Pole Chudes - Russian Wheel of Fortune

Russian version of well-famous American game Wheel of Fortune is called Pole Chudes which means Field of Wonders. However, as each country brings something new to the original game, Russia did too, and so here you will find out about most common features and most interesting moments in the game.

The game appeared in 1990, introduced by Vladislav Listyev, who was the game show for three years. The program since the first air has been shown every Friday evening at 8 p.m.

Name

Millions watch this TV show every Friday

First of all, let’s consider the name. “Field of Wonders” is taken from a very well-known among ex-USSR countries. fairy tale "The Golden Key or the Adventures of Buratino" by Aleksei Tolstoy. In this tale there is an episode where Alice the Fox turns to Buratino and says  "...In the Land of Fools there is a magical field, called the Field of Wonders... Dig a small hole there, say 'Krex, fex, pex' three times and put a golden coin in the hole, then cover it with soil and sprinkle it with salt, water it well and go to sleep. Next morning a small tree will rise from the hole, but instead of leaves it will have gold coins... "  (quote Wikipedia)

However, in the end it turns out she was only trying to swindle his money.

Rules

Russian show features a wheel 2 metres in diameter and higher than an average dinner table. This wheel is called a “baraban” (drum or a barrel) and it has vertical handles along its edge by which players spin it. The outside part of the wheel is stationary, it has an arrow which indicates the winning segment.

Players stand in special places close to each other and to the wheel so that they can easily spin it. Game studio has special places for audience in shape of a semi-circle at one side of the wheel. Prizes are put in a large area and as usual there is one or few cars, lots of home appliances etc.

There is a board with a puzzle to be solved opposite to the players, on the other side of the wheel.

The game comprises 4 or 5 rounds, each one starting with a new group of 3 players. The 4th round is the final one which can be played with 2 or 3 players. The grand finale is the Super Game round, which is optional. Player is offered either to take his winnings or to risk all and win something extra at the super game. Players are allowed to bring kids to the game which are usually called upon by the host of the show and are asked typical questions like their name, vocation of their parents, who they want to become. Most of the time kids perform something like dance, sing, or recite some poetry for what they get special prizes.

Let the game begin!

Each show starts after the host announces the THEME of the night. Questions of the show all concern the theme and can be very tricky. The answers are mainly uncommon and old Russian words.

Just like in the Wheel of Fortune, players are to guess the word, which is on the board hidden by black squares for each letter.  From time to time the answer can be a phrase and the words would be put with spaces. The first one to guess the word wins. Players also gain points by guessing correct letters after the points are shown on the wheel.

Once the question has been announced, the first player spins the wheel. Each time it is the player’s turn to  spin the wheel, the host asks him/her to guess the word or to spin the wheel. In case the guess is correct the player proceeds to the final, but if he is wrong – the player is eliminated. If player decides to spin the wheel, the outcome depends on the winning segment. Players name one by one letters of Russian alphabet thus trying to guess the word.

If no player manages to guess the word, the game is one by the last player who reveals the last closed letter of the puzzle.

Game Wheel

Game sectors or segments of the wheel can be either with points, or even sectors. Point sectors give the player the right to name a letter and if the guess was correct, they are added to the player count. In case there are more than one letter of a kind in the word, the winning points are multiplied by the number on the sector. Event sectors are represented by special letters or some symbols.

NB: Russian show uses the wheel also for one more purpose. Most players come to the game with presents which can be either homemade jams, bread, fruit and vegetables from their own gardens or things made at the factory they work at and the wheel in this case serves as  a table for these gifts. In addition, players may sometimes bring as gifts different costumes representing their profession or national costumes. The host is most of the time dressed in these costumes before they are taken away. These gifts are collected by the host assistant, Rimma Agafoshina and taken to the so-called Museum of the Field of Wonders. There are over thousand different prizes in the museum right now.

Special sectors

Prize – this sector offers player either to take 750 points and to go on with the game or to choose a prize. In case of the last, the player is offered to make a choice from two black boxes. The prize is hidden in one of them, while the second one usually holds something as a joke (a lemon, a ball etc.). When the host picks at the prize, he offers player to take some amount of money. The trade begins and the player can either take the money or risk and take the prize. The prize can be anything from a car to something small like a fruit or something small.

Plus –is a sector that allows the player to open any letter in the word by naming its position in it.

Chance – special sector that allows the player to make a phone call to gain the right answer. (The telephone number is named by random viewer in the audience.)

Bankrupt – the sector that means the player has lots all his/her points and the turn.

0 – player loses all his money but keeps the turn.

X2 – all player points are multiplied by 2.

NB: in case the player names three different letters in a row in one turn, he gets an additional bonus of two boxes. One box is with cash, the other one is empty. The player is to choose one box and if he gets the money, this bonus cannot be lost even if Bankrupt.

The Final

Each round has one winner. Interesting to note, the rounds are not elimination, which means if two players leave the round after naming the wrong word, the third one does not automatically proceed to the final. Instead, the player has to make three spins maximum and to give the answer. If his guess is correct, he goes on to the final. If not – he does not.

The final round is played by the winners of three first rounds. The rules for the final are the same as for the preceding rounds. The winner of the round is the winner of the show. As the show is played with points instead of money, the winner chooses the prizes by “buying” them for the earned points.

The Super Game

After the winner has chosen all his prizes, the host offers him/her to participate in the super game. If he does, the host assistant brings out the cards with names of the prizes which are placed on the game wheel. The player spins the wheel to determine the prize. After that, the player is asked the super game question and player gets to name letters equaling half of the word (if there are 6 letters in the word, the player may name three). If the named letters are in the word, they are opened and the player has 1 minute to think and name a word.