Brain Battle
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| Brain Battle | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game show |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Production | |
| Running time | 01:00:00 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Global |
| Original run | March 26, 2007 – Present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Brain Battle is a Canadian game show which airs weekdays on Global.
Gameplay: Studio Contestants
Two studio contestants compete in three rounds. On most shows, the same two contestants play the entire show, however on some shows, four contestants play the 'classic' format (when the show first premiered, four contestants played each day), where the winners of the first two two-round games face each other for the third round. Each round usually lasts a little under two minutes; on some shows, 90 second rounds are played. Jason used to remind viewers to call in halfway through these rounds, however this is no longer the case.
The first round is called "Chain Word". Two words are shown with a blank in the middle, and the contestants buzz in to say the word that filled in the blank. For example, if the question was "Boy ------ Clooney", the correct answer would be "George". A right answer wins 10 points, a wrong answer gives the opponent a chance to steal.
The second round is called "Spell It Write!". A word is given, along with four different spellings. Contestants buzz in to pick the correct spelling. A right answer wins 20 points, a wrong answer gives the opponent a chance to steal.
The third round is called "True or False?". True or false questions are asked, and contestants buzz in to answer. A right answer wins 30 points, but this time a wrong answer automatically gives the opponent 30 points. The leader at the end of this round wins the game and advances to the final round. The runner-up wins three board games.
In the final (prize) round, "Say It Again," the contestant is spotted $100. Jason then asks questions to the contestant, each with three possible answers. A right answer wins $100, but a wrong answer loses $100. (The contestant can never drop below $100, though.) Play continues until the contestant amasses $1,000 or sixty seconds passes, giving the contestant however much money they had when time ran out.
The studio game was discontinued after the October 25th, 2007 broadcast, and the show became exclusively for home viewers.
Gameplay: Call For Cash
From the premiere until mid-July, 2007, several home player games have aired per show, usually one "Chain Word", and one "Say It Again" puzzle, but "True Or False" questions and "Spell It Write" puzzles were also used. The host urges viewers to enter the contest by calling or texting messages for a fee, or entering on the show's Web site for free.
Starting in mid-July, 2007, only one home player game was played since the show was not airing live in all markets. The game could be any aspect of the in-studio games, but is usually a "Chain Word" or a "Say It Again" puzzle. It is announced that a viewer is called the next day to solve the puzzle.
When the show first began, the caller that was selected would simply win the prize money, however soon afterward they implement the jackpot game which the caller was required to play to win the jackpot. In the Jackpot game, the viewer chooses 3 spaces from a computerized lottery ticket style board which consists of 16 spaces. Thirteen of them contain amounts of money, while the other 3 contain dollar signs, which are worth $50. To win the $5,000 jackpot, the viewer must choose the 3 spaces which contain the dollar signs. If the viewer does not pick all three dollar signs, they win only the sum of the three amounts that they chose.
It should be noted that it is not similar to the game memory where you must try to remember which numbers had the dollar signs. The dollar signs and dollar values are displayed to the caller, then “flipped over” so that only the numbers are visible, and then they are scrambled. This makes it completely a game of chance and drastically reduces the odds of winning the jackpot (which has never happened since instuting the jackpot game).
Later episodes included "Instant Gratification" prizes, where viewers are called and given a much smaller prize for calling, without playing the Jackpot game on the air.
In Sepetember 2007 the show dropped the jackpot to $1,000 and within a week finally did away with the jackpot alotgether. The call for cash game was changed such that instead of having one or two “Chain Word” and “Say it Again” puzzle per show, there is two or three “Mystery Word” games where the viewer has to fill in the first or second half of a compound word. They provide much fewer clues now (not even the dashes are provided for a while). Also, the prizes are now worth much less. Sometimes they start at $500 and for each incorrect guess the prize is dropped by $50, sometimes they start at $100 and for each incorrect guess the prize goes up by $50. As well, the show was now airing live in all markets (11:00 a.m. ET) once again, so multiple puzzles and callers per episode returned.
Originally, callers were required to answer a skill-testing question when they called or texted. Later, the skill-testing question was simply the same as the answer to the main game. Finally, by mid-September, they did away with the skill-testing question as well and changed it so that only every 10th person who enters is placed into the pool, from which one person is selected randomly to be put on air to make a guess (which may not win any money at all in the latest version of the show).
At the end of October, 2007, the show became an hour of just home player games, and another format began. In this format, various word game formats exist, and one is played per show. This format is similar to "PoPQ," which airs on E! Canada, and is also hosted by Jason Agnew (PoPQ's subjects are always entertainment related, whereas Brain Battle's can be anything). As before, only every 10th caller qualifies for the pool that on-air contestants are chosen from, and you generally only get a prize if you answer a question correctly, but sometimes a small cash prize is offered just for getting on the air.
