For at least a decade, television producers tried to tap the popularity of video games and digital interactivity for their programmes. In 2005, Channel 4 debuted its innovative series Dubplate Drama, about an aspirational grime MC. After each episode, viewers could use text messaging to vote on where the story went next. Much later, Netflix explored similar territory with Interactive Specials, a set of choose-your-own-adventure shows and cartoons, featuring brands such as Black Mirror, Jurassic World and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. We’ve also seen countless companion apps for reality TV favourites, including Love Island and Love Is Blind.
It was no surprise this week, then, to find the BBC announcing a new online game to accompany the second series of The Traitors, the psychological reality gameshow, hugely inspired by the party game Werewolves and the hit game Among Us. For those who aren’t as addicted as me, the show sees 22 people locked in a Scottish castle and performing tasks to earn cash, while a group of “traitors” among the group slowly “murder” everyone else off. The drama of each episode is the round table, where the victims have to try to guess who the traitors are.
