Worst temple game on the show?

[The Red Jaguars]

I don't think we have ever discussed this before since there is not much temple game discussions. Legends featured a lot of temple games throughout its three season tenure. A lot of the temple games were reused in multiple episodes, sometimes with different objectives. What do you think is the worst temple game on the show? It could be a temple game that had dumb rules where the kids struggle. Or ones that were simply unfair to the players.

I have to say that the "water slide climbing" temple game from Season 1 had to be the worst temple game on the show. It was a very hard task for the players to complete, and it didn't help that the producers forced the players to stand on their knees. Often times, these temple games were low scoring where the final score was 1-0. And then there was the infamous "Genghis Khan" round where neither player scored. And it was always annoying to hear Kirk shout at the kids to remind them to stay on their knee. And this temple game must've been used in 75% of the Season 1 episodes. 

Honorable mention goes to the luck squirting games like used in "Annie Taylor". I hate those luck-based games because it might reward an undeserving player over a talented one. That temple game was much better for memory-based games like in "Sacred Ring".

What temple games did you think were bad?

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I never liked the "up and down pulley" game that was used in Season 1. It was featured in episodes like Kamehameha, Golden Chains, where the latter episode had a TERRIBLY one sided match up. It always seemed like the kids were always getting stuck, and only scored a miniscule amount, if at all. It certainly made the Purple Parrots in that episode look pathetic, that's for sure. Same thing happened in Belshazzar. While the Purple Parrots in that episode scored at least a little, they still lost humiliatingly.

Also agree about the squirting games to an extent. But I kind of liked watching it because it was kind of funny seeing the contestants get squirted repeatedly. Though I definitely agree that the memory based variation used in Sacred Ring, was MUCH better than the lucked based variation used in Lucky Pillow. Couldn't the producers just use that game for memory usage only? And none of this luck based stuff?

[The Red Jaguars]

I totally forgot the pulley game! What an awful idea for a game. Often times, the teams were struggling to get in synch with each other. I definitely would add that to my list of least favorite games too. The "Golden Chains" episode is a perfect example. "Geronimo" also had a pretty poor performance too.

I liked most of the later season temple games though at least. The only one I didn't care for was the one where the players were in a jumpsuit and them had to jump on the ceiling to grab something and bring it down. For example, Jim's individual game in "Priceless Portrait". Sometimes, players had trouble just getting to the top. And other times, their item will fall down and not count for them. Some notable episodes where the players had trouble include "Levitating Dog Leash", "Broken Trident", and "Mummified Hand".

And I never cared for the "throw the boulder over your head" game in Season 3. Especially when it ended up being a low scoring game, or one team flat out dominating like the Green Monkeys in "Empress Eugenie". Temple games are not fun when one team dominates it while the others have trouble.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Not to mention, in the Sforza team game, neither team managed to score at all. I mean, kickballs? Why couldn't the producers just use the boulders? Like they did in every other episode that featured that game. God I hated that game, and I also didn't like the "human maze" game either. It always seemed like a pain to do, and it took forever. Also agree about the ceiling game too. Some players struggled way too much, like you mentioned. The rules were also unfair at times. Like in Missing Eye, when Michael dropped an Olmec puzzle piece, and had to sit out for the rest of the game. He was totally cheated out of at least tying the game thanks to the utterly picky rules. But for the most part, the latter two seasons had MUCH better temple games.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

Definitely the luck based water game. It should've been reserved for memory. Not just put it in here, squirt, and keep going until the clock hits 0. That's an embarrassment to the show. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Not to mention, it's a waste of time. But we already discussed that.

While we're on the subject of different game variations, I never liked the team game variation of the sinking steps game. Like in Useless Map, first team to get ONE player across wins. Not only does that make the game way too rushed, it's really unfair. I mean, couldn't the rules go "first team to get BOTH players across wins," instead of just one player? That kind of game is meant to be an individual game. Like in Xerxes and Mystical Spellbook.

[The Red Jaguars]

My biggest problem with the luck-based game was that the entire game was based on luck. If there was at least some skill involved, but I wouldn't complain. But Missy's temple game is a perfect example of how flawed this game was. She didn't even get a single one correct! Considering they had like 7 holes to choose from, she had a 1/7 chance of being right everytime.

And I agree with the Paintbrush about the human maze game. That temple game had some inconsistent rules. In some episodes like Battle Flag and War Fan, the players just had to simply get to the top and complete something. But in episodes like Robert the Bruce and Apanuugpak, the players had to carry objects to the top. Not to mention, I remember a lot of episodes where teams had trouble. For example, the Red Jaguar boy couldn't jump through  the first hole in Snow Cone -_-, Jeremy's cheating, the girls struggling in Sir Gawain, etc.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I was talking about the human maze, players chained together game. Like in Upside Down Compass and Bandit Queen. I quite liked the trampoline game used in Battle Flag and Sir Gawain. But that one game in Bifocal Monocle....

[The Red Jaguars]

I thought the human maze temple game was actually better as an individual game, like in Useless Map and Battle Flag. I mean it is a good concept, but the teams struggled because one partner was clearly stronger than another. So the second player often times struggled to keep up.

The worst temple games overall though came from Season 1, easily. They was very little variety and they re-used the same games over and over again. It was like you know how the outcome would be once you see that game. And the sad part is that Season 1 had some really good ideas, but they only used them like in 2 episodes. Bamboo Forest maze in Great Seal/Amelia Earhart, mummy wrapping game in Blue Pearl/Cobra Staff, and the needle and thread game from Snake Bracelet.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, the human maze game was much better as an individual game, but not as a team game. The sinking steps game, (like I mentioned above), was the exact same way. It was better as an individual game, but as a team game, it was way too rushed and unfair.

[The Red Jaguars]

I liked the sinking steps game when the players had to go out and retrieve something and bring it back. Kind of like Katie's game in Imperial Wizard. But it was bland when all the player had to do was reach the other side. Especially as a team game in Smashed Printing Plate where all that one player had to do is reach the other side and win it for the team. That is not even a team game. -_-

The best temple game IMO is the giant stairs game from Season 2 like the one that was used in Enormous Iron Nose Ring. It really used the team aspect of the game well, and I liked how there was no time limit on it. But the Lost Lion Tail was pure crap though and not only because of the outcome. The fact that those kids had to carry the large signs up and plus each other felt like it was too much.