If you are already familiar with Game Grumps or just want to skip straight to the list then click here, otherwise read on and enjoy!
Game Grumps is an American Let’s Play channel which was established back on July 18th 2012 by co-hosts and co-founders Arin Hanson (also known as Egoraptor) and Jon Jafari (also known as JonTron). Arin had already built up a considerable fanbase prior to Game Grumps due to his animations which were posted to Newgrounds and his personal YouTube Channel and when Jon came to his attention following his video DinoCity BRO!!! (which features his first attempt to sing Firework by Katy Perry, which I eventually reviewed) and that videos subsequent posting to Reddit they became friends and eventually decided to collaborate.
The actual concept for Game Grumps as well as the name of the show and the roles of ‘Grump’ and ‘Not So Grump’ they play on it were inspired by an incident where Jon and Arin were playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl and arguing over whether the character Wolf was a clone of Fox, because their fighting styles were too similar. A friend of theirs told them they have a tendency to get a little ‘grumpy’ with one another while playing games, and said that they should make a show where they should talk it out, Arin concieved of a podcast called Game Grumps, the idea for which eventually evolved into the show as we know it. As mentioned above Arin and Jon play specific roles on the show, with Arin playing the role of ‘Grump’ and Jon playing the role of ‘Not So Grump’. Together the pair hosted the channel, with vital behind the scenes support from their editor Barry Kramer (also known as razzadoop) until Jon left on June 25th 2013 to focus on his own personal channel.
Speaking of which, if you are a fan of JonTron, you can check out a Top 10 list I did for his best episodes by clicking here.
Following Jon’s departure from the show he was replaced by Dan Avidan (also known as Danny Sexbang) the lead vocalist of the comedy musical duo, Ninja Sex Party, who took over his role as ‘Not So Grump’. Interestingly enough, Dan joining the channel had already been in the works prior to Jon leaving, as he was set to be the co-host of another series scheduled to appear on the Game Grumps channel called Steam Train, which would feature himself alongside Animator and voice actor Ross O’Donovan (also known as RubberRoss, RubberNinja or CondomRoss) where they would both play PC games (as opposed to console games, which were more common on Game Grumps at the time) many of which were available on Valve’s Steam platform (for which the show was named) in a similar format to the original Game Grumps set up. However due to the sudden nature of Jon’s withdrawal from the show, and also because Arin had apparently said previously that Dan would have always been his second choice for a co-host for Game Grumps if Jon were unavailable he ended up taking the co-host role on both shows.
Another interesting detail regarding Dan joining the channel was that his first appearance on Game Grumps in the video(s) Ode to Jon / Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!: Around the World – PART 1 went up the same day as his first appearance on Steam Train in the video Hotline Miami: Who’s Calling? – PART 1 (which was actually recorded several months prior) with both being uploaded to the Game Grumps channel on June 25th 2013. The addition of Steam Train to the channel added an extra video, making up a total of three per day. Ross and Dan co-hosted the show together, and on July 9th 2013 Arin was introduced on the show during their playthrough of Civilization V: Brave New World to act as another co-host as Dan was increasingly busy with both his Game Grumps schedule, and working on Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb (whose first album was released on December 17th 2013).
Barry Kramer was later debuted as another co-host during the February 14th 2014 Steam Train episode, rebranded as Single Train for Valentine’s Day, as both Dan and Arin, the hosts for that episode were single at the time. On June 25th 2014, the first anniversary of Steam Train, they revamped things with a brand new intro sequence, starting with the video King’s Quest VI: The Land of the Green Isles – PART 1, the new sequence now featured Barry and Suzy Berhow (also known as Mortem3r) who herself would debut as a potential host on the episode, Mount Your Friends.
Speaking of which Suzy is also the host of her own Let’s Play channel called KittyKatGaming and I’ve done some Top 10s for her channel as well which you can check out by clicking here and here.
The expansion of Steam Train beyond just Dan and Ross created a sub-series called Steam Rolled, which launched on August 23rd 2013 and involves a combination of any four players playing a variety of co-op or Versus games. Steam Train as a whole lasted from June 25th 2013 until December 30th 2016 when the last official episode was posted. The show ended (or at least went into an extended hiatus) because Ross was taking a less active role in Game Grumps in general to focus on his art and animation career and because the main Game Grumps channel had started featuring gameplay from Steam thus making Steam Train unnecessary.
Just before we move on from Steam Train I’ve done Top 10s for the series and you can check them out here and here.
Steam Train was not the only series added to Game Grumps, on December 14th 2013 they introduced a new show called Table Flip which was produced by Polaris (a multi-channel network based on YouTube) and was hosted by Barry and Suzy, and instead of PC or Console games, focused on traditional board and card games, and utilising costumes and set pieces to give an old fashioned feel. Each episode of Table Flip featured various additional guests, such as other members of The Grumps such as Arin, Danny or Ross as well as other YouTubers such as Markiplier, Jirard The Completionist and Ashly Burch (speaking of which, I did a Top 10 list for Ashly’s show Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’? Which you can check out here). Table Flip ran until October 12th 2016 when the show was wrapped up due to Game Grumps separating from Polaris, who co-owned the show, this meant of course that they were unable to make any new episodes.
Grumpcade was another new show added to the channel, it debuted on January 14th 2015 and involved any combination of two to four of the Game Grumps hosting an episode, alongside special guests. It was the addition of these guests that meant in some ways Grumpcade was a more unofficial, relaxed version of Guest Grumps, a sub-series of the main channel where Arin and Dan (originally Jon) would invite a guest to play alongside them. But returning to Grumpcade, they focused on playing a variety of console games, in whatever configuration worked best for the recording. Functionally in terms of set up it is similar to that of Game Grumps (particularly Guest Grumps) or Steam Train (and Steam Rolled) but deviates because of the lack of fixed hosts. Notable guests on Grumpcade include Octopimp, Matt and Woolie of Super Best Friends, Oney, Jacksepticeye, Ding Dong and Comic Book Girl 19 just to name a few. Grumpcade lasted until January 6th 2018 when the last video was posted, since then it has either officially been wrapped up alongside the middle time slot it used to be posted on, or is at the very least on an extended hiatus.
Shortly after Grumpcade first started, Game Grumps announced another project. In this case a whole new channel called ‘Grump Out’ with the first video Game Grumps Eat GROSS BEANS being released on February 20th 2015. This new channel allowed them to post a variety of content including live action comedy which did not fit on the main Game Grumps channel. The channel did not have a set schedule for post, instead content went up only when there was content to post. The main run of the channel went right up until November 28th 2018 when the last video Dream Daddy – Teaser Trailer went up (speaking of which I’ve reviewed Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator and you can check that out here) after which the channel went into hiatus. This pause continued until October 7th 2020 when they released the video TAKE THIS Egg Emperor!, this video also marked a shift in the type of content posted on the channel, which is now focused on smaller clips and compilations designed to promote the main channel.
The live action comedy that was a vital part of the early Grump Out channel, was succeeded in spirit by a new series on the main channel called 10 Minute Power Hour. This series consists of face-cam live footage of Arin and Dan (and occasionally a guest) as they perform a variety of prompts or challenges. The first episode of the 10 Minute Power Hour, Grown Men Playing w/ Legos was released on April 3rd 2018. The channel released weekly from that point on a Monday right up until July 22nd 2019 with the video Pancakemon Art, after which from July 29th 2019 with the video Making art with Lite Brite is impossible the series was moved to a brand new channel called ‘The Grumps’ and has continued to be posted there ever since. Although as of the 22nd June 2020 the series is taking a temporary hiatus due to the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour with Arin and Dan aiming to continue the series once it is safe to do so.
Speaking of which The Grumps, their newest channel debuted on July 26th 2019 and was created much as Grump Out before it as a place for content which was different from Game Grumps, such as live action comedy, which was why once the channel started 10 Minute Power Hour was moved to it. In addition to that series, they also have ‘Good Content’ which was for the first fifteen episodes untitled, and it featured a variety of content including The Grumps answering fan questions. However as of the episode Good Content HIATUS and upcoming special episodes?! which aired on January 30th 2020 the show is on an indefinite hiatus.
That pretty much brings us up to now, and I hope after having read all that you feel like you know a little bit more about Game Grumps. Now let’s move on to the Top 10 list which you can check out below.
The Actual List:
So this has consistently topped the list for me for Game Grumps extended playthroughs, not only because it’s a really fun game that I have a lot of good memories of playing, but also because it’s truly engaging to watch whether it’s the first of hundredth time. In fact the Grumps thought it was so good that despite starting off as a Ghoul Grumps playthrough they kept playing it after Halloween and very nearly completed it as well. It’s by no means one of their longest playthroughs, but it’s just long enough at 46 episodes to get invested in without also being a little daunting. I mentioned above that they came close to beating the game, and unfortunately got held up during the final battle, and instead borrowed footage from Mrtoastsandwich’s playthrough of the game, and you can check out his complete playthrough here. But despite that, this playthrough is packed full of funny, quotable moments and is great to properly watch or just have on in the background.
2. Krampus is Home (6 episodes)
Is super fun with lots of jump scares and ridiculous moments to spook the Grumps, and I’m super glad they returned to it again for their Nightmare Before Xmas 2020 playthrough. It’s kind of hard to describe what I liked about this one, but honestly it’s really solid. It has some nice engagement between Arin and Dan, and it’s just one of those crazy games that provokes some over the top reactions from them.
3. Granny
Is just a really hilarious playthrough, that being said I can’t honestly say, with 100% certainty that it didn’t make it onto the list because it contains the phrases ‘Heckin Chonker’ and ‘Oh Lawd he Comin’ which both live rent free in my head. In fact I think Tori B Bearly would prefer that I stop watching this video because whenever I do I end up quoting those lines on a loop for the rest of the day. Seriously though, this is just a really enjoyable episode that gave the Grumps a lot of room to enjoy themselves and that comes across in the episode.
4. Tungulus
It’s a bit of a weird one, it’s fair to say that it is the epitome of obscure horror, but that’s part of its charm and it’s certainly what the Grumps enjoyed about it when they played it. Honestly though, the banter between Arin and Dan is what earns this video a spot on the list, and it’s why I come back to it every couple of months.
Is a strong entry for Ghoul Grumps 2020, it’s not only fun and has a lot of rewatchability but also much like Friday the 13th: The Game it shows how interesting things can be when they shake up the core dynamics of Game Grumps by having an uncontrolled elements such as other players thrown into the mix. Between the two maps, I think I preferred the farm over the house with the dolls but honestly the whole thing was pretty good and it was a really great playthrough that recaptured my attention after an unintentional break from watching the channel.
6. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (3 episodes)
This might have made the list just for the fact that it is a playthrough of hands down my favourite Scooby Doo game ever (although I do not recall ever beating it) but it’s genuinely a really great video which has Arin stretch his voice acting muscles with some pretty good impressions of the Scooby gang and also testy his incredibly self confidence (and if you don’t know what I’m referencing the check out this video)
Is another game that’s funny partly because of how absurd it is, also for a decent chunk of the episode they could not understand the on screen prompts due to it being in a different language, so that obviously presents an obstacle for the Grumps who as most fans will tell you *thrive* when challenged. This game is also responsible for practically destroying the computer they were playing on, but despite that they seemed to enjoy it, enough to recently discuss it nostalgically during another video. It’s even more impressive that they both had a good time because even Dan seemed to have fun, despite having an extreme dislike for horror, and feel free to watch their playthrough of P.T. if you need any more proof.
Because of the issues with Ghoul Grumps back in 2018 I initially missed this one when it was first released, and so ended up watching it fairly late at night a month or so later, and ended up jump scaring myself really badly because I decided to watch it with headphones on. That would have been fine but upon returning to it a few months later I did exactly the same thing. Scaring me aside, it’s actually a really good playthrough that shows how interesting things can be when they play with real people. Also the game opens up the possibility of some interesting co-op opportunities for guest grumps.
I have loved Goosebumps since I was a kid, and being honest still love them as an adult, so this game was already bound to be of interest, but nostalgia aside, it was a really engaging experience. They clearly enjoyed the game, had a lot of fun at the expense of the omnipresent monsters and I often just find myself returning to this game when I need to chill out.
10. Alien Isolation
This May be last on this list but this was a really good playthrough, and I’m sad it wasn’t one of the games they kept playing after Halloween was over. I think one of the reasons I liked it was hearing Dan talk about it, because his affection for the Alien movies, well the first couple any way, was really endearing. It’s by no means perfect but they struck a nice balance, made fairly decent progress and I hope they pick it up again in the future.
Honourable Mentions go to Blair Witch, Yomawari: The Long Night Collection and The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan which I also really enjoyed but didn’t quite make the list.
So that was my Top 10 Ghoul Grumps Playthroughs and if you want to check them out for yourself and maybe find some favourites of you own then head on over to YouTube and check out the main channel, Game Grumps, you can also check out their new channel, The Grumps and their misfit channel for random things, Grump Out for more content.
Interestingly enough the Game Grumps recently released two videos which you can check out here and here which have their own highlights from Ghoul Grumps, and I urge you to check them out as well.
Lastly, make sure and follow the Game Grumps on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.
Also if you’re in the mood for Game Grumps but have no idea what to watch then use this neat little site, RandomGrump, which you can use to find a completely random episode or series from the backlog of Grumps content.
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