One of these two players could drive home in this brand new car, as they play the game of quick wits:

EITHER OR

OBJECTIVE: Two players race the clock to claim as much of a money-laden board as possible.

FRONT GAME

At the start of the game, the two players are given different roles. One is the "Protector", whose job it is to close off as much of the board from his/her opponent as possible; the other is the "Collector", who's trying to pick up the money that the Protector left behind.

Both players are working off a board that has four rows and eight spaces in each row. The top row is worth $200 for each space, the second row is worth $100 for each space, the third $50, and the bottom $25. While the Collector is isolated offstage, the Protector has 60 seconds to seal off as much of the board as possible.

This is done by answering a series of questions, all with the same two possible choices. (For example, the category for the first round may be, "Are the following characters from Shakespearean plays or Japanese anime?") The Protector starts on the $200 line. Each correct answer seals off a space from that line, working from right to left. If the Protector makes it to the other side of the board, or if he gives an incorrect answer, he moves down to the $100 line and works from there.

Play continues until either time runs out or the Protector is done with the $25 line, either by virtue of sealing it off entirely or giving a wrong answer. At that point, the Collector comes in and is asked the same questions. Like before, the Collector starts at the $200 line. Working right to left, the Collector is trying to claim the squares that the Protector couldn't reach. Every square claimed is worth the appropriate amount of money; giving a wrong answer or reaching the Protector's boundary moves the Collector to the next line down, and so on as explained above. In the second round, the roles switch.

In the third round, both the Protector and the Collector are vying for money, but with a twist. Now the player who trails goes first as the Collector, but he must start at the bottom level and work upwards. Any spaces left over are then up for grabs by the Protector, who starts at the top. Whoever has the most money after the third round gets to keep it; the loser takes home $500 for his trouble.

BONUS ROUND

The champion now has 60 seconds to answer eight questions in a row. Questions in this round have three choices, the player gets to choose the category, and has exactly one second to answer each question. If successful, the player wins a new car; otherwise, he gets $250 for each of the first four consecutive right answers, $500 for each of the next two, and another $3000 for the seventh in a row (for a total of $5000).

Champions stay on for three days or until thay win the car. Also, it should be noted that throughout the game, once an answer is begun it cannot be changed.

SELLING POINTS

Shows with asymmetric design are few and far between in this genre - the only one I really know of is Whew!. With that in mind, I like the whole concept of one player actively working to hinder the other instead of both players doing the same thing. I could also imagine some humor value when a contestant accidentally starts giving what he knows is the wrong answer.

WEAKNESSES

I'd have to really test this to see how big the board really should be. I had it at ten spaces originally with higher values in the third round, but a test run ended up with a runaway game after the Collector's turn.

FRUITION RATING (1-10): 7

As I mentioned above, I need to tinker with the size of the board, and maybe work on the third round a bit to make it more equitable.

Questions, comments, cares or concerns? Use the link on the left to E-mail me and tell me what you think!

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