An mix between a trivia quiz and a strategy game, the format involves a contestant being asked up to 10 trivia questions, worth between $1,000 and $1,000,000. Unlike the similar Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, however, getting a question wrong doesn't eliminate the contestant - after each question, the contestant is asked to explain their reasoning to three other players, and if they can convince only one of them they knew the answer even when they didn't (or bullshitting), then they can survive, with the only way for a contestant to be eliminated being getting the question wrong and not convincing any of the other contestants. In addition, once a contestant is eliminated, the next contestant up is decided by asking which of the three players was most accurate in telling if the previous contestant(s) were lying or not.
Bullshit! provides examples of the following:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Brian, who failed to get a single question correct, and got through the game entirely on bluffing - he won $50,000.
- Cliffhanger: Most episodes end with a contestant's fate hinging on another player's answer as to whether they convinced them.
- Feigning Intelligence: Cidnee, who extended her bullshitting to lying to the players about her background, specifically by claiming to have both an undergraduate and a masters degree.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: Played for Laughs by Alison, who repeatedly jokes about naming her future children after the players who believed her on the questions where she was bluffing.
- Obligatory Swearing: The show's title and main gameplay mechanic - something enabled by it being on a streaming service like Netflix rather than broadcast TV.
- Who Wants to Be "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?": With a money tree, a dark set and much more.
