Given the current digital media era, the gamification of media experience has been evident in various fields. Being a popular variety show genre, reality shows have gained audience recognition for their innovative program formats. Both the South Korean TV reality show The Great Escape and the Chinese version of The Escape Room are very popular among audiences. By reviewing and studying the relevant literature on game theory, this paper has taken the South Korean reality show The Great Escape and the Chinese version of The Escape Room as the research subjects. Supported by new media technologies, reality TV shows have well-defined rules, which are competitive and challenging, as well as conflicting. The only difference between the two lies in the barrier between gaze viewing and task-based interaction. The original Korean version of The Great Escape has more advantages than the Chinese version of The Escape Room regarding its props and level design, character and relationship design, photography, editing and audio, which reflect its game-like characteristics in program planning, character design and audio-visual presentation. In contrast, the Chinese version of The Escape Room emphasizes more on the comedic effect of the show and the marketing of the celebrities, while the quality of the show itself is being neglected. As a result, with Korean TV producers having a deeper understanding of the reality show gamification process, Thus, it is believed that Korean reality shows are also more mature. Currently, it is important for Chinese show producers to explore a way to adapt to their own audiences and communication policies by drawing on foreign show models. They need to correctly apply the core driving force of gamification and discover ways in which reality shows themselves can be designed for gamification.