List of Challenges in Takeshi's Castle - B

B

• Ball Cupping: This game required players to hit a ball into a pachinko-type machine, and then race down with a small bucket and catching the ball in the bucket while diving into mud. The first iteration of this game did not have the small ramp at the bottom of the machine that forced contestants to dive into the mud. Instead, contestants could stay on the side and catch the ball, making it a lot cleaner. This game is known as Mud Butlers on MXC which casts the pink ball as the goat bladder. In Tele 5's Spanish version "Humor Amarillo" it was known as Pinball, or sometimes La Bola Asesina (killer ball). In Brazil, it was known as FlipperLama, English for FlipperMud.

• Big Bird: In this game, contestants dressed as a bird must fly by guywire to a pink rabbit, catching it with their feet, and then dropping into a nest with three little birds were waiting to have a meal, all while having small soccer balls shot at them. This game on MXC goes by the name of Bird Droppings. In Spanish version it is known as Un chino voló sobre el nido del cuco (A Chinese flew over the cuckoo's nest) The music sometimes heard in the background of this game is the opening from Scramble Formation.

• Bite The Bun: Various buns and other foodstuffs are hanging on lines above contestants, who in the time given must grab a bun with their mouths (their arms held by either a rubber ring or a bag). Called Sack Lunch and Bagel Bumpers on MXC. The music heard in the background of this game is the theme from the movie 1941.

• Blueberry Hill (Regular version): Contestants wear large, top-heavy costumes to resemble Japanese Daruma dolls, or as Craig calls them, "blueberries" (or occasionally "plums"), and must make their way either up or down a ramp, only moving when Yousichi Shimada (or, in some games, Brad Lesley) has his gaze averted - they are eliminated if he catches a contestant moving, or if they fall over (they also deliberately fall down when eliminated). The challenge is based on the children's game Daruma-san ga koronda (the Japanese equivalent of Red Light, Green Light), whose name means "the Daruma fell down" (Which is the original name in the Japanese version). It is called Mine Games on MXC, casting the Daruma as old land mines. In Tele 5's Spanish version "Humor Amarillo" it was known as El Escondite Inglés, while on Cuatro, the name was changed to 1, 2, 3, al escondite japonés (1, 2, 3, Japanese hide-and-seek). A couples edition of the game had five pairs attached to each other by a rope on their ankles. The music heard playing in the background of this game is the theme from SonSon.

• Blueberry Hill (Parents-Kids version): In this version, which borrowed from "On Yer Bike", five parents in daruma suits were on motorized platforms that were connected to radio controlled remotes, piloted by their children on a platform in the middle of the course.

• Boulder Dash (V1): Played in the original pilot episode, where all the contestants were men. In this game, contestants ran sideways along a steep muddy hill, whilst avoiding the usual foam objects, this time shaped like logs as well as boulders. The excessive amount of mud on the hill seriously reduced traction for the contestants. That coupled with the steep hill really took it out on their leg muscles, meaning they easily slid all the way to the bottom of the hill, usually on their backsides. Of course in the original this was only the first half of "Second Fortress" meaning that the real challenge only happens at the second part of the challenge.

• Boulder Dash (V2): This variation of Avalanche puts three players at a time going uphill trying to avoid the foam boulders. This game is known as The Impassable Stones of Mount McKidney on MXC.

• Brat Sack: A parent/child special game. The kids are inside bags and the parents have to find their kids, but aren't allowed to look inside the bags.

• Bridge Ball: This game in the original Japanese vesion was titled The Strait of Gibraltar. Players cross a rope bridge (dubbed by Craig Charles, who calls this game one of his favourites, as "the Millennium Bridge", or "The bridge over the river Why" in the UK version) holding a gold-coloured leather volleyball, whilst henchmen fire black volleyballs at the contestant, who is eliminated if they fall off. Frequently, contestants are hit in the face, genitals, etc., and hold on to the bridge with one hand for several seconds before having to let go. In some episodes, the bridge has rocks attached to it and the player does not carry a gold volleyball. This game is called (Big) Brass Balls on MXC. Cuatro's Spanish version "Humor Amarillo" it was known as Los cañones de Nakasone (The guns of Nakasone, which is a pun on the title of the film "The Guns of Navarone"). In Brazil, it was named A ponte do rio que cai (The falling bridge on the river, a pun on The Bridge on the River Kwai; this also occurred in the UK, where Craig Charles called it "The Bridge Over The River Why"). The music heard playing in the background of this game is the theme from Combat!.

• Bridge The Gap: Contestants stepped onto one moving plank, and then ran over to the other side, where they had to catch another plank rotating in the opposite direction. Contestants have to be able to anticipate the moment where the ends of the two planks meet, and move with the second plank without falling off. The planks are above a crash mat lightly coated in white powder, in other episodes the planks are above a pool of water. The latter version has been seen on MXC as Swamp Gassers, while the powder version has appeared as Gang Plankers. In Spain, this game is known as El columpio del terror (The swing of terror). The music heard playing in the background of this game is an arranged version of music heard in the game Nuts & Milk.

• Buggy Me: Played once in the teenage special, six players went on an obstacle course and picked an envelope with a number connected to a buggy. Three of them were light with stuffed animals, the others had Animal, Kibaji, and Strong. Was called The Great Escape From Foster Care on MXC.