Netflix Roulette - An Introduction and Features

Netflix’s library has a vast array of films and TV shows. So, trying to narrow it all down to one specific thing to watch can be a maddening endeavour. This situation is surely familiar to you - browsing through numerous recommendations, categories, and genres, then slowly succumbing to the paradox of choice paralysis. That is to say, the overabundance of choice can cause stress and problematise decision-making. Thankfully, with Reelgood’s search optimization feature, Netflix Roulette, that stress can be alleviated. It filters the numerous shows and films based on specific search criteria and produces a single result that hopefully meets your criteria.
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How Reelgood was a Precursor to Netflix Roulette

Before we get into what exactly Netflix Roulette is, we need to look at Reelgood, the company that it is currently a part of. Before it became Netflix Reelgood, Reelgood was an app that launched back in 2015. It allows users to search and filter shows/movies based on the streaming service they use and other search criteria. You can filter based on genres, IMDB scores, Rotten Tomatoes rating, and even release dates. The Netflix roulette app was created in 2014 by 18-year-old Andrew Sampson. He created an app that allows users to choose the genre and format of a show or movie they want to watch. The app then randomly generates a result that fits the user’s criteria. Its popularity blew up and in 2017, Reelgood reached out to Sampson to acquire the rights. He agreed as he was no longer interested in developing the app.

Features of Netflix Roulette

Now part of Reelgood, the Roulette API can utilise the massive Reelgood search engine to achieve greater results than before. This is thanks to Reelgood’s expansive library of shows and movies. Among the criteria you can use to filter is the Roulette App’s IMDB scores, where you choose integers between 1 and 10. You can also filter based on specific streaming services. For example, if you want to watch something specifically only on HBO GO, you can edit your preferences by deselecting all other streaming services. When you’ve found a show that looks promising, you’ll be redirected to the web player based on the streaming service of that show. There’s also a Date Night version of Netflix Roulette that filters search results based purely on romantically themed movies for you to enjoy with your special someone. You can similarly filter search results based on IMDB scores.

How to Use Netflix Roulette?

You can filter your search criteria based on genre, types (i.e. movies, tv shows), IMDB score, and Rotten Tomatoes score. Once you’ve chosen your criteria, much like when playing online roulette or using a roulette app for iPad and roulette app for iPhone , you press the spin button to get a result. To make it easier for you, we listed the genres you can choose from when ‘playing’ Netflix roulette:

  • Action & Adventure
  • Animation
  • Anime
  • Biography
  • Children
  • Comedy
  • Crime
  • Cult
  • Documentary
  • Drama
  • Family
  • Fantasy
  • Food
  • Game Show
  • History
  • Home & Garden
  • Horror
  • Independent
  • LGBTQ
  • Musical
  • Mystery
  • Reality
  • Romance
  • Science-Fiction
  • Sport
  • Stand-up & Talk
  • Thriller
  • Travel

If you trust IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings, you can filter the scores between 5-9 and 50%-90% respectively for each site. It is slightly disappointing that Netflix roulette won’t let you pick scores below 50%. It alienates the “so bad it’s good” movie watcher crowd that likes to hate-watch shows/movies. Also, something else to keep in mind is that Netflix has a HUGE library of Bollywood movies. If you simply click “spin” without specifying search criteria, you’ll get an Indian movie as your search result most times. A good feature to implement in the future would be to filter the results on region-specific Netflix libraries only e.g. Netflix UK. And remember, Netflix isn’t the only streaming service you can use the roulette on. There is an identical search roulette that can be used to find shows or films on Hulu as well.

Connection to Gambling

So that begs the question – how is Netflix Roulette thematically tied to our website, which is primarily involved in the world of online gambling? Well, obviously the first connection is the word “roulette”. This appeals to the online gambler’s desire to partake in the game of chance. The randomised search result is like throwing dice in the dark, something that should appeal to your gambling instincts. However, thanks to the search criteria you can set, there are ways to minimize the randomness of the search. This enables you to zero in on the specific type of movies or television shows that appeals to the gambler in you.

Which brings a great opportunity to introduce gambling movies which can be a result of the Netflix roulette. Some of the best gambling themed films of all time can be found on Netflix. While there is already a blog covering most of the notable examples of Netflix gambling movies, we thought this would be a great opportunity to mention some of the most famous and notable examples that would be of interest to you.

The first is Ocean’s Eleven, probably the most famous example on the list. The 2001 blockbuster stars George Clooney as Danny Ocean. Recently released from prison, he decides to form a band of master thieves to rob three casinos in one night. Full of Hollywood glitz and glamour, this Steven Soderbergh film features a massive star-studded cast.

The next notable film is Casino (1995), starring Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, it chronicles the rise and fall of Sam “Ace” Rothstein as he’s called by the Chicago Outfit to oversee a casino in Las Vegas. The film is full of greed, lies, murder, corruption, and unrequited love. It features powerhouse performances from Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon stone, along with stellar direction from Martin Scorsese.

Also, how can we miss the 2007 James Bond film, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, and Mads Mikkelsen as the main Bond villain. While the film is full of thrilling chase scenes and gunfights, the most action-packed moments of the film are arguably from the intense poker game in ‘Casino Royale’ between Bond and titular villain Le Chiffre.

Once you are done watching the latest Bond adventures and would want to crank things up, you can try another roulette game form that will definitely make for an awesome end of the night with your watching buddies. The Shot Roulette is a party spin-off of the original table game that involves shot glasses, drinks, and a very simple set of drink roulette rules. It’s a lot of fun, trust us.

Netflix Roulette Quiz Time

We tried to cover as good as possible the topic but we are sure that some of you either still have questions and prefer to have tight answers. That is why we choose to gather the most spread queries that people typed in Google related to Netflix roulette and to give them our own answers. This would be our ‘grand finale’ – enjoy!

What is Netflix roulette?

It is actually an app that was created several years ago by an 18-year old boy. It generates a random result based on the criteria that you set in. These criteria can be genre and the type of show that you want to watch, be it a movie or series.

How to use Netflix roulette?

You just have to insert your desires in the engine and the movie for you will be automatically generated. You can choose the type - movie, tv shows, series. Then comes the genre - be it a horror, a love story or a comedy. You can also set the score given to the show by IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes.

What to watch on Netflix roulette?

That's the main point - there is no answer to this question. You can watch whatever shows up after you inserted your criteria. It can be a classic movie that we all know or it can be a brand new diamond in the rough. It's, after all, gambling!

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