If you've spent any time on Dropout, you already know the platform thrives on clever, chaotic, and endlessly inventive comedy. At the center of that ethos is Game Changer, the hit unscripted series hosted by Sam Reich, where the rules—and oftentimes the entire premise—shifts from episode to episode. Reich, who also serves as CEO of Dropout, has built the show into a fan-favorite by blending improvisation, competition, and just enough unpredictability to keep both players and viewers on their toes.
Now, that spirit is heading off-screen with Game Changer: Home Edition, a Kickstarter-backed party game designed to bring that same lightning-in-a-bottle energy to living rooms everywhere that launched—and immediately blew past its goal—earlier today. Initially hoping to raise $40,000 to produce the game, the campaign has raised $797,000 as of this writing ... and has now hit $800,000 (and counting) as of the end of writing this sentence. A $19 pledge gets you an "amuse-bouche" of the game; $39 gets you the "full meal": and beyond that, the Kickstarter Bundle ($59), Ultimate Home Edition ($159), Partially Scripted ($300), and Sam Says ($500) tiers offer an increasing number of prompts, expansion decks, add-ons, Game Changer memorabilia, and even a personal message from host Sam Reich.
Ahead of the launch, Pop Heist spoke with Reich about the Kickstarter campaign, the challenge of translating a host-driven show into a tabletop experience, and why now felt like the right moment to make the leap. From modular design ambitions to the importance of accessibility for both fans and newcomers, Reich was candid–and characteristically enthusiastic–about what players can expect.
I'm a party game fanatic and only wanted to do this if I thought we could get it right.
Since Game Changer is played completely differently than other games the channel presents, like Um, Actually, Reich broke down the mechanics of Game Changer: Home Edition.
"So, Game Changer the Home Game is three games based on three popular episodes of the show," Reich explained. "It's basically a series of mini-games: the first is Bingo, the second is Name A Number, and the third is Sam Says. What we've done is take pains to convert each of those episodes into what we feel like are fun play-at-home games. The challenge there is that play-at-home games typically don't have a host so we wanted to find ways to do this where everyone could play together and I think we've done that. I'm really really excited by how we've translated these games to home game form. I'm a party game fanatic and only wanted to do this if I thought we could get it right."
That modular approach isn't just a design choice—it's a long-term strategy. By structuring Game Changer: Home Edition as a collection of interchangeable mini-games, Reich and his team are effectively building a system that can grow indefinitely, with future "extensions" slotting in to let players remix the experience however they like. It's a framework meant to evolve over time rather than remain static—which naturally raises the next question: why is this the moment to launch it, and why take that vision to Kickstarter instead of keeping it in-house?
"'Now' is an interesting question because we arguably have had the ability to do this for years but just haven't found the right intersection of creative that we were excited about, an opportunity we were excited about—we had been taking pitches on the game for a while so people from all walks of life would come to us and say 'Here is my vision for a Game Changer home game.' I've sort of have had the broad vision of I'd like to create a modular game and I think it would be very cool, and then finally found a game designer who shared that vision and also had the relevant experience to sort of help me [to get to] the promised land of converting these episodes to home game versions."
The designer was Joshua Balvin, who had helped design some of the acclaimed Scribblenauts video games, as well as other hit board games Oktoberfest, Fool's Gold, Salem, and Machiavelli: The Prince. Reich calls him a genius and considers him a missing piece of the puzzle for putting all of this together.
"The journey with Joshua was one where we sort of got on the same page about the overall vision for the architecture for the game. He went away and did some game designing, then he came back to us and we did a playthrough with myself and my writing team and we were like 'Oh man…we have it!' It was super, super fun and playable."
Reich continued, saying it would be one thing if the audience for the game were limited to Dropout fans—"and that's a huge number of people obviously"—but that the team genuinely believes there's a broader audience of tabletop enthusiasts they'd love to bring into the fold.
"You know, [Kickstarter] does serve another important business purpose which is as we're creating this game, if we were to put it in the Dropout store tomorrow, we wouldn't know what the demand would be. So rather than doing a run of the game and waiting months, and months, and months, and months—let's say we sell out very quickly, for users to get their hands on the game again—this gives us a sense of the audience's enthusiasm. That being said, we know there's a reputation for folks in the Kickstarter space that are waiting way too long for their game… So we intend on trying to deliver it within a really timely manner."
On Game Changer, the rules are often as fluid as the premise itself, with contestants adapting on the fly as Reich shifts the game beneath their feet—so it raises a natural question: does that chaos translate to a home version, or does it need firmer structure? Reich doesn't think the core philosophy changes all that much.
"Oh, listen, there are points in the Game Changer game! You know, Game Changer is not a game devoid of points all the time. There are certainly loosier-goosier games, and less loosier-goosier games and I am there as a judge in that case. Here there is, instead, definitive rules, definitive points, but also the ability to think outside the box depending on your group's appetite for outside-the-box-thinking," he said.
"We worked on this mechanism by which people could like come up with creative executions of prompts that weren't exactly what the game meant and then depending on the group's appetite for like whether or not that's considered cheating, you can decide whether to allow it or not. We actually play a game of Parlor Room this season where we play Game Changer: Home Edition and we come up with some very creative executions to prompts."
That spirit of rewarding bold, creative swings shows up clearly in playtesting. In one memorable moment, a prompt spiraled into full physical comedy, with Reich attempting—and failing—to tackle Demi Adejuyigbe as he fled the room. The escape stuck, and more importantly, it counted. In Reich's eyes, the risk paid off, and that kind of inventive thinking is exactly what the game is built to encourage.
"He deserved that point because he took a risk and it paid off and I'm a big enough man to acknowledge that," Reich said jokingly.
Beyond the immediate launch, Reich's focus widens to the bigger picture—how Game Changer: Home Edition fits into Dropout's growing ambitions in the tabletop and gaming space. What starts as a single release is seemingly intended as the foundation for something much larger, both for Game Changer itself and for how the company approaches interactive experiences moving forward.
"Um, Actually in a lot of ways for us was an experiment for us getting into this space to see what kind of influence we could have. I think we see Game Changer as a slightly bigger opportunity by virtue of its audience. Game Changer is not a one and done as far as I'm concerned. I really do want to continue investing in this game such that it's an experience that people can play season in and season out, year in and year out," he said.
"Three episodes is where we're beginning this game, but like we already have ideas for what we think packs four, five, and six could be. I think as far as our relationship to games is concerned, Dimension 20 deserves to exist in game form in some way and we're brainstorming what that is and what that execution would look like. We're getting there, I will say."
Reich also points to digital games as a natural next frontier for Dropout—an area the company is eager to explore, with the same emphasis on finding an approach that meets their creative standards.
Considering the colossal level of fandom for Dropout, it's not surprising that the Kickstarter gained traction so quickly. But for Reich, the appeal isn't just about numbers—it's about getting the game into people's hands.
"There's totally a world where we would have launched with this thing and I would have been like 'I hope this does well on the basis of the show's merit alone,' but I genuinely love this game and really want people to play it. I think all three of the mini games are cool on their own and together I think they create a very unique experience."
The Game Changer: Home Edition Kickstarter is live now through Friday, June 5. Game Changer Season 8 premieres on Dropout on May 18.
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