That question’s kind of the point of the YouTube channel Jet Lag: The Game.

Denby, along with friends Ben Doyle and Adam Chase, play a variety of original games around the world. It all started when they decided to compete in a giant game of Connect Four, wherein they attempted to “score” four U.S. states in a straight line, claiming them by visiting each state’s capital.

From there, the trio has played giant forms of other popular games, too: They’ve played tag across Europe; they’ve enjoyed hide and seek through Switzerland; they’ve engaged in capture the flag throughout Japan.

Of course, they’re not just playing the game as you or I may know it. Each version here comes with unique rules and challenges to make it more enjoyable, both to play and watch.

But like actual jet lag, might some of the other things you’ll find on this channel catch you off guard?

POSITIVE CONTENT

Each season on the channel comes with a variety of countries and games. Likewise, each game comes with its own rules and unique challenges. These games and challenges showcase the trio’s creativity in coming up with them, and they could encourage viewers to create their own games, too.

The group ensures that games contain rules that make their challenges safe. For instance, players aren’t allowed to go over the speed limit; they’re required to eat at least one meal a day; and they pause games to spend the night in hotels instead of playing through the night.

It’s evident that the three guys are good friends simply having fun—no matter where in the world they are.

CONTENT CONCERNS

The most frequent concern on the channel is crude language: We heard profanities such as “a–,” “d–n” and “h—”. We also hear God’s name used in vain (and sometimes paired with “d–n”). Likewise, Jesus’ name is also misused. And on a similar note, the f-word and s-word are censored (except for one s-word, which can be seen in a text message).

In a handful of challenges across the seasons, a contestant must drink enough alcohol to get drunk.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Jet Lag: The Game really is a bit like the YouTube version of The Amazing Race.

And that shouldn’t come as a surprise: Denby, who also runs the YouTube channel Wendover Productions, told Wired that the global travel gameshow had been a big inspiration for him. But instead of traveling around the world to get to challenges, the travel itself often is the challenge.

Too bad, then, that Jet Lag: The Game comes with language concerns as well as challenges that include getting inebriated. In those respects, this channel is by no means any more content-free than the broadcast reality show that inspired it.  

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What can Doyon attribute to that increase? Well, a lot of it came as a result of fellow YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast.

The multimillionaire YouTuber invited Doyon, along with three other at-the-time sub-100,000 subscriber creators, to compete on his channel. The prize? MrBeast would personally promote the winner’s channel, telling his millions of fans to subscribe to that person.

Well, it wouldn’t make sense to bring that up unless Doyon won, which he did. And in a single day, he gained more than 900,000 subscribers.

Now, years later, we see that more than four million subscribers watch as Doyon and his friends engage in a variety of fun challenges. Like, for example, attempting to stay hidden for an hour in a game from real police officers and members of the special forces. In another contest, they compete against each other to perform impressive acrobatic stunts they’ve seen in movies or video games. And sometimes, they’re just building hidden rooms inside their homes to see how long it takes for others to find them.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Doyon is clearly grateful for the opportunity he received from MrBeast. He’s thanked the creator many times for helping his channel, and he’s shown his appreciation in a variety of ways, such as when he launched a self-playing miniature piano into space while it played the MrBeast theme song.

Doyon is a Christian, and he makes references to his faith in some of his videos. And even when he doesn’t directly reference his beliefs verbally, a couple of the shirts he wears do.

Doyon was one of many YouTubers who helped promote #TeamSeas, an international fundraiser led by YouTubers MrBeast and Mark Rober to remove 30 million pounds of trash and debris from the ocean. The fundraiser ended up raising over $33 million.

Most videos showcase Doyon and his friends just having a bit of harmless fun. Occasionally, people outside the normal Zealous crew, from other YouTubers to interested strangers, are invited to join them.

And we’ll be the first to admit that his skills in acrobatics are impressive.

CONTENT CONCERNS

In one video, Doyon strips to his boxers to jump from a back deck down into a pile of snow.

People suffer minor injuries and light scrapes in some videos. In a popular sub-series on the channel, two people compete to pull off difficult acrobatic moves, and if someone fails, they’re punished with a hard slap on their exposed back.

When someone jokes that the loser of a challenge will be nailed to a board, someone yells out, “Nailed!? Like Jesus!?”

We heard one instance in an old video where the word “d-ck” was used, and we occasionally heard “crap.” Otherwise, viewers hear milder substitutes for harsh profanities, such as “frick” and “gosh dang.”

CHANNEL SUMMARY

To be zealous is to be energetically inspired to accomplish something. And in the case of Doyon and his friends, Zealous is where they showcase that character trait. Sure, they’re typically just having fun and playing games, but each upload nevertheless comes with an objective and a whole lot of energy.

That being said, one old video contains a crude word, and another old upload briefly displays Doyon in his boxers. Still, with more than 200 videos and counting on the channel, it’ll be pretty easy to avoid those two.

Otherwise, I can’t imagine there’s much here that’ll cause you to flip—unless you count the many literal flips Doyon accomplishes on his channel. In that case, just make sure you’ve got a soft place to land underneath you.

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In 2019, he held the title of the world’s fastest button-masher, capable of clicking controller buttons at more than 20 clicks per second. In 2021, he became the most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time (before taking a three-year break from the platform). And in 2022, he won Content Creator of the Year at the annual Game Awards.

On his YouTube channel, appropriately titled Ludwig, Ahgren uploads a variety of content.

Many of Ahgren’s videos focus on him playing a variety of video games—sometimes for fun, and other times with added challenges. In one series, Ahgren plays a game almost nonstop until he achieves a predetermined goal, such as beating the game or reaching a certain skill rank in multiplayer. And in other videos, he hosts various gaming competitions, attended by fellow content creators and friends.

But when he’s not playing video games, you may find Ahgren reacting to other content uploaded onto YouTube. He might be hosting his own Jeopardy-style gameshow. He could be allowing his Twitch chat to dictate how he spends his money online, telling a story or making a tier list.

Suffice it to say, you’ll find a diverse list of videos to watch among more than 2,000 uploaded to the channel since 2011.

But in terms of content, what can you expect?

POSITIVE CONTENT

Ahgren has hosted streams for charity, raising thousands of dollars for those in need. Likewise, when a prominent game tournament was cancelled, Ludwig chose to organize and host the event himself.

Ahgren often collaborates with other channels, including content creators who have far fewer subscribers than him.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Ahgren plays a variety of games on his channel, from Mario Party to Elden Ring, and some of these games may be inappropriate for younger audiences. And on a similar note, because Ahgren also reacts to other YouTube videos, some of those videos will likewise contain adult elements—such as when Ahgren reacts to dating videos from the creator Cut. 

Viewers may hear jokes about sex and various topics related to it, including masturbation and other things. In one video, someone sends Ahgren a package with various depictions of animated women in underwear and bikinis. In another, he tries on clothes that his Twitch chat compelled him to buy—most of which emphasize his anatomy or display crude phrases on them.

We heard a variety of profane language, including the f- and s-words. We hear “a–,” “b–ch” and “h—,” too, as well as crude references to both the male and female anatomy. God’s name is frequently used in vain, sometimes paired with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is likewise abused.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Step aside, Beethoven, there’s a new famous Ludwig in town. Given Ahgren’s prominence on both Twitch and YouTube, you’ve probably seen a video or two of his on YouTube’s home page, even if you’ve never watched any of his content.

But given that much of his content caters to older audiences, it’s something that you probably won’t want your child viewing.

The post Ludwig appeared first on Plugged In.

In one video, Scott Gaunson, Derek Herron and Brett Stanford drop a giant dart hundreds of feet, causing it to pierce a sheet of bulletproof glass. In another, they attempt to shoot a basketball off the top of a dam into the net far below. In a third, they compete in a game of frisbee golf—except they start on top of a mountain, and the goal is at the bottom.

How Ridiculous! You might think—and that would be very astute of you to do so, since that’s the name of their YouTube channel.

The three Australian friends are at it for some fun, whether that’s completing trick shots, dropping objects onto trampolines to see how high they’ll bounce or sending 200 golf balls down an Olympic ski jump just to see if one will roll into a hole at the bottom.

They may even break a Guinness World Record or two.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Obviously, you don’t click onto a channel called How Ridiculous and expect any educational content. The main point of the channel is pure fun—a lot like the immensely popular Dude Perfect channel. The three friends often lovingly compete and joke with one another. They perform largely gravity-based experiments—not to log data, but merely because it can be enjoyable to see how high a ball will bounce or to succeed on a difficult shot.

However, a couple of educational concepts are explored or referenced, including the Magnus effect (lift achieved by spinning an object through the air) or the coefficient of restitution (how bouncy an object is after collision). On a similar note, the friends often challenge each other to guess what the outcome of their experiments may be, and viewers are often encouraged to guess for themselves, too.

What’s more, Gaunson, Herron and Stanford are all Christians. On their website, they write:

“Yeah, we’ve got a few subscribers, and we are super thankful for that, but our existence isn’t to glorify How Ridiculous. Jesus Christ has been our rock and foundation from day one. His grace is the best gift we (as individuals and as a team) have ever received and we look forward to every new day as an opportunity to make videos that honour Him.”

In pursuit of that goal, the trio has offered long-time support to Compassion International, a Christian ministry that helps release children from poverty across the globe. Over the years, the guys have “helped hundreds of children get sponsored” with the program.

CONTENT CONCERNS

We heard one use of “crap,” “d–n” and “h—” each. While referencing a “whipper snipper” (the Australian term for a weed whacker), someone jokes that the name likewise describes what men do when they don’t want more children.

Other than those few instances, some of the games they play can use equipment that can be dangerous for children, such as when they use a bow and arrow to shoot balloons or when they drop bowling balls off high places. While fun to watch, parents should be mindful that their young children could potentially attempt to copy How Ridiculous’ antics, some of which might lead to adverse consequences without proper safety considerations in place.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

How Ridiculous is indeed just that: ridiculous. But a lot of those silly moments can be exciting to watch. And when your child wants to watch a little fun, it’s helpful to have a couple YouTube channels that you won’t need to worry much about.

The channel isn’t perfect: after viewing about 25 of the channel’s videos, we heard a handful of mild profanities. But those moments weren’t the norm for the rest of our viewing experience, which was squeaky clean.

But if your child does start watching How Ridiculous, we’d only caution those of you with bannisters in your home to glance up in case your kid starts dropping things from above.

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Turns out, there’s more than one eater making waves on YouTube.

His name is Matt Stonie (and his YouTube channel goes by the same name, too). He made a name for himself when he ended Joey Chestnut’s eight-year winning streak in the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2015.

Whereas Moran’s videos focus primarily on eating challenges offered at restaurants around the globe, Stonie prefers to make his own challenges—ones that include eating every item offered at Chick-fil-A in one sitting or consuming 20,000 calories in about an hour.

I hope you’ve got your bib, because things may get messy.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Stonie occasionally does tier lists of various types of food. However, as a competitive eater, he eats everything he’s purchased, rather than only taking a bite or two before making his decision. Say what you will about competitive eating, but at least Stonie makes sure none of the food goes to waste.

And to ensure the food also doesn’t go to waist, in an interview with GQ, Stonie revealed that he spends a lot of time at the gym and makes sure to watch what he eats outside of competitions in order to maintain a healthy weight.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Just like for BeardMeatsFood, we have to note that the channel is, at its core, just about eating an exorbitant amount of food. Things get messy, and while Stonie eats far less on most days, many will see the behavior spotlighted in these videos as gluttonous.

The f-word is censored when used. However, the s-word, “a–” and “h—” are not, and we heard a few instances of each. God’s name is occasionally used in vain, including some pairings with “d–n.”

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Competitive eating is a category of video that just doesn’t appeal to me. But it obviously appeals to lots of other viewers. Stonie’s channel has, as of posting, more than 16 million subscribers, all there to see just how much food the skinny man can eat—and how fast he can do it.

Fortunately, we never saw any food making surprise reappearances out of Stonie’s mouth. But we did hear some crude language, so those who are fans of this kind of content will be forced to swallow that content issue if they watch this channel.

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At least, that was my experience on Sam Reid’s eponymous YouTube channel.

The channel, which also goes by the name The Studio Revue, isn’t all fast food, to be clear. But most of what Reid does revolves in some way around food, whether it be fast, slow or cooked at home.

For instance, Reid travels the country looking for the best wings in each state. He eats nothing but the same restaurant for long periods of time. And he takes on food-based challenges (such as eating a dozen of donuts in the middle of a five-mile run in the “Krispy Kreme Challenge”). And when he’s not eating food, he’s traveling to interesting places around the United States.

And with most videos comes research. You see, Reid isn’t just eating food for the sake of it. Much of the time, he’s trying to glean what the best deal is for your money—or how the food may affect your health. And as he tabulates the numbers, he’ll provide that information to back up his claims.

Note: Sam Reid was requested by a user of Plugged In. Have a YouTube channel you’d like us to review? Submit your request by sending it to letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram so we can check it out!

POSITIVE CONTENT

Reid compares a lot of food-based experiences on his channel. For instance, he rates various airport lounges on their quality and food selection, and he ranks hotels based on their free breakfasts. When he does these types of videos, he makes sure to factor in components that may affect the experience beyond taste, such as cost, healthy alternatives and general variety.

Reid likewise performed a documentary-like experiment wherein he ate nothing but Taco Bell for 30 days to test how it would affect his health. He then provided the results in the video description for anyone desiring to read them. Reid’s documentary kept his viewers aware of his health throughout the video and included health checkups to make sure he remained safe.

And in similar videos that might cause health issues, Reid warns his audience about the risk.

Reid frequently mentions matching money used to make his videos and donating the match to charities like Feeding America. Finally, his videos come with high-quality editing for a channel of its relatively small size.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Reid plays one video which contains actor Hugh Jackman saying “crap.” Someone else in a video misuses God’s name once.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Sam Reid seeks to be a “feel-good variety show about food, travel, and the questions you didn’t know you had.” And considering how little negative content the channel has, we’d say that Reid has succeeded in that feel-good goal.

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Hasn’t Nintendo’s famous hero been through enough? After all, this Legend of Zelda protagonist just can’t help but be destined to save the world. He (and various iterations of him, if you care to read our Theology of The Legend of Zelda blog on the topic) can’t catch a break.

But if Eric Morino has anything to say about it, Link’s job is going to get even harder.

Morino’s the Twitch streamer behind the YouTube channel PointCrow. He loves playing modified versions of popular games such as The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and more. And even if they’re not modded, Morino will impose restrictions on himself to make a particular game more challenging.

In one video, he tries to beat Tears of the Kingdom while blindfolded. In another video, his Pokémon become permanently unusable if he allows them to faint. Still more videos showcase him playing through custom-made Pokémon games (some of which contain concerning elements).

And occasionally, Morino’s Twitch chat will get in on the gameplay, too, as they work together to use custom-made commands that’ll slow Morino’s progress through various games.

POSITIVE CONTENT

If nothing else, PointCrow shows just how much replayability some games can have. Players might spend hundreds of hours playing the same games in new and exciting ways. By imposing challenges on himself, Morino essentially creates his own unique game modes that may encourage kids to get creative with how they play games they own.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Some of the custom-made Pokémon games follow dark storylines, including one in which people are sacrificed via a cult and another where radiation mutates the creatures. On a similar note, a couple of The Legend of Zelda speedruns on the channel focus on completing inappropriate tasks (intended to be humorous), such as one video where a guy attempts to “get laid” as quickly as possible. (The true goal of the video is to get a specific fade-to-black cutscene wherein Link spends the night comforting a girl.)

We hear some sensual references and jokes about drug use.

The f-word is censored when used. However, we heard the s-word, “a–,” “h—” and “d–k” all used throughout a variety of videos. God’s name is taken in vain, including instances which are immediately followed by “d–n.” Likewise, Jesus’ name is used in vain, too. It should also be noted that the comments from the Twitch chat members may also contain crude language.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

PointCrow may just give gamers an idea or two about how to return to old games and make them fun to play once again. But despite the typically kid-friendly appeal of The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon, Morino’s videos also come with some content that will be inappropriate for children.

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Don’t believe me? The channel literally won the award for being in a “League of Their Own” at the 2022 Streamer Awards.

What makes the channel so unique? Well, Douglas Wreden, the creator behind the channel, just might let his Twitch chat answer that question.

Much of Wreden’s content stems from a simple idea: Twitch interactivity. The premise is simple: Wreden will set out a gaming challenge for himself, such as, “Finish a quest in Skyrim.” However, his chat will be able to make that goal harder to achieve by spawning enemies and sending obstacles his way. They achieve this interactivity via various coded commands that Wreden personally designs. If a Twitch donation tricks him, for instance, into saying the word “bear,” his voice detector is coded to spawn 10 bears into his Skyrim playthrough.

Of course, that’s not all of the content you can find on DougDoug. There are also Wreden’s crazy video game experiments, where he challenges himself in other wacky ways. Can you beat Mario Bros. 1-1 with ONLY voice commands? One video asks. Can you beat Mario 64 slide level, blindfolded? Another wonders.

Well, there’s one thing for sure: Whether Wreden’s own rules are hindering him or his Twitch chat is, none of the challenges set before him are going to be easy.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Few channels provide users with as much of an interactive experience as DougDoug. Many videos are almost entirely focused on the choices Wreden’s Twitch chat collectively makes, from working together to drive a virtual car to voting on what outcome occurs in a video game. Some viewers are brought directly to the forefront to determine outcomes; others get to play alongside Wreden, too.

With the relentless challenges put forth via his Twitch chat, there’s something to be said about Wreden’s perseverance to complete every task.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Some games Wreden plays may not be appropriate for all audiences, such as Grand Theft Auto 5.

When Wreden jokes that a stream is going to be family friendly, he and a friend make fun of Christian beliefs. In another video where Wreden’s Twitch chat determines what action they can take in a game, they offer to “marry the Pope off,” and they later offer to eat or kill him, too.

One video showcases Wreden’s choir, a men’s choir in which they get intoxicated before singing.

Language is harsh on the channel, frequently including the f-word and s-word. Likewise, God’s name is used in vain frequently, including instances paired with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is taken in vain, too. Because content is heavily based around Wreden’s interactions with his Twitch chat, some crude language may appear there as well.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

DougDoug offers creative spins on various famous games. When he boots up a game, there’s sure to be some obstacle that’ll cause him (or his willing Twitch viewers) to suffer through to the end.

But while the chaotic streams and videos may be fun to watch, the content, with heavy swearing and a few M-rated games, isn’t for younger audiences.

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I’m referring to Preston Arsement, the 30-year-old personality behind many popular YouTube channels, including Preston, PrestonPlayz, PrestonGames, PrestonReacts and TBNRFrags.

What do each of these channels have to offer? Well, let’s find out.

His namesake channel, Preston, is the largest of the bunch, boasting a subscriber count of more than 27 million. It contains mostly skits, challenges and myth busting, and videos often include his wife and real-life family members, too.

Meanwhile, PrestonPlayz, PrestonGamez and TBNRFrags (the latter acronym standing for “The Best Never Rest”) have a combined count of 28 million subscribers and focus primarily on Minecraft, Roblox and first-person shooter games such as Fortnite, respectively.

Finally, PrestonReacts, as you might expect, is Arsement’s content reaction channel, and it adds another 3 million subscribers to his channel conglomerate.

Cumulatively, the channels provide subscribers with nearly 8,000 videos to watch. With so much content waiting to be absorbed, what can audiences expect to see?

POSITIVE CONTENT

The vast majority of Arsement’s content is quite tame. Many videos focus on harmless pranks, challenges or gaming that likely won’t be of much concern to parents (with some exceptions, noted below). While there isn’t much that we’d rate as strictly “positive” or “negative,” a large amount of his content falls somewhere in between, in a purely neutral territory.

What’s more, Arsement is very friendly and positive, as are those who appear in his videos.

CONTENT CONCERNS

While Arsement’s modern content is based in games to which children typically gravitate, some older videos include game franchises that parents might not want those same young children watching, such as Far Cry 3.

On a similar note, some of Arsement’s Roblox content on PrestonGamez includes horror titles with jump scares and elements (like serial killers and demons). PrestonPlayz, while mainly sticking to Minecraft, also has videos from horror games such as Five Nights at Freddy’s and Poppy Playtime. PrestonReacts likewise posts a number of reaction videos to scary content.

A number of videos, primarily on PrestonReacts, contain a variety of sexual references as jokes. Similarly, some of the thumbnails of these videos include women in bikinis (a choice we speculate was made as sensual clickbait, since the videos we viewed didn’t feature anything similar to the thumbnail).

Language is minimal. One video contains an f-word euphemism, and we heard “crap” in a single video. However, God’s name is infrequently used in vain. Likewise, in one reaction video, the subject of one video takes Jesus’ name in vain.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

So, is Preston appropriate for your child? Well, that may depend on which of his channels you visit.

As a whole, Arsement’s channels aren’t that bad—and were you to watch a random video from the aforementioned near-8,000, chances are you probably wouldn’t find much issue with it. However, there are some exceptions.

We found PrestonReacts to be the worst of the channels in terms of content concerns due to some sexual quips and videos containing content frightening to children. And while many videos on PrestonGamez and PrestonPlayz were fine, the gaming channels likewise had some scary content on them, too—scares that, while unlikely to phase a teenager, might cause elementary-age kids some distress.

The main channel, Preston, seemed to be the tamest of the bunch. Given that it’s the most popular channel by far, that may come as a relief to families.

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His eponymous YouTube channel boasts more than 30 million subscribers, all hoping to see videos with zany titles such as “BREAKING 100 RULES IN 24 HOURS!!”, GUY FLIRTS WITH MY SISTER IN FRONT OF ME” and “THEY WALKED IN ON US IN THE BATHROOM!”

Yep. There may be an issue with the Caps Lock.

Those video titles suggest that parents may have some issues to think through before letting their kids watch. And boy, are they right.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Brent and his friends seem to have fun performing their skits and pranks.

CONTENT CONCERNS

A large amount of Rivera’s videos reference sexual situations: A woman in revealing clothing dances on a pole in once instance; in another, a prank makes it appear like a man and woman are kissing while naked in the shower. And so on. Some pranks reference intimate body parts. Rivera plays a game which involves him and a woman touching each other’s bodies. Men often dress up in female clothing, and in one video, a few men are tasked with wearing thongs. Men and women wear swimsuits. Rivera and his sister perform strangely intimate yoga moves together in public. They also reference other sexual topics. Rivera is pantsed in public.

Additionally, thumbnails often reference sexual situations: A video depicts a man and woman under the covers in bed with the clickbait title “they caught us doing this in bed.” Dozens of videos display men and women kissing.

Rivera has frequently been accused of stealing ideas and thumbnails from other creators. Some videos mimic the beats of other content creators’ videos almost exactly. Many of these copied videos often end up taking away potential views (and revenue) from the smaller YouTubers who originally created them.

Light language, such as “h—” is used. God’s name is frequently taken in vain. Heavier language, like the s-word, f-word and “b–ch” are censored.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

To be as honest as I can be, I’m not sure who Rivera’s channel is for. The thumbnails, skits and acting certainly feel like the channel hopes to attract younger viewers. But the sexual content present makes it wholly inappropriate for that potential audience. That, and with the many allegations claiming that Rivera copies a lot of video ideas from other channels, parents may want to encourage their children to skip this one.

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