Game shows with simple rulesets...

What is at least one game show of the past or present with a ruleset that is/was simple to understand and easy to play along with (IYO)?

IMO, one that was like that is Split Second (first on ABC w/Tom Kennedy from 1972-75, then for one season w/the late, great Monty Hall in syndie from 1986-87). The way it worked was thus: first, two preliminary rounds were played, in which the three players competed to provide the right response to part of a three-way question; the players answered based on the order of their ring-ins. The players were scored per how many provided correct responses to parts of the questions; that differed w/the two versions (the dollar values increased in the second round of both versions as well).

On the original 1972-75 ABC Kennedy show, the first round paid $5 for all three getting part, $10 for two, and $25 if only one had part of the question right (that went to $10, $25 and $50 on the second round).

On the 1986-87 Monty Hall syndie show (which just premiered on Buzzr), the first round had $10 for all three getting part, $25 for two, and $50 for only one getting it (that went to $20, $50 and $100 on the second round).

The last part of the game on both shows was the Countdown Round: there, it was each player for him/herself, and unlike the other two rounds, the player who got in first could answer up to all three parts of the question, as long as he/she was right (on the Kennedy show, first-place player had to answer only 3, second 4, and third 5 [meaning that the player who had only three questions to answer could sweep the first set and win the game right there]; on the Hall show, first-place player had to do 4, second 5, and third 6).

The first player to finish his/her quota won the game; all three players kept whatever they won to that point, and on the Kennedy show, the non-winning players each got a consolation prize in addition to whatever money they made.

On the bonus, the winning player went for a car, methods differing between the two shows: the Kennedy show had the winner trying to start one car from a choice of five; if the car choice was correct (the car started), the car was won, and a cash jackpot with it (originally starting with $200 on the first go, and then moving up by $200 for each failed try [each failed try decreased the car choice by one for each successive win by a champion], then starting at $1000, and moving up by $500 for each failed try; the jackpot reset when the car was taken, and if a player was a 5-game winner, he/she could have whatever car he/she wanted from the five).

The Hall show originally had a choice of 5 screens, four of which had a $1000 cash bonus, and one saying "car". If the player chose the one saying "car", the car was won, and the player retired unbeaten; if one of the $1000 windows was shown, the player won that much as a bonus, and came back for another show (each successive show had the originally chosen screens marked off per how many times the champion won, and 5-timers automatically took the car). Later, the "car" word was behind three screens, and if the player picked the three screens that said "car," the car was won; else, if a prize was shown, Monty offered that prize and $1000 to the champion to retire there; that increased to $2K and then $3K for each successive failed try. On the fourth day, one more window said "car," and if the player still failed, Monty offered the prize and $4K to the champion, who had the choice to quit and take all that, or try for a 5th and final win (a 5th and final win automatically won the car as before).

Please pardon the wordiness, but I had to get all the ramifications in, because there were quite a few changes!

Again, what shows had rulesets that, in your opinion, were simple to understand and play along with?

 

Nothing simpler to understand than ' Jeopardy'.
Getting the question right is the hard part.

 

Right on-- the buzzer lockout also stood in a player's way as well.

 

Hollywood Squares. The celebrity answers the question; all the contestant has to do is agree or disagree.

Very few celebrities deliberately tried to BS the contestants on a regular basis. John Davidson was about the only one I recall.

 

Dating game?

 

Also, Name That Tune had simple rules.

 

Tic Tac Dough had pretty simple rules. Playing Tic-Tac-Toe is easy, you get your X or O by answering a question. Simple enough.

I do remember there was a bonus round. I don't remember the rules of that exactly, but I'm sure it wasn't that complicated.

 

It wasn't-- CBS version in summer 1978 had the player trying to find a hidden Tic-Tac-Toe, and the 1978-86 syndie had the objective as reaching $1000 or more (both had the larger objective of avoiding the Dragon).

 

Deal or No Deal

 

That's what I'm remembering, the Dragon. I thought it was part of a bonus game, but I haven't seen an episode of this show in over 25 years, so no wonder my brain is foggy.