Concentration (British Version)

The British version of the classic US game of matching, puzzles & prizes.

## Format

Two contestants sat before a game board divided up into 30 squares (25 in the TVS era). Behind each square was part of a rebus (pictures and symbols that make up a word or phrase), names of prizes, and special squares.

One at a time, the contestants called out two numbers. If the prizes or special action did not match, the opponent took a turn. However, if the contestant did match, that prize was placed on a board behind the contestant; or, he/she could perform an action. The second number had to be called out within a certain time limit, otherwise the contestant's turn ended.

More importantly, a match also revealed two pieces of the rebus. The contestant could try to solve the rebus by making one guess or choose two more numbers. There was no penalty for a wrong guess; even if he/she was wrong, he/she kept control. Usually, a contestant waited to solve the puzzle until he/she had exposed a good portion of the rebus through several matches. In rare instances, the puzzle was solved with only a few clues showing.

### Special Squares

* **Wild Card**: Provided an automatic match. When a wild card match was made, the natural match was also located resulting in three puzzle parts being revealed. Choosing two wild cards in one turn earned the contestant a £50 bonus in 1988 or £100 in 1990.

* **Take**: Appeared on four cards in each game. There were two red and two green, a colour match had to be made. If a contestant matched them, he/she could take his/her choice of any of the prizes listed on their opponent's prize board. In series 2, this changed to only the last prize the opponent matched and the green Take was dropped leaving only the red Take (the opposite of the American *Classic Concentration* when it brought back the Take).

* **Swap**: Matching this allowed you to swap a prize for one of three envelopes with cash prizes of either £1, £50, or £100. Introduced in the second series replacing the green Take.

On the Granada series, the first player to solve the puzzle kept his or her prizes and competed against a new opponent while the other player received £10. Champions could win up to three games until December 1959 when said limit was shortened to two games. On the TVS series, three rounds were always played no matter what the outcome, and the first to solve two puzzles wins the game. Both players keep all prizes matched. Should the show started to run short of time, the third game show was played as a speed-up round where the puzzle was revealed one square at a time until one player buzzed in with a correct solve. An incorrect solve caused the entire puzzle to be revealed and gives the opponent a free guess.

### Global Game

The bonus round, dubbed the "Global Game", was played for one of eight holidays. The contestant was shown a board of 15 numbered panels, behind which seven of the eight holidays had matching pairs; the eighth was always used as a decoy. Contestants were given 50 seconds (45 in series 2), and if a contestant made all seven matches, the last holiday he/she matched was the one won.

## Trivia

The graphics used in 80s & 90s version were the same as the ones from the American *Classic Concentration*.