Item: The Devil’s Plan
Rating: 8.3
Author: NextFlicks

12 contestants must battle it out over a series of games to win points and prize money and all without getting eliminated in the brilliantly smart South Korean reality show, The Devil's Plan

Like a minnow chomping on bait, Netflix has reeled me in once again with The Devil's Plan, a South Korean reality show where twelve contestants vie for the crown in this game of intelligence and alliances.

To simplify the concept, imagine if Physical 100 was based on being smart rather than being strong and you start to get the general idea of the show.

It's compulsive viewing for a number of reasons so if you fancy having your mettle tested, check it out and see if you could beat The Devil's Plan.

What Is The Devil's Room About?

If you've ever done an escape room or a strategy game of any kind, or maybe you fancy yourself as an amateur detective, then The Devil's Plan Netflix will be right up your street.

12 contestants all come together in a very nice, purpose-built house where they must stay for the duration of the show.

Each is supersmart in one way or another. So we have an MIT graduate, a couple of professional poker players, a UCD graduate who speaks three languages, an engineer etc…you get the idea – they're incredibly intelligent.

Which is just as well because they are about to strategise their way to a potential prize pot of nearly £300,000.

So how do they do it? Each player starts off with one gold Piece. Over a series of ‘games' they must try to win more pieces. The catch is that losers in each game are also penalised by losing pieces. If you end up with no gold pieces, you're out of the game completely. Pack your bags, you're going home!

The winning and losing of pieces takes place daily in the main match. The two bottom players go to ‘prison' for the night and the rest of the team then compete in the prize money game in the evening.

The twist is that in the main game, they're fighting for survival, often at the expense of their fellow players but in the prize match they must work together to build the prize pot.

There can only be two players left standing to battle it out with the winner taking it all. So with alliances formed, secret games, loyalty and betrayal, can they outwit each other and stay the course? It's The Devil's Plan and it's anyone's game.

The Devil's Plan Official Trailer

Is The Devil's Plan Worth Watching?

If you're going to create an epic game of brains and strategy then aside from having contestants capable of solving the puzzles, you need somebody who can create them in the first place.

Thankfully, The Devil's Plan was created by Jung Jong Yeon, who is well known for other shows such as The Genius, The Great Escape, and Girls' High School Mystery Class.

To say that the games are a cut above the usual nonsense we see on TV would be an understatement. In fact, despite my best attempts to properly articulate the rules of even one game, I've come up short.

Suffice it to say that this is a competition where each contestant must play the long game. They must build alliances with other contestants to stay alive but still strategise how they can survive each game and win the show outright.

It's not as cutthroat as you think given that this is South Korean. So more often than not the contestants really struggle with the dilemmas of putting themselves first ahead of the group.

But eventually, 10 of them must go with the first elimination a real surprise highlighting just how quickly fortunes can change in the show.

Overall if you want to watch a reality show with real substance, then check out The Devil's Plan and you won't be disappointed.