S03:E12 - Games Ponies Play

[Life Giver 1,063]

When this episode came out I was happy that they are going to show us what Twilight and the others were doing while Spike was pet sitting.

[Rainbow lightning 19]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I meam YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS over dramatic pinkie pie for the win hope the finale Is as good

[DubWolf 17,263]

This episode was hard to watch, even though we all knew that the Crystal Empire was going to somehow win the Equestria Games anyways. Everytime the actual game commissioner would get into trouble, the tension kept building up until the end, when it was terminated because of her conversation with erm.. the green pony.

[the musty book 156]

This episode was pretty okay... but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Pinkie was so dramatic.. and Shining Armor wasn't an emotionless brick wall. So, it was decent.

[jeremiahsparkle 12]

this epiosode was good. and also fun to watch. easily one of the best of season 3. plus we also got to see more of cadence. seeing her hair in a new way was cool.

[silver quest 15]

Twilight sparkle should really learn to slow down and think if she is going to become princess.

[Windseeker 546]

What fanon names can we give to that green mare? I was thinking Henrietta. Because her cutie mark is a hen.

Some folks are already calling her Chickadee, I believe her canon name is Ms. Peachbottom however. She's so pretty for her age. ^.^

[Guest90210 3,568]

I hated this episode. One of the worst in the entire series, up there with Boast Busters and Hearts and Hooves Day.

 

Going to copy and paste something about the episode I posted in another thread,

 

Games Ponies Play was painful to watch. It was dreadfully obvious from the start what was going to happen. The whole situation could have been avoided within the first few minutes using common sense. "Hey, are you the games instructor?". These gaps in logic ruin the rest of the episode. Reminds me of Equestria Girls where Twilight could have taken the crown within minutes of stepping into the human world. Also the whole claustrophobic thing was pointless

[Radiance64 7,053]

The Hub seems to constantly use footage of this episode in their advertisements, more than any other lately. Makes me wonder if it was created with that purpose partially in mind.

[Pastel 7,630]

I really like that this episode and Just for Sidekicks take place simultaneously.

The Crystal Empire is wonderful as usual. However, I've never like plots based on a huge misunderstanding. It's really unpleasant to watch.

But this one ends well, and I really like to see again the Crystal Empire after we saw it a first time, during the events of the season premiere, when everypony was in panic.

Decent episode.

[Timwi 1]

Today, I noticed that:

• Turnabout Storm, Part 1, published in October 2011, contains a joke about the protagonist’s spikey haircut looking like a “porcupine”;
• Turnabout Storm, Part 3: Twilight, published in September 2012, covers the same timespan as the previous episode (Part 3: Phoenix) but reveals different events by following different characters who go to different places.

and then I saw Games Ponies Play, published in February 2013, which:

• contains a scene in which Rarity briefly turns Twilight Sparkle’s mane into a spikey shape and says: “Imagine her mane turned into a porcupine.”
• covers the same timespan as the previous episode (Just for Sidekicks) but reveals different events by following different characters who go to different places.

Is Games Ponies Play a shoutout to Turnabout Storm?
 

[baba_booey 4,302]

I liked how my 2 favorite ponies (Rarity and Princess Cadance) were together in this episode and I thought it was a decent episode, but there was one huge problem with it. The Mane 6 could have SIMPLY asked Ms. Peachbottom if she was the games instructor.

 

It's one of those episodes I find good, but is taken away from my Top Tens because of a HUGE problem with the plot that could have been avoided. Kinda like the Thomas Season 3 episode, No Joke for James. The plot of that is that James tricks Thomas into thinking he has to pull coaches, but that whole plot could have been avoided if a). Thomas' driver asked Sir Topham Hatt first or b ). James' driver told him not to trick Thomas like dat.

 

I think it was a good episode, but it would be better if the confusion of Ms. Peachbottom thing could have worked out better than just the Mane 6 taking her and thinking she was the Games Instructor. Or, well, if they just asked her and the REAL games instructor saw their little stuffs they were doing.. yeah.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Skarloey

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

This episode was decent and much better than the last episode though it's still a little dull. I think Twilight should've asked the other pony if she was the inspector or not. It was really nice to see the Crystal Empire much more peaceful than last time and not a dark, scary, and dangerous place.

[Nine 707]

A thought occurred to me today during a rewatch.

 

Harshwhinny makes her decision to host the games in the Crystal Empire based on Peachbottom's account of the welcome given by ponies from Ponyville, who did go through a whole pre-planned spiel about how great the Crystal Empire was, even after complaining about how she never gets the real scoop from other welcome parties in other cities doing the same thing.

 

Maaaaaybe she wouldn't have caught on to that just from listening to Ms. Peachbottom, but the fact that Twilight and her friends clearly aren't crystal ponies should have been suspect. Didn't she basically make her decision without meeting any crystal ponies, except the one doing her spa treatment? And Cadence, I guess, sorta. I don't think she even checked to make sure there were enough public washrooms.

 

On the other hoof, in real life there's some political thought put into the process of choosing a location for the Olympics, and the Crystal Empire is historically significant, so I'm gonna go ahead and say that was the real reason.

 

edit: oh, also when Rainbow Dash says Cloudsdale was a candidate for the games when she was a filly, wouldn't that have prevented two thirds of the population from attending? You know, clouds and all?

Edited January 27, 2015 by Nine

[JonasDarkmane 19,785]

I thought the episode was ok :T. 

[FlyingLikeDash 33]

This episode was ok. But that's it. I found it enjoyable though. 4*.

[Nikola Xerdav 88]

why was the CMC hiding underneath a seat on the train at the end of the episode?

 

nevermind, i doubled checked Just For Sidekicks, i forgot that Spike needed a reason to get on the train in the first place, so he got the CMC to go on with him, i feel silly and forgetful 

Edited August 30, 2015 by Nikola Xerdav

[Morning Glory 177]

Has anyone else watched this episode on Netflix recently? The audio seems to be messed up :c Disappointing.. 

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

pretty good i guess. i havent watched it for a while

[cmarston1 5,959]

This was a really weird episode.

While it had some funny moments, I don't really know how I exactly feel about this episode.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

This episode's all echo-y when I play it on Netflix.

[Thrond 3,263]

If anyone had even said the name "Mrs. Harshwhinny," this episode wouldn't even be half as long. Awful. 

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

I thought this Episode was okay. It was a little bit stupid, that they entertained the wrong Pony, i would have found it to be more interesting, if it would have been the real one, but okay.

[Thrond 3,263]

I wonder if the jokes would be a little less irritating were the audio on Netflix better. Delivery does matter. But they're really not good jokes, and a lot of this derives humour simply from the fact that, yup, they've got all this wrong. The whole claustrophobia thing is unpleasant - this poor pony is being trapped in these uncomfortable situations just because nobody bothered to ask her name. The whole situation feels contrived, and the jokes here are mostly just lazy and strained. Did they seriously have Pinkie shout "NOOOOOO" dramatically just because? Even the ending is absurdly convenient. Of course Cadance and Harshwhinny and the other pony are all in the same place at just the right time. Ludicrous. And why wouldn't Harshwhinny hold the fact that they welcomed the wrong pony against the Empire? Ugh. 

I like the brief references at the start and the end to "Just for Sidekicks," Rainbow trying to vicariously compensate for her own disappointment is a decent idea on paper, and this has a nice thread about Twilight successfully avoiding stress, all of which makes it slightly less unbearable than my previous viewing, but mostly this plays to me as perversely inept. And what even is the moral here supposed to be? That this kind of absurd mistake, which is entirely the mane six's own fault, is totally acceptable? Nah. 

Score:

Entertainment: 2/10

Characters: 4/10

Themes: 3/10

Story: 1/10

Overall: 25/100

Edited February 26, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[bigbertha 414]

This episode feels almost too simple and cliche. Nothing about this episode really stands out and it's one of the most filler feeling episodes of the show. Despite this, I think it's just amusing enough for me call it decent, though if you didn't like it, I could see why.

Score: 6/10