The Pyramid's game boards, both in the main game and in the Winner's Circle bonus round, featured six categories arranged in a pyramid, with three categories on the bottom row, two on the middle row, and one on the top.
At the beginning of the game, the teams were shown six categories, whose titles gave vague clues to their possible meaning (e.g., "I'm All Wet" might pertain to things found in the water).
Using any part of the answer in giving a clue resulting in the item being disqualified with a "honk" sound effect.
The team which had just played its third round and had thus created the tie was given a choice between two categories, all answers of each of which began with a certain letter of the alphabet.
If the team that chose it got all seven correct within the time, the contestant would win a bonus prize.
Except on The Pyramid Game from 1989–1990, correctly guessing all six categories in 60 seconds earned the cash bonus.
An illegal clue would disqualify the category and end the player's chance to win the large bonus.
Each category on the Pyramid paid as follows: The cash bonus format for a successful trip to the Winner's Circle varied on different versions of the show.