Mental Samurai

What happens on the show?

A contestant is placed in a seated gyroscope (referred to as "Ava"), and faces four categories (referred to as "Towers of Samurai"): Knowledge, Puzzles, Sequence, and Memory. Each has three questions, and the player has 5:00 to answer all twelve correctly. To answer, they "lock in" their answer by pulling a lever next to them. If they miss a question, or if time runs out, they lose and leave empty-handed. If they answer all twelve questions correctly, they win $10,000 and move to the "Circle of Samurai" for $100,000.

In the "Circle of Samurai", the player has 1:30 plus whatever time was left over from their game to answer four more questions. The first one is worth $15,000, and the next three are worth $25,000 each. If the player answers all four questions correctly, they win $100,000. If they miss a question, the game ends as usual, but they leave with whatever money they've accumulated to that point.

Regardless of how much money they win, all who enter the "Circle of Samurai" return for the season finale where they have a chance to win $250,000.