Ruck Zuck

This is chronicling the successful German version of Hot Streak.

Main Game
The game was played the same as its short-lived U.S. counterpart. Two teams of five players each, men vs. women competed. The captain of the team (which changed after every round), was given a choice of two words to choose from. The other team would get the unchosen word. The remaining players wore headphones that had music playing in them so they couldn't hear what was happening. The object of the game was to describe the word to the next person in line, and then to the next person and so on. However, if at any time, a player describing the word, repeated a keyword or phrase that was already used to describe the word, their half of the round would stop, and the scoring would end. For each successful transaction, the team scored points. The round lasted for 40 seconds.

Scoring

 * First Three Rounds – 1 point
 * Round 4 – 3 points

Tiebreaker
The team with the most points at the end of the game won the game, and the right to play the bonus round for the big money. In the event of a tie at the end of the fourth round, a tiebreaker round was played. The champion was shown a word. The captain can either play or pass the word. If they play, they must describe it all the way down the line in order to win. If they pass, the other team must do the same, otherwise, they lose.

Bonus Round
In the bonus game, the host gave the team captain a word or phrase. The player would give the four words that the partners could think of associated with the word. While this was going on, the remaining teammates were wearing the headphones so they cannot hear just like in the main game. When that was all done, the players were brought out, and were given 20 seconds (five seconds per player) to say as many words as they could think of relating to the topic word, in hopes of saying the same words that the captain stated earlier. Each correct match won the team money.

Scoring

 * Round 1 – DM100 (~€50) (DM50 by 1998, €25 in 2004, €50 in 2016)
 * Round 2 – DM200 (~€100) (DM100, by 1998, €50 in 2004, €100 in 2016)

In the last round, the team must say ALL four words that the captain said to win four times the money for a maximum total of DM4,800 (~€2,400) (later DM2,400, €1,200 in 2004, €2,400 in 2016). The winning team plays until defeated or has won six games. If a team won their sixth game, and managed to say all four words in the third subject of the bonus round, their winnings are bumped to the top prize (originally DM25,000 [~€12,500], then DM100,000 [~€50,000], and finally DM50,000 [~€25,000]). With the euro, the top prize was €25,000 (later €30,000).

Kinder Ruck Zuck
Main Article: Kinder Ruck Zuck

Due to the success of the show, producers decided to make a kid's version of Ruck Zuck called Kinder Ruck Zuck. This version was hosted by Désirée Nosbusch. It featured German kids as contestants. Other than that it was played the same way as the adult version except that the kids were playing for a trip to Euro Disneyland. The main difference was that in the bonus round, the designated captain wore headphones while each of his or her teammates gave one word that fit the category, and the captain then had to guess all four words in 15 seconds to win the trip for the team.