Destination X: How Does The New Adventure Reality Show Actually Work?

When the BBC’s new reality series Destination X premiered last week, we were immediately intrigued, especially when critics started comparing it to Race Across The World and The Traitors.

Filled with plenty of twists, turns and travel – not to mention a hefty £100,000 cash prize at the end of it all – Destination X sounded like it might just become our next telly obsession right from the word go.

Hosted by games master Rob Brydon, and borrowing its format from a Belgian TV series, the format features 13 players from all walks of life who venture off on a mystery adventure, where each episode they have to try and figure out exactly where in the world they have been taken. 

Viewers can even play along at home to test if their geographical skills are any better than the contestants’. 

So, if you’re still a little uncertain about whether to give Destination X a go, here’s a quick guide to how it all works…

What are the rules of Destination X, and how does it actually work?

Gavin & Stacey star Rob is tasked with taking 13 specially-selected contestants on board the “X-bus” for an “adventure of a lifetime”.

In each of Destination X’s 10 episodes, the recruits are whisked away on a new leg of the journey, heightening the stakes as they must keep their eyes peeled for any and every clue – sometimes out the windows of the bus, other times during their pitstops or in mystery locations – that might help pinpoint where they are.

Episode one started rather dramatically as 13 recruits meet at Baden-Baden airport in Germany, where they were then flown to a new location via helicopter (while wearing vision-obscuring goggles), before they all boarded the same bus to continue the journey. 

But there is a twist: all the windows of the bus are blacked out, and the players actually have no idea where they are. Occasionally, at the gamemaster’s command, these frosted windows can become clear, offering a brief glance at the outside world (and perhaps a clue about the team’s whereabouts).

At the end of every episode, contestants must place an X on a map. Those whose Xs are closest to the group’s actual location get to stay on the bus, while the furthest away guess is immediately eliminated. Other challenges and twists also put players at risk of going home. 

To add more intensity to the game, the players spend a total of around 30 days on board the bus, where they sleep, socialise and eat all their meals. Talk about claustrophobic…

How do the challenges on Destination X work?

While the challenges in The Traitors can become a bit tiresome at times, Rob explained to the BBC that tasks on Destination X are a “vital” part of the gameplay, because they offer contestants one of their biggest opportunities to decipher where exactly they might be, and avoid elimination.

In the first episode, all competitors are ushered into the windowless “box of tricks” erected in a market square, where they were asked questions like: “How many times did Taylor Swift play her 2024 Eras tour in the country you are in now?”

Depending on their answers, further clues were then revealed through a small window looking out into the mystery city.   

But of course, the game promises that “nothing is as it seems”, so there are a few red herrings scattered around to throw them off the scent.

As Rob told the BBC, being good at geography (European, specifically) is helpful, but being a problem solver with “a mind that’s good with puzzles” is even better

Teamwork makes the dream work, so expect bonds and allegiances to form…for now.

How do you play Destination X along at home?

If you reckon you can work out “where the X” the players have ended up from home, you can play along at home through the Destination X website.

For each episode, you can complete challenges yourself to narrow the guessing area, including a series of quiz questions and mystery famous landmarks that need identifying.

Each correct answer narrows the guessing area radius by 100 kilometres.

If you’re playing along as the episode airs, the location will be revealed during the show. But you can still play on catch-up and request to “reveal the destination” to see how you did compared to the contestants.

The first three episodes of Destination X are available to watch on BBC iPlayer now, with new episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays.