Rette die Million!
Rette die Million! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- Sorting boxes (2), which hold the question and answer cards
- Joker field
- Game board (Spieltableau), with the "Rette die Million!" logo and four windows marked A, B, C and D
- Round counter
- Question cards
- Money chips
Perspective shown from the Quizmaster's side.
Object of the Game
The guessing team starts with 1 million euros (40 money chips of 25,000 euros each) and tries to bring as much money as possible through the eight rounds by answering questions correctly.
Setup
Before the first round, carefully punch out the money chips and the four sliders (A, B, C and D) from the punch sheet.
Then, from the game board above the four windows, punch out the half-circles (front and back, 8 pieces in total) and pull the grey cardboard triangles out of the slots.
Now insert the four sliders into the slots so that, from left to right, the letters A, B, C and D are visible in the windows.
Before the first round, also stick the enclosed foam-rubber corners under the sorting boxes (4 each, one in each corner).
Place the two sorting boxes side by side on the table and pull them apart far enough that the game board can be laid on them. First, hook the cardboard strip into the sorting boxes to stabilise them. Then lay the game board on the two sorting boxes so that the two small pegs look through the board.
Cardboard strip for stabilisation
Peg
Sorting box
Next, sort the cards by the number of answer options they give. To make this easier, the cards are marked at the top left and right with the digits "4", "3" and "2".
Take 30 cards with four answer options (4) from the stack and place them upright in the rearmost compartment of the left sorting box. In the compartment in front of it go 20 cards with three answer options (3), and in the third compartment go 6 cards with two answer options (2). Any remaining cards can be returned to the large compartments.
Place the wooden round counter on the red round space with the digit 1 at the lower edge of the board.
Roles in the Game
There is always one Quizmaster and one guessing team.
At the start, the guessing team receives all 40 money chips, which represent 1 million euros. One money chip is worth 25,000 euros.
Seating
The Quizmaster sits so that the question and answer cards in the sorting box are directly to his left and he can operate the sliders on the game board. The guessing team sits opposite him. The team may place the money chips either on the "Rette die Million!" logo on the board or on the table in front of the board.
The guessing team can see from the round counter which round it is currently playing.
The Quizmaster moves the round counter forward one space after each round.
The Question and Answer Cards
There are three different groups of cards, which are used in different rounds of the game:
- Rounds 1 to 4: the cards with four answer options.
- Rounds 5 to 7: the cards with three answer options.
- Round 8, the last round: the cards with two answer options.
All cards are built the same way:
- The category is printed at the top.
- The answer suggestions follow, labelled with the letters A, B and, where applicable, C or D. Which answer is correct is printed on the back of the card, in the bottom right corner.
- The question is printed in the lower field.
Important: the task and the correct solution are never on the same side of a card!
Game Flow
In principle, as in the TV show, a run of the game lasts a maximum of eight rounds. The guessing team stays in the game for as long as it can stake money.
The Basic Game with 3 People
(Variants for other numbers of players follow later in the rules.)
In the basic game three people play together: the Quizmaster and the guessing team, which, as in the TV show, consists of two people.
After each complete run (maximum eight rounds) the roles can be swapped, so that everyone is Quizmaster once and everyone forms a guessing team once with each of the other players.
Rounds 1 to 4
Reading out the categories:
The Quizmaster first draws the front two cards with four answer options from the sorting box. They show a 4 at the top left and right. He reads out only the categories from the front of both cards. He holds the two cards so that the guessing team cannot see the solution letters on the back of the cards.
The guessing team now chooses one of the two categories. The card that was not chosen moves immediately into the corresponding compartment in the right-hand sorting box (from the Quizmaster's perspective).
Reading out the answer options and the question:
The Quizmaster then reads out the answers offered by the chosen card. The candidates can now speculate about what the question will be. Finally the Quizmaster reads out the question. He then places the card on the orange placement field under the D, so that the guessing team can read all the texts. The card stays there until the solution is revealed.
The team now confers briefly and makes its decision!
Staking money:
If the team believes it knows the answer for sure, it may place the entire amount on the window belonging to the corresponding answer.
Example: The guessing team is certain that answer C is correct. It therefore places the entire amount of money on the window with the letter C.
If the team is not sure which of the suggested answers is correct, it may split its stake freely and spread it over several windows.
Important: in every round one window must always remain free. No money may be placed on that window!
The guessing team must always stake all the money chips it still has. How the stake is distributed is left entirely to the team.
Note: At the end of the instructions you will find an overview showing how many money chips correspond to which euro amount. This saves mental arithmetic, and you can decide how much to put on which answer option.
Resolution:
Once the money has been placed, the Quizmaster begins the resolution. He opens, one after another, the windows that belong to the wrong answers. Any money lying on them falls into the shaft under the board and is out of the game. The window belonging to the correct answer stays closed, because the money on it is not lost.
If the guessing team remains in the game, the money that is left is moved forward again onto the board or in front of the board (see above), and the round counter is advanced one space. If, however, the team placed its entire money on the wrong window or windows, the money is lost and the team's run is over.
Then the game continues with the next two cards: reading the categories, making a choice, reading the answer options and the question, the team conferring on the solution, staking money, announcing the correct solution, and so on. The game continues round by round in this way for as long as the guessing team remains in the game.
Rounds 5 to 7
After the fourth round, the slider with the letter D is pulled out, turned 180 degrees, and then pushed back into its slot with the blue side and the white X facing up.
This window is now closed; only three windows and three answer options are available.
In rounds 5, 6 and 7 the Quizmaster takes the cards that show a 3 at the top left and right and offer only three answer options. In these three rounds, too, the guessing team must always leave one window free, so it may distribute the money over at most two windows.
Finally Round 8
Before the eighth and last round, the slider in window C is also turned 180 degrees and pushed back in with the blue side and the white X facing up. Now only two windows and two answer options are available. If a guessing team has made it to the eighth round, it now has a 50:50 chance of winning the money that is still in the game.
In this round the Quizmaster takes two cards showing the digit 2. The guessing team makes its decision as before. The remaining money must be placed on one window, because in this last round too one window must remain free and all the money must be staked! If the guessing team has chosen the correct answer, it wins the amount of money still in the game!
At the end of a run, that is, when a team has gambled away all its money or after the eighth round, the money chips are taken out from under the board and set aside for a new game.
Accounting and Scoring
If several rounds are played in succession, it is advisable to note the amount of money won in the eighth round. This way the most successful guessing team can be determined. If a team does not make it to the eighth round, note the round in which the team was eliminated. If this applies to several teams, the team that got furthest does best.
If several teams got equally far, the amount of money saved up to that point decides; it should be noted to be on the safe side.
Game Rounds with Other Numbers of Participants
In a game for two there is one Quizmaster and one person who sets out to save the million. To determine the champion, the roles are swapped after a complete run.
Of course the Quizmaster can also face a larger guessing team (maximum five people). However, as the number of team members grows, so does the probability that more questions are answered correctly, and the game may then lose some of its appeal. We therefore recommend the following variant:
Several guessing teams of two people each take part one after another. The role of Quizmaster is taken by a different player in each run. Each team always plays one complete run; that is, it always plays for as long as it still has money to stake, up to the eighth round at most.
Since experience shows that the runs are relatively short, the players who are not taking part in a given run form the audience. They should not prompt answers, nor mislead the guessing team that is currently active …
Supplementary Rules
The Joker
The Joker field may be used once per run by a guessing team.
It works as follows:
If a team has chosen a card, but after the answer options and the question have been read out comes to the conclusion that it cannot solve the task, the team may choose the Joker function. The originally chosen card is out of the race and is placed on the field with the question mark and the arrow. It stays there until the end of the run.
This shows that the Joker has already been used and is no longer available for the rest of this run. However, the question card with the category that was previously set aside must now be played as the replacement!
The Time Limit
If the players decide to set a time limit for answering a question, they use a stopwatch operated by the Quizmaster.
The limit for the time to confer and to stake the money should not exceed one minute. Nowadays every common mobile phone has a stopwatch function. A wristwatch or a dedicated stopwatch may of course also be used.
Overview: Money Chips and Amounts in Euros
| Number of money chips | Amount | Number of money chips | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25,000 € | 21 | 525,000 € |
| 2 | 50,000 € | 22 | 550,000 € |
| 3 | 75,000 € | 23 | 575,000 € |
| 4 | 100,000 € | 24 | 600,000 € |
| 5 | 125,000 € | 25 | 625,000 € |
| 6 | 150,000 € | 26 | 650,000 € |
| 7 |