Who's Still Standing

Format

One player (the "hero") attempts to defeat 10 competitors ("strangers") in a series of trivia showdowns to win $1 million. The hero stands at center stage, with the 10 strangers standing around the perimeter and facing in toward the hero. Each participant stands on a trapdoor. The hero challenges each stranger, one by one, in an order selected by the hero, in a head-to-head trivia battle. The host asks alternating questions, starting with the stranger, with a series of partially filled-in blanks showing the words in the correct answer. The participant has 20 seconds to give the correct answer, starting from the moment the question appears. The answer must be given as spelled out in the puzzle (although slight variations in pronunciations are allowed). Multiple guesses are allowed, as long as the correct answer is given before time runs out (even if it is given unintentionally while thinking out loud).

The hero is given two passes (in some episodes, three passes are given) at the start of the game. Passing a question forces the stranger to answer it, with a fresh 20-second countdown. Strangers may not pass; they must answer every question put to them.

The challenge ends when a contestant misses a question: the trapdoor under that person's feet opens, dropping the participant through the stage and eliminating him or her from the game with no winnings. If the hero drops, the victorious stranger wins $10,000 ($25,000 in the eighth or ninth challenge, $50,000 in the tenth challenge). If the stranger drops, the hero wins an amount of money between $1,000 and $20,000, revealed on a screen at the stranger's position once the challenge is over. The value of each stranger is based on the difficulty that the hero is expected to face in defeating him or her.

Occasionally, a head-to-head round is introduced as a specialty round in which all the questions and answers share a common theme or word.

After five strangers have dropped, the hero is offered a chance to leave the game with all money won to that point, or stay in and try to win more. If the hero decides to stay in, he or she receives one more pass and will have another chance to leave after each subsequent stranger is dropped. Dropping eight, nine, or all 10 strangers increases the hero's winnings to $250,000, $500,000, or $1 million, respectively. Any hero who chooses to end the game and keep their winnings has the option of leaving by walking out of the studio or dropping through the floor.

After the hero exits the game, the remaining strangers, including the one who defeated the hero if applicable, play a speed round among themselves. The host asks a question to each one in turn, with 10 seconds on the clock instead of 20. Each correct answer adds $2,000 to a jackpot, while a wrong answer drops the stranger with no winnings (although if the hero had been defeated, the stranger who defeated the hero still keeps their winnings). The last one left standing wins the entire jackpot. As with a winning hero, the winner has the option of walking out of the studio or dropping through the trap door. A Speed Round is always played and filmed when at least two strangers remain; should there not be enough time to air the Speed Round, it may either be posted on the show's website after the episode airs, or aired on a subsequent episode.

US version

Game rules have varied among, and even within, episodes in the first season. One episode began with a game in which the hero started with two passes, and strangers whose elimination earned between $1,000 and $20,000, with five strangers needed to win money; in the second game, the hero began with three passes, eliminated one contestant for $1 and another for $50,000, and was given the option of quitting after eliminating just three strangers (with no offer of an additional pass to continue). The value for each correct answer in the Speed Round has varied as well ($1,000 instead of $2,000).

Original game

The Chinese version of the game show's rules is quite different from the other versions. In the current episodes, a contestant begin with only one pass (in Simplified Chinese it is called "免答权", the right to be free from answering the current question). If the hero eliminate three strangers, he is given the option of retiring from the game or moving on. If the hero wants to move on, they must eliminate two strangers, and rules are remained the same as the first round. After eliminating five of the strangers, the rules is similar to the US version, but the hero has only one pass before each subsequent round.

If the hero uses the pass and the stranger playing with the hero answered the question correctly, he or she can steal the prize and the hero gets nothing in this round.

Unlike the other versions, in the Chinese version, if the hero lost the game, the stranger who beat the last hero is the next hero. If the number of the strangers is no more than three, the Speed Round is automatically started.

The final winner of each episode is given a choice of retiring from the show with all the prizes or moving on to the end game – the "final five questions". If the contestant succeeded in answering the 5 questions correctly, he can win the Top Prize; However, if not, half of the prizes are lost.

Last Man Standing

In the episodes from January 31, 2013 to February 21, 2013, the game used different rules from the original game of the Chinese version. Ten contestants stand around the center of the stage, and they are divided into five pairs. They compete in pairs, and the winners of the head-to-head rounds proceed to the next round.

In the second round, five contestants answer questions in turns. The last contestant still stands on the stage win the game.

Head-to-head

In some episodes, four teams of five (from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiaotong University) competed for the free trip to the United States. The game used special rules. One of each team's contestants play the head-to-head rounds, and if all of one team's contestants are eliminated, the other team wins the game.

Original game

In the Italian version, the central player, when choosing a stranger, must alternate man-woman and must answer in 30 seconds. If he uses a pass and the stranger answers correctly, he conserves a life that will continue in the game.

The stranger that eliminates the central player continues to play, restarting to the prize of his location and has a life or maximum three if the hero has used all his passes against him.

The Last Challenge

If the hero failed to eliminated all the strangers in the maximum of broadcast will sound the siren and start the Last Challenge.

In this challenge if the stranger eliminates the hero will play to the final game with the top prize of the hero more the prize of his location.

The Magnificent Seven

The finalist player, for win the top prize have to answer to seven questions in two minutes. If the player answers correctly to all the questions win the prize, otherwise, will not win anything and will fall into the trapdoor.

The Ten Steps

To the second edition, the final questions to answer are ten in three minutes. If the player answers correctly to all the questions win the prize, otherwise, will not win anything and will fall into the trapdoor and to the second edition, the finalist player can return to the next episode.

International versions

Note: According to the words of the contestants in the Chinese franchise, they are offered with prize money (approximately 10,000 U.S. dollars of the top prize) as a matter of fact.

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