One to One Million

One to One Million is a Mercurian quiz show, aired on MeTV1. On air since February 2015, the show sees contestants taking on multiple-choice general knowledge questions, whilst staking money from their prize bank to build as big a jackpot as possible, starting from 100 ₥c (previously Cr 1), and attempting to build it to a total of 100 million ₥c (previously Cr 1 million). The contestants are given three Assists to help them, and they may opt to leave the game at any stage, taking home the winnings accumulated so far, should they choose not to risk answering a particular question. An incorrect answer will lose the player any at-risk winnings and eliminate them from the game. Players answer a maximum of twenty questions in total. The series is presented by Jennifer Thornton.

History

The show was first broadcast on MeTV1 in February 2015. In 2020, the CBC bought the rights to broadcast a Sanaman version of the show. Later in 2020, after Mercury updated its currency to the Mercurian Crown, the top prize was updated to 100 million ₥c, however, the show retained its original name.

On 24 February 2021, Mark Fisher from Taylor became the first winner of the maximum prize on any version of the show, successfully winning 100 million ₥c. Two contestants had previously won Cr 500,000 on the old Mercurian version of the show.

Format

Each show has a panel of eight prospective contestants, who take part in a selection round where all contestants begin with 100 ₥c. They are all asked the same ten multiple choice questions, and the player that answers the ten questions the quickest is chosen to take part in the main game. Contestants that provide an incorrect answer do not lose any of the accumulated money at this stage, however they do receive a 10 second penalty, to be added to their total time at the end of the round. The contestant starts with the amount that they won, up to a maximum of 100,000 ₥c, in the selection round, which they must then stake on the successive multiple-choice questions that follow. The questions they face get more difficult as the game progresses, and, for every question, there are four possible answers given. The contestant has access to three Assists. If a contestant provides an incorrect answer to a question, they lose all of their at-risk money (effectively falling three steps down the money ladder for any question beyond the 1 million ₥c step), and are eliminated from the game. The next-best contestant from the selection round then takes part in the main game.

Contestants that do not accumulate the maximum prize money in the selection round still face 10 questions in the main game, however the maximum prize is reduced accordingly, such that a player taking 25,000 ₥c into the main game, could only win, for example, a maximum of 25 million ₥c.

Assists

The contestant may use these assists once each at any stage during the game, and may only use one on any particular question.

• Second guess: If selected before giving an answer, the contestant is allowed two attempts to answer the question. If an incorrect answer is given with the first attempt, then the contestant may no longer choose to leave the game without attempting a second answer.
• Keep-stake: Sets a safety net, so that even if a player answers a subsequent question incorrectly, they will not drop below the prize accumulated prior to using the assist. This safety net will be superseded if the contestant continues three or more steps further than when the Assist was used.
• Double step: The contestant may choose to use this assist before the options are shown for a particular question. This allows the contestant to skip one level of the ladder, however, they must then answer the question without seeing the multiple choices. If the contestant answers this question incorrectly, they will drop back to 100,000 ₥c (or 100 ₥c for lower value questions), regardless of any safety nets in place.

Money ladder
Question	Selection round value	Main game value	At risk
0	100	100,000	99,900
1	200	200,000	199,900
2	500	500,000	499,900
3	1,000	1,000,000	900,000
4	2,500	2,500,000	2,300,000
5	4,000	4,000,000	3,500,000
6	7,500	7,500,000	6,500,000
7	15,000	15,000,000	12,500,000
8	25,000	25,000,000	21,000,000
9	50,000	50,000,000	42,500,000
10	100,000	100 million	–

Syndicated versions

Nation	Broadcaster	Local name	Language	Host	Top prize
Sanama	CBC	One to One Million	Sanaman, Sanastani	Taliya Qaren Whuniso	R$ 1 million