A*mazing facts for kids

A*mazing was a popular Australian children's television game show. It aired on the Seven Network from May 16, 1994, until 1998. The show was famous for its really big and detailed maze or obstacle course built right into the TV studio. James Sherry was the host for the entire time the show was on air. A*mazing was first made in Brisbane from 1994 to 1996, and then in Perth from 1997 to 1998.

How the Game Worked

The show featured teams from two different primary schools competing against each other over a week. The points each contestant earned during the week were added up. This total decided which school won at the end of each week.

Round One: The Word Challenge

In the first part of the game, a 90-second timer started. The host, James Sherry, would give clues to help the first school's team guess a secret word or phrase. Once they guessed it, the contestants had to run to a giant QWERTY keyboard on the floor. They would then step on the letters to spell out the word. This process was repeated for the second school. If a team couldn't guess the word right away, the clues would get easier until the word was finally spelled out by James. The amount of time left on the clock decided how many points they got. It also determined how much time each school would get to spend in the maze during the second round.

Round Two: Maze Hunt Part 1

During the second round, one contestant from each school went into the big maze. Their goal was to find letters that were hidden in different spots, like inside a garbage can or behind a fake cactus. For every letter they found before their time ran out, they earned ten points. Sometimes, the maze had extra letters that weren't part of the answer. If a contestant picked up these extra letters, they didn't get any points for them.

Round Three: Another Word Challenge

This round was just like Round One. The teams had to guess and spell out a different word or phrase.

Round Four: Maze Hunt Part 2

Round Four was the same as Round Two. However, this time the other contestant from each team entered the maze to find the letters for their word.

Round Five: Video Game Battle

In the fifth round, the contestants faced off in a video game challenge. Over the years, the show used three different gaming systems, all provided by the sponsor, Nintendo. First, it was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (from 1994–1996), and later the Nintendo 64 (from 1997–1998).

Some of the games played included Tetris, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, Mario Kart 64, and Super Mario 64. The team that won the video game battle, either by scoring the most points or finishing fastest, earned fifty points for their school. The team that came in second received 25 points. If there was a tie, both teams got 25 points.

Bonus Round: Key Hunt

After the third round, the team with the highest score got to go back into the maze. They had 90 seconds (later changed to 120 seconds) to find keys. One player chose which side of the maze to explore. The other player could only enter their half of the maze once the first player had exited. There were seven keys in total, including a special bonus key. Each key was worth 100 points. If either contestant found the bonus key, both contestants would win an original Game Boy (also from Nintendo). Later, this prize was updated to a Game Boy Pocket. Only once were all seven keys found in the maze within the 90-second time limit.

If the scores were tied after the third round, a sudden-death question was asked, similar to Round One. The team that answered correctly won the day's game and got to go into the maze to search for the keys.

Weekly Winners

By the end of the week, the school with the most points won a big prize. This prize was usually something helpful for learning, like computer software or a set of encyclopedias. Other prizes included tickets to the Wet'n'Wild theme park in Gold Coast, Australia.

About The Maze

The maze was a central part of A*mazing. Some parts of the maze stayed the same throughout the show's run, like the mirrored doors, the pipe, the pirate's cove, the desert, the bamboo walk, the yellow slide, and the padded stairs.

• In one series, if players chose the left side of the maze, they would go through an aquarium, then mirrored doors, a toy shop, a pipe into the pirates' cove, and then into the desert. They would climb a ladder, cross a jungle walk, and slide down a yellow slide into a ball pit.
• In another series, if players chose the right side, they would go up steps, past pots, through a curved red pipe, and into a "thunderbox" (a small shed). They would then slide down a firefighter's pole, get through a car, go up padded stairs, past penguins, and slide down an ice slide into a foam pit.
• The host, James Sherry, only went into the maze once during a game. This happened when a contestant got a key stuck in a fish net. After trying for 30 seconds, James told them they could have the key. He then went into the maze to count the keys they had collected.
• One of the most common places to find the bonus key was inside a car prop in the maze. However, contestants often missed it.
• The shortest maze run ever was only 5 seconds! This happened after a team took 85 seconds to correctly answer and type "Todd Woodbridge" (which has 14 letters, making it a long word to spell). The team only managed to grab an "S", but since "S" wasn't in "Todd Woodbridge", they only scored 5 points, which was the lowest score ever in a round.
• Towards the end of the show's run, parts of the set from another Seven Network show, Time Masters, were used in the A*mazing maze. For example, a wobbly plank obstacle and a revolving pipe were added.
• In the final season, the jungle obstacle featured characters designed like the Three Wise Monkeys, who looked like Donkey Kong.
• Peter Taylor was the very first contestant to win the main prize, a Game Boy, on A*mazing.
• Early on, if contestants chose the left path in the maze, they had to step into a pit filled with smoke and thousands of ping pong balls. These balls sometimes caused contestants to fall awkwardly. Because of this, the balls were removed after the first two episodes.

Trivia

• The show was re-aired on Disney Channel in Australia from 1999 to 2003.
• On August 9, 2012, host James Sherry uploaded a video and started a Facebook page. He was hoping someone would bring back A*mazing. He has since uploaded many videos, but there are no official plans to bring the show back right now.

See Also

• Time Masters (game show)