diff --git a/ccpq/lib_ccpq.py b/ccpq/lib_ccpq.py
index 5452e55..8cd2f96 100644
--- a/ccpq/lib_ccpq.py
+++ b/ccpq/lib_ccpq.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ class Question(object):
     def _clean_data(self):
         """
         TODO needs quite bit of actual cleanup to make the parsing more robust
-        TODO needs a 'private' variable for issue 5
         """
         self._level = self._data[LEVEL].strip()
         self._question = self._data[QUESTION].strip()
@@ -44,7 +43,6 @@ class Question(object):
     def dump_json(self):
         """
         dumps all data to JSON for the REST API
-        TODO needs a key to include the date for issue 5
         """
         data = {
                 UUID: self.get_uuid(),
@@ -125,7 +123,7 @@ class Database(object):
                 for row in data:
                     try:
                         question = Question(row)
-                        if question.get_level() == self.level:
+                        if question.get_level() in self.level:
                             self._db.append(question)
                     except Exception as e:
                         print(e)
@@ -158,10 +156,13 @@ class Game(object):
         self.shuffled_list = []
 
     def setup_players(self):
-        with open(self._filepath, "r") as fp:
-            lines = fp.readlines()
-            for line in lines:
-                self.add_player(line.strip()) 
+        if not self._filepath.is_file():
+            self.add_player("Hans Solo")
+        else:
+            with open(self._filepath, "r") as fp:
+                lines = fp.readlines()
+                for line in lines:
+                    self.add_player(line.strip()) 
 
     def get_random_player(self):
         if len(self.shuffled_list) == 0:
diff --git a/standalone_tui.py b/standalone_tui.py
index 4c8cb16..641f86e 100755
--- a/standalone_tui.py
+++ b/standalone_tui.py
@@ -30,6 +30,14 @@ DIFFICULTY = {
         "hard": "102-500",
         }
 
+DIFFICULTY_SCALE = [
+        "010-160",
+        "101-400",
+        "101-500",
+        "102-400",
+        "102-500",
+        ]
+
 
 class Tui(object):
     def __init__(self):
@@ -131,14 +139,13 @@ class Tui(object):
 class Application(object):
     def __init__(self, filepath_csv, filepath_players, interface, number, level):
         self._db = Database(filepath_csv, level)
-        self._number = number
         self._session = Game(filepath_players)
+        self._number = number * len(self._session.get_all_players())
         self._interface = interface
 
     def start(self):
         pass
 
-
     def run(self):
         while self._number > 0:
             player = self._session.get_random_player()
@@ -167,20 +174,20 @@ class Application(object):
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     parser.add_argument("-f", "--file", required=True, help="file to use as database", action="store")
-    parser.add_argument("-p", "--players", required=True, help="list of players", action="store")
+    parser.add_argument("-p", "--players", required=False, default="", help="list of players", action="store")
     parser.add_argument("-n", "--number", default=10, help="number of questions to ask", type=int, action="store")
     parser.add_argument("-d", "--difficulty", default="easy", help="easy, medium or hard", type=str, action="store")
     args = parser.parse_args()
     filepath_csv = pathlib.Path(args.file)
     filepath_players = pathlib.Path(args.players)
-    if not filepath_csv.exists() or not filepath_players.exists():
-        print("no such file!")
+    if not filepath_csv.exists():
+        print("no such file or directory!")
         exit(1)
     try:
-        level = DIFFICULTY[args.difficulty]
+        level = DIFFICULTY_SCALE[0:DIFFICULTY_SCALE.index(DIFFICULTY[args.difficulty]) + 1]
     except Exception as e:
         print(e)
-        level = DIFFICULTY["easy"]
+        level = DIFFICULTY_SCALE[0:DIFFICULTY_SCALE.index(DIFFICULTY["easy"])]
     interface = Tui()
     app = Application(filepath_csv, filepath_players, interface, args.number, level)
     try: