What is Chain Reaction?

Chain Reaction is a game show where two teams of three people compete to finish a chain of words for cash. Each chain is made up of six or seven words, with the first and last words revealed at the start of each round.

Each word pairs with the word above it and the word below it, creating a familiar phrase in each case—think “key” and “chain” as a phrase and then “chain” and “bracelet” as another. So the chain would include “key,” “chain,” and “bracelet” in order.

With each turn within a round, one letter of a word above or below an already-revealed word is shown to help the competitors figure out the phrase. If the team guesses the word, they keep going until they get the answer wrong, which is when the other team takes over. Each correct guess is awarded a sum of money.

The game typically has four rounds, with a bonus round for the winning team. Whichever team is ahead at the end of the fourth round wins the game and keeps their earnings.

Meet the Host

Dylan Lane

The most recent iteration of Chain Reaction was hosted by Dylan Lane, the only person to host two versions of the show. Dylan Lane hosted Chain Reaction from 2006 to 2007 and then returned to the show more recently. In the interim, Lane left to get his engineering degree and went on to work at General Electric. Then he got the call to come back to Chain Reaction and returned as host in 2021.