Best Guess Live goes big for the holidays with a $500K jackpot

Best Guess Live is making the holiday season more festive for viewers. 

The mobile game show has announced that the prize money for the December 26, 2025, episode will be $500,000. 

So, now the viewers will be cumulating the winning amount per episode as usual in the week starting December 22. 

And with the jackpot of $500,000 on December 26, the total winning amount pool will be close to $1 million.

In a promotional teaser for the show, host Hunter March opened a large box of Christmas presents and pulled out a substantial bag of cash. March said:

“You guys have been playing for some money in the past week and a half. But next week we are giving away one million dollars.” 

Best Guess Live: All about format, hosts and more 

Best Guess Live is one of the many shows that are launched by Netflix under Netflix Games. 

In these games, viewers can play interesting games on TV, using their phone as a remote control. 

Alan Tascan, president of Games at Netflix, refers to it as the “special Netflix touch.”

“You can play games on your TV, using your phone as a controller — no setup needed, it’s as easy as streaming your favorite shows. You can now go from watching KPop Demon Hunters to playing Pictionary: Game Night without ever leaving Netflix. And for those who love to play anywhere and everywhere, we’re bringing even more games to your phone with our own special Netflix touch.” 

The format of the show is simple. 

Viewers compete in real time with other players to win hundreds of dollars. The game shares five clues for 20 seconds, and viewers then have to guess the answer. 

As explained by TUDUM, in each round, a crystal ball will contain the secret item. 

The viewers will receive five clues, with which they must guess the answer within 20 seconds. 

If they succeed, they can share the winnings, and if they are wrong, they are ousted for the round. 

Ultimately, the hosts will reveal the correct answer and the viewer who provided it the quickest.

If you are the only person who has answered it correctly, the prize money will be all yours. 

Jeff Apploff, the executive producer of the show, explained the format in an interview with Variety:

“The idea is, everybody who puts in the correct answer in the earliest clue shares in the money. We go through all of the clues, and everybody gets to give their answer. Usually by the fifth clue, you really kind of get it. The idea is that once you see the five clues together, you get that ‘aha’ moment.”

The show is hosted by Hunter March and Howie Mandel. 

March is a well-known television host, known for hosting E! Nightly Pop and Sugar Rush. 

Mandel has previously hosted shows like Deal or No Deal and judged America’s Got Talent. 

Mandal talked about Best Guess Live in an interview with Variety on December 8, 2025. 

He said that he “loves games” and it is great for viewers to spend “15 minutes every weekday” and win “huge amount of cash or prizes.” 

Mandel added:

“You don’t have to sit down. You don’t have to watch TV. This is incredibly shareable. I imagine what’s going to happen, whether you’re sitting in a bar, whether you’re sitting alone, whether you’re sitting in your office, everybody has access to this app at five o’clock. And who doesn’t like playing? For me to just show up in Jeff’s studio and give these clues, I have no idea what the answer is!” 

Stay tuned for more such updates.