Improve One Pricing Game...

[Jeremy Nelson]

It's been a minute since we've done a hypothetical.

You've been given one minute with the team at Price as they prep for next season, and during that minute, you can suggest changes to one pricing game. They could be quality of life updates, changes to physical appearance, adding a $10k bonus...whatever makes sense to you. What's your pitch?

Mine is simple. Start Pathfinder off by pricing all three prizes. Give the contestant some kind of insurance marker/pendant of life for each one they get right, then take them away as they misstep on the disco floor.

And while I don't think it needs the standard blue/yellow/orange color scheme so many games got refurbished with, I do think it needs a new coat of paint and a better floor font.

[SuperSweeper]

Set Hot Seat on fire. The end.

[MSTieScott]

Start Pathfinder off by pricing all three prizes. Give the contestant some kind of insurance marker/pendant of life for each one they get right, then take them away as they misstep on the disco floor.

Except if a contestant gets all three prizes correct and then steps to the second and third digits in the price of the car without making a mistake, they've guaranteed themselves a win. So either the game ends awkwardly with the contestant celebrating without having finished walking the correct path (and the host having to explain why) or everybody has to wait while the contestant finishes walking the path -- possibly having to backtrack in the process -- before the foregone conclusion.

[BillCullen1]

3 Strikes - give the contestant one of the numbers to start with. The contestant can choose which number (1st, 2nd, etc.). As Drew said the first time he ran this as host, "This game takes forever."

[JasonA1]

My longstanding suggestions were to update Grocery Game and Range Game for inflation's sake. They got to Grocery Game within the past decade, so now it'd be Range Game's turn. It's gone so long without changes, a $1000 rangefinder on a $4000 scale would be most inflation-appropriate. For someone who grew up with '90s shows, that's sort of eye-opening as to what the original intent of the game was.

-Jason

[Brakus]

How about this: in Punch-a-Bunch, replace one of the mid-tier dollar amounts ($1000/$2500) with a "Punch Again for Double", which allows the contestant to do just that - immediately punch out another hole and win double what they find. It's a 1-in-50 chance at the outset to find it, and assuming they hadn't already punched out something they want to keep, would give them the chance to win up to $50K should they beat the odds and find the one $25K hole on the board after finding the double.

(It could even be 2-in-50 at the outset, but if by some miracle they find them back-to-back, the rule is that the double only counts once, not 4x. I'd rather keep it at 1-in-50 at the outset to eliminate that possibility.)

[whewfan]

It's been a minute since we've done a hypothetical.

You've been given one minute with the team at Price as they prep for next season, and during that minute, you can suggest changes to one pricing game. They could be quality of life updates, changes to physical appearance, adding a $10k bonus...whatever makes sense to you. What's your pitch?

Mine is simple. Start Pathfinder off by pricing all three prizes. Give the contestant some kind of insurance marker/pendant of life for each one they get right, then take them away as they misstep on the disco floor.

And while I don't think it needs the standard blue/yellow/orange color scheme so many games got refurbished with, I do think it needs a new coat of paint and a better floor font.

Regarding Pathfinder, it saves time if the player doesn't NEED to price any of the three small prizes, so the way they have it now is just fine IMO. Besides, having some sort of "insurance marker" for each mistake would then make it too much like Penny Ante.

[bscripps]

At the Big Wheel, the bonus spin is far too often an anticlimax.  We can all see it coming: the wheel goes zipping past $1.00, but clearly doesn't have the momentum to get all the way 'round again.  Drew keeps trying to play it for suspense, but anyone who's ever been home from school sick knows the wheel isn't getting past 0.85.  It comes off as disappointing, but it should be a celebratory moment; the contestant has just won a bunch of money and entry into the Showcase.

So...spinning $1.00 only gets you a bonus spin, no $1,000 cash bonus.  But...whatever you land on in the bonus spin gets multiplied out to a bonus in thousands of dollars.  Land on a quarter, you win $2,500.  80¢ means $8,000.  $1.00 reverts to being worth $10,000, and the two green sections are back to $5,000 each.  Minimum prize, therefore, is still $1,000 for hitting 10¢, but it builds to excitement and suspense instead of "Oh well, you didn't win anything more."

[whewfan]

3 Strikes - give the contestant one of the numbers to start with. The contestant can choose which number (1st, 2nd, etc.). As Drew said the first time he ran this as host, "This game takes forever."

I don't think the contestant should have any say WHICH number to give away, but it wouldn't surprise me if the show did decide to give away the first number each time to save time. I guess by including ALL the numbers, there's actually a better probability of numbers to pick vs. strikes. The "one strike in the bag" rule did SEEM to make the game easier to win, but really, in the end, you still end up with just ONE number and ONE strike in the bag, making winning a car 50/50.

[TLEberle]

I would have kept the goal of Grocery Game at $21 and allowed a win at $19.

Secret X—add a third item to price and a new board where the X can be anywhere in the middle row or middle column.

Aside from small fixes like tweaking the money amounts of the Let ‘em Roll cubes:

Rat Race has three nice prizes to price within $100. Each correct choice lights up one of four lanes—if a rat you back win you win the car and every prize priced properly. If not, win just those prizes.

Maybe a shock collar for Ten Chances and Time is Money for contestants who fail to get the lead out.

[whewfan]

At the Big Wheel, the bonus spin is far too often an anticlimax.  We can all see it coming: the wheel goes zipping past $1.00, but clearly doesn't have the momentum to get all the way 'round again.  Drew keeps trying to play it for suspense, but anyone who's ever been home from school sick knows the wheel isn't getting past 0.85.  It comes off as disappointing, but it should be a celebratory moment; the contestant has just won a bunch of money and entry into the Showcase.

So...spinning $1.00 only gets you a bonus spin, no $1,000 cash bonus.  But...whatever you land on in the bonus spin gets multiplied out to a bonus in thousands of dollars.  Land on a quarter, you win $2,500.  80¢ means $8,000.  $1.00 reverts to being worth $10,000, and the two green sections are back to $5,000 each.  Minimum prize, therefore, is still $1,000 for hitting 10¢, but it builds to excitement and suspense instead of "Oh well, you didn't win anything more."

I can almost see them doing that for the special nighttime run, but otherwise, it takes a lot of wind out of the bonus spin if any amount on the wheel wins SOMETHING. What they have now is just fine.

[TLEberle]

They did it for the charity week which was fun—I think it would have been neat during the golden anniversary that landing on 50 won fifty grand.

[whewfan]

I would have kept the goal of Grocery Game at $21 and allowed a win at $19.

Secret X—add a third item to price and a new bboard where the X can be anywhere in the middle row or middle column.

Aside from small fixes like tweaking the money amounts of the Let ‘em Roll cubes:

Rat Race has three nice prizes to price within $100. Each correct choice lights up one of four lanes—if a rat you back win ps you win the car and every prize priced properly. If not, win just those prizes.

Maybe a shock collar for Ten Chances and Time is Money for contestants who fail to get the lead out.

I didn't think making the range $20-$22 was all that necessary. I haven't seen the show much lately so I don't know how many have fallen short of the original $21 mark to necessitate the change.

Regarding Secret X, do you mean that the secret X could also be in squares 4 and 6 if we're numbering the squares a la the original TTD bonus game? So that's 4 X's... well, if I placed all 4 X's in each corner, then that would be a guaranteed win... as opposed to now where if both X's were won, then there's just a 1/3 chance of losing. For me, the SLIGHTEST chance of losing makes the game more exciting. If the producers want a nearly guaranteed win, then the secret X would be in the center, as winning 2 Xs would be guaranteed providing the contestant placed both earned Xs in the corners. Seeing the game played many times, it seems the contestants' nature to leave the bottom square as the secret X is there less frequently than it is on the top or center, so to force a loss, the secret X would be at the bottom.

Incidentally, I've only seen ONE playing where a contestant placed both earned X's on squares 4 and 6 and still WON with the X in the middle. A rare and VERY lucky win.

[BrandonFG]

I definitely agree with a time limit on Ten Chances. :10 for the first prize, :15 for the second, :20 for the car. I'm flexible on that.

Since fewer people write checks anymore, does Check Game really make sense for today's audience esp. given how young the average contestant is? It confused people going back to the 80s, and I don't imagine much has changed. But...I like the concept of the game, and the idea of the contestant having to more or less work in reverse to figure out the price. Maybe call it Cash Advance or Do the Math or something and just have them flat out state how much they want? Give them a snazzy touchscreen to punch in the numbers.

And not a pricing game, but maybe bump the DSW window to $500? We're now further away from the '98 increase to $250 than that was from the original.

[chad1m]

The current typical distribution of Punch-a-Bunch is:

[1] $25,000 [2] $10,000
[4] $5,000 [8] $2,500 [10] $1,000
[10] $500 [10] $250 [5] $100

My suggestion to at least improve the drama a skosh: Make the values that aren't $25,000 or $10,000 part a range of different values from $100 to $7,500 instead of six values spread out across 47 holes, 35 of which aren't tempting.