25 Words or Less (game show)

In the first round, team members are called up to the host's podium, one on one, with the civilian contestants going second in the play order. At the podium, they are shown a list of five words to convey to their teammates in 45 seconds. Starting with a varying number of clue words set by the host, the face-off contestants bid against each other as to how few clue words they can use to complete the round. The bidding continues until one of the contestants concedes to the other contestant's bid. The contestant who wins the bid then plays the game using the number of words they bid. The contestant can pass on a word if it is too difficult, returning back to any passed words if time remains on the clock.

Contestants cannot use the word itself as a clue, nor can they use any derivative form of the word in the clue, as doing so will instantly end the round and award their opponent the points. The round also ends if the clue giver goes over the set clue word limit in each round. Additionally, as it is a word game, contestants giving the clues cannot use their hands and must keep them on their handheld tablet. Contestants score 250 points if they are successful in getting all five words within the 45-second time limit. The other team receives the points if the playing team fails to complete the round.

Round 2 begins with the contestants at the podium while the celebrities are in a soundproof room offstage. The contestants are shown a series of five sets of three words which have been determined by the producers to be of distinct levels of difficulty. Words in green are easy to give clues for and are worth 250 points, words in yellow are medium difficulty and worth 500, and words in red are the most difficult and are worth 1,000. The contestants alternate first choice of the three words to place in their own five-word stack, with the trailing contestant choosing first in the first, third and fifth word sets. The unchosen third word in each set is discarded. Once both contestants set their boards up, each contestant then plays their five words. They have 45 seconds and a set limitation of 20 words. Contestants score the points for each successful word and gains an additional 1,000 point bonus for successfully getting all five. If the contestant gives an illegal clue in this round, the word the illegal clue was given on is thrown out, and the contestant is disqualified from getting the 1,000 point bonus, but the round continued on as normal. The team who has the most points is the champion and moves on to the Money Round to play for $10,000. The losing contestant from the main game receives a $200 gift card for a varying online retailer.

In the event of a tie, both civilian contestants face off at the podium with buzzers. The host will begin giving clues to one final word. The first contestant to buzz in with a correct answer is the champion and advances to the Money Round, while an incorrect answer hands the championship to their opponent.

In the Money Round, the champion must convey ten words to their celebrity partners in one minute with the maximum of 25 clue words available to them. If the contestant can get the two celebrity partners to get all ten answers correct, the champion wins the grand prize of $10,000.

If they do not get all ten correct, the champion receives a vacation as a consolation prize. If the contestant gives an illegal clue or goes over the 25 word limit at any time, the Money Round automatically ends.