Since 2003, a duel/tournament format has been used by other countries, who prefer this version of Fort Boyard. Two teams play in the Fort at the same time, with only one of them winning at the end. A similar format was used in 1991.
In 2007 and 2008, a formula with duels between three countries (Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey) was used; two countries (Belgium and Netherlands) in 1991 and with teams of teenagers in 2011 (United Kingdom and United States).
The 2024 Hungarian version uses a mixed format divided into two parts. Celebrities compete in teams, but only one person can win the game at the end of the week, so players are constantly eliminated. On the last day of the week, the competition turns into an individual competition and, at the end, one celebrity wins the amount collected during the five days, which they donate to charity.
Countries that have used this format include:
In 2010, the duel format was introduced to the show following the low ratings for the previous season in 2009. Although, this was not successful in the French version and was later dropped the same year. The show returned to a more classical version in 2011.
The changes made to the French version in 2010 were:
Main overview
Passe-Temps and Mr. Chan left the show.
Olivier Minne became the only host.
Two teams competed to try to win the most keys in the first section.
Game Play
12 teams of 4 play 2 sections of the game. The Special team play only section 2 in game of episode 1 because all 4 members are former contestants in Fort Boyard.
The team who won were called the "champion team" and would return the following week. Until the last episode, the Special team would play as the "normal team".
Key games not only included the ones inside cells but also the clue games, which were played against a clepsydre. If the team lost a clue game they were made prisoner.
There were 3 rounds of key games. Before each round there was a duel. Winning the duel not only won them a key, but also meant the other team had to win their game or their player was automatically made a prisoner.
If there is no clear winner after the 3 rounds a new section of the show, Crossbow Relay, was introduced. Before this, the prisoners were released. All members had to complete a relay course for keys.
The team with the lowest number of keys was sent off the Fort and a new team (champion team from last week) was sent back to compete against the current champions.
The champion team from the last episode then faced the round 1 winners in clue games. These clue games can be key games with clue canisters, or clue games which were against the clepsydre.
There were three rounds of clue games, with each round starting with a duel. Again the losing team was made prisoner if they did not win their clue game, but the winning team also got to choose which team got to play which game.
After the clue rounds, any prisoners were released by the duels in the council room. 2/3 was required to win.
The Treasure Room
At the Treasure Room, both teams used their clues and wrote down the codeword on a slate. Once this was put in place they had the remaining time of 3:30 (which included working out the code word). After 1 minute the gate started to open and began closes after 3:00 minutes (took 30 seconds to close fully). At around 0:15 seconds the slots were closed so the team couldn't insert any more money.
The gold was then weighed and the codes were revealed. The team with the highest gold and correct codeword won.
If both teams had the correct code, the team with the highest weight of gold won €10,000 and returned the following week.
If both teams had the incorrect code, the champion team would return the following week, but did not win €10,000.
The team which won the Grand Final (episode 7) would receive €50,000 prize (includes the €10,000 won previously).
