TREASURE HUNT


        (Gardner 1959) [Jan Murray on cover, and on all the question booklets]
 


    50s THEME:
        On the Jan Murray 45rpm single Treasure Hunt/So Long, Au Revoir (MGM 1958)
Jan Murray and a chorus sing the love-song lyrics to the tune!
        On the Metropolitan Jazz Quartet album Great Themes from TV Shows (MGM c1956)
The only game show theme on the album, a collection of jazz covers.
    70s THEME:
        On the album Chuck Barris Presents Themes from TV Game Shows (Friends 1973)

 CONTENTS:
    Bid Wheel Spinner
    Twelve Quiz Booklets (An Under-12 and 12-and-Older booklet in each of six categories, as pictured)
    54 Mystery Chest cards (Ten $1 gag prizes, values from $100 to $950 in increments of $50, values from $1000 to $3750 in increments of $250, values from $4000 to $10,000 in increments of $500 and one $25,000 Cash card)
    Egg Timer (not pictured)
    Play Money (not pictured)

GAME PLAY:
    Each player spins the wheel to determine which of the six categories will be used by the contestant to his right. Players continue to spin until everyone has a different category.  Players answer questions one at a time for $50 each through four sets of questions.  At the end of four sets of questions, the player with the most money wins the round.  Ties are played off with additional questions until broken.
    The winner of the round selects a Mystery Chest, and before looking at it spins the Bid Wheel.  The Bid Wheel reveals a cash offer between $250 and $2000.  The player can accept the cash offer or keep the Mystery Chest.  If he keeps the cash offer, the Mystery Chest is revealed and discarded.  If he keeps the Mystery Chest, he alone can see the contents but does not reveal them to other players until the end of the game.
    A new round begins with players spinning again to select new categories.  After four complete rounds, the player with the greatest total value of cash and Mystery Chests is the winner.  If any player uncovers the $25,000 Cash card, the game ends immediately and that player is declared the winner.

DIFFERENCES TO TV SHOW:
    The TV show was strictly a two-player game and there were fewer chests, but other than that, this is a pretty faithful adaptation.  As with a lot of games of this era, the fun of the show was Jan Murray's interaction with the contestants, not the game itself.

COMMENTS:
    The question books are pretty easy, especially for the younger set, so ties could take a long time to break.  There are also a number of vague questions for which answers are possible that aren't included on the card, a common problem with these older games.