Every episode of RuPaul's Drag Race features a main challenge that targets one tool in a drag queen's box of skills. Some of these challenges are recurring, and the most popular by far is the Snatch Game.
Premiering in season 2, Snatch Game's premise is simple: Each queen impersonates a celebrity of their choice in a parody of the '70s panel game show Match Game. The queen who delivers some combination of the best impersonation, best improvisation, and funniest one-liners is the winner. Over the years, certain performances have stood out as the best of the best.
Tatianna As Britney Spears (Season 2)
Tatianna held her own in season 2, but she's most remembered for being alienated from the other queens and sometimes struggling to keep up. When she did well, it was for being fishy and charismatic, not for being a comedian.
So, Tatianna was never supposed to win Snatch Game. It wasn't a challenge built around her talents. All she had to do was play it safe and land somewhere in the middle of the pack. Yet Tati surprised everyone by not only transforming herself into Spears physically, but delivering an accurate impersonation and, more importantly, making RuPaul laugh. She won the challenge against all odds.
Bianca Del Rio As Judge Judy (Season 6)
Many if not most RuPaul's Drag Race fans rank season 6 as the series' best, despite the fact that Bianca Del Rio's win seemed inevitable the whole time. In a season chock full of true talent, Bianca was always a head above the rest. That was true for the season and it was true for the Snatch Game.
A gifted insult comic who also happens to be a drag queen, Bianca's performance style is tailor-made for Snatch Game. In fact, her impression of Judge Judy was barely an impression at all. She basically did her own schtick while wearing a Judge Judy costume and peppering in Judge Judy's catchphrases. It worked perfectly.
Sharon Needles As Michelle Visage (Season 4)
Sharon Needles earned her reputation and the season 4 crown with her creatively ghoulish runway looks and eccentric personality. No one pegged her as a comedy queen, though. That's why her hilarious Snatch Game performance as RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage was such a surprise.
It's easy for Drag Race fans to forget now, but in season 4, Michelle Visage wasn't yet the iconic part of the show that she's become. Visage joined only in season 3, so lampooning her for Snatch Game in season 4 was a risky, out-of-left-field choice. It easily could've fallen flat, but Sharon nailed it.
Pandora Boxx As Carol Channing (Season 2)
Some RuPaul's Drag Race fans think Tatianna didn't deserve to win the first Snatch Game for her Britney Spears impression, arguing that she won because she stretched out of her comfort zone to do it, not because it was actually the best performance. Instead, some fans point to Pandora Boxx as the deserving winner.
Broadway triple threat and LGBTQ+ icon Carol Channing was a perfect choice for a Snatch Game role, and Pandora's impression was so fully formed that it seemed clear she'd done it before in her act. It's no knock against her that she came prepared, though.
Bob the Drag Queen as Uzo Aduba And Carol Channing (Season 8)
Bob the Drag Queen wanted to play Carol Channing for season 8's Snatch Game. It wasn't unprecedented at that point for a queen to choose a celebrity who'd been done already, but on the other hand, Pandora Boxx's Channing impersonation in season 2 was so iconic that it would've been extremely difficult to emerge from its shadow.
So, Bob hedged his bets. Not wanting to abandon his very solid Channing impression, he did it anyway... and also added a second character. In one Snatch Game, he played both Channing and Uzo Aduba (but really her Orange Is the New Black character, Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren). The risk paid off. Bob nailed both characters and won the challenge.
Chad Michaels As Cher (Season 4)
Chad Michaels decided his Snatch Game character before RuPaul's Drag Race ever existed, because he was already a professional Cher impersonator outside of the show. A lesser queen might have overthought things and chosen not to rely on a character they were already known for. But Chad's a pro and does what it takes to win.
Crucially, Chad doesn't just make himself look and sound exactly like Cher; he's also hysterically funny. He knows Cher inside and out, so he had zero difficulty improvising witty remarks in character the whole time. And just to show off, he even changed costumes during the challenge. That's pure Cher.
Gigi Goode As Maria The Robot (Season 12)
Nothing about Gigi Goode's Snatch Game performance should've worked. First, she'd already proven herself to be a fashion queen, not a comedy queen. Second, the character she chose — the mysterious German android Maria the Robot — was too obscure for most people to recognize. Finally, playing a cold, impersonal android doesn't lend itself to hilarious jokes.
RuPaul explained those things to Gigi, and she all but insisted Gigi choose a different character. That's when the 21-year-old, with more confidence than most drag queens can muster while looking RuPaul in the eyes, said her most famous line of the season: "I understand your concern, but I do not have the same concern." She went on to prove RuPaul wrong, and Mama Ru gave her the Snatch Game win.
Alaska As Mae West (All Stars 2)
RuPaul's Drag Race fan-favorite Alaska came very close to winning season 5, but she lost to Jinkx Monsoon. Likewise, she earned high marks for her Snatch Game performance as drag icon Lady Bunny, but she lost the challenge to Jinkx Monsoon.
Alaska had a lot to prove when she returned for All Stars 2. Like Bianca Del Rio in season 6, Alaska seemed almost fated to take the crown and eventually did. Along the way, she also stepped her Snatch Game up. As Hollywood legend Mae West, Alaska had a witty rejoinder for everything Ru said to her during the challenge, sending Ru into fits of laughter and winning decisively.
Kennedy Davenport As Little Richard (Season 7)
RuPaul's Drag Race by definition features drag queens, but the show used to be much more binary about what that meant, i.e., cisgender men who are female impersonators. But these days, transgender women and transgender men appear as contestants on the show.
Nowadays, queens often choose to impersonate male celebrities on Snatch Game, but it used to be an unspoken rule that they portrayed only women. Kennedy Davenport changed that when she impersonated Little Richard on the grounds that, even though he was a man, there was something essentially drag about him. The risk paid off. Kennedy's Little Richard was a tribute to an icon, it was a hilarious comedy performance, and it broke new ground for what Snatch Game could be.
Jinkx Monsoon As Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale (Season 5)
The 1975 documentary Grey Gardens is an indispensable pop-culture touchstone and iconic to any "theatre kid." However, when Jinkx chose to be central Grey Gardens figure "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale for season 5's Snatch Game, none of her fellow queens seemed to know who she was talking about.
RuPaul knew, though. He was delighted by Jinkx's odd selection, and the character was a huge success in the challenge. Jinkx pitched her performance perfectly, making references specific enough for the movie's fans to appreciate while being generally quirky enough to make everyone laugh. Every choice Jinkx made from start to finish was the right one.