Summaries

Synopsis

In this game, four contestants, two male and two female, have to answer general knowledge questions to earn money by playing counters into a machine, though only the last contestant standing has a chance to win the money they have earned - the other contestants will leave with nothing except for any non-cash prizes that they may have won along the way.

The game's action centres around an arcade-style counter pusher machine, which consists of two shelves filled with flat circular counters, a top shelf that retracts and extends slowly and a bottom shelf that is stationary, and a rear face with four columns, referred to as "drop zones", of pegs arranged like those in a pachinko machine. At regular points in the game, a contestant will choose one of the drop zones, numbered 1 to 4 from left to right, and then press their button to release a counter into the selected drop zone. The contestant will aim to make the counter land flat on the top shelf so that when it retracts, it will push other counters over its front edge onto the bottom shelf, and when the top shelf extends, it will move these counters forward in a way that will push other counters over the bottom shelf's front edge into a large collection trough, referred to as the "win zone". Each counter pushed across the tipping point into the win zone earns the playing contestant £50. Sometimes a counter will bounce out of the machine and on to the floor - such counters are still credited towards the contestant's score. A mistimed drop or a counter that stays on its edge until the top shelf extends can make that counter overlap or "ride" other counters, resulting in a significantly reduced likelihood of counters falling into the win zone, though on rare occasions it can still push other counters raised above most of the others in a way that will make a counter fall off that shelf.

Sometimes, counters that are close to the front edge of either shelf will fall at a time when the machine is not in play. These falls are referred to as "ambient drops". If an ambient drop results in counters being pushed into the win zone, those counters are voided and removed from the machine with no effect on any of the contestants' scores. If an ambient drop occurs close to when a contestant plays a counter, the contestant is permitted to change their choice of drop zone.

At the start of Round 1, the four contestants each receive three counters. A series of general knowledge questions are then asked, and the first contestant to press their button wins the right to answer the question. If their answer is correct, then they can choose to put one of their counters into the machine, or if they think that it is not likely to pay out on the next turn, then they can pass and nominate an opponent who still has counters available to put one of their counters into the machine. When a contestant is out of counters, they cannot answer any more questions in that round. When only one contestant is left with counters, the remaining questions are asked to them unopposed, but they must still give the correct answer in order to put their remaining counters into the machine. If a contestant answers a question incorrectly or fails to answer within 3 seconds of buzzing or the last contestant remaining fails to give an answer within 3 seconds of the end of asking of the question, they will lose a counter to the penalty pot. If all twelve questions are answered correctly, the round ends after the twelfth counter is played, otherwise if there are some counters in the penalty pot, then another question is asked to all four contestants. A contestant who buzzes in with the correct answer gets to put all of the counters from the penalty pot into the machine, while an incorrect answer will freeze that contestant out, with a new penalty pot question then asked to the remaining contestants.

At the end of each round, the contestant who has the lowest score is eliminated from the competition and forfeits any money they have earned. Host Ben Shephard will tell that contestant "You have found your tipping point". If two or more contestants are tied on the lowest score, then one or more sudden death questions are asked to the tied contestants. The first contestant to press their button gets to answer the question. The tie is broken by either all but one of the tied contestants giving a correct answer, or a contestant giving an incorrect answer.

In round 2, each of the three contestants is given 30 seconds of questions, with each correct answer giving that contestant one counter to put in the machine. The contestant must give their answer before the time runs out in order for it to be accepted, though the host will still complete the question if the time runs out while it is still being asked, even though the subsequent answer won't count. If a contestant answers or passes before the complete question is read out, then the full question is given after the time runs out. The contestant then plays all of the counters they have earned into the machine to try and add to the money they have won so far. The contestant with the highest amount of money at the end of round 1 gets to choose who has to answer questions first, then the remaining contestant with the higher amount of money (who may be the same as the highest money winner from round 1 if they chose one of their opponents to answer first) gets to choose who has to answer their questions next, then the remaining contestant answers their questions last. Any ties in the money earned are broken in favour of the tied contestant who correctly answered a question first in round 1.

Round 3 sees the two remaining contestants go head to head with six questions asked, three asked alternately to each contestant. The contestant with more money at the end of round 2 gets to decide if they or their opponent should receive the first question (If the two contestants are tied, then the choice goes to either the contestant who had more money after round 1, or the contestant who first answered a question correctly in that round if they had the same amount). After a question is asked, the contestant who receive it can choose to either answer the question or pass it to their opponent and force them to answer it. If the contestant who answers the question does so correctly, they get to put a counter into the machine, but if their answer is incorrect, their opponent puts a counter into the machine.

For the fourth and final round, the head-to-head winner is then given the Jackpot counter, which is slightly larger than the standard counters and coloured gold with a red star. They then choose one of the four drop zones to put the Jackpot counter into the machine. The goal of this round is to get this counter out of the machine again by making it fall into the win zone. If they can do so, their cash total is augmented to £10,000. Once the Jackpot counter has been played into the machine, every subsequent counter that falls into the win zone in this round will add £50 to the contestant's winnings, whether it falls there after the initial playing of the Jackpot counter, after the playing of a subsequent counter or as the result of an ambient drop, and the Double and Mystery counters produce the same result as for the previous rounds if they fall in the win zone, even if it happens after an ambient drop.

To get the Jackpot counter out, the contestant is given six question categories. The contestant can play the categories in any order and can play a category for one, two or three counters. The more counters they play for, the harder the question, but the better their chances of getting the Jackpot counter out if they get the answer right. The questions asked in this round are multiple-choice with three possible answers presented. If the contestant selects the correct answer, they get to put the number of counters they played for into the machine before choosing their next question category.

If the Jackpot counter remains in the machine after the contestant has run out of categories, then they are presented with two options - to take the money that they have won up to that point, or trade this money for three final counters in the hope of getting the Jackpot counter out (If the Jackpot counter remains on the top shelf at this point, the contestant will be more likely to take the money). If they choose to take the trade, they forfeit the money they have won up to that point and the Jackpot counter will be the only thing of value, meaning that the contestant will leave with either £10,000 or no money. If they decide to take the money and the Jackpot counter is on the bottom shelf, then the contestant still gets to play the three trade counters to see if they would have been able to win the jackpot.

Changes to the game-play have been made over several subsequent seasons:

SEASON 2

Three Mystery counters, marked with a white question mark, are placed on the shelves, two on the top shelf and the other on the bottom shelf. Each Mystery counter has a prize attached to it that is revealed after the counter falls in the win zone, when that prize is won by the playing contestant, who gets to keep the prize even if they are eliminated at the end of that round. If a Mystery counter falls into the win zone as the result of an ambient drop, it is returned to where it was before the ambient drop took place if it happens in rounds 1-3, or the contestant wins the prize if it happens in round 4 after the release of the Jackpot counter.

SEASON 5

Two Double counters, marked "x2" in white, are placed on the shelves, one on each shelf. When a Double counter falls in the win zone, it will double the value of the counters that land there on that drop, so that the contestant effectively earns £100 for each counter across the tipping point on that play. The amount won as a result of the counters that have dropped is added to the running total shown on the machine's rear face in two steps, with the regular amount (£50 for every counter in the win zone) added first, then the same amount is added a second time accompanied by a different sound as a result of one of the counters being the Double. If a Double counter falls into the win zone as the result of an ambient drop, it is returned to where it was before the ambient drop took place if it happens in rounds 1-3, or the value of all of the counters that fall into the win zone as a result of the ambient drop is doubled if it happens in round 4 after the release of the Jackpot counter.

SEASON 8

This season introduced a new rule where if the Double and Jackpot counters fall into the win zone on the same drop, the contestant wins double the jackpot, with their cash total augmented to £20,000.

SEASON 9

The Double and Mystery counters are coloured yellow and light green respectively, with their labels being black, to make them easier to distinguish from the ordinary black and silver counters.

SEASON 12

The game begins with just three contestants, who all advance to Round 2 regardless of their scores in Round 1. In Round 2, the time given to each contestant to answer questions is increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds.