Main game
As in Sale, the game was split into four rounds. Contestants begin with a score of A$ 20. When Ed Phillips asks a question, the first contestant to buzz in had the chance to answer the question; if correct, he or she gained $5; if wrong, he or she lost $5. Phillips revealed the answer immediately if the contestant answered incorrectly; no other contestants were given the opportunity to answer. Contestants needed not wait until Phillips had finished asking the question before buzzing in.
Also throughout the game were several "Who Am I?" questions. Phillips read out a series of clues to the identity of a famous person, revealing facts which became progressively more helpful; the final and most helpful clue was the person's first name and last initial. As before, the first contestant to buzz in had the chance to answer the question; if correct, he or she made a "famous faces" selection (see below); if wrong, he or she lost no money, but Phillips continued reading clues and the other contestants were given the chance to answer.
Round One: After the first three questions, there was a 20-second "Sprint" speed round. Immediately after this, the first Gift Shop of the night was offered to the leading player or players. The first Gift Shop item cost $6, and usually had a retail cost between $1,500 and $2,500; this $6 price could be reduced at the discretion of producers, or alternatively an additional cash incentive could be included into the prize, which was usually either $200 or $400. In any Gift Shop, if two or more players were tied in the lead, Ed would conduct a Dutch auction.
There were a few more questions, and then the first "Who am I?" question, known as the Fame Game.
Round Two: After the first few questions, the second Gift Shop was offered. This item was offered for $10, and usually had a retail value of between $3,000 and $7,000; this could again be accompanied by a cash incentive, or the $10 price could be lowered. More questions were asked, and then the second "Who am I?". After the "Who am I?", three more questions were asked before another 20-second sprint round. This ended round two.
After round two, co-host Nixon gave the home viewer a question called "On This Day" where she told the home viewer facts that happened on that day. In the first two seasons (2005 and 2006) Nixon asked the home audience a question relating to the event on that day before the break and gave the answer after the break and then round three began. In 2007, only the question was given by Livinia, allowing the viewers at home to call in the answer by phone or SMS the answer overnight to win a $500 cash prize. Before the next night's "On This Day" question was asked, Ed gave the correct answer to the previous night. Viewers at home could then visit the program's website to see if they have won.
Round Three: After the first three questions, the leading player or players were offered a chance at opening the Temptation Vault, at the price of $15—this price was never reduced from $15 unless there was more than one player eligible, in which case a Dutch auction was held. Whoever opened the vault stopped the shuffling numbers for a cash prize of random value between $1 and $10,000; the probability distribution of Vault prizes was unknown, but values below $1,000 in particular were rare. After the Vault, there were three more standard questions followed by the final "Who am I?".
Final Round: The final round consisted of a single 60-second fast money speed round.
Famous Faces: Correct "Who am I?" answers chose one of nine boxes, identified by celebrities' faces. As before, most of the faces concealed small prizes, but there were cash values (also known as Money Cards) which were added directly to the player's score:
- $10—present in all three rounds until chosen
- $15—present in the second and third rounds
- $25—added only in the third round
- Wild Card—added only in the third round; gave the contestant either a $2,000 cash prize, or allowed them to select from the remaining faces in the hope of finding a Money Card.
The new Temptation series had also added three special selections. All of these selections were present from the beginning of the game, however the Lock Out and Turbo were removed from the board in the third round:
- Burglar—the player could steal $5 from one opponent, which was then added to their own score.
- Lock Out—the player elected one opponent to be shut out; they would then be unable to answer any of the next three questions.
- Turbo—the next three questions are automatically doubled to $10, but only for the contestant who selected it. Furthermore, the penalty for an incorrect answer also doubles to $10.
In each case, the next three questions were never part of a fast money round. This was also the reason why the Lock Out and Turbo items were removed from the board for the final "Who am I?".
On occasions throughout the year, Temptation would break from its normal running style for a week and run a celebrity edition. In most cases these celebrities were playing for home viewers, where the normal prizes and money cards were present. Sometimes the celebrities would be playing for charities, where instead of small prizes cash donations to their charity were given (usually between $500 and $5,000). The money cards still remained.
Bonus game
A first-time winner was offered a major prize, worth about $10,000, and given the choice to take it and leave the show, or to return to play again. Gradually larger prizes were offered each night, leading up to a $50,000–$95,000 car on night five, all five prizes (roughly $130,000) on night six, a cash jackpot in night seven, and all the prizes and double the cash jackpot on night eight.
The cash jackpot amount was determined as follows. Each champion has $50,000 placed in their cash jackpot if they chose to return after their first night. They were then given the chance to play "Top Ten". If they correctly answered ten of the questions asked of them in a 60-second segment at the end of each night, $50,000 more was added to the cash jackpot. The cash jackpot could only be claimed after night seven or eight (cf 2005 when a contestant could take their cash jackpot if they chose not to return the following night). Contestants chose one of five sets of questions to be asked. Passes and incorrect answers didn't reset the value at zero (cf 2005 below).
Theoretically, the highest cash jackpot a contestant could win was $800,000, i.e. 
.
When Temptation premiered on 30 May 2005, there were some slight format differences from later series:
Main game
- The Temptation Vault was offered in Round 1 for $10 (instead of the Gift Shop) with the value going up to a maximum $5,000.
- The Burglar on the Fame Game only took away $5 from an opponent without it going onto the "burglar's" score.
- The Turbo on the Fame Game applied to all three contestants, as opposed to the one contestant who selected it. This change was not made until 17 April 2006.
- The Gift Shop was offered in Round 3 for $15 (instead of the Temptation Vault).
- The value of the Wild Card was half, at $1,000.
Bonus Round: Ten in a Row
In the 2005 end game Ten in a Row, contestants had to answer ten questions consecutively within the space of one minute. The amount of cash won increased through a non-linear scale:
- $100,000
- $60,000
- $30,000
- $20,000
- $15,000
- $10,000
- $6,000
- $4,000
- $2,000
- $1,000
Any incorrect, passed answer or questions that were not answered in three seconds reset the value to $0, and a contestant who didn't reach $100,000 won whatever value they had when time expired.
In 2005, six-night champions could keep all five prizes or return for one more night. If a contestant won on night seven, then they would win all the prizes, the money in their cash account (which was not doubled), and $500,000 in gold bullion. Theoretically, the highest cash jackpot a contestant could win was $600,000 ($1,100,000 including the gold bullion, i.e. 
).
Carry-over champions would also be able to leave the show at any time with money won during Ten in a Row won up to that point in addition to the prize or prizes to which he or she had been entitled.
The format for the bonus round was modified in 2006. First-night champions would automatically be given a $50,000 cash jackpot, which could not be won until at least their seventh night. The Ten in a Row segment was changed so that ten correct answers would add another $50,000 to the jackpot. There was no need to correctly answer the questions consecutively, but at least ten answers had to be answered correctly before time ran out.
