Russian Roulette (TV Game)

The game scene is a round platform in which there are six round hatches. There are playing places on these hatches (there are players on them). Near to each hatch, except for one, there is a monitor on which the question, answer options, as well as the pulse and the current bank of each player are displayed. Next to the monitor on the right side there is a lever that is lowered to activate the “Russian roulette mechanism”.

In the middle there is a hexagonal glass platform, where there is another monitor with a lever and the leading position is located. Through the glass is visible mechanism. From above, the playground resembles a drum revolver . The number of hatches is equal to the number of cartridges in the drum of a revolver, that is, of those 6. From the hatch, in front of which there is no monitor, a path departs, on which the leader enters the scene. The path leads to the portal where the exit is located. The portal is vaguely reminiscent of the eye and is highlighted in blue or red.

The game consists of four main rounds and three final questions.

Round 1

Five participants play in the first round. The presenter activates the “Russian roulette mechanism” to randomly determine the player who will ask the first question of the first round. All players are given a thousand rubles. Players address (“ask”) the proposed questions to each other. You can ask a question to any player. The one who chose to answer. In the first round, 1,000 rubles are given for the correct answer, two options are offered and 20 seconds to think it over. With the right answer, the player gets a thousand rubles and gets the right to ask the next question. In case of an erroneous answer, the player loses all his money, which goes to the questioner, and is forced to activate the “Russian roulette mechanism”. After some time, which the participant chooses, he stops the mechanism. Further developments depend on how the cells of the mechanism are located.

In the first round of six cells, one is empty, that is, the chances of leaving 1: 5 (~ 16-17%). If the player is lucky and there is no empty cell under him, he remains in the game and gets the right to ask the next question. If, after the mechanism stops, an empty cell appears under the player, after some time, the hatch on which he stands is unexpectedly opened, and the participant leaves the game “in English” - without saying goodbye - falls into the “chamber” under the hatch. The round continues until one of the participants fails or the questions run out. If they run out, the outgoing case determines the case. The one with the most money is considered "saved." He activates the “Russian roulette mechanism” from the place of the presenter (while it is safe and definitely will not fail). Someone who chose the case fails. His money is distributed equally among all participants. If everyone has the same amount of money or leaders, then no one is considered "saved": in this case, the mechanism is activated as the Lead and any player can drop out.

Round 2

The rules are similar to the first round, except that 2,000 rubles are given for the correct answer, there are three possible answers to the question, and two cells are empty in the mechanism. Chances to drop 1: 2 (~ 33.3%). In this and subsequent rounds, the first question is asked by whoever has the most money. If there is no leader or several of them, then the leader triggers the “Russian roulette mechanism” in order to randomly determine the player who will ask the first question of the round.

Round 3

Rounds are becoming more and more difficult. Here, 3,000 rubles are given for the correct answer, four variants of answers to questions are offered, and there are already three empty cells in the mechanism. Chance to drop out of the game 1: 1 (50%).

Round 4

This is a " duel ." The remaining two players take part in this round. For the correct answer to the question given 4 000 rubles; There are five possible answers to the question, four of the six cells are empty. The chances to drop out of the game are 2: 1 (~ 66-67%). When the questions of the round end, the mechanism triggers the Moderator, regardless of who has more money. The remaining player in the game, taking the share of the retired opponent, is considered the winner and goes to the final.

Final

Only one participant can enter the final. The money that has been earned throughout the game is its “non-combustible amount”. This money player can not lose under any circumstances.

First, the player starts the mechanism of the Russian roulette, then stops it and selects any playing place of six. Ask the first question of the final cost of 50 000 rubles. It takes only 10 seconds to think, there is no answer. If a player makes a mistake, three hatches of six open automatically. If he was lucky and he stayed, he should make another attempt to answer (by turning on the mechanism, choosing a place and answering another question of similar value). If it fails, then this game ends. The risk of retirement in the third round is 1: 1 (50%).

With the correct answer to the question, the participant receives 50,000 rubles and can decide: leave the game (without failing), taking all the money he has, or continue the game in the second part of the final. If he decides to play further, then he starts the mechanism again, stops it and chooses a place. Now the question is asked for 100,000 rubles without answer options and again ten seconds are given for reflection. When an erroneous answer, four out of six hatches open. Chance to retire 2: 1 (~ 66-67%), as in the fourth round. If a player fails, he loses the money earned in the final and the game ends.

If the answer is correct, the player receives 100,000 rubles and makes a decision: leave, take the money, or continue to play in the third part.

The third part is the most intense. It begins the same way as the previous ones, but along with the player, the Leader also chooses any place. A question is asked for 1,000,000 rubles without answer options, and if the answer is correct, the player wins and receives the main prize of the game. In case of an erroneous answer, five hatches out of six are opened, while the probability of retiring is 5: 1 (~ 83-84%), and with these factors there are three scenarios:

• the player remains, the Moderator fails - in this case, the player also wins a million (thus, there is an opportunity to win even with the wrong answer to the question);
• both failed - the player loses the money won in the final and the game ends “in English”;
• The leader stayed, the player failed - the same thing: the player loses the money received in the final.

In any of the above cases, the game ends.

Pulse

• During the game, each player has a pulse . Therefore, you can see how worried a player is during a game, answering a question or waiting for failure. Sometimes players address questions based on the pulse.
• The highest pulse rate in this game reached 240 beats. The presenter even thought that the sensor was not working properly, but the participant calmed down and the pulse began to decrease.

Questions

• In the early releases of the program, questions were read out by the players themselves, who addressed them to their opponents.
• Often, in some rounds, no single question was ever answered correctly.
• Contrary to popular belief, other players are not prohibited from prompting an answer during the game (Valdis Pels told about this in a release with the participants of the “ Star Factory ” show). Sometimes the players asking questions, blurted out, but not always the opponents can hear their answer. So, when the game asked the question "What language is spoken in Brazil?" 1) Portuguese; 2) Spanish ”, the author of the question involuntarily gave a hint to the respondent:“ I am sure that he had never been to Porto ... Brazil, ”but he still answered incorrectly.

"Failures"

• With the “failure” the player falls to a depth of two and a half meters, while landing on soft mats. In case of injury on the site there is a medical worker ^[4] .
• In several games, a warning sound was played before opening the hatch.
• When a participant fails, he is shown in different angles (from above, from afar, up close, from the hatch). In some editions from the perspective of the top you can see the mats at the bottom of the hatch.
• During installation, often (but not always) the cries of the participants are cut out, which fall into the hatches.

Records

• The largest gain in the amount of 78,000 rubles went to Natalia Reuska, who answered the first question of the final correctly, but chose to take the money. Moreover, she managed to answer correctly only at the second attempt. For comparison, Ekaterina Panteleeva, the owner of the second result, won 75,000 rubles, the correct answer was also given on the second attempt.
• The most modest gain in the amount of 8 thousand rubles was received by Alexander Marakulin : in the final he failed after the first incorrect answer.
• In the entire history of the transfer, none of the players have never won the grand prize. Four players were closest to this, but all answered incorrectly, with it:
  • in the first case, the Lead did not take place, and the rule of winning with the wrong answer and choosing the escape hatch was not voiced;
  • in the third case, the moderator chose a saving place and traditionally ended the game;
  • in two cases, Pelsh failed along with the finalists, after one failure, having completed the game, being behind the scenes.
• In the final, players usually did not dare to get up to the Place of the Leader, most often taking up the playing place on which the previous 4 rounds stood. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the Place of the Leader was life-saving A vivid example is Dmitry Konovalenko , in which Pelsh first called his place the Moderator.

International versions

• This is one of the few international television projects, the first issue of which was released in Russia ^[5] , although the show was developed in the United States by Sony Pictures, and the pilot issues were released in Spain and filmed in Mexico.
• The program was released in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Greece, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Spain, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, USA, Taiwan, Turkey , Croatia and Chile.
• In many international versions of the participants were not five, but four.
• In some versions, the fall was not always safe: for example, on the set of the Bulgarian version of the show, the participant weighing 115 kg broke her leg when she fell. This led to the introduction of strict physiological restrictions for candidates to participate in the game ^[6] .

Others

• December 24, 2002 , on the eve of New Year 2003 , when the four leading TV games on Channel One changed roles, Maxim Galkin spent the New Year’s edition of Russian Roulette ^[7] . The singer Natalia Senchukova and the Prime Minister group participated in the game. In the final, Natalya failed on the very first question for 50,000 rubles, reserving the right to 16,000 rubles won in the last 4 rounds.
• The TV game commercial was awarded a silver medal at the 2003 Advertising Festival in Cologne .
• The program was closed in February 2004, but in the summer of the same year several more issues of the program were released. There are no statements about the continuation of the program to date.

Incidents

• After the incident of 2003 , the maximum participant weight became limited - 100 kg.

• This is the "Russian Roulette", and we have enough hatches for everyone.
• This is “Russian Roulette”, a game in which fate can give everyone another chance.
• This is “Russian Roulette”, a game that has a million reasons to play.
• This is “Russian Roulette”, a game in which the bullet is no longer a fool.

• TV Game Forum
• An article on the GameSHOWS.ru website
• Valdis Pelsh: When a famous person falls into the hatch, it’s as if the teacher fell off a chair! (Rus.)
• The group of fans of the show "Russian Roulette"

Some issues

• The second issue of Russian Roulette, dated April 3, 2002 (posted by the official representative of VIDdital) on YouTube
• The release of the "Russian Roulette" on April 8, 2002 (Pelsh falls for the first time along with the participant) on YouTube
• The release of "Russian Roulette" on May 29, 2002 (The best moments of the game) on YouTube
• The release of the "Russian Roulette" from 2002 (Alena Apina answers incorrectly and fails) on YouTube
• The release of the "Russian Roulette" from 2003 (Models of Moscow fashion houses) on YouTube
• The release of "Russian Roulette" from 2003 (Participants of the project "Star Factory-2", the record is posted by the representative of the VIDdital) on YouTube
• Promo "Russian Roulette" on YouTube
• The release-reconstruction of the "Russian Roulette" dated February 28, 2017 (released by the Internet-based studio "ZMD") on YouTube
• The second issue of the reconstruction of the "Russian Roulette" on March 3, 2018 (released by the Internet studio "ZMD") on YouTube