After the fifth game, the contestant on the team with the most points competes in a bonus round with one of the episode's celebrities.

The series has generally received positive critical reception and earned relatively modest television ratings, while also inspiring several worldwide adaptions, as well as a party game and mobile app based on the show.

Before I knew it, I was hosting it, and we rented this mansion that is, ostensibly, mine, and we put couches in there and we got everybody tanked up on booze and we played these games.

"[4] NBC announced the series in April 2011 under the then title Celebrity Game Night, changing to its current name when it was ordered and greenlit on December 18, 2012.

[8][9] In February 2013, NBC announced Jane Lynch as the host [10] The first season of Hollywood Game Night premiered on July 11, 2013.

[11] On August 20, 2013, NBC renewed Hollywood Game Night for a ten-episode second season.

[14][15] On May 12, 2020, NBC aired a "Social Distancing Edition" special for Red Nose Day, with teams of celebrities playing remotely from their homes.

On some websites, production codes for the social distancing episode and the premiere on June 7, 2020, indicate that they are a part of the 6th season.

"[1] Ed Bark, a former television critic at The Dallas Morning News, gave Hollywood Game Night a "B-minus" grade, arguing that "as a silly summertime lark, HGN pretty much hits it out of the park on opening night.

"[22] Entertainment Weekly's Annie Barrett argued that the show "makes you feel like a genius" and saying "I've never felt smarter in my life.

"[23] Writing before the season three premiere, The Washington Post's Hank Stuever opined that while "Few things on television could seem more pleasingly old-fashioned and simply entertaining" than the series, it "also serves as another reminder that we live in a sad, unimaginative era of acquiescence to celebrity status.

Versions of Hollywood Game Night have existed in Armenia,[37] Canada,[38] Czech Republic,[39][40] Finland,[41] France,[42] Greece,[43] Hungary,[44] Iceland,[45] Indonesia,[46] Russia,[47] Spain,[48][49] Thailand,[50] Turkey,[51] Ukraine,[52] United Kingdom,[53] and Vietnam.