Here's the idea I had for a $1,000,000 Pyramid. I don't know how well it might work, but here it goes.
The front game would work as usual. Normal tie breaks would simply send the winner to the WC. Tie scores of 21-21 would pay $10,000 to the winner, unless 2 of these ties happened on the same day, in which case the second one would pay $25,000, regardless of who won the first one.
The bonuses would be the "Big 7" and the "Mystery 7". The "Mystery 7" would play for a prize (Fridays would always be for a car). The "Big 7" would be just as it used to be, except raising the $500 to $5,000. I think I remember hearing that $500 was the prize for that. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
As "whoserman" came up with, the WC amounts would be progressive. However, in a nod to the show's history, the amounts would start at $10,000 for the first win (you stay at a level until you win it). The second win would be $25,000, the third $50,000, and the fourth, $100,000. Yes, this eliminates the $20,000 version which occurred between the $10,000 and $25,000 versions, but I figured 6 progressions might be too many.
The fifth and final level would be a little different. If a player makes it through all 4 previous levels, within their five day limit, their fifth "level" would be the $1,000,000. This would be an aggregate total, so it would actually be worth $815,000. "Bonus money" from WC losses, "Big 7"'s, "Mystery 7"'s, and 21-21 tie breaks would not be aggregate. IOW, if you won 2 "Big 7"s, and the $1,000,000 level, you'd leave with $1,010,000.
In order to appropriately increase the difficulty for level 5, a hidden fourth row of four categories (they would already be on the board, the board would just "rise up" to reveal the fourth row) would come into play. The time would be increased to 100 seconds (keeping the 10 second per category average time in tact). If the team completed the whole Pyramid, the contestant would win the $1,000,000. The "loss money" would be available only be on the top "6" categories, and in the same amounts as usual, since their opponent would not have access to the bottom 4, and the WC score determines the champion.
If no contestant won the $1,000,000 during the first 6 weeks of play, the seventh week would start off with a "top 3 players" tournament, just like the $100,000 version. The three fastest $100,000 winners (or the highest amount won by at least three people if there were no "$100,000" winners) would "round-robin" with daily high scorer coming back on the next day. If a tie should be achieved, the player with the single fastest "7 in 30" time from that day would come back. This would ensure that the player who "loses" rotates out, instead of the possibility of someone getting "blocked" by continuous ties.
This time all 10 categories would provide bonus points (to decide high scorer of the day), and the only money available would be the $1,000,000 in the WC. The bonus cards would not play. However, the 21-21 tie breaks would still offer money. Of course, as in the regular games, if the $1,000,000 is won, it becomes that winner's aggregate total for WC money. It is not an additional $1,000,000. The tournament would continue until a winner was reached.
What do you think?
