Let's Play Password

[Nando]

EDIT from Hallow♥: This thread has been closed due to age, post numbers, and inactivity.

It's one of the most popular game shows ever to grace television screens, and now, you can play Password from the comfort of your very own computer chair!

[/end bad TV pitchman mode]

This game is roughly based on the 1984-1989 version known as "Super Password."

Two teams of two players compete in guessing words, and then the people, places or things they describe. A basic puzzle is laid out like this:

---[$0000]--- < Money in the bank for the puzzle.
---[>>><<<]--- < Puzzle answer (concealed until solved)
--[ (1) ]
--[ (2) ]
--[ (3) ] < Five clue words, turned over one at a time.
--[ (4) ]
--[ (5) ]

One member of each team is given a word and tries to get their partner to guess the word by giving a one-word clue. Word value begins at $200, and decreases by $50 for each clue, meaning each team gets two clues each alternating.

When a word is guessed the remaining value goes into the puzzle's bank and the player who guessed the word guesses what they think the solution to the puzzle is---always a person, place or thing. If they guess correctly, their team wins all the money in the bank, clue givers trade positions, and a new puzzle begins. Up to five words are played in each puzzle, and should the puzzle go unsolved on the fifth and final word, it is discarded and replayed. The first team to score $2,000 wins and plays a bonus endgame.

In the endgame the team decides which of them will give clues, then a new puzzle is presented. The cluegiver gets five clues to convey as many of the five words as possible. After the five clues are used up, the guesser is shown the revealed clues along with the category the answer falls in, and guesses once as to what the solution is. A correct guess wins the team a jackpot that begins at $10,000 and rises by that amount for each loss. (Example: if the puzzle is a PERSON and the clues are BATTLE, FRONTIER, CHAMP, POKeMON, HERO the answer would be "Ash Ketchum")

Teams may continue to play for as long as they continue winning.


So.... first four to sign up get to play!

 

[RBYGSCRSFRLGEPD]

I'll sign up. I usually prefer to eschew trivia threads because of their franticness, but Bulbagarden is more slow-paced.

...But I don't really understand how the game works outside of a single round. Like, do teams keep track of money? Are teams persistent? Is the puzzle's bank persistent between rounds? If "teams may continue to play for as long as they continue winning", then what happens when they lose? Sorry for all the questions. XD

 

[Nando]

I know, I tongue-tied myself when I wrote it.

The money won from each puzzle accumulates, so winning multiple rounds puts you closer to the $2,000 target.

On the show, players swapped partners at the midway point of the game, but the show also used celebrity captains, which I'm not doing---so teams stay the way they are (though, a grudge match between Serebii Joe and Water Pokemon Master would be a lot of fun to do ^_^)

The bank resets at the start of each puzzle. I thought about having it carry over for unsolved puzzles, but that would lead to single-puzzle wins when banks go over $2,000 thanks to stacking.

When a champ team loses, they're simply replaced by the new champions and two new players sign up. Members of a losing team must sit out one game so everybody gets a fair chance.