Over $25,000 in cash and prizes are up for grabs, as our two teams try to...

BEAT THAT!

OBJECTIVE: Two teams of two (1 man, 1 woman) compete in a fast-paced Q&A game.

ROUNDS 1 & 2

Three categories are shown to the two teams. One team - the team on "Offense" - chooses a category. While the team on "Defense" wears headphones, the team on Offense has to answer 5 questions out of 7 within 30 seconds. If they succeed, the team on Defense has to answer the same questions in a faster time. If the Defense can answer the questions faster, they prevent the Offense from scoring; otherwise, the Offense score 5 points plus 1 point for every second they left on the clock. (So if they got their questions in 26 seconds, they score 9 points.) Then, the teams switch roles.

If a team misses 3 questions while on Offense or runs out of time, it's ruled a Turnover. The Offense is unable to score, and the Defense now can score 1 point for each right answer they give in 30 seconds without any penalties.

The second round is played the same way, only that an offensive team now scores 10 points plus 1 pt./second if the Defense doesn't beat their time.

ROUND 3

Both teams now have 60 seconds to answer up to 10 general knowledge questions. Each right answer is worth 2 points; if a team gets 8 answers right, they also score 1 point for every second left on the clock. The team in the lead goes first, at which point the team that's behind must beat their total to win. (Although they might have to answer their questions in under 60 seconds, they're still given the full minute for scoring purposes.) The team with the most points at the end of the round wins the game, and gets $50 for every point they scored. The losing team goes away with $20 a point.

BONUS ROUND

One member of the team volunteers to play Offense, the other plays Defense and puts on headphones for the first half of the round. The player on Offense gets another 30 seconds to answer another 7 questions; each right answer earns 1 Prize Point. Then, the player on Defense is asked the same 7 questions in 30 seconds; every question he misses or leaves unanswered loses 1 Prize Point. Having 1-6 Prize Points at the end of the round earns an increasingly valuable prize; getting and keeping 7 Prize Points (meaning both players go 7 for 7) wins all 6 prizes plus a $5000 bonus.

SELLING POINTS

It's a nice spin on the Q&A gimmick that puts a lot of emphasis of speed. The Offense/Defense element adds some flavor to the show, and we go back to the rarely-used idea of asking both teams the same questions. The bonus round can offer a nice array of prizes, but winning them all can prove very difficult.

WEAKNESSES

The game doesn't test well with Trivial Pursuit questions; they were awful wordy and I had trouble asking all 7 questions in 30 seconds (even though I didn't start the clock until the first question was finished). Obviously, the questions used in the game have to be pretty short.

FRUITION RATING (1-10): 10

I came up with two ideas within the span of about three days; this one was the better one by far.

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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