Limitless Win
Synopsis
The show where you can win unlimited money.
Pairs of contestants answer questions, by dialling their answers on a ladder.
Our players dial an answer in.
Every ten steps, there's an amount of money. Exact answers bank the last money amount you passed through - you can cash out for that money rather than answer a later question. Going over the answer ends the game at once, and the players leave with nothing. Being under the exact answer will cost a life for each step you missed.
Before the main game, the players answer questions from hosts Ant and Dec: they're given five lives for each question they get right. An exact answer in the main game earns an additional five lives.
The contestants are one side of a large round desk, Ant and Dec on the other.
From time to time, players are awarded lifelines. Each has a different use:
- More Than - ask if the exact answer is more than a number you specify. The contestants might say, "is the exact answer more than 17".
- Odd or Even - you'll be told if the answer is odd or even.
- Range - you'll get a range containing the exact answer. Range always seems to give a range of ten, something like 12-22.
- Take Two - the ladder will accept two answers, and reject the worst. If one's too high, it'll reject it; if one's the exact answer, it'll accept that.
Only answers consistent with the lifeline will be accepted: if the answer is odd, the ladder will only accept odd answers. Players can only hold one lifeline at a time: if they have one and uncover another, they must choose which to keep.
Exact answers light the tower in gold.
Limitless Win is complex when written out, but Ant and Dec make it flow on screen, only talking about the rules as we reach them. The hosts are on the contestants' side, gently remind them that they can cash out for a very nice cash amount. The tone is interesting - not too jocular for the big money, but not so serious as to be maudlin. Some have interpreted the tone as not appearing to care for the big money.
A couple of reservations about the show. Limitless Win has no jackpot, no way to beat the game. You can win two million, three million, four million quid, but there's still more money on the board. And we fear that Limitless Win could make a big win feel like a crushing defeat, in the horrible way Deal or No Deal sometimes managed.
Coming up on Limitless Win: cash, more cash, even more cash.
The best point: Limitless Win is an engaging game. We can't help but play along, shout out answers to the screen, compare what we'd do with what the contestants did. It's helped by intriguing questions, based on everyday objects - the height of a mobile phone, the number of digits on a debit card. Questions we ought to know the answer to, even if we don't.
What number comes after four, Dec?
Limitless Win was popular amongst viewers, popular enough to secure a second series. Critics were a bit more tepid, suggesting it had written cheques it couldn't cash, and wasn't as much fun as The Wheel on the other side.
Catchphrases
"Exact answers bank you cash."
"One over is game over."
"That's what your lives are for."
"You've got a lifeline, we'll come back to it later."
Inventor
Format created by Hello Dolly Ltd, co-developed by Hello Dolly Ltd and Mitre Studios Ltd.
Theme music
Gary Barlow (yes, that one) and Dan Keen. Additional music is provided by Marc Sylvan.
Trivia
The show's working title was Fortune Favours the Brave.
Promotion for the show centred around the massive prize, and implied that it could "bankrupt" ITV. Naah, they'll just have to make Saturday Night Takeaway for free.
There are money amounts every ten steps on the ladder. They are:
- £500
- £1000
- £2500
- £5000
- £10,000
- £20,000
- £30,000
- £50,000
- £75,000
- £100,000
- £150,000
- £250,000
From there, every stop is an extra £250,000.
