cambria Bailey-Jones
Executive Producers: Guy Larsen, Tom Scott
Episode 1: This game is inspired by the Platonia Dilemma, from Douglas Hofstadter's book Metamagical Themas.
Episode 3: This game is inspired by the Public Goods Game, a standard of experimental economics.
Episode 5: This game is inspired by the Ultimatum Game, first described by Güth et al in 1982.
A Nebula Original
A Penny4 Production
© Pad 26 Limited MMXX
This was originally a five-episode series for Nebula: for this free-to-air release, it's been combined into a single omnibus episode. The changes are limited to: cutting the "previously on" sections; adjusting the music to cleanly bridge episodes; and combining all the credits into one end-of-the-series set.
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com/ / lateralcast
➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: / tomscottplus
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: / techdif

[@TomScottGo]

If you'd like behind-the-scenes details on the production and game design here, there's now a behind-the-scenes chat with me and games producer David Bodycombe over on his TV Show and Tell podcast! shows.acast.com/tv-show-podcast/episodes/tom-scott-talks-about-money

[@TheRealSullyG]

This absolutely needs to be adapted into a full KZbin series. I would watch the hell out of it.

[@peacemazer]

nice seeing you here! :)

[@kemcolian2001]

is it bad that i only know you from jacksfilms?

[@kandigloss6438]

@Em West or rather was

[@eli888..]

agreed

[@CSmyth-]

@Em West This one video IS the series. I believe they meant doing this game over again, with new players.

[@rubybun4895]

rohin: “youre giving away 4/5 of your cash then!” mike: “no I’m ensuring i win a thousand” tom: O_O

[@samwilkins03]

It would be interesting to do this with complete strangers rather than friends and colleagues. That way Mike would've had no repercussions by walking out the door on his fellow strangers...

[@41-Haiku]

Except perhaps the opinions of his fans. The only way to do this and keep it all in the game is to pit random strangers against each other who don't have significant reputations to lose by maximally defecting.

[@co2_os]

@@41-Haiku absolutely, I think the game would definitely work better with complete strangers. The toxicity would be through the roof.

[@horvathbotons0]

Mia really went "Im glad we could establish some trust by the end" while agressively abusing that trust in the whole entire game to her advantage

[@CxOrillion]

Thought someone might have caught that either Mia or Sophie had to be lying about G2R2 putting $1 in the box. If 2 people put $1 in, returns would have been rounded to $1 each.

[@imightbebiased9311]

@@CxOrillion No, it would have still rounded down to 0. $2/5 = 40 cents, it would have needed to be 3 people putting in $1. Edit: I forgot that it was a 50% increase. You're right. Someone should have called that out. Maybe because they were all to ashamed of putting in $0.

[@ramonquennell3229]

It's part of the game to lie.

[@MikeBoyd]

I still think about how this game could have went VERY differently. Thanks for having me on Tom!

[@Lukas-gx9qk]

You played very well Mike!

[@foomark21]

I can’t believe you came away with the least amount of money! You deserved a little extra

[@bluedog28]

You played that game like a pro. I could tell by the end of game 2 and into game 3 you figured out that someone needed leverage to incentiveize trust by the next round if everyone else was trying to play the other one. Hoped you would win but that outcome was even better!

[@TheGeladoo]

It was so awesome how you were able to bring everyone together!! Congrats :)

[@mana24]

Could've*

[@shunkazami6767]

"You'lre giving away 4/5 of your cash then" "No, I'm ensuring I win $1000" Damn Mike, that's actually really cool counter to the "loss aversion" effect.

[@xeryus3357]

Well said

[@kneecapitator7288]

Tom had a great reaction to that as well

[@KarateLauren]

mike is hella smart

[@PeterLePresident]

That's my mindset in any sort of game show. I came here with 0$, so even 1$ is a win. I'm never losing money.

[@oliverdowning1543]

@@PeterLePresident eh, if you invest 2-3 hours of your time in it then coming out with $1 isn't really a win, it's just only a loss of whatever you would make in that time minus some very small value corresponding to how much you enjoyed your time all timesed by some coefficient for how much you enjoyed your time there relative to your regular job - how much disappointment you get from not winning timesed by some coefficient for transfering that into the monetary value that would effectively displace that negative emotion all minus 1$ for what you walked away with and before you say anything, yes this does account for things like hobbies and sleep providing value to you even if you're not actively making money. TLdR: not really because of the concept that "time is money".

[@richtigmann1]

Even though Mike took arguably more selfish choices through most of the game and took the briefcase hostage, He's got my respect from round 2, he did exactly what he said he would and split it with everyone in the end even to his own detriment of having the least money out of everyone

[@ValueNetwork]

Sophie's honesty in Game 3 whilst everyone else played each other is admirable!

[@crack64]

watching sophie get screwed over time and time again was honestly heartbreaking

[@jaketaylor5686]

Robin putting $1 in the final round was honestly hilarious

[@1995Noddy]

True

It funny how the group really collectively destroyed money by beeing egoistic and the promise of a chance "to make it" ~ briefcase

[@RGC_animation]

And at the end it was Mike that was screwed over.

[@atmhso]

And Sam talking about how little $100 is, ruthlessly screwing her out of $100!

[@omnitroph1501]

Mike was absolutely the MVP. He was constantly accused, walked away with the least money at the end, and still held his end of the bargain.

[@fep_ptcp883]

Perhaps he won the money and the briefcase

[@nadamuchu]

@@fep_ptcp883 A briefcase and a story to go with it!

[@bradleyisgladley]

Most valuable for everyone besides himself surprisingly, when he definitely felt like the most selfish player

[@omnitroph1501]

@@bradleyisgladley to me it seemed like it was Mia, who started cheating round 2 unprompted with no apparent catalyst. Mike may have felt selfish because he insisted upon controlling the briefcase, but in the end that ended up being for the greater good.

[@StevenKnightArrowood]

@@bradleyisgladley I'd wager that Mike never cared much about any of the money (beyond using it for negotiation). He just wanted to win the game and his actions were strategic, not selfish. If he was selfish, he would have tried to convince 3 to accept the deal and shorted 1 person, allowing him to take home the most money.

[@nbmrbluesky3688]

If this isn’t already a Board game it needs making into one. It would ruin more christmases than monopoly

[@john.dough.]

I wish I had $10,000 lying around

[@T1J]

mike put on a master class

[@singerofsongs468]

The subtitles being color-coded to the player colors in-game is just stellar. Awesome video, super glad to see a game show on the channel again!

[@FirstnameLastname-vf9rp]

subtitle appreciation!

[@4P5MC]

The subtitles on all of Tom's videos are brilliant! My favourite has got to be that one on his second channel where he sings a scale. Every "ma" has the correct note he sang above it!

[@neeharika422]

All of Tom Scott has that! I really love it

[@hannahwatermelon]

I was super happy about that!

[@redshirt256]

Colour coded subtitles are great, I have really appreaciated those from the BBC. They really improve the subtitles utility

[@Max_Jacoby]

My favorite part is when Sophie put $1 and nobody else did 😂 She's too good for this world.

[@kiradotee]

She's too honest 😂

[@tinyrodent2821]

But in reality her aim was to stiff everyone else

[@Shit_I_Missed.]

@@tinyrodent2821 Not quite, Sophie would have known everyone was a liar. If just one other person had put in a dollar, the split would have been 0.6 and it is implied that everyone would have gotten a dollar. Instead nobody put anything in, the split was 0.3, and nobody -except Sophie knows who has information.

[@tikeyike]

bless her

[@Ivorforce]

POV: You're Tom, trying to figure out who of your friends is trustworthy

[@toporostopy]

Holy shit Mia broke it all, Mike, who's been attacked the most, was really just the big brain here

[@maxd9130]

I think this with 5 strangers, or atleast 5 people who won't see eachother ever again, would make the final dynamic way better because I feel like Mike is never walking away in that situation

[@Weidan25]

Exactly, it's not like they really need the money anyway. Cool game but predictable once Mike was in the lead. Well played on his part.

[@topiasr628]

Agreed. However on the contrary, I'd submit the fact that they'l alll see each other again at various conferences made it all the more interesting

[@Math.Bandit]

@@Weidan25 Mike was "in the lead" but walked away with the smallest prize.

[@prcr364]

@@Math.Bandit he wouldn’t walk away with it if he didn’t

[@eren3527]

I wasnt know who is Mike or they will see eachother, the final was unexpected for me.

[@HofTheStage]

This was a perfectly solid use of an hour of my life. Well done! Enjoyed every second of it.

[@PipebombMailbox]

Agreed

[@XLessThanZ]

Exactly. When I saw the video was 1 hour, hmmm. Once I started watching it, I was hooked. Interesting to think of what would be the best combination of players that should play together. I like this video idea!

[@Buttonpusher42]

It was a great use of about 34 minutes. X2 play speed is delightful

[@kemcolian2001]

@@Buttonpusher42 same

[@ZephyrysBaum]

And 3k likes!

[@calebnissen]

Mike & Sophie were so wholesome and honest. It's really a shame they ended up with the least, but I'm glad it was as close as it was. Really fun to watch!

[@GR-ic7mt]

Mike: genius Sam: reasonable Sophie: victim Rohin: frontstabber Mia: backstabber

[@EngineeringMindset]

This was a intense game to watch, I feel like I need to go for a walk to just to calm down. Great work Tom, crew and contestants

[@onezerosevensix]

My thoughts exactly

[@peppigue]

An interesting other game could be layered on top of something like this: Another group are watching, receiving a little less info than we got as viewers, and their game is to spot the liars.

[@marksmith8667]

@@peppigue I love this idea!

[@TreeCutterDoug]

While being honest and benevolent, and keeping the game almost perfectly fair... Mike actually walked away with the least amount of cash, though arguably, with the most respect.

[@baranxlr]

Well it wasn't by much, Sophie only earned 5 dollars more

[@felautumn9534]

@@baranxlr That wasn't the point. The point was that Mike was accused of being the villain the entire game, kept his honesty, had all the power and walked with with less than everyone. Sure, it wasn't by much but the point wasn't the value but the circumstances behind it.

[@StagTwo]

Tom is freakishly good at being a gameshow host!

[@soop6015]

i love how mike played in this. very funny and genuine guy. kinda surprised they didn’t pick up that mia scammed the first game. she got so quiet after it.

[@npc6817]

ok but "snakes can't hide if you cut the grass" is one hell of a line to come up with on the spot

[@user-iv9kn5cx6k]

Mia took it personally

[@liquidsnakex]

Must have missed that part. Who said it, Mike?

[@user-bu5ps7cg1u]

@@liquidsnakex it was sophie, at the start of the second game i believe…?

[@liquidsnakex]

@@user-bu5ps7cg1u cheers, awesome line I agree

[@sinatrabone]

Right?! I thought the same thing!

[@oscodains]

I love that Tom gets to live out his dream of creating & hosting gameshows, yet as small one off productions between friends they remain fresh and entertaining.

[@gotchagamingl.1563]

Jeez, these players are really good at saying “I don’t fookin trust a single one of ya thieves” in the nicest way possible with a disappointed smile on their face XD

[@martijnp]

I actually think the winning strategy during the 1-5 paddle game was the following: 2 people pick 1. 2 people pick 2. 1 person picks 5. Reasoning: You can't screw eachother over. Nobody can get the pot for themselves. For example if one of the people who picked 1 went for 3 instead: that would mean only one person would remain with paddle 1, making him the winner instead. None of the players except the person picking 5 is able to change their paddle without guaranteeing a loss for themselves. At that point the only question is whether or not the person with 5 will split. The only remaining issue I can think of is the medals. They'd have to give them to someone in exchange for being able to execute this strategy. Which they eventually ended up doing anyway by just stacking them on one person so it wouldn't have mattered. Could even exchange that person's money for giving him the medals.

[@RealEngineering]

I wish I was available for this! My goal wouldn't have been to win, my goal would have been to make Sam lose.

[@Hobojoe14]

5 am Brian go to bed

[@Credence1026]

I wonder how long this rivalry is gonna continue. I can't wait to see what happens next!

[@jima1135]

This would be amazing! haha

[@claiminglight]

>( I'm always in games with somebody who does that.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

@@claiminglight Those are the best games though! The kind with ulterior motives and consequences that last for years after the game is over (like monopoly with your family!)

[@pewpewdragon4483]

You can actually tell who's been cheated because they will keep voicing their disappointment, while those that actually lied, despite voicing disappointment, will also be pushing for increasing "group wealth". After a round where trust is broken, those that advocate for a selfish defensive strategy are more likely to be the ones that were cheated on, while conversely, those that continue to advocate to maximize group benefit are more likely to be the ones that have lied.

[@aliagah502]

I also find it most interesting that the least trusting players were the least trustworthy while the most trusting were honest(ish).

[@olekj8665]

@@aliagah502 I think that was because the players tried to predict the behaviour of others based on their own, so a cheater was also more likely to suspect everyone around them and thus continued to cheat (to protect themselves from a threat that they believed to exist).

[@JBlandie]

@@olekj8665 the only thing we have to fear about each other is fear itself. Hold your breath and cooperate with honorable people even when they have more power. Build everyone up, even those already doing well, and you will increase the odds of getting them to cooperate back.

[@lsedge7280]

Even without that analysis, 37:58 Mia gave away that they definitely lied and put in £0.

[@aminehachani1760]

@@lsedge7280 huh, that sentence totally doesn't make sense, just the semantics perspective not why you did it

[@awmperry]

“No playtester ever split even.” Were the playtests done with real money? Because I could imagine that making a big difference - people are much happier to screw over their friends with Monopoly money than with actual cash.

[@evannibbe9375]

The play testers were likely complete strangers.

[@awmperry]

Indeed. Doesn’t really affect the point, though; people will make different moral choices when the stakes are fictional.

[@lsedge7280]

@@awmperry But people being strangers also changes the stakes. You are more likely to screw over a stranger with real money than your friends, and are less likely to screw people over on high stakes in public. I suspect it was probably played with real money at least sometimes, but with a smaller quantity (ie 600 instead of 6000 dollars)

[@awmperry]

@@lsedge7280 That’s exactly my point. It’s impossible to fully playtest it without replicating the full game with at least comparable sums.

[@davidbod]

@@awmperry Not true, actually. We playtested it with people fighting over 1% of the money, and you would be surprised how similar the patterns were.

[@bartholomewshort3899]

The problem with this is the fact that the competitors aren't just thinking about the money, but also the reputation that they have to uphold amongst their fan base and one another. If it were done with strangers then they wouldn't be thinking about that and instead solely have the financial benefit in mind, which I think would be a better way to manage the game. Still great video though!

[@RenaudAlly]

Excellent point. I suspect that was the original intention. However, the game seems to be a new concept. So perhaps, relatively well-known KZbinrs were invited to help it gain more popularity.

[@ramonquennell3229]

@@StanleyKubick1 that probably is a good thing, in the circumstances of the game of course

[@CyanPhoenix_]

I feel like Mike getting the two gold stars in round 2 was the best thing to happen to the group - he realised that he had control of the game for the foreseeable future, and told the rest of the players that he was under no circumstances going to give that up, which allowed the other players to start playing WITH each other instead of AGAINST each otrher. Once the 4 people were together (and since mike was truthful and is just a lovable guy) he was able to slide in to swap it from 4v1 to 5 v the house. this was fascinating!

[@maura462]

absolutely, he was able to control it as they said the benevolent dictator. I'm not sure if either of the other 4 players would have been able to maintain that control (numbers and socially) and did it for the better of the group. awesome game

[@KiLLJoYYouTube]

One member should have just voided his advantage. Unfortunately the other member with the medals was a known liar so they couldn't.

[@__aceofspades]

@@KiLLJoYKZbin They couldnt. Mike could keep choosing the medal card and 'destroying it' if someone else chose it. It wasnt until the final round that a second medal came into play, and if they had fought with Mike the previous 3 rounds, they wouldve lost more money than they wouldve gained by trying to tie and steal the briefcase away from him

[@KiLLJoYYouTube]

@@__aceofspades but it doesn’t matter. for every round he gains a medal so you might as well void it. He could have burned the medals as much as he wanted but why would the game be made so that the person with 2 medals automatically wins the briefcase? it makes no sense. I’d have immediately voted medal each round and gotten everyone some money. it would have been my objective to just ruin each round and throw all strategy out the window. that’s when it stops being about promises and turns into lies, which you can manipulate and catch out.

[@platinummyrr]

@@KiLLJoYKZbin keep it mind that one of the rounds with medals tied and no one earned them. It was possible he could have lost the medals lead earlier but by the last game he had an advantage

[@xer0895]

you should definitely do this again but this time it's five psychologists

[@emilioovalle3070]

That would be so much fun to watch

[@EvanBoyar]

This is anecdotal, but all psychologists I've known have been terrible at math, so I wonder if it'd just be a game of would-be clever strategies that turn into blunders.

[@44absol]

thats just competitive fraiser

[@LegoAssassin098]

Or five game theory experts

[@lilalampenschirm3203]

Or five economists or maybe not

[@Addy0302]

Super interesting that Mike basically forced them to co-operate in games 4 and 5. Would love to see how other groups handle these decisions in another season.

[@EjvindGEMDark]

Nothing but respect for Sophie's play (mid round 3 here). You might leave with less cash but you leave with more dignity.

[@manavgala2361]

Mike - Honest about his intentions, regardless of what they may be Sam - Secretive version of Mike Soph - Honest and has too much trust in others Rohin - A good balance between honest and sly Mia - sly.

[@tobylegion6913]

Rohin wasn't really sly. He just got burned and reacted accordingly.

[@zodiahk]

Mia was evil

[@geoffrey6000]

@@zodiahk yes, immediately screwed everyone over

[@chaiznt]

@@zodiahk yes and i love her for it

[@TangledLion]

@@zodiahk Mia can be a little evil... As a Treat.

[@Xanderqwerty123]

It goes to show how honest Mike was for "winning" the game, yet walking away with the least amount of money.

[@andrei-dodea]

I feel like someone needs to point this one out: Imagine doing it with sums 100 times larger, same or bigger KZbinrs. The whole game would switch from game theory to how much is your reputation worth.

[@devincook3246]

“I have United everyone” all hail king Mike 🤴 😂 Edit: King Mike also took the least amount of money by giving everyone their fair share, what a noble king 👑 🔥😂

[@16jms]

38:37 Mia was lying here, and Sophie could have noticed it. The ONLY way for the boxes to be empty was if only 1 dollar had been in the pot. 1$ plus 50% is 1.50$, devided by 5 is 0.30$ which was rounded down to 0. If Mia had also put in one dollar, then the pot would have been 2$, plus 50% that's 3$, which, devided by 5, comes to 0.60$ - and thus everybody should have gotten one dollar because of the rounding rule. So as soon as Mia said "I put in one dollar", it was evident - at least to Sophie - that this was a lie.

[@dartricky8689]

Well...evident to everyone, if the total of what everybody said they put in was $2 then anybody could have done the same arithmetic (but didn't appear to, judging by their poker faces - unless it was cut out for some reason, of course).

[@lrizzard]

exactly, i was surprised noone caught that.

[@SophsNotes]

Honestly I was too emotionally thrown by the initial betrayal to notice at the time, but I realised this in hindsight too!!

[@astrovan]

But then later on Sophie said 58 and that at least threw mike off for a second, so maybe they weren't sure.

[@DannySullivanMusic]

agreed dude. 100% right!

[@Legundo]

This is SUCH a good concept! Makes me want to see more

[@blackkissi]

I'm quite sure the inspiration came from the Korean show "The Genius". (some say the series Squid game was inspired based on the show The Genius)

[@vedaryan334]

@@blackkissi they mention the inspirations in the credits

[@blackkissi]

@@vedaryan334 thanks. Good notice

[@FrancisBehnen]

I guess that's the point right, get that nebula subscription

[@salmanalsayafi1539]

This also remind me of the alice in borderland

[@CameronMcManus]

In the end the cooperation seemed less about trust and more about equal self-interested risk. Mike becoming the benevolent dictator who gained the least from the arrangement is a very interesting result too!

[@aprophetofrng9821]

If this became a full youtube series with comedians coming on and stuff, that'd be it right there. Like Taskmaster but mixed with deceit.

[@Fredman5551]

Yes this!!

[@Ryan-sl9xt]

Mike was brilliant. He figured out that he wasn't playing against the other players. He was playing against the game and he needed to get the players out of the way.

[@EvanBoyar]

And yet he lost (i.e. received the lowest payout).

[@bluedog28]

@@EvanBoyar let's be real, he made sure everyone won just under 2k in a day. And comes out looking like the smartest one of the group, well because he was. He beat the game

[@robbybevard8034]

@@EvanBoyar The lowest by like 5$. Out of almost 2000$. He wasn't a loser, everyone was a winner.

[@vnXun]

@@EvanBoyar He got the least money, but if he didn't do what he did, I don't think anybody would even come close to the amount they received.

[@rh4993]

@@EvanBoyar, only out of kindness. He was in a position to walk away with the briefcase if he wanted to. His goal was to ensure he won a fair share of the briefcase and he accomplished that.

[@RainaRamsay]

I would be fascinated to see a Behind The Scenes / Director's commentary on this. Questions I have include: how was playtesting done? What went differently between this and playtesting games? How were the games tuned during playtesting (rules, prize amounts, etc)? How were the scripts tuned during playtesting (explanation of rules, what information was given, etc)? Did you always have the "walk away; you don't have to face them" option, or did you discover you had to add that? Did you always tell them how much money they missed out on, or was that added later? What surprised you as you were developing it? Was there anything you had to enormously change from your original conception?

[@flandyc4513]

I second that motion!

[@michaelgillman2505]

The thing is, I don't think this can be accurately play tested unless each set of testers is also playing for the same sort of money (which has to be unlikely). Just like playing poker without money, the game doesn't work without it. I mean without money, the medals are the only thing that has value, which would skew how people play.

[@redpompeii]

@@michaelgillman2505 true. Not to mention the effects of the whole thing being televised / public. Human credibility, or at least the appearance of it, is what is most valuable in the end. Trust. The more open and accountable the more honest we act.

[@SallyLePage]

Playtesting was an absolute blast and we have never talked so much post-playtest about what happened!

[@kiradotee]

Great questions

[@damski69]

Did you notice how after the third round when they earned not even 10% of maximum amount but it was clear that Mike will get the suitcase there was no cheating and full cooperation?

[@41-Haiku]

A Benevolent Dictatorship is the ideal form of governance, but is very unstable over iterations. I think that's why a lot of the world ended up in inefficient democracies, because at the very least that keeps away the evil dictators, who are more bad than the good dictators are good.

[@dannyanggawan]

they will cooperate when they have to reveal their choice. the only game they cheat is only when they dont have to reveal their choice

[@duncantalksalot]

Sam, who became the scapegoat for Mia in the beginning, won the most money in the end. In a way, that's somewhat poetic.

[@Robadob]

The issue with the game is that the contestants are all known personalities, who somewhat know each other. Which changes the dynamics for the large scale steal, vs the tv gameshow golden balls, where at the end of the day if someone steals they're never seen again by the person they've stolen from.

[@bravomike4734]

Which is probably the reason it worked for them but not for the beta testers.

[@drsquirrel00]

@@bravomike4734 Beta testers probably aren't playing with real money either.

[@boutek]

are they?

[@MylesDanielBaker]

I wonder if they play tested this scenario. Cooperative play maximizes the reward and having most rounds face-to-face avoids the prisoners dilemma to disrupt that cooperation.

[@duo1666]

I mean, realistically humans would want to cooperate, because at the end of the day if you didnt, you would be cast out, ostracized, or killed. So them having some level of known to each other is more realistic to every day life.

[@CheckeeAintAmused]

I'd be interested to see how this game plays out with 5 complete strangers who don't have public images to maintain...

[@KarateLauren]

that could be accomplished by obscuring their identities if the game gets broadcasted. interesting concept, it would be fun to have someone look into that. edit: tom also said that none of the playtesters split the money evenly. that's most likely because of the reason you stated.

[@bloxxor420]

Last person would absolutely always run with the briefcase then.

[@DoesNotComphoot]

@@KarateLauren It could also be because they likely didn't actually give those playtesters the money, thus it became "Get big points and win game" instead of "Oh, this actually benefits us all"

[@vvsuschevskiy]

@@DoesNotComphoot I bet they did, but there is a chance that the amount might have been smaller

[@bioniclink3026]

@@bloxxor420 TBH, I doubt that. I have a nihilistic viewpoint, but even I have faith in the general public regarding that. People are selfish, but they prefer to not be complete and utter pricks.

[@acatfrompoland5230]

Once Mia got that trust with the first round. I suspected she would use the trust to turn the tables. Truly mischievous behavior lol.

[@ItsMe-oi9dy]

If Sophie and Rohin switched seats everyone would've been arranged from most deceptive to least deceptive. Mia was quite obviously the most deceptive from the start and I'm not sure why no one tried to call her out on it.

[@xCocaingelx]

@@1wasinAlpha you ok?

[@tomfrost1713]

@@1wasinAlpha Bro what? lmao you went off the deep end with this one

[@octs609]

@@1wasinAlpha your not wrong lmfao

[@stutavagrippa8690]

@@1wasinAlpha Are you okay?

[@ChiefBeef80085]

@@octs609 but they are... Unless if being transphobic is right to you?

[@srivatsajoshi4028]

I loved mike by the end of the game. As Rohin said, he was like a benevolent dictator. He took control of the game and forced everyone to play as a team. What a chad. I will definitely check out his channel

[@TwinkleTutsies]

Mike has an amazing channel! You'll soon see why he was the winner and by skill, not luck

[@krrangarajan5391]

He is the most skilled youtuber, Out of all youtuber's, By a Huge Margin !!

[@Destroy666x]

@@TwinkleTutsies he wasn't the "winner" though, got the smallest amount of money. But since that doesn't matter for any future episodes or whatever, it was definitely beneficial to not "win" since that definitely resulted in more money

[@nmatavka]

Gives me Napoleon vibes.

[@ThePocketMedic]

The one factor unaccounted for was their reputation after the game. It's likely worth more to them than taking the maximum payout and screwing everyone else. It would be interesting to see the experiment ran again with random people that nobody knows.

[@Glendragon]

Im into the twitch gaming screen and can tell you some of those streamers, even while making millions of dollars, would for the fun and entertainment of it, take on the role of a villain and actually go through with it.

[@michaelrdegroat]

Rohn mentioned that element briefly.

[@RedzeeTV]

@@Glendragon GOBLIN xqcM

[@Glendragon]

@@RedzeeTV I would love to see El goblino play this

[@Tsarius11]

Tom notes that at the end actually, the playtesters never split the money evenly. So yes, content creators were to an advantage in this game.

[@turtlemaster9849]

"when the grass is mowed, and the snakes can't hide." really good quote

[@danthemaninthetrashcan]

I feel like the KZbinrs being genuine friends with one another changes everything. If it’s done with 5 strangers I reckon it would be pure chaos, but with five acquaintances/friends, it’s the money AND genuine friendships at risk, which somewhat wholesomely, people don’t put on the line as easy as cash.

[@ZabreDarklight]

That was entertaining. I think the reason that play-testers not splitting in the end but Mike did (and any of them probably would have) is because of the potential fallout from being KZbinrs - 5 complete strangers would likely not split at the end.

[@SirBlackjack010]

If I was in the situation Mike was in (having all the power), and a similar deal was struck, I can confidently say I would have honored the deal because I couldn't stomach myself otherwise. However, I think tha heavily depends on the person in power and the sum of money to be divided. Some people will have a lower threshold to run with it, others will have a higher one, that also depends on their social situation.

[@Glendragon]

and surely they didnt have a budget of over 6k for playtesters, and all these youtubers said they could be cheeky and steal a small amount

[@cubicinfinity2]

@@Glendragon That's what I was thinking.

[@wariolandgoldpiramid]

No, there wouldn't have been any fallout.

[@Serial8killer69]

Exactly this

[@ZimFreak137]

I honestly did not expect to get sucked into this video but it was an incredible hour. I'm amazed at how well designed the rules for the games were.

[@lumonetic1124]

Wait what this was an hour? I honestly didn't realize

[@simondtaylor]

Just brilliant! Totally absorbed for the whole hour. Mike understood the entire game from the start and maintained his integrity throughout. Although he didn't earn as much cash he certainly earned trust and respect!

[@rjmurphyman]

As an economist who specialised in game theory, I want to say thank you for bringing these classic behavioural games like the Public Goods Game and Ultimatum game to a wider audience and explaining & demonstrating them so clearly. The options to change the game up and find ways to collaborate were super interesting. And as a fan of gameshows and these sort of games, thanks, cause it was super fun & entertaining to watch!

[@Ruben-]

Can you recommend any similar videos like this one? It's super interesting and I'd love to see more

[@sebd9690]

Since they're all youtubers, they had an incentive to not be asses on the show else their viewers/fans would be disgruntled. It's a fun video still.

[@conore5154]

@@sebd9690 I think that makes it interesting as well because we see how much of a sneak they are willing to be.

[@8stormy5]

@@sebd9690 Even ignoring that, empirical results of randomized controlled games show more socially-optimal results than game theory would predict, especially in multiple-turn games.

[@sjcak]

I wonder how much being in the public eye effected the final choices here. These are all youtubers, presumably moving in similar circles, either friends directly or mutually through Tom. Usually these games are between total strangers who never have to talk again. Imagine we'd see a totally different dynamic. But very fun all the same!

[@riddixdan5572]

I guess that's the reason why Tom said that in play-tests, it was never split evenly.

[@rmsgrey]

If Sam had managed to get control of the briefcase, I imagine the outcome would have been rather different - he was the person at the table doing most to try to manipulate other people to let him "win" (while Mike was trying to manipulate the situation to beat the game, not the other players).

[@joaquinplacides2]

but also, in playtests the money would not have been as large, and so stealing everything would not be so heavy on one's conscience

[@thesuomi8550]

@@riddixdan5572 also they probably didn't playtest it with 10,000 dollars

[@laurencefraser]

The deal at the end would need reworking a bit if the participants were complete strangers.

[@sijohnson5632]

I knew I liked Soph already but she's just gone up massively in my estimation. Her understanding of honour, integrity, worth of money verses lived worth of life and sharing for the common good is inspiring. I'm projecting here, but my family history includes coal miners of many generations. I see in her the values that got such communities through. And yes, reputation is perhaps one of the most valuable assets a person can have when little else is available. All the best Soph. Northern Star 🙂

[@ashleysands1515]

I believe one lesson about human nature that we can take away from this is: Truly honest people will be do the right thing even when it hurts them and dishonest people will only do the right thing when they are forced to do so by being made accountable.

[@DannyHodge95]

Bless Sophie, she's too pure for this game 😂

[@orangemonkeykiller]

I was actually getting a bit sad at Mike not wanting to cooperate and negotiate, but then he played the ultimate power move and forced everyone to work together and got the maximum prize for everyone. What a champion

[@xer0895]

He did say that if he won that he would split the money with everyone but no one trusted him

[@riddixdan5572]

straight up Lelouch

[@chrisbassani1152]

Mike also walked away with the LEAST amount of money of anyone at the table, despite controlling the briefcase! Then again, he didn't know as he was making his final offers, but it's an interesting observation!

[@refreshfr]

Mike and Sophie were the MVPs

[@dingus42]

the benevolent dictator, the objective best form of leadership when done correctly

[@omblae]

It needs to be done again with 5 students who don't know each other.. i.e. people who have less to lose and need the money more.

[@igorordecha]

Who do you think those "play-testers" were

[@Seff2]

@@igorordecha Students who probably got a 20$ Amazon giftcard after the game, but certainly not the real prize money

[@neoshenlong]

I really like the added twist of having the final player in a different room, not being watched and having the possibility of grabbing the money and immediately leaving. I feel like this would really, really work and add tension if the people didn't know each other.

[@dandiesel9966]

Funny how Mike had the most control towards the end, kept his promise, but ended up with the least cash overall even if marginally haha. Great show, loved it!

[@salasy]

and the thing is if he didn't get control of the game as he did in round 4 he could have walked away with a lot more than the others because they wouldn't have been able to cooperate in that round this really show us that you do need a leader ina group to get the most benefit from it, even if that leader is what would be called a "benevolent dictator"

[@fep_ptcp883]

I think splitting the money was the optimal result, the happiest result possible. Team against the house. I wouldn't mind ending up with 1800 instead of 1900 dollars here, if my actions resulted in everybody benefiting the most

[@ovencake523]

game 5: i was partially expecting him to give one person nothing and have the rest split evenly he only needs 3 votes to confirm, and everyone else knows they'd get the most out of it

[@DannySullivanMusic]

yes. totally, totally spot on.

[@amankg7]

@@ovencake523 if he wanted to screw then he could have left with all the money

[@floobdedoop2892]

Well, Sophie's integrity might have lost her some money but it gained her at least one new sub.

[@xzonia1]

2 :)

[@Nosirt]

Women are naturally more trusting then men. I found it more funny that mike got the least amount of money at the end when he was in lead all game long.

[@pranavagautm3000]

I agree. It made me trust her more than anybody else in the group and actually made me check her channel out.

[@zyaicob]

+1

[@TheKrigeron]

Which was the real prize of the game: getting some free advertising and PR on Tom Scott's channel.

[@alonectorch]

I really like this model of monetized originals that later become free-to-air on the creator's channel like a year later

[@drearmouse9510]

This was the most fantastic gameshow ive ever seen hands down. Totally glued to the screen. Just genius.

[@joelsmith3473]

I think a major aspect of this game that hindered it was that every player was a fairly well-established public personality playing for personal benefit. The only ways to have a high likelihood of deception is to either have strangers as contestants to effectively negate any post-game consequences, or to have players as featured but playing for charity. The winner of this game would be dealing a huge blow to their personal brand by taking all the money and running, but they could have all had a good laugh if it was to ensure the entire prize was awarded to a good cause they championed.

[@astrovan]

I'll bet some of them donated their earnings to charity as a token of goodwill.

[@prcr364]

If it was for charity then there would only be max cooperation, no need for deceit.

[@pedrofuster9161]

@@prcr364 I thought so too

[@getouttamyrowboat5658]

@@astrovan I'd bet they didn't. Or even think about it.

[@Posiman]

It does not work if all players have to donate their funds for charity. There are psychological studies that show even thinking about money makes people more agressive and less cooperative in these games. When all winnings go to charity, the only incentive is to cooperate. Plus there was no rule against Mike just pocketing the briefcase to win the game and then donate everything to charity and even raise it, to save his public persona...

[@the_kovic]

I am not surprised by the information that no playtester ever split equally. They were non-public individuals playing the game in private. Apart from the trust broken with the other contestants, there were no repercussions. But these were content creators, publicly known figures. Doing such a high profile backstab such as destroying a deal for 1200 dollars would ruin their reputation.

[@n8style]

was thinking the same thing

[@Michael-sh1fb]

And the playtesters were maybe more likely to be strangers. Even if this wasn't broadcast, these people are friends (or if not friends, then they at least run in similar circles). It's very different to screw someone who you know you'll never see again, compared to someone you will.

[@RedBlackFilms]

Would love to see a version where their identities were concealed from each other.

[@jay-tbl]

idk if one of them ended up backstabbing everyone in the end I wouldn't hold it against them, that's the game

[@Nixitur]

Also, I would imagine that the playtesters weren't actually playing for real cash. I have no problems backstabbing my closest friends and family in a board game. I would not backstab them for fifty bucks.

[@lokasocba]

I think Mike was way more generous than necessary at the end, he played that fourth game masterfully and could have gone giving the rest 1k each as promised.

[@JBlandie]

Such a beautifully run game. Notice in the end Mike played the most strategically, made the boldest promises, and ended up with the least money and the most respect.

[@bobthreetimes2286]

I love how at the end Tom just says “We have a car outside, if you want to you can get your things and go” I love the phrasing

[@namehere630]

@Alex C or his reputation

[@ciangrant3042]

I can't get over how genius it is in game 2 to say "I'm going to pick 1". Everyone else then knows you're going to win unless they stop you, and they can't stop you without giving up their own chance of winning, so they're better off hoping someone else takes that fall.

[@JeffRAllenCH]

I always play Rock in Rock Paper Scissors. I always tell my adversary this. I still sometimes win. Mysterious.

[@ciangrant3042]

@@JeffRAllenCH the universe works in strange ways

[@RGC_animation]

I think there is a specific dilemma for this, it's really interesting, because for this, there isn't a clear personal advantage like prisoners dilemma's for example, if you don't care that the other person wins, you should chose another number, but if you really don't want the other person to win you would choose 1 as well.

[@treyebillups8602]

Huge power move

[@ciangrant3042]

@@RGC_animation the more i think it over, if you only care about maximising your own chance of winning and someone else does that, you should tell them "i'm going to pick 1 too" and hope you scare them off. But if they play sensibly they'll hope you're bluffing and pick 1 anyway, so you cancel eachother out. You won't win with perfect play but i think it's still the best strategy.

[@linollieum3742]

Mike did great plays twice. The one with the paddle was fantastic, since no one wanted to pick 1 knowing that they had no chance of winning any money if they did since he said he's picking it. And then with the last game, if he hadn't offered to split the briefcase, they could have forsaken the boost, and agreed to split the money each round and block his medal, picking everything but the 0, splitting the money between themselves and ensuring no medals would be gained, at least until the last round of it. That would give them the maximum amount and also prevented Mike from getting any more medals. All together, wholesome ending, good strategy :)

[@chetkhatu4281]

I liked this - it made me think about law making and how intervening in any situation could be done more successfully; the level of information available about the choices each player made was instrumental to whether cooperation happened or not! If players could be held accountable, i.e. each player sees your choice, then we saw cooperation and honesty. If a player could hide their contributions, (like Mia in the earlier games relishing the successful manipulation of other players) then you see dishonesty more frequently. In the end, it made me think about other instances in our Economy, like when deals can go unnoticed (tax contributions), or secrecy is maintained in the relationships we have (like the potential to not reveal what you really want), when public shaming can be avoided (especially for KZbin stars), or even when big business can operate silently and without oversight, we are more likely to see the worst of human nature. Anyway, I've never seen Mike on KZbin before. So, since Mike's play was so good, calm, and well-intentioned, I'm gonna go to his channel right now to see what else the guy's been up to!

[@ianhopping105]

I think Mike trusted himself to be honest, but not the others. He was willing to walk away with slightly less, but know he would walk away with something. Sophie was honest, but the other 3 weren't. By saying he would take the medal, he forcedthem to be honest, because they absolutely could not bluff him.

[@geoffrey6000]

Yes, was awesome seeing Mike take control of this whole thing, and kinda sad to see that Mia and the other 2 screwed everyone over so fast.

[@juliaconnell]

I think Rohin WAS honest - and prepared to play fairly - until the other 3 screwed both him and Sophie over

[@bmwiedemann]

​@@juliaconnell at 8:43 in round 2 of game 1, Rohin writes a 1 when they all promised to write 0 - not as bad as Mia's 10, but still cheating on the others.

[@leizero]

@@bmwiedemann Tbf, he already predicted beforehand that one person will screw them over. I believe he was only testing the waters as to what would happen if there was a tie (i.e., two people putting "1").

[@MurrayPeeps]

I’m not even halfway through. This is so well done and I need like 100 episodes of this. Fantastic work Tom and team!

[@DannySullivanMusic]

i concur. 10000% perfect

[@johnnumber5660]

You just need $10000 plus all the other expenses each time

[@huh5950]

Sophie was such a sweetheart and they really poisoned her bro it hurts😭 but I aint gon lie, I like how Mike just accepted the accusations and played on them😂😂

[@ijustfelldown]

A 1 hour Tom Scott video with the funny Aeroplane Industry guy's face reveal is a real treat.

[@thomasbruinsma]

Being in a gameshow hosted by Tom Scott would immediately make me think I'm part of some sort of experiment.

[@ThyRandomGuy]

I mean this felt like a prisoner's dilemma experiment so

[@timothyoesch1108]

The second I started watching I was thinking "Darn, he's going to get them to solve multiple prisoner's dilemmas, isn't he?" and at the end I was actually getting out my lecture material from my international relations class to look up what sort of game theoretic concepts they were going through. And this game had everything, from preference falsification, reversion point movement and repeated game dynamics to absolute/relative wins, mutli-round negotiations and trust building. The team that designed this was truly genius. I applaud you, Tom Scott!

[@ntlespino]

I look forward to the five part video series dissecting this in detail

[@MrPSBSMR]

And the whole game essentially turns on IR's Hegemonic stability theory! Mike became the undisputed hegemon who would win the game, and therefore could use that leverage to get everyone else to cooperate.

[@alonzoc537]

I was hoping for someone to propose the use of a randomised strategy, as the equilibria with randomised strategies can be net positive for some of the games. Does demonstrate repeated game corporation including the breakdown at the time horizon. Really good watch actually

[@davidbod]

We were building on the shoulders of giants who originally came up with versions of some of these games, but thanks for the complements anyway.

[@gupwalla961]

@@davidbod Yes, but they wrote dry academic papers that few people are likely to read. It is a service to dramatize it for the masses, and you did that very well!

[@gFamWeb]

Tom Scott's use of colored subtitles is so great! More content creators need to do this!

[@MattMcConaha]

I feel that the fact that this show is aired and the members are at least partially public figures had a large influence on the final outcome. Image if you were playing this game with friends, or at least people you would have to see again. How would you behave? Now imagine if you were playing with complete strangers who you knew nothing about and knew you would never see again? Even though I am inclined to say I'd want to play fair in either situation, even still I'd reasonably state I'd be a lot more likely to play dirty in the latter scenario. And that's speaking as somebody who has no internet following or anything, and no potential of receiving real hate from anybody other than those I am actively playing with.

[@vincentfiestada]

Actually, if we're to take away anything from this, the person who was most honest about his intentions (Mike) got the least money in the end, and the people who attempted the most deception (Mia and Sam) got the most money. And they get away with not being absolute bastards in the eyes of everyone else by being dishonest when the stakes are low but cooperating when the stakes are higher -- kinda like how big corporations are public and transparent with the big deals that have everyone's attention, but screw people over by a thousand little cuts under the table. But I'm sure Sam will put his winnings to good use making more videos about planes or bricks or both.

[@voswouter87]

They still would have made more money had they been entirely honest and cooperative. Their slyness took away the earnings of others, but also from their own earnings.

[@buzinaocara]

It would have been smarter to sum up everyone's quantities and split that evenly for the final deal, so as to cancel out all the gains from the back-stabbing.

[@hallemayes3784]

bricks LMAOAOA

[@philosuit]

Good point

[@lawlzerderp7136]

I haven't finished the video yet, but one thing I've quickly realized (atleast from round 3, maybe it changes) is: When you are honest and nice, the total amount of money given is increased. But when you are deceptive, the amount of money *you* get is about the same as one honest person would get, if *everybody* was honest. So, if you wanted to guarantee yourself the win, you could be deceptive **every single round** and never be honest. In this game, there is no form of "voting off" or "stopping a specific player" --- the best they can do is be even with you. There's nothing that all 4 others can do, to stop *you* from being as dishonest as possible, as long as you are one round/token ahead.

[@grainyanus]

The way the game is set up makes you believe it's a free for all, when in reality it's the players vs. Tom.

[@alveolate]

a metaphor for capitalism >:)

[@kennethkho7165]

@@alveolate the government is the house. the people are the players.

[@falconJB]

@@kennethkho7165 More frequently the corporations are the house and the working and middle classes are the players.

[@deepaparakkal4241]

Exactly, Tom also states that in the end. Mike's intent on the medals REALLY helped in bringing them together

[@garrettsmith3081]

I think a big part of this being so evenly split in the end is the fact that they are all public figures and have a public image. It would definitely be a lot different if these were people who didn’t know each other on a personal level and that were not always in the public eye. Super interesting concept

[@kallekillen2285]

They really had the balls to go after Mike when he was one of the most honest people and least selfish people there. Especially with Sam's snarky remark at 26:19 lol

[@Bearforlife]

The way that Mike didn't even lie a single time is absolutely astounding to me. even when he decided to backstab the group by not putting any money in he never said he agreed to. It just shows you how smart this group of people actually is by playing on their wording.

[@thesuomi8550]

They were all such bad liars, Mike was the only one smart enough to not even try

[@samrusoff]

Didn't Rohin stick to his commitments as well?

[@hoangminhnguyen4800]

@@samrusoff in game 3 round 2 he put in 0$ while he said he'd put in 1$

[@jimmysgameclips]

There's a famous Golden Balls clip where the guy at the end of the rounds says he WILL steal the money but split it with the other person afterwards, thus meaning that the best option for getting money that the other person had was to trust them

[@waterhouse9693]

Mike is the villain that actually has a good argument

[@cloaking111]

I like to imagine Tom would've given the talk for the final round regardless of Mike's decision and had Mike taken the car and left they would've just sat there and checked their watches waiting for something to happen

[@skeffyjeffy]

This was arguably the best game show ive ever watched in my life and i want to give huge credit to Tom and his team for creating such a well thought-out and captivating hour of content

[@FlyveHest]

This was immensely entertaining, i'm envisioning this with 5 complete strangers and a much larger prize purse, it would be mayhem

[@gominosensei2008]

So..... Every day political negociations? Except the prize purse is the rest of the peoples earnings.....

[@achdetoni5008]

You mean with 5 complete strangers. The prize pool won't matter.

[@murrrr8288]

That'd be more interesting!

[@TheHongKonger]

Mr Beast where you at?

[@somerandomweeb4836]

I volunteer to participate, the cash would be very helpful 💸

[@Kummahndough]

I want to see Tom become a host for a full TV game show.

[@keysmash_roa]

So Two of these people are lying but it's aired on the BBC

[@dominiclichfield9594]

YES

[@tatererer9747]

He was on a game show once, but he was a contestant. I can’t remember what it was called but if you search ‘Tom Scott game show’ it will probably come up.

[@Alainzzz]

What is the difference? You can also have 3x10min ad break and it will be the lenght of a TV show.

[@XxprobertsonxX]

literally no point in this, only difference is less flexibility in production and more ads.

[@browell44]

what an incredible hour. i have a few thoughts: 1. mia rubbed me wrong from the first time she cheated everyone, and i simply couldn’t stand her for the rest of the game. (i apologize, i have no clue who are so please don’t take it personally.) 2. mike has been one of my favorite youtubers for a while now, and his honestly here cemented that even more despite the fact that him winning did take some initial scheming. 3. i’d love to see mikes reaction when he found out he actually finished with the least winnings even though he “won” the whole game lol it’s funny how that worked out and was never a thought that crossed his mind. however, i thought to myself i’d absolutely just go for the coin every time if i were in his shoes even before the team discussed. 4. i feel bad for Sophie and her kindness being a downfall for a bit. of course, there are plenty of other thoughts to have, but i’ll close my saying i’d love to see another episode ASAP! (preferably with some strangers or people who don’t have to worry about burning bridges with one another)

[@spacedoutbeard5033]

The way Tom rolled his eyes when Sam said "we'll see" has me laughing so hard, this was such a great show and great work by everyone involved!