Twenty-One (Laiorian game show)

Twenty-One is a Laiorian game show broadcast on LTV from 2024. It was based on the short-lived NBC revival of the show in 2000, but mainly inspired by the Dryicoran success in 2020.

Gameplay
Two contestants, typically a returning champion and a challenger, enter separate isolation booths and donned pairs of headphones. The arrangement of the booths and the studio lighting prevents the contestants from seeing or hearing each other or the audience. At any given moment during the game, one booth is "open", meaning that the occupant could hear the host in the headphones and can speak using the booth's microphone. The other booth is "closed", with its microphone disabled and the headphones playing music to prevent the contestant from hearing the game. After each question, sounds are played through the headphones of the contestant in the closed booth in order to prevent them from learning the outcome of the opponent's turn.

The game is played in rounds, with Holmes announcing the category for each round as it is dispensed from a machine on his podium; there are over 100 possible categories. The challenger plays first in each round, with their booth open and the champion's closed, and selects a point value from 1 to 11. Higher-value questions are more difficult, but do not have several parts. If the challenger answers correctly, the points are added to their score; a miss subtracts the points, but the score can never go below zero. The challenger's booth is then closed and the champion's opened so that the champion can take a turn. Holmes does not tell either contestant about the other's score or performance.

The goal is to earn a total of 21 points. If the challenger reaches this score first, their booth is left open to hear the champion's turn, but the challenger is cautioned not to speak or give away any information. Holmes does not tell the champion that the challenger had already reached 21 unless the champion asks for a question that would tie the score if answered correctly. If the champion fails to match that score, the challenger wins. The champion wins by reaching 21 first on their own turn. If a round ended in a 21–21 tie, the scores are erased and a new game is played. Contestants are given extra time to think on any question that would bring them up to 21.

After two rounds, both booths are opened and the contestants are given a chance to stop the game. If either asks to do so, the contestant in the lead is declared the winner. The game is automatically stopped after five rounds.

Bonus Round
Being based on the 2000 version of the show, winning contestants win larger and larger cumulative amounts based on how many games they win. If the contestant wins over seven consecutive games, the money tree restarts. Winning seven consecutive games wins KR 100.000. After they win a round, their money is guaranteed, and they proceed to a bonus round called Perfect 21.

In Perfect 21, a contestant is given six true or false statements with a point value attached to each (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 - they add up to 21), getting more difficult as more points are awarded for a question. Each point is worth 5 000 Kr (10 000 Kr in the primetime specials). After a question, the player can choose to keep the money they've won from Perfect 21 (the money from the main game is guaranteed) or risk it on the next question for more money.

After a game, three random contestants are picked out from the audience and a small snippet of information is given about them including their age, occupation and where they're from. There is a short commercial break during which the rest of the audience use keypads to vote for a new contestant. After the ad break the results are revealed and the audience member with the highest percentage of the vote plays the game.