Content creator and multimedia pioneer Jimmy Donaldson—better known as MrBeast—broke multiple records with the first season of his reality game show Beast Games, bringing in the most competitors of any televised competition ever with a whopping 1,000 participants and awarding a staggering all-time-high cash prize of $5 million to the winner.
With season 2 of Beast Games kicking off on January 7, 2026, on Prime Video, fans are eager to see all the elaborate challenges, shocking betrayals, twisted mind games, and big wins to come. If you still can't get enough of Beast Games, we've got the perfect audiobooks to keep your adrenaline high until the next episode drops.
From nonfiction about reality TV and human behavior that just might help if you find yourself on a future season of the epic game show, to thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and more, these audiobooks about high-stakes competitions are sure to keep you on the edge of your seat until the winner of Beast Games is finally revealed.
MrBeast first rose to fame by building a massive fanbase on YouTube. Find out more about how YouTube creators build their brands in The YouTube Formula by Derral Eves, leader of his own how-to video empire and advisor to many other successful YouTube accounts. You'll even get a peek behind the curtain in a foreword from MrBeast, who has worked closely with Eves for years. If you've ever wondered how YouTubers go viral or have thought of starting your own channel, this audiobook has all the insider info you need.
A televised competition in an exotic location, with mind games galore, and the last person standing wins luxury prizes. No, I'm not talking about Beast Games. I'm talking about The Compound, Aisling Rawle's twisty dystopian thriller centered on a reality TV show where the lines between the game and real life get frighteningly blurry. Lucy Boynton's riveting narration makes this the perfect audiobook to tide you over until the next episode of Beast Games.
Survivor walked so Beast Games could run, and Parvati Shallow is one of Survivor's most iconic (and controversial) winners. After winning a million dollars, rocketing to fame, and seeing the villain edit she got on the show, Shallow was forced to reckon with her true self versus how she was portrayed to viewers. In this insightful audiobook narrated by the author herself, we meet the real Parvati and learn how her experience on Survivor shaped her. From her childhood in a Florida hippie commune to behind-the-scenes memories from the show to her journey to reshape herself, Nice Girls Don't Win is an intriguing listen about how competition reality shows can change the lives of their contestants.
Take the fierce competition, mental warfare, and ambitious rivals of Beast Games, mix in some magic and dark academia, and you get Olivie Blake's thrilling fantasy The Atlas Six. Six magicians enter a cutthroat competition to join a secret society of academics protecting ancient knowledge, which also includes the promise of fame, power, and unfathomable wealth. To win, they'll have to prove themselves over a year of impossible trials. With a cast of talented narrators and deep exploration of the impact of such a challenging competition, it's a fantastic listen with plenty of surprises up its sleeve.
Considering throwing your hat in the ring for the next round of Beast Games? You'll need to learn a bit of endurance if you want to make it to that $5 million prize. In this listen, science journalist, physicist, and long-distance runner Alex Hutchinson dives into the psychology of pushing the limits of human endurance. It's an illuminating audiobook that combines scientific research and clever storytelling to inspire you to go farther and fight harder.
In Yume Kitasei's sci-fi thriller The Deep Sky contestants aren't fighting for $5 million. They're fighting for a chance to survive. The Earth is no longer livable, and a worldwide competition is established to select 80 young people as humanity's only hope. The winners get to board a spaceship headed for a distant, hopefully habitable planet. The exhilarating audiobook is split between the competition and what happens when the winners wake up after a long cryosleep to find their journey isn't quite what they were promised.
You'll find a ferocious competition full of talented schemers hoping to win it all, plus a little family drama, in Kayvion Lewis's Thieves' Gambit. Ross was born into a family of thieves, and they've raised her to be one of the cleverest and most uncatchable criminal masterminds alive. When her mom's life is threatened, Ross knows the only way to save her is to enter the Thieves' Gambit, an international competition involving a series of risky heists. Narrator Jade Wheeler brings dynamic energy to this audiobook full of danger, intrigue, and deception.
While America's Next Top Model had a very different formula from Beast Games, both shows captivated viewers with high-stakes competitions and the promise of life-changing prizes for the winner. As you'll hear in fan-favorite contestant Sarah Hartshorne's memoir You Wanna Be on Top?, however, the ANTM experience we saw on screen was far from what happened on set. You'll hear all the drama from the "model house" and insights on the show's lasting impact on fashion and body image in this funny, fascinating audiobook.
Asher and his partner were all set to compete for a huge prize on the globe-trotting competition show The Epic Trek. Then, Asher got dumped right before his flight to the starting point of the game. While nursing his broken heart at an airport restaurant, Asher meets Theo, a pilot who was just forced to take some vacation time. Asher makes a wild offer: If Theo pretends to be his boyfriend and competes alongside him, they'll split the prize. But what if, in the midst of high-stakes games in exotic locations, they start to catch real feelings? Fans of Beast Games will love this reality TV romance with vibrant narration and plenty of adventure.
Lena Scott has grown apart from her half-sister Desiree, a social media influencer and reality TV star. But when Desiree is found dead of an apparent overdose, something about her death doesn't sit right with Lena. As she digs into Desiree's life online, onscreen, and behind closed doors, she uncovers a hidden world of deception. Bahni Turpin's narration makes this an unforgettable listen, full of unexpected twists and reality television drama.
