MrBeast Epic ‘100 People, 100 Circles’ $500,000 Challenge
In what is likely one of his most ambitious ventures to date, YouTube sensation MrBeast gathered 100 veterans of his previous challenges for what appeared to be a simple challenge: stay inside a circle to win $500,000. The result was a memorable week-long endurance test of strategy and will that concluded in one of the largest upsets in MrBeast history.
The Challenge Begins | MrBeast
“Behind me, there are a hundred circles with a hundred people within them,” MrBeast revealed at the beginning of the video. “The last one of you to get out of your circle wins that $500,000.”
The rules were straightforward: Cross the red line of your circle, and you’re eliminated. What made this test fascinating was that every player was a return MrBeast competitor—each had participated in previous videos, their wins and losses boldly printed on the backs of their shirts.
Among the more familiar contestants was Lannan, who had lost over $4.5 million in past contests; Karl, a familiar figure among MrBeast enthusiasts; and Gio, a face from MrBeast’s “Ages 1 to 100” series.
Early Eliminations
The competition was challenging right from the start. Within only 30 minutes, the first player, TJ, was voted out after he accidentally touched the red line. More followed quickly, including Chandler, who volunteered to be the second player to be eliminated. Big Justice surprised everyone by bowing out of the game rather than using the porta-potty.
The nights were especially risky since seven of the contestants accidentally fell asleep with their fingers on the red line—Karl included, who woke up to find his big toe on the edge.
As the competition progressed, MrBeast introduced challenges to hasten eliminations. The first challenge was a tower-building game, which tested contestants’ balance and strategy. Each person had to build a tower on a red block in his or her sector. If the tower fell within 24 hours, they would be eliminated.
To instill tension, players were given dodgeballs to throw at each other’s towers after the 24-hour timer was hit. This created strategic alliances being formed as players tried to avoid getting shot.
The challenge resulted in some eliminations, one of which was very dramatic when Hugo eliminated Rayne, another player whom he had competed against before in a bunker challenge.
Hot Potato Elimination
62 players were remaining on day four. MrBeast made it clear that half of them would be eliminated in a dramatic game of hot potato. The room was divided into quadrants, and then teams had to keep an eye on time while ball-passing through quadrants. When a one-hour timer expired out of sight, the two quadrants with balls would be eliminated.
The game was chaotic, with the participants scrambling to count seconds and minutes without clocks. The yellow quadrant was eventually cut, and a tiebreaker that sent the pink team home followed.
Balance Beam Showdowns
The other contestants held head-to-head balance beam combat. Two participants would be mated by a balance beam using gold balls as the middle anchor. The person who would bring their ball first to their ring would advance.
These encounters had some cringe-worthy moments, like the time a winner cheered prematurely and accidentally bumped into her red line, knocking her out and her opponent out as well. Only ten contestants remained after every confrontation.
The Final Ten | MrBeast
The final ten featured an upper-class roster of MrBeast alumni:
- Los, a multi-video veteran
- Akira of Beast Games
- Ronnie of Laser Maze
- Noah who did 32,000 curls
- Omar who had competed before for $1 million
- Gio from the Ages 1 to 100 series
- Alicen who abandoned her GROUP for an iPhone
- Julia who lasted 20 days in the wild
- Gabrielle from the million-dollar island challenge
- Mallory, the million-dollar island winner
MrBeast presented them with a first-ever choice: choose their elimination challenge. After some thought, they decided on a one-foot balance challenge, where the first five to drop would be eliminated.
MrBeast One-Foot Endurance
The balancing test was a challenging one, where contestants had to balance on one foot for nearly 40 minutes. Gabrielle was the first to tumble after 4.5 minutes, followed by Los, Mallory, Julia, and finally Ronnie, who fought hard but eventually tumbled from pure exhaustion.
The Final Five
The other five—Akira, Gio, Noah, Ronnie, and Alicen—were presented with another decision: to keep going with grit or to play a last game. By a 3-2 margin, they decided to play a game, with 12-year-old Gio being especially convincing in getting Alicen to change her vote.
Paintball Showdown
The final challenge involved mannequins and paintball guns. Each contestant had to shoot at opponents’ mannequins, with each hit resulting in the target’s circle being shrunk. After three hits and three shrinks, a contestant would be eliminated.
The game quickly became strategic, with alliances forming and breaking. Akira and Ronnie eliminated each other after targeting one another repeatedly. Alicen fell next, leaving Gio and Noah as the final two competitors.
The $500,000 Shot
With both of the contestants just a shot away from being eliminated, the tension was at its peak. In a dramatic final shot, Gio knocked down Noah’s mannequin, securing the $500,000 prize. As the youngest player to get as far in a MrBeast challenge, Gio’s victory was greeted with happiness by his father, who arrived to greet him for an emotional reunion.
“Gio’s had one of the best experiences of any of our contestants we’ve ever had,” MrBeast said when he presented the half-million-dollar prize.
More Than Just a Game | MrBeast
What made this challenge so captivating was the history that each contestant carried with them. Having all competed in previous challenges, they knew what was on the line and had personal redemption stories at stake.
The challenge also showed MrBeast’s coming of age as a content creator. From modest origins in the last-to-leave configuration, the idea blew up into a week-long competition across multiple games, testing different skill sets and strategy—all against the backdrop of the main tension of the circle perimeter.
Gio’s ultimate victory was not just a triumph for youth but proof of strategy, endurance, and the unpredictable element that has propelled MrBeast’s challenges onto the international stage.