Brain Game Rules & Information

I. General

• Brain Game is an academic quiz show for ninth- and tenth-graders. There are two seasons of play – Fall and Spring – with a Champion each season.
• Three teams, with three players each, compete in a game.
• Each team may have one alternate player. Alternates may enter at the beginning of a game. Once a game has begun, alternates may be substituted only during a commercial break and only due to an existing player’s illness or other physical inability to play.
• Questions are asked by the host, Mark Roberts, with points given for each correct answer, and points subtracted for each incorrect answer. The team with the highest score wins the game.

II. Eligibility/Participation

• All public, charter and private high schools in the WRAL viewing area are eligible to compete. Teams from home schools or home school collectives are also welcome. No prior qualification is necessary.
• Each school will be allowed to play only once per season.
• If your team has not participated in the past, please fill out the online Registration form and you will be contacted by the Brain Game Coordinator.
• If this is your first time creating a Brain Game Team, please see our Tips for Beginners.

III. Playoffs and Championship

• The nine, highest-scoring teams per season qualify for that season’s three playoff rounds.
• The three, highest-scoring teams in the playoffs go to the Championship Game.
• The team with the highest score in the Championship Game is crowned Brain Game Champion for that season. The team wins a computer for their school, and each player will receive an iPod Shuffle.

IV. Questions

• Brain Game questions are written by a panel of experts, including current and former North Carolina teachers. Questions are aimed at the 9th and 10th grade level. Some of the writers are enlisted to serve as judges during games.
• Each Brain Game consists of the segments listed below. There are a total of 10 questions in each segment. Points listed are per question. The exception is Name Game. That segment has 5 questions worth 10 points each, and if all 5 are answered correctly there is a bonus of 20 points.

• Pop Up Culture: Movies, TV, Internet, Music, Sports, Games (+/- 10 Points)
• Headliners: International, National, State and Local News (+/- 10 Points)
• Word Power: Literature and Language Arts Crossword Puzzle (+/- 20 Points)
• Connections: Civics, World History and Literature (+/- 20 Points)
• Name Game: Big names in Arts, Culture, Politics, History (+/- 10 Points)
• Crunching Numbers: General Math, Algebra & Geometry (+/- 20 Points)
• Rocket Science: Earth & Physical Science, Biology (+/- 20 Points)
• Globe-trotting: Geography and Culture Around the World (+/- 20 Points)
• Coast to Coast: Geography and Culture in the United States (+/- 20 Points)

• The questions in each segment are open for all teams to answer. If a team misses the question in the first two segments, Pop Up Culture and Headliners, the question is open for a remaining team to answer.
• During the Name Game segment, questions are timed and directed at individual teams. Points are deducted for incorrect answers, but the team may pass on a Name Game question with no impact on the score. If the host completes the reading of a Name Game question and time is called, the team will be allowed five seconds to answer.
• Questions are answered by buzzing in. Once the host starts reading a question, players can buzz in at any point, but not any sooner. After a buzz, the host immediately stops reading, and calls on the team to answer. The player who buzzed in may confer with teammates. Once the buzzer has sounded, the team has 5 seconds to answer. The judges will sound the bell when time is up. There is no opportunity to answer after 5 seconds, and if no answer has been given, points will be deducted from that team.
• In the event that players anticipate an answer, for example during questions that are displayed on the monitor, they may not buzz in until the host begins reading the question. If a team buzzes in early, the buzzers will be reset and the host will continue with all teams eligible to answer. Two buzzing errors per team will be allowed. Ten points will be deducted for the third and each subsequent “early buzz”.
• All questions will be read ONLY ONCE. If no one buzzes in to answer a question after 10 seconds, the host moves on to the next question with no impact on any team’s score.

V. Acceptable Answers

• Each question lists its answer and any acceptable alternate answer. In the event an answer is incomplete, for instance giving a last name when first and last are required, the host will ask for more information or require the player to be more specific. Any incorrect information given makes the entire answer incorrect.
• It is at the host’s discretion to ask for clarification or a ruling from the judges.
• Only the first answer given will be accepted.
• Pronunciation of an answer must be accurate to be correct.
• If a player from a team that has not buzzed in answers a question, the answer does not count, even if the given answer is correct. No points will be deducted. The team that did buzz in will be allowed to answer.
• If someone in the audience shouts out an answer, that question will be thrown out.

VI. Protests

• All decisions of the show’s Producer are final.
• Protests should be made to the judges during the first available commercial break, and post-game while all teams and players are still present. Delayed protests will not be considered.
• Reasons for protest include acceptability of an answer, execution of game procedures, or scoring errors. Protests will be considered only if they affect the outcome of the game.
• If a question contains a verifiable factual error which misled a player into giving a reasonable response to the information provided, the response given will be accepted as correct.
• If a question contains a verifiable factual error which misled a player into giving no response (leading either to an unanswered question or a question answered by the opposing team), the question will be tossed out.
• A buzzer check will be made at the beginning of taping. If a buzzer stops working during play, the team should notify the host immediately. Protests after the fact about buzzers not working will not invalidate a game. In the absence of a completely functioning buzzer system, a designated official will be the final judge of which player signaled first. That judge’s call is not subject to protest.
• Only the judges may determine whether a team was given the allotted time to answer a question and their decision is not subject to protest.
• Intangible factors, such as breaking a team’s momentum, will not be considered by the judges.
• If a protest is accepted, scores will be adjusted accordingly.

VII. Conduct

• All players, coaches, school representatives, and other persons associated with a team are bound by an honor code to behave responsibly and ethically. This includes, but is not limited to: treating all other participants and staff with courtesy, neither giving nor receiving impermissible assistance, not creating the temptation for another to cheat, abiding by all decisions of the Brain Game staff, not colluding with another person to "fix" a game result, not intentionally "throwing" a game, honestly reporting details of game situations to tournament officials, and reporting violations of the honor code.
• Instances of misconduct may result in removal from the studio, suspension of a participant, and/or a team ban from participation.

VIII. Taping Information

• Teams invited to play Brain Game will be contacted by the Brain Game Coordinator. Competitors in each game are selected by the Coordinator and Producer.
• All tapings are done on Saturdays at the WRAL-TV 5 Studios. Please invite your parents, friends, school cheerleaders – any supporters! – to the taping to cheer you on.
• Teams will receive a package of information for their game day, including directions to WRAL, arrival time, where to meet, etc.
• Coaches should provide the Coordinator the names of their players and alternate at least one week prior to taping.
• If a team is more than 15 minutes late, and does not contact the Brain Game Coordinator, or does not show, that team will be forced to forfeit the game. The forfeiting team will not be invited to participate again for a minimum of one year. The remaining teams will be rescheduled for that season. Exceptions will be made for certain emergencies at the discretion of the Producer and Coordinator.
• At a briefing prior to taping, teams will draw for positions on the set. Game rules will also be reviewed.
• Photographs may be taken when the television cameras are not taping.

DIRECTIONS TO WRAL-TV

From the Beltline/440:
Take exit 2A, Western Boulevard, toward Downtown Raleigh. On Western Boulevard, go approximately one mile. Just past Avent Ferry Road, you will see the WRAL Studios on your right. Turn right on Nazareth, and follow the signs into the WRAL parking lot.

Parking:
There are limited spaces designated for visitors. Brain Game visitors may use these spaces or any others in the WRAL parking lot.

BRAIN GAME PRIZES

Everyone who plays Brain Game receives tickets to the IMAX Theatre at Marbles Kids Museum. Each semester, the championship team wins a laptop computer for its school provided by Lenovo.