The Floor is an American game show based on the Dutch game show of the same name. The series is hosted by Rob Lowe and premiered on January 2, 2024, on Fox. Standing in separate LED squares of a floor grid, contestants with expertise in a variety of trivia subjects challenge each other in head-to-head duels, with the winner of each duel taking over all territory controlled by the loser. The winner then chooses whether to go on the offensive to try and gain more territory or let the Floor choose a new challenger. The contestant who gains full control over the Floor takes home $250,000.
Fox announced on June 29, 2023 it ordered the series. Season 1 was recorded August 2âÂÂ6, 2023 at Ardmore Studios in Bray, Ireland. An announcement on September 13, 2023 named Rob Lowe as host and producer. On November 6, 2023, Fox announced that the series would premiere on January 2, 2024. On May 12, 2024, the show renewed for a second and a third season. The second season premiered on September 25, 2024. On November 18, 2024, Fox announced that the third season would premiere on February 9, 2025, following Super Bowl LIX, and keeping its regular timeslot starting on February 12, 2025. On May 10, 2025, the show renewed for a fourth and fifth season. The fourth season premiered on September 24, 2025. The fifth season will premiere on April 8, 2026. On February 6, 2026, the show renewed for a sixth and seventh season.
Each season begins with a pool of contestants standing in separate square spaces of a large grid on the studio floor. Each contestant has a category in which they feel particularly knowledgeable. However, the producers of the show ultimately decide the categories the contestants have. Season 1 featured 81 contestants in a 9-by-9 grid; as of Season 2, 100 contestants play on a 10-by-10 grid. The floor measures 20 by 12 meters, or roughly 66 by 39 feet.
The game progresses over the course of a season with the grand prize awarded to the contestant who ultimately controls the entire floor. Secondary prizes are awarded throughout the season to the contestant with the most territory at the end of each episode after a certain number of duels (usually eight, but on occasion nine). For season 2 and 3, every third episode (disregarding the finale's tiebreaker) has nine duels per episode. For the fourth season, every third and fourth episode (excluding the final two episodes) has nine duels per episode.
One contestant is chosen at random (via "The Randomizer") to be a challenger and shown the categories of all opponents whose territories share at least one side with their own, then chooses one of them to challenge face-to-face in a head-to-head duel. The specifics of the duel remain undisclosed until the challenger selects an opponent, with the format defaulting to visual unless specified otherwise by the host. The two contestants take turns identifying a series of images or words associated with the challenged opponent's category. They are each given separate 45-second clocks, only one of which runs at any given time, starting with the challenger. The contestant in control must give a correct answer in order to stop their clock and turn control over to their opponent. Infinite guesses are allowed without penalty, and a contestant may pass whenever desired; however, they must wait three seconds for a new image or text to be shown. Some categories are text-based, requiring contestants to perform tasks such as filling in the missing word(s) of a book title or song lyric, or naming the movie from which a famous quote is taken. Beginning in season 2, audio duels are introduced, requiring contestants to decipher answers via audio cue and providing visuals to indicate turn order. Season 3 introduced association duels, in which the contestant is shown three clues and must state their common link. Season 4 introduced video duels, which show clips instead of images. Once a category has been selected and played, it is permanently removed from play and cannot be chosen again, ensuring each category can only be played once.
The first contestant to run out of time is eliminated from the game (if the category is completed with all images or clues identified within time, the contestant with more time left wins the duel) and gives up all of their territory to the winner, who inherits the challenger's category or keeps their own (if the challenger). The winner may then either challenge another opponent or return to the grid; in the latter case, a new contestant is selected as a challenger at random from those who have not yet played a duel. This rule is a change from the original Dutch format, and instituted to prevent contestants from reaching the final duel without having already faced an opponent. Once all the remaining contestants have played a duel at least once, everyone becomes eligible for selection as a challenger. When only two contestants remain, the one controlling more territory (in season 1) decides which category is played. The other category remains unplayed. Beginning with season 2, the final duel is played as a best-of-three, with the first contestant to win two rounds declared the champion. Each remaining category is used for one of the first two rounds only. The contestant in control only selects which of the two known remaining categories will be played first (they will be the challenger in the first round, while the winner of the first round is the challenger in the second). If a third round is necessary, it will be played with a mystery category. The contestant who goes first will be decided randomly in the tiebreaker round.
At the end of each episode, apart from the final episode, the contestant holding the most territory wins $20,000 (increased to $40,000 in season 4 for the first episode only). In the event of a tie, the leaders share the money equally. The last contestant standing at the end of the final episode of the season (2 hours in season 1 and 4 and one hour in season 2 onward) takes over the entire floor and wins the grand prize of $250,000. The overall prize pot is $430,000 in season 1, $470,000 in seasons 2 through 4. Season 4 has an extra $10,000 bonus, for a combined total prize pot of $480,000.
Beginning with Season 2, contestants who achieve three consecutive duel victories (by electing to play on twice after any win) are awarded a five-second "Time Boost." This bonus can be added once to the contestant's clock at the start of any subsequent duel, with the exception of the best-of-three final round, in which the Time Boost is not permitted and is therefore removed from play. A contestant in possession of a Time Boost must elect to use it before a duel starts before beginning to earn another. If a duel is won with a Time Boost, it is counted as the first win towards another. However, wins accumulated while saving a Time Boost for a later duel do not count as victories for a future time boost. If a contestant chooses to return to the floor before three consecutive wins are earned, the win total is reset to zero.
In Season 4, contestants who achieve three consecutive duel victories will be able to choose to steal a category from another contestant (swapping with them) or receive a time boost. The category steal must be used immediately. After either bonus is chosen, the win total is reset to zero. Any wins earned while saving a Time Boost will only count as wins towards stealing a category. If a contestant wins thrice but used a time boost for one of the latter two victories, the contestant may reject the option to steal a category and attempt to pick up any remaining wins required for the time boost instead. In addition, one space will be secretly designated as the "Golden Square", which will reward a $10,000 bonus to whoever wins a duel after the category from that square is challenged.
In Season 5, the ability to freeze a territory was introduced.
Original categories are listed first & shown in boldface. Inherited categories are listed after the original category without boldface. A hyphen indicates a more specific topic in the associated category. The specific topic is italicized. A hyphen indicates a more specific topic in the associated category. The specific topic is italicized. Parentheses indicate what a category refers to if a colloquial phrase; it also specifies the category's style of play if specified to be non-visual or text-based (audio, association, video, etc.). A <s>strikethrough</s> indicates a stolen category from its owner by another contestant (The contestant who stole or took the category is listed). A golden square has the square number colored golden. [Brackets indicate the remaining words of a topic that have had their title shortened.
In September 2025, Fox revealed that the season would have the theme "America Duels", in which the field will feature two representatives from each U.S. state.
On March 26, 2026, Amazing Race: Season 32 Winner James Wallington announced he would appear as a contestant on Season 5 of the show , as well as Voice Actor Kyle Phillips.
Week 1 (January 2, 2024): Top 81 â 7 Duels
Week 2 (January 9, 2024): Top 74 â 8 Duels
Week 3 (January 16, 2024): Top 66 â 8 Duels
Week 4 (January 23, 2024): Top 58 â 8 Duels
Week 5 (January 30, 2024): Top 50 â 8 Duels
Week 6 (February 6, 2024): Top 42 â 8 Duels
Week 7 (February 13, 2024): Top 34 â 9 Duels
Week 8 (February 20, 2024): Top 25 â 8 Duels
Week 9 Part 1 (February 27, 2024): Top 17 â 8 Duels
Week 9 Part 2 (February 27, 2024): Top 9 â 8 Duels
Week 1 (September 25, 2024): Top 100 â 8 Duels
Week 2 (October 2, 2024): Top 92 â 8 Duels
Week 3 (October 9, 2024): Top 84 â 9 Duels
Week 4 (October 16, 2024): Top 75 â 8 Duels
Week 5 (October 23, 2024): Top 67 â 8 Duels
Week 6 (November 6, 2024): Top 59 â 9 Duels
Week 7 (November 13, 2024): Top 50 â 8 Duels
Week 8 (November 20, 2024): Top 42 â 8 Duels
Week 9 (November 28, 2024): Top 34 â 9 Duels
Week 10 (December 4, 2024): Top 25 â 8 Duels
Week 11 (December 11, 2024): Top 17 â 8 Duels
Week 12 (December 18, 2024): Top 9 â 9 Duels
Week 1 (February 9, 2025): Top 100 â 8 Duels
Week 2 (February 12, 2025): Top 92 â 8 Duels
Week 3 (February 19, 2025): Top 84 â 9 Duels
Week 4 (February 26, 2025): Top 75 â 8 Duels
Week 5 (March 5, 2025): Top 67 â 8 Duels
Week 6 (March 12, 2025): Top 59 â 9 Duels
Week 7 (March 19, 2025): Top 50 â 8 Duels
Week 8 (March 26, 2025): Top 42 â 8 Duels
Week 9 (April 2, 2025): Top 34 â 9 Duels
Week 10 (April 9, 2025): Top 25 â 8 Duels
Week 11 (April 16, 2025): Top 17 â 8 Duels
Week 12 (April 23, 2025): Top 9 â 10 Duels
Week 1 (September 24, 2025): Top 100 â 8 Duels
Week 2 (October 1, 2025): Top 92 â 8 Duels
At the beginning of this episode, one square was designated as the Golden Square of the season, which will reward $10,000 to the winner once the category from that square is challenged. The Golden Square twist is over once the golden square is found.
Week 3 (October 8, 2025): Top 84 â 9 Duels
Week 4 (October 15, 2025): Top 75 â 9 Duels
Week 5 (October 22, 2025): Top 66 â 8 Duels
Week 6 (November 5, 2025): Top 58 â 8 Duels
Week 7 (November 12, 2025): Top 50 â 9 Duels
Week 8 (November 19, 2025): Top 41 â 9 Duels
Week 9 (December 3, 2025): Top 32 â 8 Duels
Week 10 (December 10, 2025): Top 24 â 8 Duels
Week 11 Part 1 (December 17, 2025): Top 16 â 8 Duels
Note: No $20,000 prize was awarded this episode, and the finale was instead two combined parts. When both parts began and ended is noted below.
Week 11 Part 2 (December 17, 2025): Top 8 â 8 Duels
Week 1 Part 1 (April 8, 2026): Top 100 â TBA Duels
Week 1 Part 2 (April 8, 2026): Top TBA â TBA Duels
Winners of individual duels are shown in boldface shown as Challenger (randomized or choosing to play on)/Defender (chosen by challenger).
Winners of individual duels are shown in boldface shown as Challenger (randomized or choosing to play on)/Defender (chosen by Challenger). Time boosts earned are shown in Italics. Time boosts used are shown in <u>Underline.</u>
Winners of individual duels are shown in boldface shown as Challenger (randomized or choosing to play on)/Defender (chosen by Challenger). Time boosts earned are shown in Italics. Time boosts used are shown in <u>Underline.</u>
Winners of individual duels are shown in boldface shown as Challenger (randomized or choosing to play on)/Defender (chosen by Challenger). Advantages earned are shown in Italics (the specific advantage is in parentheses). Advantages used are shown in <u>Underline</u>.
Winners of individual duels are shown in boldface shown as Challenger (randomized or choosing to play on)/Defender (chosen by Challenger). Advantages earned are shown in Italics (the specific advantage is in parentheses). Advantages used are shown in <u>Underline</u>.
Season 3's post-Super Bowl LIX premiere of The Floor delivered 14 million total viewers, and is the season's #1 entertainment series telecast for ages 18âÂÂ49. The Floor is the first game show to ever rank as a season's #1 entertainment series telecast among adults 18âÂÂ49.