The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: PYLdude on March 22, 2020, 05:55:01 AM
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Since I couldn't find anything to this effect in the archives, here's another random matter of opinion question.
We've all had shows that we've enjoyed for one reason or another. But even with the good there comes a not so good. For instance, a show can have a decent front game but a significantly lacking bonus round.
So for the sake of completeness (since I know we've likely discussed the merits of some of these already), here is an opportunity to tell us all what you think was a show or two or three that had an okay format (even good or great) but just didn't get it done for you bonus round wise.
Here's a few of my personal choices:
-All-Star Blitz: yeah, the Hollywood Squares trope has been done to death but I felt the way they used it here worked in the front game. But there had to be some better way to conduct the bonus than with that stupid-assed wheel.
-Original Lingo: main game is straight and to the point. Get a lingo, win the game. No Lingo? Such a slog. Realistically Lingo has always had some issue with the bonus, but this one was the most glaring to me because even though they tried to make it somewhat easier on the contestants (all the even numbers in the hopper and gold balls) it just dragged everything out.
-Hollywood Squares during Big Money Round era: why, oh why, does a show that has nothing to do with general knowledge trivia add a bonus to itself that requires it? Thankfully they were able to come to their senses and junk the round.
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To be honest, since PYRAMID, I’ve found most bonus rounds wanting. The idea of turning the game inside out, as the Winner’s Circle does, is such a wonderful mechanic shift that most variants of “Do the same thing you did before, but against the clock” are kind of a let-down.
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To be honest, since PYRAMID, I’ve found most bonus rounds wanting. The idea of turning the game inside out, as the Winner’s Circle does, is such a wonderful mechanic shift that most variants of “Do the same thing you did before, but against the clock” are kind of a let-down.
But Pyramid does that. The clock is the integral part.
There's not a great way to play most end games against some random person plucked from the audience or against a house bad guy who is there either to win constantly or to be repeatedly dunked upon. Wonderwall would not be the same without a timer driving the action. The Money Cards doesn't need it and there are a few end games where time isn't the antagonist. Most times the pressure is to complete the task and when there isn't that pressure and the task is to just do well (cf the Swirling Whirlwind of Cash and Mad Loots) it feels empty.
I thought I had a mental medal podium of badness or blandness when I started with It Takes Two's Brainteaser, Perfect 21 and the Big Money Game, but I keep thinking and keep adding stuff. It goes to show that the great game shows separate themselves in many different ways.
From the pen of Chris Palmer:
Hollywood Squares during Big Money Round era: why, oh why, does a show that has nothing to do with general knowledge trivia add a bonus to itself that requires it? Thankfully they were able to come to their senses and junk the round.
I mean, the show is about the zingers, but winning does require some sphere of knowledge. I thought the Money Minute was a welcome change, but would have changed it further to either hold the money in escrow and it is won based upon the outcome of the Big Question of Great Significance, or have the money amounts held in the range of $100 to $500 and the BQoGS would multiply those values by five or ten.
I thought the Blitz Bonanza was fine--luck is as good a way as anything to reveal portions of the puzzle. I find ASB to be the paragon of the question-zinger-game paradigm so am inclined to enjoy all of its parts.
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I know Barry-Enright wasn’t known for their innovative gameplay, esp. in the bonus rounds, but “Bullseye” took a slowed down “Joker’s Wild” Fast Forward category, slapped on an even slower end game, and replaced devils with lightning bolts. If your bonus round has to continue on the next episode, it’s time you go back to the drawing board.
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I know Barry-Enright wasn’t known for their innovative gameplay, esp. in the bonus rounds, but “Bullseye” took a slowed down “Joker’s Wild” Fast Forward category, slapped on an even slower end game, and replaced devils with lightning bolts. If your bonus round has to continue on the next episode, it’s time you go back to the drawing board.
To give them an absolute modicum of credit the pilot bonus could have ended after three, four or five spins. Frankly, they would have done well to replicate the CBS Joker bonus--each spin of all bullseyes wins an increasingly valuable prize and the fourth one wins a trip. (They've already won over $2,000 in the main game--no need to put money slides on the board, though you could put money on top and it's either bullseye or zap! in the lower one.)
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I wasn't a big fan of Trivia Trap doing a complete 180 in the bonus round. The fact that you worked as a team throughout the game, only to turn it into "play for yourself" in the bonus game seemed a little mean-spirited to me. As an example, if your teammate passed you the question on Russian monarchs and you blew it...you're supposed to stand there and smile and work together again in five minutes.
Would have preferred an extension of the front game instead.
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I've never been a fan of bonus rounds that are a complete non sequitur from the main game, like in Blackout or Hot Potato. Just reeks of laziness.
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"Prefect 21" on the 2000 Twenty One revival. It feels very shoehorned in, and the risks involved ($60k to win $40, $100 to win $50) make it a broken game. Seems like something they made up in ten minutes.
To be honest, since PYRAMID, I’ve found most bonus rounds wanting. The idea of turning the game inside out, as the Winner’s Circle does, is such a wonderful mechanic shift that most variants of “Do the same thing you did before, but against the clock” are kind of a let-down.
But Pyramid does that. The clock is the integral part.
Not to speak for Clay, but I think his point is the fact that the Winner's Circle has you doing the opposite of the main game. I think his complaint is against bonus games which are identical to the main game, with the addition of a clock being the only difference. The Lightning Round on Password, for example.
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I've never been a fan of bonus rounds that are a complete non sequitur from the main game, like in Blackout or Hot Potato. Just reeks of laziness.
I'm with you on Hot Potato. But what exactly could be done on Blackout? The major game mechanic really can't be used there because the whole point of it was to try to screw your opponent.
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The major game mechanic really can't be used there because the whole point of it was to try to screw your opponent.
Idea: in the bonus round, the celebrity hears an easy trivia question, and that same question will be played into the contestant's headphones. But instead of choosing parts of it to blackout, the whole thing starts muted for the contestant, and the celebrity has to figure out what parts to unmute for the contestant.
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To say the least, that sounds ok, but in the clue screen paradigm that’s essentially what the viewer does.
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To say the least, that sounds ok, but in the clue screen paradigm that’s essentially what the viewer does.
That is true...the viewer is the one controlling how much infornation is relayed, which accomplishes the general objective of the game as well and does so rather simply and smoothly.
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To be honest, since PYRAMID, I’ve found most bonus rounds wanting. The idea of turning the game inside out, as the Winner’s Circle does, is such a wonderful mechanic shift that most variants of “Do the same thing you did before, but against the clock” are kind of a let-down.
But Pyramid does that. The clock is the integral part.
I thought the Blitz Bonanza was fine--luck is as good a way as anything to reveal portions of the puzzle. I find ASB to be the paragon of the question-zinger-game paradigm so am inclined to enjoy all of its parts.
I’m fine with there being a clock. My point about the Winner’s Circle is that it turns the game inside out, from naming things associated with a category to naming the category from things that fit it.
I’m with you, though, on the Blitz Bonanza. No problem with the wheel, and the option to give back your main game prize for an extra spin is wonderful.
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I know Barry-Enright wasn’t known for their innovative gameplay, esp. in the bonus rounds, but “Bullseye” took a slowed down “Joker’s Wild” Fast Forward category, slapped on an even slower end game, and replaced devils with lightning bolts. If your bonus round has to continue on the next episode, it’s time you go back to the drawing board.
To give them an absolute modicum of credit the pilot bonus could have ended after three, four or five spins. (Frankly, they would have done well to replicate the CBS Joker bonus--each spin of all bullseyes wins an increasingly valuable prize and the fourth one wins a trip. (They've already won over $2,000 in the main game--no need to put money slides on the board, though you could put money on top and it's either bullseye or zap! in the lower one.)
A hell of a lot more watchable, and actually makes each spin more valuable instead of tedious.
I didn't mind Squares's "Big Money" end game, but it did feel out of place. I loved the H^2 bonus round, but I always thought this or Tic Tac Dough would've benefitted from something similar to the Gold Run on Blockbusters.
Like with H^2, the contestant has :30 to answer true/false questions, but the goal is simply getting 3-in-a-row. Answer right, capture the square, answer wrong and it's out of play. Get tic-tac-toe, you win a prize, maybe bring back the pick a celebrity, win what's in their envelope format*, maybe offer an increasingly larger prize like the $10K -> car -> 25K -> around the world -> 50K (?), orrrr.....
Contestant opts to go horizontal or vertical to answer all nine. Get 3-in-a-row once, it's $5K. Twice is worth 10K. Get all nine right and it's 25K. I realize it becomes a bit anti-climactic if the contestant muffs the first question and the 25K is immediately off the table.
*For TTD, the prize package and some money ($5-10K).
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One problem I had for years (I think I remember posting something to this effect on a similar thread back in the a.t.g-s days): The show is called "Wheel of Fortune", but the bonus round had nothing at all to with a wheel. Finally, after around 20 years (too lazy to look up the date, I know it's out there), they made it so.
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One problem I had for years (I think I remember posting something to this effect on a similar thread back in the a.t.g-s days): The show is called "Wheel of Fortune", but the bonus round had nothing at all to with a wheel. Finally, after around 20 years (too lazy to look up the date, I know it's out there), they made it so.
I've always hated the bonus round wheel because they don't show the values as the wheel is spinning, so anticlimactic. The fun of watching a wheel spin is rooting for it to land on a certain space. Imagine how lame the front game would be if every value was hidden and was revealed after the contestant called a letter. Imagine how exciting the bonus round would be if we could see the values on the wheel, see the million dollars get closer and closer and if the contestant landed on it, how much more intense the bonus round puzzle would be.
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Finally, after around 20 years (too lazy to look up the date, I know it's out there), they made it so.
Fall 2001, so exactly 20 years after they rolled out the bonus round.
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"Prefect 21" on the 2000 Twenty One revival. It feels very shoehorned in, and the risks involved ($60k to win $40, $100 to win $50) make it a broken game. Seems like something they made up in ten minutes.
To be honest, since PYRAMID, I’ve found most bonus rounds wanting. The idea of turning the game inside out, as the Winner’s Circle does, is such a wonderful mechanic shift that most variants of “Do the same thing you did before, but against the clock” are kind of a let-down.
But Pyramid does that. The clock is the integral part.
Not to speak for Clay, but I think his point is the fact that the Winner's Circle has you doing the opposite of the main game. I think his complaint is against bonus games which are identical to the main game, with the addition of a clock being the only difference. The Lightning Round on Password, for example.
Exactly so, though the Lightning Round gets a pass from me because at that point in our history I don’t believe it had been done before; also, since you were playing only with your partner rather than volleying against the other team I find it interesting. I prefer Alphabetics to the Lightning Round, since it adds the initial letters as a unifying element.
TOTALLY with you on “Perfect 21,” by the way.
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One problem I had for years (I think I remember posting something to this effect on a similar thread back in the a.t.g-s days): The show is called "Wheel of Fortune", but the bonus round had nothing at all to with a wheel. Finally, after around 20 years (too lazy to look up the date, I know it's out there), they made it so.
I've always hated the bonus round wheel because they don't show the values as the wheel is spinning, so anticlimactic. The fun of watching a wheel spin is rooting for it to land on a certain space. Imagine how lame the front game would be if every value was hidden and was revealed after the contestant called a letter. Imagine how exciting the bonus round would be if we could see the values on the wheel, see the million dollars get closer and closer and if the contestant landed on it, how much more intense the bonus round puzzle would be.
I would find no additional benefit in knowing where the $100,000 space is and really neither would anyone else. Assuming the player doesn't know in that case. And even if the player does know, then you've ratcheted up the pressure on him/her and overcomplicated a simple situation. That's not intensity, that's annoying.
And how much more intense.can a potential million dollar bonus round be? It's for One Million Damn Dollars.
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I didn't mind Squares's "Big Money" end game, but it did feel out of place. I loved the H^2 bonus round, but I always thought this or Tic Tac Dough would've benefitted from something similar to the Gold Run on Blockbusters.
When TTD had it's brief daytime run on CBS, they did have a different Bonus Game set-up: Find the winning 3 X or 3 O line before hitting the dragon. Not sure why they switched to the standard B&E "Reach $1,000 before hitting the bad space" when they went to syndication.
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Along the lines of "the same thing, but against the clock," I'm particularly not fond of any how where the end game is "answer X general knowledge questions in Y seconds," particularly when there's little or no chrome carried over from the rest of the game. I'd put the Gold Run from Blockbusters in this category, but I also give it a pass because the contestant gets a little bit of information and the opportunity to choose their own material, rather than having to go with whatever question stack the writers came up with.
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Imagine how exciting the bonus round would be if we could see the values on the wheel, see the million dollars get closer and closer and if the contestant landed on it, how much more intense the bonus round puzzle would be.
Don't need to imagine. Just watch an episode of Australia's Wheel.
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Along the lines of "the same thing, but against the clock," I'm particularly not fond of any how where the end game is "answer X general knowledge questions in Y seconds," particularly when there's little or no chrome carried over from the rest of the game. I'd put the Gold Run from Blockbusters in this category, but I also give it a pass because the contestant gets a little bit of information and the opportunity to choose their own material, rather than having to go with whatever question stack the writers came up with.
Gold Run also had the twist of multiple-word answers, which I thought helped.
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Imagine how exciting the bonus round would be if we could see the values on the wheel, see the million dollars get closer and closer and if the contestant landed on it, how much more intense the bonus round puzzle would be.
Don't need to imagine. Just watch an episode of Australia's Wheel.
And that gets anticlimactic really quick when champs spin way past the car and land on the stove.
What the hidden values allow Wheel to do is hide the distribution. If we actually knew how many house minimum spaces were out there, it wouldn't be a great look.
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Unless you saved the wheel spin until after the solve. Then you get two climaxes.
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I loved how the Blitz Bonanza wheel worked, but the consolation money for each star who got it right was a lame way to shoehorn in the stars and rewarded the player for how easy the puzzle was that they blew.
I hated $ale of the Century's Winner's Big Money Game. Nothing to do with bargain merchandise and, because one particular slot gave it away, it was too easy for the producers to manipulate.
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Unless you saved the wheel spin until after the solve. Then you get two climaxes.
Okay, that I can see working. Although in a case like that the envelopes might not even be necessary?
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Also, we try to put it out of our minds, but the Press Your Luck bonus round may be the worst of them all.
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Also, we try to put it out of our minds, but the Press Your Luck bonus round may be the worst of them all.
Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
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Also, we try to put it out of our minds, but the Press Your Luck bonus round may be the worst of them all.
Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
But there's no real jeopardy involved here. They don't add any Whammies to the board, which would up the risk factor significantly. They also don't need to make the round become the entire second half of the show either; surviving a certain amount of spins without Whammying out is fine.
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Also, we try to put it out of our minds, but the Press Your Luck bonus round may be the worst of them all.
Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
But there's no real jeopardy involved here. They don't add any Whammies to the board, which would up the risk factor significantly. They also don't need to make the round become the entire second half of the show either; surviving a certain amount of spins without Whammying out is fine.
It's a limited summer series. What theyre not trying to do is force a bunch of players to either whammy out or walk away from the endgame with $20,000.
Fulld disclosure- I'm also fully in the camp of people who actually like the endgame.
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Also, we try to put it out of our minds, but the Press Your Luck bonus round may be the worst of them all.
Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
But there's no real jeopardy involved here. They don't add any Whammies to the board, which would up the risk factor significantly. They also don't need to make the round become the entire second half of the show either; surviving a certain amount of spins without Whammying out is fine.
They do add Whammies though. There are 14 by time you get to the final round.
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It's a limited summer series. What theyre not trying to do is force a bunch of players to either whammy out or walk away from the endgame with $20,000.
Fulld disclosure- I'm also fully in the camp of people who actually like the endgame.
Okay, fair enough, but couldn't they just as easily make up for that by either a) having lots of high level prizes from the get go considering money doesn't appear to be an issue for them, or b) double/triple/whatever the winner's bonus cash total is? Would accomplish the same goal in less time IMO.
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It's a limited summer series. What theyre not trying to do is force a bunch of players to either whammy out or walk away from the endgame with $20,000.
Fulld disclosure- I'm also fully in the camp of people who actually like the endgame.
Okay, fair enough, but couldn't they just as easily make up for that by either a) having lots of high level prizes from the get go considering money doesn't appear to be an issue for them, or b) double/triple/whatever the winner's bonus cash total is? Would accomplish the same goal in less time IMO.
Because B is a cop out reserved for lottery shows, and A has other consequences- let me explain.
Last summer, a contestant won the game by passing his final spin to his opponent, who whammied and lost $53,000 in the process. The studio audience was so distraught, they'd failed to cheer for the guy who actually won. They were too busy awwing and showing displeasure at the idea that someone could win the game that way.
By pushing all of the endgame cash into the main game, you're basically asking for that to happen, but worse. Press Your Luck is already a game of chance, but people naturally get invested in contestants, and so now you're leaving people on a sour note when their contestant gets "wronged" in that situation (because remember, there's no bonus round in your scenario, so no chance for them to get invested in the champion).
If this were a 5-a-week scenario, it's just going to happen like that from time to time- the volume of contestants guarantees it. But you only have eight chances during the summer to keep people invested and filled with enough endorphins that they keep watching the Fun and Games lineup for more winners.
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Last summer, a contestant won the game by passing his final spin to his opponent, who whammied and lost $53,000 in the process. The studio audience was so distraught, they'd failed to cheer for the guy who actually won. They were too busy awwing and showing displeasure at the idea that someone could win the game that way.
By pushing all of the endgame cash into the main game, you're basically asking for that to happen, but worse. Press Your Luck is already a game of chance, but people naturally get invested in contestants, and so now you're leaving people on a sour note when their contestant gets "wronged" in that situation (because remember, there's no bonus round in your scenario, so no chance for them to get invested in the champion).
I attribute that moment having all the excitement of the Hindenburg disaster in part to how the show handled it. 80s PYL did have at least some cases where a player lost big on a whammy on a passed spin to end the game, and the answer was to play the win cue, crank up the audience sweetening, and keep the camera on the winner's reaction. It might still have been a bummer, but, by only focusing on the positive, the production drags you along with it.
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I would like to note that I did not say I wanted to increase anything in the main game, nor did I eschew the bonus round in my hypothetical.
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Last summer, a contestant won the game by passing his final spin to his opponent, who whammied and lost $53,000 in the process. The studio audience was so distraught, they'd failed to cheer for the guy who actually won. They were too busy awwing and showing displeasure at the idea that someone could win the game that way.
By pushing all of the endgame cash into the main game, you're basically asking for that to happen, but worse. Press Your Luck is already a game of chance, but people naturally get invested in contestants, and so now you're leaving people on a sour note when their contestant gets "wronged" in that situation (because remember, there's no bonus round in your scenario, so no chance for them to get invested in the champion).
I attribute that moment having all the excitement of the Hindenburg disaster in part to how the show handled it. 80s PYL did have at least some cases where a player lost big on a whammy on a passed spin to end the game, and the answer was to play the win cue, crank up the audience sweetening, and keep the camera on the winner's reaction. It might still have been a bummer, but, by only focusing on the positive, the production drags you along with it.
There were many times where the show would get a few shots of the contestant after a big loss, along with Peter's reaction (who was often focusing on the grief of the loser) to what just happened. They usually did not gloss over it.
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The new PYL or Whammy! might've had a possible good bonus round in the Big Bank concept. Land on the square, the round itself becomes part of your account. Anyone is eligible and the space is always available like the Big Bucks square. You win the game and you still have the Big Bank in your account, you go on to the bonus round. You can put your winnings on the line to answer one of those 1/4-1/2-3/4 survey questions for everything the Whammies took in Round 2 plus $20K. It's quick enough to fit in the half-hour window of a normal show, and it's lucrative enough to make up for a low-stakes winner.
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What do you do in the overwhelming likelihood that it isn’t won? You can’t really play another full game.
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Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
The great thing about PYL is that there IS strategy behind your passing or pressing. The bonus round is plain greed.
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What do you do in the overwhelming likelihood that it isn’t won? You can’t really play another full game.
It sounds like he's saying the bonus round would just be a Big Bank-style question to increase winnings.
Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
The great thing about PYL is that there IS strategy behind your passing or pressing. The bonus round is plain greed.
The concept of greed is kinda on brand for this particular show though, isn't it?
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The new PYL or Whammy! might've had a possible good bonus round in the Big Bank concept. Land on the square, the round itself becomes part of your account. Anyone is eligible and the space is always available like the Big Bucks square. You win the game and you still have the Big Bank in your account, you go on to the bonus round. You can put your winnings on the line to answer one of those 1/4-1/2-3/4 survey questions for everything the Whammies took in Round 2 plus $20K. It's quick enough to fit in the half-hour window of a normal show, and it's lucrative enough to make up for a low-stakes winner.
I wouldn't even bother to make it a prize space, I'd just have that as the end game for everyone. Given that the main game is lasting longer than a half-hour of air time I would start the Big Bank at $25,000 and have it play like the Ultimate Challenge.
I realize that having the dream prizes on the end game board makes up most of what is notable, but the world would not end were we deprived of someone having the opportunity to win Spaghetti-Os for life.
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Eh, PYL with a bonus round gives you incentive to play the main game with more strategy as opposed to just plain greed when you don't have a returning champion.
The great thing about PYL is that there IS strategy behind your passing or pressing. The bonus round is plain greed.
The concept of greed is kinda on brand for this particular show though, isn't it?
Find me a show that focuses more on it than Press Your Luck. There aren't too many.
That's why the show's called what it is after all. Strategy does play a factor, sure, but pitting one's avariciousness versus their risk aversion is the main plot point.
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Find me a show that focuses more on it than Press Your Luck. There aren't too many.
The thing that makes PYL unique is that it's not pure greed. To win anything, you have to beat other players. Sure, it's not chess, but there's strategy. The bonus game is pure greed. It's how much is enough.
Deal or No Deal is interesting because, while it's luck and greed, there's the strategy of making a good deal. That's why people will bet $200K on opening a case. They made a game of it.
LMAD is pure greed. Card Sharks Money Cards is pure greed. The TPIR Punchboard is pure greed. The standard Barry-Enright endgame is second-rate pure greed.
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Find me a show that focuses more on it than Press Your Luck. There aren't too many.
The thing that makes PYL unique is that it's not pure greed. To win anything, you have to beat other players. Sure, it's not chess, but there's strategy. The bonus game is pure greed. It's how much is enough.
Deal or No Deal is interesting because, while it's luck and greed, there's the strategy of making a good deal. That's why people will bet $200K on opening a case. They made a game of it.
LMAD is pure greed. Card Sharks Money Cards is pure greed. The TPIR Punchboard is pure greed. The standard Barry-Enright endgame is second-rate pure greed.
LMAD and the Punchboard share a lot of the same basic mechanics with Deal or No Deal, so either they're all pure greed or not.
The Money Cards is forced greed. If someone gives you $4,000 and a card you 100% can't lose on, there's absolutely no reason for you not to bet it all. Unlike other shows, there are times when you're home free and aren't trying to avoid a landmine.
The difference with Press Your Luck, versus almost every other show outside of DoND, is that you watch players go on winning streaks for an extended period of time, then suddenly get burned because of their greed. How often do players contemplate whether to play or pass, then make up their mind to go one more? If anything, you've kinda made the point that Deal and Press are basically 1 and 2 when it comes to greed.
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The TPIR Punchboard is pure greed. The standard Barry-Enright endgame is second-rate pure greed.
To an extent, I disagree on these two. There's risk involved on both, but in both cases, there's a higher goal in mind, and the odds are more or less in your favor. If I have anything under $1,000 on the Punchboard, and Drew has three more slips to show me, then yes, I'm going to play on, even if $1K is a lot of money. Now, if I'm down to my last slip, that's a different story. With the Barry-Enright shows, the goal was to hit the milestone and win the prize package. I didn't come all that way to stop at $850, if my goal is the trip to Spain.
As for D/ND, I got a nice laugh out of anyone who said a six-figure offer wasn't enough money, only to go home with <$500. Yes...that's textbook pure greed.
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When played properly, Press Your Luck is rarely about greed. Greed is what the show looks like on the surface, and there have been plenty of contestants who have treated it that way, but those who play the game solely as an exercise in "how much is enough" often don't win.
The difference with Press Your Luck, versus almost every other show outside of DoND, is that you watch players go on winning streaks for an extended period of time, then suddenly get burned because of their greed. How often do players contemplate whether to play or pass, then make up their mind to go one more? If anything, you've kinda made the point that Deal and Press are basically 1 and 2 when it comes to greed.
Here's an example from a 1984 episode:
Player A has played eight spins in a row to build his total up to $14,729 with 2 spins remaining (no one else has any spins). Player B, in second place, has $14,410. Player A chooses to spin rather than pass to Player B. Is Player A being greedy?
After landing on $2,000, Player A now has $16,729 and the final spin of the game. Should Player A spin or pass? Does greed factor into the decision at all?
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To counter, player B didn't get to $14,410 on a magic carpet, though, did he?
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To counter, player B didn't get to $14,410 on a magic carpet, though, did he?
Nope. She got to $10,910 because she knew that Player A was waiting to play with 9 spins (she clearly was uncomfortable risking what she had accumulated, but you could see her take Player A's spin total into account before deciding to press her luck -- it wasn't greed that motivated her to keep playing) and then Player C, trailing her by $7,500, passed her a spin because he knew that his only hope to stay in the game was if she hit a Whammy. Instead, she picked up another $3,500.
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To be fair, there was a recent Buzzr aired episode where a contestant passed their 2 spins with 3 whammies and $1000. Her opponent had not spun yet, and gets up to $5218 with those 2 passed spins, leaving her with 6 earned spins. She continues to play, getting up to $8718 and 5 spins. The outcome? She keeps playing, stops at a Whammy on her next spin, plays on and gets up to $3432 with 2 spins. Goes again, whammies on her next spin, final spin..... $800. Now I would consider it a case of pure greed that she got up to $8700 and kept going since 1 Whammy by her opponent would've won her the game and 5 spins are pretty good odds it happens, but not so much when she had $3400 with just 2 spins, since a lead of $2400 with 2 spins is easily surmountable. But PYL is a much better strategic game than it's given credit for.
Here is the link to the episode.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t1fp5 (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t1fp5)
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I think everyone in the later seasons of PYL had a target number in mind before they passed their remaining spins. It always felt that $10,000+ was most people's goal unless they were in distant 2nd place and playing to whammy out the leader. There were a few times in the last season where Peter would even remark that a player is "over five figures" and asked if they were ready to pass. By '86 this strategy became more and more obvious.
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I've never been a fan of bonus rounds that are a complete non sequitur from the main game, like in Blackout or Hot Potato. Just reeks of laziness.
FWIW, I thought Blackout's Bonus game was better that it's competition game.