The game is first played by three opposing contestants in a buzzer game played over four rounds. The contestants begin with 15 points each.
Round 1 A series of six questions are asked and the first player to buzz in has a chance to answer. In the first series, more questions were often asked. A correct answer adds five points to the contestant's score, but an incorrect answer deducts five points from the score. It is possible for contestants to fall below zero—a negative score. After the questions, the contestant with the highest score is offered $2,000 of "safe money". The contestant is given five seconds to decide whether to take the money, which will drop their score down to the same as the contestant with the second highest score, or decline it. If two contestants are tied for the lead, the first contestant to buzz in during the five seconds wins the money and drops back to the other contestant with the second highest score. If no contestant buzzes in during that five seconds, no safe money is given out. If all three contestants have the same score, no safe money is offered.
Viewer question From March 2014, before the first commercial break, the presenter usually asks a question to the viewers and the answer is revealed after the break. In 2015, the viewer question varied between picture questions and multiple choice questions similar to the Million Dollar Minute. From July 2015, a viewer question would sometimes not occur.
Round 2 The first question played in the second round is Snap Shot in which the contestants are given a visual multiple choice question. The category of the question is revealed with the three answer options and then the question related to an out of focus picture is asked. For some of the 2014 series, a category called "MDM News" was made in which, instead of an out of focus image, a newspaper heading is used. The picture with three parts is revealed one frame at a time. If no one answers, or a contestant buzzes in and chooses an incorrect option, the contestant is locked out and the next frame is revealed and so on until the last frame is revealed which focuses the picture. Only one answer per frame is accepted and if the full picture is revealed with no correct answer given then the game ends. It is possible for one contestant to win the game by default if the other two contestants both choose the incorrect answers on the first two frames, leaving the correct answer as the only option left. In the 2015 series, a version of Snap Shot known as "See It, Say It" was introduced. In this version, three pictures of something would make up the correct answer when said aloud from left to right. One picture is revealed at a time accompanied with a clue. Contestants can buzz in at any point of the question to answer. If no answer is given once all frames have been revealed and there are contestants not locked out, or all contestants guess incorrectly, the game is over. The contestant with the correct answer is given the choice of $1,500 in safe money or 15 points added to their score. The gameplay then continues with the same buzzer game as the previous round. From the 2014 series, one of the questions asked in the second and third round presented a list of four multiple choice answers before the question was read out. After the round, safe money is offered again, this time $5,000.
Round 3 Another set of six questions is asked in the buzzer game and then another Snap Shot question. This version of the round has three images as the options presented before the question is read out. Another version introduced in the 2015 series involves three images of something revealed one at a time, and contestants have to answer the question of what it is. The contestant with the correct answer is again offered $1,500 of safe money or 15 points. As with the previous Snap Shot, it is possible for a contestant to win it by default.
Double points decider Questions are asked under a 90-second time limit, (60 seconds in the 2013 series), with correct answers now worth 10 points to the contestants' scores and an incorrect answer locking them out for the following question. When the time runs out the contestant with the highest score continues to answer the five "Million Dollar Minute" questions. If two contestants have the same score, another question is read out. The first contestant to buzz in and correctly answer it wins. If no one answers the question, another is read out until an answer is given.
"Million Dollar Minute" questions In 60 seconds, the host reads out five multiple choice questions each with three answers. Each question would appear at 12-second intervals. In the last two seconds for each question, the answers on the contestant's touch screen begin to flash. The contestant must submit their answer during this two-second interval. Once all five questions are answered, five numbers which represent the contestant's choices are shown on a screen and checked one at a time in a random order. If all answers are correct, the contestant has won the jackpot. If any answer is incorrect, the contestant will play again in the following show's game for the same jackpot. When the contestants have won, they can choose to walk away with the jackpot along with any accumulated safe money or they can decline the jackpot and return to play another game for a higher jackpot, similar of that of
Sale of The Century. The "Million Dollar Minute" needed to be won nine times in order to win $1,000,000. From January 2014, the $75,000 amount became a safe level. Any contestants who reach this point on their way to the million dollars is guaranteed to walk away with at least $75,000 in addition to any safe money earned during their time on the show. From 17 November 2014, the prize ladder was altered to nine steps with the $300,000 amount becoming a safe level, along with the $75,000 safe level and a new $750,000 level, which was placed between the $500,000 and $1,000,000. ==Notable winners==