Concentration (Australian Version)

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

Main Game
Two contestants sat before a game board divided up into 30 squares (25 in 1997). 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.


 * 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.

The first to solve the puzzle wins the game and keeps the prizes.

Bonus Game
The bonus round, was played with eight major prizes. The contestant was shown a board of 15 numbered squares, behind them were seven matching pairs of major prizes; the eighth was always used as a decoy to cause trouble for the winning contestant. The winning contestant had 60 seconds to find all seven matches. The last prize matched was the prize won.

Trivia

 * The clock ticker used in the 1997 bonus game was the infamous "gwok" used in the American Pyramid game show.