The show was presented by Richard Fairbrass and Gabrielle Richens, with Melanie Winiger starring as the Poetess, ruler of the Palace.

Minor characters include Zioto who starts the time during the Palace challenges, Abdullah, the timekeeper in the Desert Duels who fires a rifle to indicate the start and end of the clock, the Forgemaster who runs the Forges Room, Zach and Ramm (identified by video cameras attached to their heads), who act as the "eyes and ears" of the Poetess and allow her to watch the progress made by the two teams, and Meliha, a guide who guides teams between houses in the Palace.

Each duel won also gains a flame for the winning team, which they'll use in the second part of the show.

Due to the roughness of some challenges, like the Mechanical Snake, one of the presenters will look after the dagger for the contestant until he or she finishes.

The team whose fighter puts his/her foot outside the circular ring first loses, and one of their flames is extinguished.

The second part of the show takes the players into the Palace, a series of tents and buildings in the middle of the desert where the Poetess resides.

Before each challenge, other than the first one, the participating team is asked a jidi – a mathematical or logical problem with a numerical answer.

Any head movement results in a bulb lighting, and the player is declared the loser of the playoff.

If neither player lights their bulb within one minute of the snakes being released, the team that won the Chakria goes on to the Forges Room.

Accompanied by one of the hosts, they have four minutes from the time they enter the mine tunnels to perform a series of tasks to win the gold.

This may involve completing an electrical circuit in a glass case or connecting a series of cogs together to raise a gate blocking the cart.

The team wins a fixed cash amount based on each ingot; half-filled moulds do not count.

[10] An Arabic children's game show was filmed using the same set and broadcast around 2011,[11] on Jeem TV.