They may look easy, but the Saturday Showdown games need the teams to bring their A-game, especially the new ones introduced this season.
These include ‘Four-Four Masihlalisane’, ‘Phunyuka Bamphethe’, ‘Mbamparrah’, ‘Do or Die’, ‘Haka’ and ‘Come Duze.’ Here’s how the games work:
1. Four-Four Masihlalisane
Players push toy taxis along a surface that is designed to look like a highway. Where the taxi stops along the highway determines how many points they earn. The closest stop towards the end of the highway earns the most points.
2. Phunyuka Bamphethe
Teams must move as many balloons as possible between two containers that are ten metres apart. Players are not allowed to use their hands to pick up balloons. They must use two smaller balloons to “wedge” the bigger balloons. Obstacles between the two containers add further jeopardy to moving the balloons. Players must pass the balloons another player, until the last player drops it into the container at the end.
3. Mbamparrah
Teams must try to land basketballs by bouncing them into cups, which have different point values from two to 10. The 10-point cups are hidden behind a small wall, so landing the balls in there is challenging. Single-bounce balls earn teams the scores indicated on the cups, double-bounces will double the value on the cup.
4. Do or Die
Players must avoid having a giant helium filled balloon from exploding in their face by quickly answering simple questions. The aim is to stay as calm as possible and give the correct answer to prevent the balloon from inflating further in your face. If the balloon explodes in your face before you answer the question, you lose the game.
5. Pop It
Pop It sees a player from each team compete in a head-to-head balloon popping course. They must pop balloons attached to trampolines, then use toothpicks to pop a row of floating balloons. The first player to pop all the balloons along their course and press the giant buzzer wins the race.
6. Haka
A player from each team stands on opposite ends of a centre pillar. Above the pillar is a beam that runs out over the heads of the players. A plastic ring dangles in front of each player, attached to a rope that hangs from the beam overhead. The aim of the game is to swing your plastic ring and attempt to hook it onto a hook that sits on the centre pillar. The first player to score enough consecutive hooks wins the game.
7. Come Duze
All 10 players line up, side-by-side at a table with 10 race lanes. Inside each lane is a rolled-out 2-ply toilet paper roll. At that far end of the table, on top of the rolled-out toilet paper is a plastic cup full of water. The aim of the game is to carefully roll up the toilet paper to pull the cup across the table to the finish line on the player’s end of the table. Roll too fast and the toilet paper breaks. Roll too slow and you lose the race.
8. No Pain No Gain
This is a variation on the classic ‘Memory Match’ game but with a cruel, painful twist. Like the classic, the aim of the game is to repeat patterns from an example game board on a solution game board. What’s the catch? There’s a painful “ocean” of tiny Lego blocks between the example game board and the solution game board. Before the player can begin recalling the patterns from memory, they must cross the ocean of Lego pain.
9. Your Tube
A player from each team competes in a simple race from the start to the finish line. But, along the way, players must collect six inflated tyre tubes using only their legs. The first player to make it across the finish line with all the tubes around their legs, three tubes on each leg, wins the game.
10. Finish the Lyrics
Players wear noise cancellation headphones to make this classic Karaoke game even more hilarious. A popular song will be played as a music video with the lyrics highlighted in green. Everyone in studio sings along, it’s a vibe. When the lyrics disappear, it’s the player’s job to carry on singing the song with the correct lyrics! Taking turns, a player from each team will attempt to finish the lyrics.
11. Chi-ga-go
In Chi-Ga-Go the aim is to complete a tin tower before the other team does. Using balls, you can fire shots at the other team to try and slow down build progress. The first team to complete their tower using all the cans must scream “Chi-Ga-Go” and press the giant buzzer to win the game.
12. Chop-Stix
Using giant chopsticks, teams must lift and then transport balls across an obstacle course to where a basket is waiting for the balls to be dropped into. The first team to transport five balls across the obstacle course and into the basket and press the giant buzzer, wins.
13. Mgusha 2.0
A floating table is connected to a rope maze within a cube. Each rope acts as a tripwire that could wobble the floating table. All five players from each team must enter the cube and attempt to build a tin tower on the floating table, without tripping the tripwires. The team that builds their tin tower on the floating table the quickest and presses the giant buzzer wins the game.
Catch The Saturday Showdown every Saturday at 17:00 on Mzansi Magic DStv channel 161.
Keep an eye out for more details on Mzansi Magic’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.