Classic Concentration
Premise: Two contestants play Concentration on a faster board with a car at stake.
Rules: The board has 25 squares instead of 30. The first player picks two numbers, and if the prizes behind them match, the prize is removed, and credited to the player. That player now gets a guess to the puzzle to win the game and all prizes earned. If the contestant fails to match a prize, the opponent calls two numbers. Three wild cards are mixed in, and match anything. A pair of wild cards wins $500, and another pick. Three wild cards wins $500 more, and another pick. This removes five pieces to the puzzle. TAKE pieces (red and green) are in the game, and allow the player to swipe a prize after making a match. The player that solves the rebus puzzle revealed by removing pieces wins. The first to win two games moves on to the Winner's Circle. If time runs out, pieces are removed in numerical order until someone solves the puzzle. If the players tie at one win each, the third puzzle is rapidly revealed, until someone solves. Later, contestants played the end game after each puzzle win, and left after losing twice, or winning a car. Thus, a player with one strike could be finished off by an incoming player after a car win.
SPECIAL PIECES:
5 Bonus Car Seconds: Simple, really. If this player wins the game, five seconds are added to the winner's circle game.
Cash Pot: Begins at $500, and has $100 added each day it is not won. Played in game two.
Bonus Game: In the Winner's Circle, the champion has 35 seconds to match seven car names, leaving one car name with no matching piece. The last car matched is the won kept by the player. Winning the car retires the player. If the player runs out of time, the player gets nothing extra, but if he or she returns, that player gets an additional five seconds. The record for finishing the car game is 25 seconds. One player actually had 7 seconds remaining and refused to finish the board so he could win more prizes.
Tournament of Champions: The ten fastest car winners or the year return. Two contestants play two games each day. The winner of the rebus game plays the car game. The clock counts up, and if the contestant does finish the round in 35 seconds, he or she wins another car. The cars are upgraded for the tournament. The time is noted win or lose. The one player who finishes the board in the fastest time wins yet another car and $10,000 or $25,000, along with whatever prizes were picked up in the main games.
Home Play: Concentration is one of those shows where the box games are in surplus. 25 old editions, Classic version, and the 1990s take on the old game.
Big Winners and Notable Players
Monica Norwood won $60,650 in prizes, including three cars, over five days on "Classic Concentration".
Travis' Review: Alex and Concentration? Wow! A great game! Love the Winner's Circle round, too.
My Rating: +4