MILLIONS: The Race of Wits and Time

Ages: 7+
2 - 6 players

1. The Object of the Game
Answer questions correctly to advance to the Million Dollar Question, and walk out of the studio with the grand cheque.

2. Setting Up the Game
The questions are randomly assigned one of the dollar amounts from the money ladder. Then, the deck of categories is shuffled. This means that, for most of the game, the contestant has no idea what amount of money he stands to win with whichever correct answer he gives. It can be $500, or it can be $10,000, or even $250,000! The first question the contestant chooses can be the hardest question in the stack, or it can be the easiest. There's no true way of knowing, because it's all randomized.

3. Introduction
The contestant's primary objective is to correctly answer one question from ten categories, after which he has the chance to answer one Million Dollar Question. It's as simple as that!

4. The Game Comes to Life!
So, the contestant is on the studio, and introductions have been made. It's time to play MILLIONS!
.....There are eleven monetary values on the money ladder, ten of which are accumulative. Basically, if the contestant gets a $10,000 and $1,500 question correct, he will have $11,500 in his Bank. Up to $500,000 can be deposited in the Bank, which can be doubled to $1,000,000, assuming the contestant successfully answers the Million Dollar Question!
.....The contestant also has three Lives and three Help-Lines, which are explained later.

5. Answering Questions
To start off, the contestant selects one of the ten categories to answer from. The question is revealed, and the timer starts.
.....The first five questions have two choices for the contestant to select from, while the remaining six are completely free response. This is implemented so that the contestant can obtain the guaranteed win quicker (guarantee will be described later).
.....As soon as the question is read out, the contestant has three minutes to make a decision.

• If he is confident of the answer, he must say it aloud and Confirm it. The correct answer is then revealed.
  
• If he is unsure, he may choose to use one of his Help-Lines (as described in the appropriate section below).
  

.....5A: Correct Answer
If the answer is correct, the question's corresponding dollar amount is revealed, and goes into the contestant's Bank. The category is replaced with its value, which lights up on the money ladder, and play continues.
.....Continue as described previously for every correct answer. Please note that the contestant cannot choose more than two from any one row of categories (or five from any one column) during the game.

.....5B: Incorrect Answer
If the answer is incorrect, the contestant loses a Life. Another question from the same category is then revealed, and the contestant has another chance to win.
.....If the answer is incorrect and the contestant has no Lives left, he is out of the run to the million dollars. He drops back to the Safe Haven, assuming he reached it. If not, he leaves with no dollars at all. However, all contestants get a badge as a consolation prize!

.....5C: Time's Up!
If the contestant does not Confirm within the three minute time limit, the game stops and he leaves with HALF the amount already in his bank.

6. Help-Lines
If the contestant is stuck, he has one opportunity apiece during the game to use the three Help-Lines at hand for him.

.....6A: JUMP
Allows the contestant to bypass a question that he does not know the answer to. Please note that, if he does skip a question, the cash from that question does NOT go into the Bank.

.....6B: SWITCH
Allows the contestant to swap the question for another question of the same category and value.

.....6C: ASK
The contestant can forward the question to one of his three family members/friends in the audience, and ask them for help. Bear in mind that he does NOT have to use that person's answer, and he may still decide for himself.

7: Taking the Money and Quitting
If the contestant has no Help-Lines and/or only one Life left (whichever comes first), he may choose to Quit and take any winnings he has up to that point. There is no penalty attached to Quitting the game.

8: Guaranteed Safe Haven
When the contestant has successfully answered five questions correctly, he is guaranteed the money in the Bank up to that point. $10,000 is the minimum Safe Haven, while $490,000 is the maximum.

9: The Million Dollar Question
If the contestant has correctly answered the question in all ten categories, he has the chance to play for one million dollars! By opting to play for the million, he does forfeit the money in his Bank at that point and risks dropping back down to the Safe Haven. He won't have any Help-Lines, either. Fortunately, the Lives still apply here, and he can still Quit if he doesn't know the answer to the question.
.....Please note, the Million Dollar Question is not timed, and the contestant can take as long as he needs.

10: Winning The Game
The game is won if the contestant correctly answers the Million Dollar Question, and thus becomes a millionaire!

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Now. I just need someone to test it out on! Who's willing to play?

Well, I kind of had the Japan Super Millionaire in mind when I wrote that rule, but it is an idea. Now... where can we put the RPG thing?

Yes. I just didn't want to make it TOO much like Millionaire. But I managed it!

Yes. Oh and there's Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? in that cross as well - with the 11 questions and all. Anyway, thanks for the comments! I am thinking of doing a board game as well, but where I'm going to get all the questions from I don't know... but I'd gladly design a tabletop game!!

Really, I think for music, you could wait for the next season of the US version of Millionaire to come out, because it probably would fit the best because of the type of game.

Also, just make a printable board and cards, it'd be fun to play! And yes it also has a mix of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader.

I see what you mean, that would be very interesting cues, and I'd wonder how it would play out in your show.

Come to think of it, I've got an idea for a 'Super Millions', with a prize of $5,000,000! How's that?