Upcoming Streams
| Date | Theme | Sign Up to Win Link |
| July 11, 2025 | Canadian Comedic Actors/Actresses | Sign Up |
* note all upcoming dates & themes are subject to change
Family Tree Frenzy: What is It?
Family Tree Frenzy is a live, high-stakes genealogy game where contestant(s) races against the clock to trace a chosen individual’s ancestry back to their 3rd great-grandparents. Over a 75-minute challenge, each ancestor is “completed” by finding a connecting record. Viewers drive the drama by dropping $2+ Super Chats to trigger Power Plays—adding or draining time, tweaking point targets, or issuing cousin-finding quests and trivia challenges. Hit the base or total-points threshold for a win, or watch a viewer walk away with merch or a Family Circle membership!
Entry Details:
The entry link for each episode is different and is revealed the Tuesday before the show via our How We Got Here Genealogy YouTube Community post and in the table above next to the upcoming episode.
See full rules below.
Family Tree Frenzy: Full Rules*
1. Game Format
- Single 75-Minute Game
One continuous genealogy challenge per livestream. - Brian spins the Wheel of History to choose a random Historical Figure or Celebrity
- Starting with the Selected Person, Brian must make a connection to each Parent as he works down through the generations -every connecting ancestor is worth 2 points
- Along the way, he can pick up bonus points for each sibling and by completing a complete generation .
- Viewers can try to help or hinder Brian through the Power Plays listed below
2 Points and Bonus Points
For each Parent of the Previous ancestor, Brian gets 2 points. To get the points he must find a record that connects the Child to Parent (that is both names much be mentioned on same record)
| Bonus Source | Bonus Pts |
|---|---|
| Each Sibling | 1 |
| Net Trivia Points | added or subtracted *see poewer play |
| Completing Generation (all levels have an individual) *Applies starting with Grandparent level | 5 pts x Generation Level |
3. Allowed Record Types and Prohiited Sources
The following are the categories for the type of records and their sources allowed
- Birth – includes Baptism records or Birth Announcements
- Marriage – Includes Banns, Licences, Registrations or Announcements
- Death – includes death certificate, registration, Obituary, or Grave Stone
- Other Government Records/Lists – Includes Census, Taxpayer Lists, Voter Lists, Military Records, etc.
- Legal Records, Includes Wills, Land Grants, Court Records
- Article – This can be a book, newspaper or other verified online record
Prohibited Sources
- Another person’s existing family tree, while he is allowed to use Ancestry, My Heritage, Family Search, etc. it is only for record searches and not for existing trees, hints, etc.
- Wikipedia (with the exception of getting information on the initial Subject and their parents’ info, which do not count towards points)
4. ✨ Super Chat Power Plays ✨
Each requires a $2+ Super Chat you can decide to Help or Hinder Brian.
*Power Plays can not be made in the Final 20 minutes any super chats will be considered a gift.
| Power Play | Effect | Chat Format |
|---|---|---|
| Time Warp | for first $2 of super chat 30 seconds added or subtracted for everyy additional $ it is 15 seconds The max net time warp effect can not exceed 15 minutes to be added or subtracted | Time Warp (+ or -) MM:SS |
| Cousin Quest *only 1 cousin quest at a time | Cousin Quest #[x]Locate one cousin of the specified ancestor: until that cousin is unlocked all ancestors in that line are considered locked and do not count towards points | Ancestor Quest+ Ancestor Sequence # |
| Brick Wall | Restrict the use of one record type for time multiplied by $ value of super chat | Brickwall Record Type |
| Trivia Challenge | You ask a trivia question about the main subject of the episode or a general genealogy question.The contestant has 2 minutes to answer it once they hit the trivia timer. If I get it right any time on the trivia timer is added back if they get it right in first minute they get 2 trivia points and if they get it right after 1 minute they get 1 trivia point – If the answer is wrong or not answered in 2 minutes they lose 2 points. | Trivia: [question] |
[Sequence#] refers to on-screen ancestor unique code see top tree.
MM:SS = minutes:seconds.
Entry Details
Each episode’s unique entry link is revealed the Tuesday before via the How We Got Here Genealogy YouTube Community post and listed in the upcoming-episode table above.
Past Episodes
| Date | Link to Episode | Theme & Details |
| June 13, 2025 |  | A Test Run of the game to finalize the format and rules (Test Rules ) |