Battle of The Brains (Filipino TV Series) - Episode Format

Episode Format

• A panel of judges is present at every round, whose members are usually professors from top Philippine universities. Their primary function is to oversee and settle any disputes or complaints. Some of the competition's judges have been:

• The competition also has a set of reference books which are used in settling disputes. The list of official reference materials have been given to Grand Finalists, and the books themselves are sometimes part of the Grand Prize.
• Competition in each level was composed of 30 questions in total, grouped into easy, average and difficult rounds (later changed in Season ? to 2 rounds of 15 questions each). Each round involved an equal number of questions asked in 5 subject areas: Science, Mathematics, History, General Information, and Arts/Literature.
• The host read the question twice, and is given some freedom to paraphrase the question. Contestants may answer as soon as the question is first read.
• Contestants answered by buzzing in first, which when performed is accompanied by a unique light and sound display. The rostra are rigged with a lockout buzzing system: contestants buzzing in late will not generate the light and sound display. After buzzing, the host acknowledged the school and were given 5 seconds to answer correctly. If not, they forfeit the question and the other teams are given the chance to answer, subject to the same time constraints. For each question given, a team may only attempt to answer once.
• If no contestant attempts to buzz within 5 seconds (or within 30 seconds for math questions) after a question has been asked, within 5 seconds
• The host announced the correct question if nobody answered correctly (including if no answers were attempted).
• Points allotted for each question have varied, but generally the harder-category questions carry more points. Point deductions for incorrect responses were never implemented.
• At the end of each round, the host recaps the scores and announces round leaders or winners.
• In case of a tie for the winner, sudden-death questions were asked. The first team to answer correctly became the winner.
• The winner of each round prior to the Grand Finals had the opportunity to answer bonus questions, which were linked to a pattern board. The appearance of the pattern board has changed throughout the years, adopting the 3-ring board in Seasons 7 to 8?.

In the 3-ring pattern board, the contestant chooses 1 of 3 concentric rings to accomplish, with the questions in each ring having a common theme (such as all answers beginning with the same letter, or of people from a particular field). Rings with more questions are found at the outermost portion of the set,and are generally easier to answer per question, while rings with fewer questions are at the center of the set are usually harder per question. Each question adds points to the total, while completing a ring merits extra prizes from show sponsors.

• Complaints against questions, which may lead to score changes, are allowed during the actual taping of the show and are resolved with the decision of a panel of judges. But the actual protestations are not shown on air: the host simply summarizes the complaint and explains the score change.