List of The Price Is Right pricing games

Pricing games are featured on the current version of the American game show The Price Is Right. The contestant from Contestants' Row who bids closest to the price of a prize without going over wins the prize and has the chance to win additional prizes or cash in an onstage game. After the pricing game ends, a new contestant is selected for Contestants' Row and the process is repeated. Six pricing games are played on each hour-long episode; three games per episode were played during the half-hour format. With the exception of a single game from early in the show's history, only one contestant at a time is involved in a pricing game.

A total of 107 pricing games have been played on the show, 75 of which are in the current rotation.^[1] On a typical hour-long episode, two games—one in each half of the show—will be played for a car, at most one game will be played for a cash prize and the other games will offer merchandise or trips. Usually, one of the six games will involve grocery products, while another will involve smaller prizes that can be used to win a larger prize package.

On the 1994 syndicated version hosted by Doug Davidson, the rules of several games were modified and other aesthetic changes were made. Notably, the grocery products used in some games on the daytime version were replaced by small merchandise prizes, generally valued less than $100. Episodes of The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular that aired in 2008 and both Big Money Week and Dream Car Week featured rule changes to some pricing games. The names of some games are occasionally changed for episodes with specific themes, such as Earth Day, Halloween, and College Day.

Active games

A

Any Number

A gameboard contains spaces representing five digits in the price of a car, three digits in the price of a smaller prize, and three digits representing an amount of money (less than $10, in dollars and cents) in a piggy bank. The first digit in the price of the car is revealed at the beginning of the game (a rule implemented after cars valued at more than $10,000 were used in the game). The digits 0 through 9 each appear once in the remaining ten spaces, including a duplicate of the first digit in the price of the car. The contestant calls out digits one at a time, revealing them in the prices of the prizes on the gameboard, and wins the first prize whose price is completely revealed.

Any Number was the very first pricing game on the first episode of The Price Is Right,

B

Balance Game

The contestant is shown four prop bags of money. One bag represents the last two or three digits for the price of a prize and is placed on the left side of a scale by the host at the beginning of the game. Each of the remaining three bags represents a value in multiples of $1,000. In order to win the prize, the contestant must choose two out of the three remaining bags to add to the first bag in order to balance the scale which also has a bag representing the total price on the right side.

Bargain Game

Two prizes are shown, each displaying a bargain price lower than its actual retail price. The contestant wins both prizes by choosing which price displayed is the bigger bargain, the price that is marked further below the actual retail price of the item.

The game was known as Barker's Bargain Bar, named for previous host Bob Barker, until it was removed from rotation on December 5, 2008. The game returned on April 10, 2012 after a hiatus and was renamed Bargain Game, with a new set.

Bonkers

A gameboard displays an incorrect four-digit price for a prize and contains eight spaces: one space above and one space below each digit. The contestant is given four markers to place on the board and must guess whether each correct digit in the price of the prize is higher or lower than the digit displayed, placing a marker above or below the incorrect digit to denote their choice. The contestant then presses a button. If the guessed pattern is correct, the contestant wins the prize. If the guess is incorrect, a buzzer sounds and the contestant may make further guesses if the 30-second time limit has not expired.

Bonus Game

The contestant is asked whether each of four small prizes is priced higher or lower than the incorrect price given. Each prize corresponds to one of four windows on a gameboard, one of which conceals the word "Bonus". The contestant wins a large bonus prize by correctly pricing the small prize with the window containing the word "Bonus".

Bullseye

The contestant is shown five grocery items and is asked to purchase a quantity of a single item such that the total price is between $10 and $12 in order to win a prize. The contestant may make three attempts, using a different item each time, to reach this target range. If the total is between $2 and $10, the contestant receives a marker to place on a gameboard. If the total is under $2 or over $12, no credit is given for the attempt.

The price tag for one of the five products also hides a bullseye behind it. If the contestant does not win the game by reaching the target price range within three attempts, they can still win the prize if the hidden bullseye is behind the price tag of one of the items marked on the gameboard.

Originally, the target featured a $5–$10 range with $9–$10 being the bullseye range. Shortly thereafter, the target became $1–$6 with a $5–$6 bullseye range.

C

Card Game

The contestant uses playing cards from a standard deck to bid on a car. Before playing the game, the contestant draws a card from another deck to determine how close their bid must be to the actual price, without going over, in order to win. The contestant's bid starts at $15,000 and increases as the contestant draws cards: tens and face cards add $1,000 and numbered cards add their face value multiplied by $100. Aces are wild and can either be played immediately or held aside. When the contestant chooses to stop drawing cards, the price of the car is revealed. If the bid is within the target range without going over, the contestant wins the car.

When the game debuted, no starting bid was given and aces could be made any value up to $1,000. The starting bid increased several times as a result of inflation to speed up the game: to $2,000 in 1983; $8,000 in 1993; $10,000 in 2001; $12,000 in 2005; and $15,000 in 2008. A rule change added in 2014 allows the game to be played for a luxury car, with the starting bid set at $60,000. Additionally, beginning in 1983 (coinciding with the addition of a starting bid), aces can be made any positive value the contestant chooses.

The special deck has also changed several times. When the game debuted, the deck consisted of nine cards with one each of values from $200–$1,000 in $100 increments. In 1983, when the game became The New Card Game, the deck consisted of twelve cards with two each of values from $500 to $1,000 in $100 increments. In 1993, the deck changed again to a deck of twelve cards with three each of values from $500 to $2,000 in $500 increments. In 2005, the deck changed to seven cards, with two each of $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000 values, and one $5,000 card.

Check Game

The contestant is shown a prize and asked to write an amount on an oversized blank check. The value of the prize is then added to the amount written on the check and if the total falls between $7,000 and $8,000, the contestant wins both the prize and the cash amount of the check. If the total falls outside the range, the contestant loses and the check is voided.

The game was originally titled Blank Check and had a winning range of $3,000 to $3,500. The range was later increased to $5,000-$6,000 on February 3, 1989 and to the current range of $7,000 to $8,000 on September 23, 2008. The game was removed from the rotation of active pricing games from May 14, 2009 to June 20, 2013.

Check-Out

The contestant is asked to individually price five grocery items. After all five guesses are tallied, the actual prices of the items are revealed. If the contestant's cumulative total is within $2.00 of the actual total price of the five grocery items, the contestant wins a bonus prize.

The winning range was originally 50¢. It was later increased to $1.00 on April 3, 1996, then to the current $2.00 on October 13, 2003.

Cliff Hangers

The contestant is shown a gameboard with an animatronic yodeling mountain climber standing at the bottom of a 25-step mountain with a cliff at the top. The contestant is then shown three small prizes and is asked to guess the actual retail price of each prize one at a time. The mountain climber moves one step up the mountain for each dollar the contestant is off, higher or lower. The correct price is not revealed until after the climber has stopped or has fallen off. If the contestant is off by an aggregate of more than $25 on the three prizes, the climber falls off the cliff and the contestant loses the game; however, the contestant wins any prizes priced before the climber falls off the mountain. If the climber has not fallen off the cliff after pricing all three prizes (missing the three prizes by a total of $25 or less), the contestant wins all three small prizes and a larger prize.

Officially, the mountain climber has no name, although several hosts have used their own names for him. Doug Davidson referred to the climber on The New Price Is Right as Hans Gudegast, which is the birth name of his Young and the Restless co-star Eric Braeden. Drew Carey has referred to him as Hans, Yodel Man and most frequently, Yodely Guy. Carey has also referred to this game as "the Yodely Guy game". At The Price Is Right Live!, he is often referred to as Johann. Dennis James referred to the climber as Fritz. On an episode which taped in 1976, after the climber fell off the cliff, James commented, "There goes Fritz!", unaware that Janice Pennington's then-husband, Fritz Stammberger, had recently disappeared in a mountain climbing accident. James' offhand comment upset Pennington so much that she remained backstage crying for the rest of the episode.^[2][3]

Clock Game

The game is played for two prizes. The actual price of the first prize is shown to the studio and home audiences. After the contestant gives their first bid, a 30-second clock is started and the host tells the contestant whether the actual price is higher or lower than the bid. The contestant continues to bid, responding to the host's clues, until either the contestant wins by correctly guessing the price of the prize or the time expires. If time remains after the first prize is won, the process is repeated for the second prize. If the contestant prices both prizes within 30 seconds, he or she also wins an additional bonus prize and a cash prize of $1,000. Unlike other pricing games played on the show, the audience is not allowed to help the contestant and is required to remain silent while the contestant is making his or her bids.

With few exceptions, only prizes valued below $1,000 have traditionally been offered in Clock Game. To compensate for low prize values, a $1,000 bonus was also awarded to contestants who correctly priced both prizes within the time limit from 1998 to 2014.^[4] Since April 29, 2009, contestants have been awarded an additional bonus prize for winning the game. Prior to the addition of a bonus prize, prizes priced above $1,000 were offered during the game for a brief period from 2008 to 2009. Prizes valued over $1,000 were also offered for a brief period in the 1980s. The contestant was given only the thousands digit in the price and was required to guess the remaining digits in the price.

On the 1970s syndicated version hosted by Dennis James, if the contestant won both prizes with two or more seconds to spare, they were also awarded a $1,000 bonus.

On six special episodes that aired during the summer of 1986 in prime time, after winning both prizes the contestant blindly chose a cash bonus from one of four envelopes with possible values of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 and $5,000. On prime time specials which aired from 2002 to 2008, a bonus of $5,000 was awarded for winning both prizes within 30 seconds.

Coming or Going

The contestant is shown the price of a prize, whose digits may be displayed in either the correct or reverse order. In order to win, the contestant must choose which of the two possibilities is the correct price. The contestant wins the prize by selecting the correct option.

Cover Up

Five spaces are shown on a gameboard. Above each space are numbers: two above the first space, three above the second space and so on up to six above the fifth space. The contestant is asked to choose a number in each column to create a price a car. If the price is correct, the contestant wins the car. If any digits in the price are correct, the correct digits are lit and the contestant repeats the process for each remaining digit, covering up incorrect digits which had previously been placed. The game continues until the contestant either wins the car by correctly placing all five digits or loses by providing a price in which no new numbers are correct.

Although it does not affect gameplay, until May 23, 2013, a false price was initially placed at the start of the game, and the contestant was required to cover up the incorrect digits during his or her first turn. Since June 4, 2013, the false price has been replaced by various items such as certain symbols, the numbers on the false price being turned upside down, humorously altered photos of staff or special themes relating with the episode.

D

Danger Price

The contestant is shown four prizes and a danger price, which is the price of one of the four prizes. If the contestant avoids selecting the danger price by sequentially choosing the other three prizes, he or she wins all four prizes.

Dice Game

The game is played for a car with a price that does not include the digits 7, 8, 9 or 0. The first digit of the price is revealed. The contestant takes four turns rolling a die on a dice table. To count, the die must roll over a line painted on the table (rolls on the line do not count). Each turn corresponds to one of the remaining digits in the price of the car. If the contestant rolls the actual digit, it is revealed on a gameboard. If a contestant's four rolls are exactly any combination of correct digits, ones, and sixes (incorrect rolls of one or six are automatically defaulted to higher and lower by rule), the contestant wins the car automatically. If the contestant does not roll the actual digit, and the roll is a two, three, four, or five, he or she is asked whether the actual digit is higher or lower than the digit rolled, and the contestant wins the car if all of the guesses are correct. Any one or six, if not the correct number, is automatically set as higher or lower, respectively.

Prior to 1977, the car price occasionally included zeroes or digits higher than six, but until 2007, the contestant was required to state higher for rolls of one and lower for rolls of six. Originally, when cars with four-digit prices were offered, the first number was not revealed to start the game. When cars priced above $10,000 were first offered in the 1980s, an extra digit window was added to the left side of the gameboard for the first number in the price. The game was briefly renamed Deluxe Dice Game when this change first occurred.

Do the Math

A contestant is shown two prizes. Between the two prizes is a screen which displays the difference between the prices of the two prizes, typically an amount between $800 and $1,200.^[5][6] The contestant must decide whether the number on the screen must be added to or subtracted from the price of the prize on the left to yield the price of the prize on the right. A correct answer wins both prizes plus the number on the screen awarded as dollars in cash.^[7]

Double Cross

A contestant is shown two prizes. On an X-shaped touch screen board, the four-digit prices are hidden in two separate seven-digit fields that cross at the fourth digit, the center of the X. The contestant moves two pricing windows in tandem to the correct set of digits, so changing the price of one prize also changes the price of the other. The contestant wins both prizes if he or she is correct.

Double Prices

The contestant is shown two possible prices for a prize, one of which is correct. The contestant wins the prize if he or she chooses the correct price.

Two prizes were offered in early episodes of the 1970s syndicated edition hosted by Dennis James. Regardless of whether or not the contestant won the first prize, the contestant could win a second prize by choosing the correct price from a different set of two possibilities.

E

Easy as 1 2 3

The contestant is given three blocks marked "1", "2" and "3", which are used to rank three prizes from least expensive to most expensive. The contestant wins the three prizes by correctly ranking all three items.

F

Five Price Tags

The contestant is shown five price tags, one of which is the correct price of a car. The contestant is then shown four small prizes and must choose whether a price displayed for each one is the accurate price of the item, signifying their guess with "true" or "false". Each correct guess wins that item and a choice from among the five price tags. After pricing the four small items, the contestant wins the car by correctly selecting its price from among the five price tags using the choices they earned.

Flip Flop

A gameboard displays four digits in the price of a prize arranged in pairs (e.g., 12|34) on two panels. At least one of the pairs of digits needs to be reversed. The contestant may "flip" the first pair ($2,134), "flop" the second pair ($1,243), or "flip flop" both pairs ($2,143). The contestant wins the prize by making the correct choice.

Freeze Frame

A ring of eight tiles, each with a two-digit number, rotates clockwise through a frame at the top of a gameboard. Two of the tiles appear in the frame at a time, forming a four-digit price. The contestant pulls a lever to stop the ring from moving when he or she believes the price within the frame is the price of the prize. If the contestant guesses the price correctly, he or she wins the prize.

G

Gas Money

The contestant is shown five prices for a car. One at a time, the contestant selects four prices he or she believes are not the price of the car. Each time he or she is right, the contestant wins an amount of cash concealed behind the card. Each of the four wrong prices are worth either $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 or $4,000. After each guess, the contestant may choose to either stop and keep any cash won or risk what has already been won by selecting another price. If the contestant successfully guesses all four incorrect prices, he or she wins the car and $10,000. If the contestant's guess is the car's price, the game ends and the contestant loses everything.

Prior to June 19, 2009, contestants had to select what they believed to be the actual price of the car before attempting to eliminate the other four incorrect prices.

Golden Road

Golden Road involves three prizes: the first two have three- and four-digit prices, respectively. The final prize is often billed as one of "the most expensive single prizes offered on the show", with a price consisting of five (or occasionally six) digits. Since 2008, the final prize is usually a premium European sports or luxury car, although premium American sports cars are also offered, especially for patriotically-themed episodes.

The contestant is shown the price of a grocery item worth less than $1 and is then asked which of the two digits in its price is also the missing first digit in the price of the first prize. If correct, the three numbers in the first price are used to select the missing hundreds digit in the second prize. If the contestant prices the second prize correctly, the four numbers in the price of the second prize are used to select the missing hundreds digit in the price of the final prize. The contestant wins any prizes he or she has correctly priced. The contestant wins nothing if he guesses the digit incorrectly for the first prize. The digits in the prices of the first two prizes do not repeat, but the price of the final prize occasionally features repeating digits.

Grand Game

The contestant is shown a target price and six grocery items, four of which are priced below the target price. One at a time, the contestant selects items he believes are priced lower than the target. The contestant's winnings start at $1 and are multiplied by ten for each correct selection, to $10, $100 and $1,000. A contestant who makes an incorrect guess prior to reaching the $1,000 level keeps whatever money is accumulated to that point. After reaching the $1,000 level, the contestant may choose to quit the game and keep his or her winnings or to risk that money in order to attempt to select the one remaining product priced lower than the target. A correct final choice wins the maximum of $10,000; however, if the final item the contestant selects is one of the two above the target price, the contestant loses everything.

Grocery Game

The contestant is shown five grocery items and asked to purchase quantities of them to total between $20 and $21. The contestant can purchase any quantity of any item. Once an item has been selected, it cannot be selected again. After the contestant selects an item, its price is revealed and multiplied by the quantity, then added to the contestant's running total on a cash register. If the contestant succeeds, he or she wins a prize. The game is lost if the contestant's total exceeds $21 or he or she exhausts all five items before reaching $20.

Prior to 1989 the original total range was $6.75 to $7. The first four times the game was played, the contestant received $100 at the start of the game, which he or she kept if he or she won, chose to stop before exceeding $7, or lost without exceeding $7. The contestant also received supplies of the five items in each of those four games. The quantities varied but always totaled at least $100 and counted toward the contestant's winnings.

H

1/2 Off

$10,000 is hidden in one of sixteen boxes. Three pairs of small prizes are shown: one prize in each pair is correctly priced, while the other has had its price cut in half. For each pair, the contestant must choose which prize is priced half off its original price. Each correct guess wins that pair of prizes and eliminates half of the remaining boxes, leaving the winning box still in play. After all three pairs have been played, the contestant has one chance to select that box and win the $10,000. Guessing correctly on all three pairs awards a $1,000 bonus, which the contestant keeps regardless of the outcome.

On the episode which aired October 19, 2007,^[8] the rules were modified to award the contestant $500 in addition to the two smaller prizes for each pair correctly priced. Beginning September 28, 2010,^[9] the $500 per-pair bonus was removed. Instead, contestants now win a $1,000 bonus for correctly pricing all three pairs of items. Under both formats, the contestant keeps the bonus money even if he or she does not win the grand prize.

On prime time specials which aired from 2002 to 2008, the grand prize increased to $25,000.

Hi Lo

The contestant is shown six grocery items and asked to choose the three he or she believes are the highest-priced. After the prices of the contestant's choices are revealed and placed in the Hi row, the lowest-priced of the items in the Hi row is kept and the remaining items' prices are then revealed and placed in the Lo row. If the contestant has correctly chosen the three highest-priced items, he or she wins a prize.

Early in the game's history, the contestant was asked whether each individual item's price belonged in the Hi row or the Lo row. The contestant either won the game by correctly placing each of the six prices or lost by making a mistake.

Hole in One (or Two)

The contestant must putt a golf ball into a hole (similar to miniature golf) in order to win a car. The contestant is asked to place six grocery items in ascending order of price. The prices are then revealed one at a time, and the contestant will ultimately make his or her putt from a line closer to the hole for each successive price that is higher than the previous price. Correctly ordering all six items wins a $500 bonus for the contestant, which is theirs to keep regardless of the game's outcome.

After the prices have been revealed and the line from which the contestant will putt is determined, the contestant receives one chance to putt the ball into the hole. If their first attempt is unsuccessful, the ball is replaced on the same line and the contestant receives a second and final putt.

The host usually performs an inspirational putt from the farthest line to show the contestant how to use a putter, although a model or golf-involved guest will occasionally perform this instead.

Prior to October 10, 1986, the contestant was allowed only one putt to win the car. The game's name became Hole in One or Two when the second putt rule was instituted. On prime time specials which aired in 1986 and from 2002 to 2008, the bonus for correctly ordering all six items was $1,000.

The game is the only game that carries a product placement logo in its prop; Adidas golf's TaylorMade brand provides the putter and bag (which has the show's logo stitched onto it).

I

It's in the Bag

The contestant is shown a series of five grocery bags, with a price tag on each one indicating the retail price of a grocery item in the bag. Six grocery items are then shown: five of the six items correspond to the items in the bags, while the sixth item does not match any of the displayed prices. One at a time, the contestant must match up the grocery items with their prices. After all five choices have been made, the host reveals the price of each item. If the item in the bag matches the one the contestant chose, the contestant wins the corresponding amount of money and must decide whether or not to continue to the next level or quit with the money he or she has already won. If the contestant chooses to continue and an incorrect match is revealed, the game ends and he or she loses all the money won up to that point. The first correct match wins $1,000, and each successive correct match doubles the contestant's winnings ($2,000, $4,000, $8,000 and $16,000).

On prime time specials which aired from 2002 to 2008, the last bag's value was increased to $24,000.

L

Let 'em Roll

This game, loosely based on the dice game yacht, is played for a car or a cash prize of up to $7,500. It uses five large dice, each marked with an image of a car on three sides and cash values of $500, $1,000 and $1,500 on the other three. The contestant is given one roll of the dice and can earn up to two more using three grocery products. The price of the first item is given and the contestant must determine whether the price of each of the next two items is higher or lower than the item preceding it.

In order to win the car, the contestant must roll cars on all five dice in one of the earned rolls. If some dice show cash amounts instead of car images, the contestant may choose either to keep that amount of cash as their prize or to forgo this money and re-roll the dice that did not show a car. If the contestant has not won the car in the final roll, he or she wins the total amount of cash displayed on the dice after the final roll.

Line 'em Up

Line 'em Up is played for a car and three other prizes. The contestant is shown the first and last digits of the car's price. Two of the smaller prizes each have a three-digit price and one has a two-digit price. In order to win the car, the contestant must line up the three prices in a frame to display a price for the car. If the guess is correct, the contestant wins everything. Otherwise, the contestant is told how many of the digits are correctly placed—but not specifically which ones—and the contestant then makes a second guess. The contestant loses if he or she guesses incorrectly on the second attempt.

Lucky Seven

The contestant is given seven $1 bills and shown the first digit in the price of a car. The contestant guesses the remaining digits in the price, one at a time, losing $1 for each digit of difference between their guess and the correct digit. If the contestant has at least $1 remaining after all digits are played, he or she wins the car.

Originally, all cars appearing in this game were priced under $10,000 and no free digits were revealed. When cars priced above $10,000 began to regularly appear, the free digit rule varied: on six special episodes which aired in prime time during the summer of 1986, the last digit in the price was revealed at the start of the game and the contestant had to guess the first four digits. Later that year on the daytime show, the contestant was offered the first digit and was required to guess the last four digits in the price.

On November 5, 2009, to celebrate the show's 7,000th episode, the game used seven stacks of $1,000 instead of the usual seven $1 bills. During that episode, the contestant needed at least $1,000 to buy the car, and kept any remaining money if he or she won the car.

M

Magic Number

The contestant is shown two prizes and told which is the more expensive of the two and which is the less expensive of the two. The contestant must then use a lever on the prop to set a magic number he or she believes to be between the two prices, higher than the less-expensive prize and lower than the more-expensive prize. If he or she is correct, he or she wins both prizes.

Make Your Move

The contestant is shown a sequence of nine digits on a gameboard which include, consecutively but in unknown order, the prices of three prizes: one of each with a two-, three- and four-digit price. There are also three color-coded sliders: a red slider for the two-digit price, a yellow slider for the three-digit price and a green slider for the four-digit price. The contestant must move the slider corresponding to each prize under the digits representing its price, using each digit only once and not overlapping any of the sliders. The contestant must correctly price all three prizes to win.

For a brief time in October 1990, a second prize with a three-digit price replaced the prize with a two-digit price. Under these rules, one of the numbers on the board appeared in the price of two prizes, requiring the sliders to overlap.

Master Key

Master Key is played for a car and two additional prizes, each of which is represented by a giant lock. Five keys are also displayed: three correspond to one prize lock each, another key does not open any of the locks, and the remaining key—dubbed the master key—opens all three locks. The contestant attempts to earn up to two keys by choosing the correct price for two separate smaller prizes. For each smaller prize, a string of three digits is displayed. The contestant must choose whether the first two digits or the last two digits make the correct price for the smaller prize. For example, with a string of 210, the price choices would be $21 or $10. The contestant wins the smaller prize and earns a selection of a key by choosing the correct price. If the contestant earns any keys, he or she attempts to unlock the prizes with the key(s), placing the key into the locks. The contestant wins any prizes he or she is able to unlock.

Money Game

The contestant is given the third digit in the five-digit price of a car and is shown nine two-digit numbers. One of these two-digit numbers is the first two digits in the price and another is the last two digits. The remaining seven pairs of numbers conceal dollar signs, representing money the contestant can win. In order to win the car, the contestant must pick the first two and last two digits of the car's price. Choosing a pair of numbers that reveals a dollar sign places the tile in the money column and awards the contestant that amount in cash. The contestant wins the car, along with any cash accumulated, by finding both pairs of digits in the car's price before filling all four spaces in the money column. If the money column is filled, the contestant wins only the cash sum.

When the game was first played for cars with a five-digit price, the game was titled Big Money Game. For cars with four-digit prices, no digit in the price was revealed at the start of the game. Also, on the Tom Kennedy-hosted syndicated version in 1985, the contestant was shown the last digit in a five-digit price, meaning the contestant had to find the third and fourth digits in addition to the first two.

More or Less

The game is played for a car and three additional prizes. The contestant is shown an incorrect price for the first prize and is asked to guess whether its actual price is more or less than the one displayed. If the contestant is correct, he or she wins that prize and moves on to the next one, with the car as the last prize. A mistake at any point ends the game, but the contestant keeps any prizes correctly priced up to that point.

Most Expensive

The contestant is shown three prizes and must choose which is the most expensive in order to win all three.

N

Now....or Then

The contestant is shown six grocery items, each marked with a price, arranged on a circular gameboard. The gameboard also shows a month and year, usually from the past eight to twelve years. The contestant selects an item and must determine whether the price given for the item is the current price (now) or the price as of the specified past date (then). To win the game and a large prize, the contestant must make correct guesses for three adjacent wedges of the circle. The game ends if incorrect guesses make it impossible to claim three adjacent wedges.

Prior to December 2, 1986, the original name of the game was Now....and Then. The name was changed to reflect the decision made by the contestants.

O

One Away

The contestant is shown an incorrect price for a car. Each of the individual digits displayed is either one digit higher or one digit lower than correct digit in the price. The contestant adjusts each digit and wins the car if they have correctly chosen all five. If all five digits are wrong, the contestant automatically loses the game. Otherwise, he or she is told the total number of digits correctly placed, but not specifically which ones and is given an opportunity to make the necessary changes. The actual price of the car is then revealed and the contestant wins if their guess matches the price.

One Right Price

The contestant is shown two prizes and a price corresponding to one of them. The contestant wins both prizes by correctly choosing the prize associated with the price.

One Wrong Price

The contestant is shown three prizes, each with accompanying prices. Two prices are correct and one is incorrect. The contestant wins all three prizes by choosing the prize with the incorrect price.

P

Pass the Buck

The game is played for a car and/or a cash prize. The contestant is shown a board with six numbered spaces. Behind the numbers are one space marked with an image of a car, two spaces marked "Lose Everything" and three spaces marked with cash values: $1,000, $3,000 and $5,000. The contestant is given one choice of a space at the start of the game and can earn two additional choices.

The contestant is shown four grocery items in two pairs, one pair at a time. Each pair contains one correctly priced item and one with a price reduced by $1. The contestant must pass the buck by placing a dollar bill marker beneath the item he believes has been discounted, and each correct decision earns an additional choice of spaces on the board. The contestant then makes their selection(s) from the board and can quit at any time, keeping what he or she has won. Otherwise, the game ends when the contestant has used all of their choices. The contestant may win the car as well as up to $8,000. The maximum cash amount that can be won without winning the car is $9,000.

Early in the game's history, the board had eight spaces instead of six, a third "Lose Everything" space and a $2,000 cash award, and the maximum cash amount that could have been won without winning the car was $10,000. Additionally, the contestant was not given a free choice at the start of the game. Instead, a third pair of grocery items (for a total of six items) was used to earn a third choice. During this period, the contestant could earn no picks if he guesses all three pairs of grocery items incorrectly.

Pathfinder

The game is played for a car. The gameboard features a five-by-five grid of 25 digits and includes a five-digit path which is the price of the car. The first digit is the center square and each remaining digit is one of the squares adjacent (not diagonal) to the digit preceding it. At each turn, the contestant must step to the square that is the next digit in the price and walk the correct path to all five digits in order to win the car. If at any time the contestant chooses an incorrect digit, he or she must return to the previous space and earn a second chance by pricing one of three smaller prizes. The contestant chooses a prize and attempts to select what he or she believes is the correct price from a choice of two. If the contestant succeeds, he or she wins that prize and another chance to choose the next correct digit in the car's price. If the contestant fails to choose the correct price, he or she may repeat the guessing game with another small prize. If the contestant steps on an incorrect digit with no small prizes remaining or guesses the incorrect price for the third small prize, the game ends.

The game originally offered cars with four-digit prices and an asterisk was on the center square. Contestants had to step onto all four digits without being given a free digit.

Pay the Rent

This game is played using six grocery items and offers a top prize of $100,000.^[10] The main prop is a house with four levels. The first and fourth levels each contain a position for only one product, with levels two and three each containing positions for two products.

After being shown the grocery products, the contestant selects an item for the lowest level. Then, the contestant selects two items for the second level, two for the third level, and finally one for the fourth level. The total of the product prices on each level must be greater than the total of the price from the previous level.

The price of the item for the first level is revealed, and the contestant wins $1,000. If the combined total of the product prices for the second level is greater than the price of the item on the first level, the contestant's winnings increase to $5,000. The contestant wins $10,000 if the total prices of the products on the third level are higher than those on the second level. If the product on the fourth level is priced higher than the combined prices for those on the third level, the contestant wins $100,000. At each level, the contestant risks the money already won. Throughout the game, the contestant may choose to end the game and keep the money; however, an incorrect guess ends the game and the contestant loses everything.

Pick-a-Number

The contestant is shown a prize and its price with one digit missing. The contestant wins the prize by correctly selecting the missing digit from three possible choices.

Pick-a-Pair

Six grocery items with matching prices are shown in three pairs, each with their price concealed. The contestant must select two items with the same price in order to win a prize. If the contestant is incorrect with his or her first selection, he or she may make a second guess, keeping one of the initially selected items and attempting to match it with one of the remaining items. If the contestant is correct on the second chance, he or she wins.

Plinko

Plinko is played for up to $50,000. The contestant is given one free chip and can win up to four more by pricing smaller prizes. For each prize, the contestant is shown a price and must choose which digit of two displayed—the first or the second—is correct. The contestant wins the small prize and an extra chip for choosing the correct digit. After pricing all of the items, the contestant places one chip at a time on a pegboard (styled similarly to a bean machine), where it eventually falls into one of nine spaces at the bottom. Dollar value spaces at the bottom of the board are arranged similarly to Pascal's triangle. The outer-most spaces are labeled $100, $500, $1,000 and $0, and the centrally-located space is labeled $10,000. The contestant wins the value marked on the space where the chip eventually lands; the chip is removed and the process is repeated until the supply of chips is exhausted.

If any chips become stuck on the board, the host will generally use a Plinko stick to knock them loose, and the chip is to the contestant to drop again.

On daytime episodes prior to October 15, 1998, the slot in the center was worth $5,000, for a top prize of $25,000.

Pocket Change

The game is played for a car. The contestant begins the game with $0.25, which is given as the car's initial selling price. Six digits are shown, five of which belong to the price of the car. The first digit in the price is revealed. One at a time, the contestant attempts to guess the next four digits in the price of the car. Each incorrect choice raises the car's selling price by $0.25. When a digit is correctly chosen, it is removed from the available choices for the remaining spaces in the price and the contestant selects an envelope from a gameboard. Each envelope contains a value between $0.00 and $2.00, which is not immediately revealed.

After correctly guessing the fifth digit and selecting a final envelope, the contents of each envelope are revealed and their amounts added to the initial bank of $0.25. If the bank total meets or exceeds the car's selling price, the contestant wins.

The first time the game was played, the contestant was not given the first digit and was required to guess all five digits in the price, but was also able to choose five envelopes and have all five added to their initial $0.25.

Punch-a-Bunch

The game is played for a top prize of $25,000. The contestant answers higher-or-lower pricing questions about four items, one at a time. Each correct answer earns a punch on a 5-by-10 punchboard. The contestant punches holes into the appropriate number of spaces on the board, each of which contains a slip of paper with an amount of money written on it. The host then reveals the amount written on each slip, one at a time, beginning with the first hole punched.

The contestant may choose to quit and keep the amount won or to try to win a better prize with the next slip. The game continues until the contestant either quits, wins the top prize or reaches the last of their slips, in which case he or she must keep the last amount. It was possible to win more than the top prize by first punching one or more Second Chance prizes (which were attached to the lowest amounts) and then the top prize.

Prior to September 29, 2011, four slips also read "Second Chance". If the contestant found one, the contestant punched an additional hole and the value of the slip inside was added to the total.

On prime time specials which aired from 2002 to 2008, the top prize was originally $25,000, then later increased to $50,000. On the daytime show, the top prize from September 27, 1978 to October 1, 2008 was $10,000.

Although the same pricing method was used to earn punches, the first 11 playings of Punch-a-Bunch used a different cash distribution and punch format. Each of the letters in the word "PUNCHBOARD" concealed a different number, with two each of 1 through 4 and one each of 5 and 10. After punching one of the letters, the contestant punched a hole in the field of 50 holes on the board. Twenty of the holes contained slips marked "Dollars", another 20 contained slips marked "Hundred" and the remaining 10 contained slips marked "Thousand". The number punched was multiplied by the phrase on the slip to determine the contestant's award (e.g., punching a ten and the word "Thousand" earned the contestant $10,000).

Push Over

The contestant is shown a prize and a series of nine numbered blocks which includes the correct price. A blue window, four blocks wide, is positioned at the far right end of a shelf, beyond which is a bin. The contestant wins the prize by pushing the entire row of blocks until the correct price is shown in the window. However, once blocks fall over the edge into the bin, they cannot be retrieved. This game has occasionally been played for prizes valued over $10,000, using a window able to accommodate a five-digit price.

R

Race Game

The contestant is shown four prizes and given four price tags that correspond to those items. The contestant places a price tag on each prize and pulls a lever on a prop, which then displays the number of correctly placed tags. If the number displayed is less than four, the contestant may rearrange the price tags and repeat the process, changing which tags he or she believed were placed incorrectly. The contestant has 45 seconds to place all four tags correctly. If a contestant is a shown a four after pulling the lever prior to the elapsing of the 45 seconds, the game ends with all four prizes won. If time expires, the host will pull the lever to show how many the contestant had correct when time expired, with those prizes awarded to the contestant.

Range Game

The contestant is shown a $600 range for the price of a prize. A $150 range finder moves up the scale and the contestant is asked to stop the range finder when the highlighted area contains the price of the prize. The contestant has only one opportunity to stop the range. If the price falls within the contestant's selected range, the contestant wins the prize.

The original range was $50, but it was quickly increased to $100. The range was $200 for a brief period during the 1970s on the syndicated version of the show.

The 1994 syndicated version hosted by Doug Davidson, known as The New Price is Right, used a modified version of this game for the Showcase round. The contestant selected a range between $4,000 and $10,000 at random during a commercial. After seeing their showcase, the range finder moved up the scale, and the contestant pulled a lever to stop the range when he or she believed the price of the showcase fell within the range. If correct, the contestant won the showcase.

Rat Race

The contestant must price three items within specified ranges: a grocery item priced under $10 within $1; a small prize priced under $100 within $10; and a medium prize priced under $500 within $100. For each bid given within the correct range, the contestant chooses one of five colored mechanical rats (yellow, green, pink, orange and blue), which are positioned on a large dollar sign-shaped race track. The rats are then set in motion on the track and all five rats ultimately travel the same distance. If one of the selected rats finishes in third place, the contestant wins an additional small prize; in second, a medium-valued prize; and if a selected rat wins the race, the contestant wins a car. Contestants can win more than one prize depending upon how the chosen rats finish the race.^[11]

S

Safe Crackers

The contestant wins two prizes by correctly pricing the less-expensive prize which contains three unique digits in its price. The digits in the price must be entered in the proper order as the combination to open a giant safe containing the two prizes.

Secret "X"

The contestant attempts to place three Xs in a row on an oversized tic-tac-toe board. Hidden in the center column is a secret X. At the start of the game, the contestant is given one free X to place anywhere in either the left or right column of the board. They can win up to two more Xs by selecting the correct price of each of two small items from a choice of two prices. After placing their additional Xs, the contestant wins the game and a large prize if they have formed a line of three either horizontally or diagonally. If the contestant earns no additional Xs, the game ends immediately. Contestants are not allowed to place all three of their Xs on the same column to create a vertical line, as a winning line of three must include the secret X.

Shell Game

Played similarly to the carnival game of the same name, the game features four shells, one of which conceals a ball. The contestant is asked whether each of four prizes is actually priced higher or lower than a given incorrect price. For each correct guess, the contestant wins that small prize and a chip to place beside one of the shells. If the contestant places a chip beside the shell containing the ball, he or she wins a bonus prize. If the contestant correctly prices all four items, he or she also wins a cash amount equal to the prize value by correctly guessing which shell conceals the ball.^[12] Previously, this bonus was $500 on the daytime show, and $1,000 on the 1970s syndicated version. On the 1985–86 syndicated version, the bonus was originally $500, then $1,000; eventually, it was awarded for correctly pricing all four items, without having to select the right shell.

Shopping Spree

The contestant is shown four prizes and asked to choose the three prizes whose total prices exceed a given amount. If the contestant is correct, they win all four prizes.

Side by Side

The contestant is shown a prize and two pairs of digits representing the first two and last two digits in its price. The contestant wins the prize by correctly determining the order of the pairs of digits (e.g., $1,234 or $3,412).

Spelling Bee

The game is played for a car or a cash prize of up to $5,000. A gameboard contains 30 cards: eleven Cs, eleven As, six Rs and two cards which read "CAR". In order to win the car, the contestant must accumulate cards whose letters spell out CAR or get one of the two CAR cards. The contestant chooses two free cards from the board and may win up to three more by pricing each of three small items within $10, high or low, of its actual price. If the contestant exactly prices any of these items, they automatically win all three additional cards and all three small prizes, even if others were missed. After the cards are chosen, the contestant is offered $1,000 per card to quit the game and walk away. The cards are revealed one at a time. If the car is not yet won, the cash buyout offer is repeated with the remaining cards. The contestant wins nothing if he or she fails to spell CAR or get one of the two CAR cards after the last card is revealed. If the contestant does win the car, however, he or she does not receive cash for any remaining cards.

Prior to 2007, each card was worth $500, for a maximum buyout of $2,500.

Squeeze Play

The contestant is shown a prize and its price with one additional digit. The first and last digits are always correct. The contestant must remove the incorrect middle digit in order to win the prize.

Stack the Deck

The game is played for a car. The contestant is shown seven playing cards containing digits, five of which make up the price of the car. The contestant is then shown six grocery items in three pairs, one pair at a time, each of which has a price displayed. The contestant must select the item that correctly corresponds to each price. For each correct answer, they may reveal one correct digit in the price of the car and the card's position. They then attempt to fill in the remaining digits by selecting the appropriate cards. If the contestant prices the car correctly, they win the car.

Step Up

The contestant is shown four prizes, each usually worth from $500 to $3,000. The contestant selects one prize and, after its price is revealed, picks a second that he or she believes is priced higher. A correct guess nets both prizes and $500. The contestant may either stop and keep all accumulated winnings or select one of the remaining two prizes, again attempting to select a more expensive item in order to win all three prizes plus an additional $1,000. They may again choose whether to stop or attempt to win the fourth item and an additional $1,500 in the same manner, for a total of $3,000 and all four prizes. If an incorrect guess is made at any time, the game ends and the contestant loses everything.

Swap Meet

The contestant is shown four prizes, one of which is the base prize and one of which has the same price as the base prize. The contestant must swap the base prize for the prize of equivalent value in order to win all four prizes.

Switch?

The contestant is shown two prizes, each with a price. The contestant must decide whether the prices are correct as shown or need to be switched with each other. A correct decision wins both prizes.

Switcheroo

A car is revealed and four additional prizes valued under $100 are described. The contestant is shown the prices for the five items, each of which is missing its tens digit, and given five blocks with the missing digits. The contestant has 30 seconds to complete the five prices using these blocks. After either the time limit expires or the contestant is satisfied, the number of prizes priced correctly is told to the contestant, but not specifically which ones. If all five prices correct, the contestant immediately wins everything. If there are less than five prices correct and the contestant wishes to make changes, another 30 seconds is placed on the clock for the contestant to do so. The contestant may also quit instead of taking another 30 seconds to rearrange the blocks. Once the game ends, the contestant wins any prizes that are correctly priced.

T

Take Two

The contestant is shown four prizes and a total which represents the price of two prizes added together. The contestant has two chances to choose the two prizes whose prices match the total given. A correct choice wins the contestant all four prizes.

Temptation

The game is played for a car and four additional prizes. The first digit in the price of the car is given to the contestant. One at the time, the prices of the four additional prizes (one of which is usually a cash amount), each of which contains only two distinct digits, are shown. One digit in each price corresponds to one of the remaining digits in the price of the car. The contestant uses these digits to fill in the price of the car and is then given a chance to change any digits. Once the contestant is satisfied with their guess, the host reveals the total value of the prizes and then offers the contestant two options: either take the four prizes and leave the game, or risk them and try to win the car. If the contestant chooses to risk the prizes and the car's price is correct, the contestant wins the car in addition to the prizes; however, if the car's price is incorrect, the contestant loses everything.

Originally, when the game was played for cars with four-digit prices, the first digit was not given. Also, early playings of the game included prizes with three different digits in their prices as well as prizes with two-digit prices. In addition, when the game debuted, contestants were not given the option to change any digits after making their initial selections.

Ten Chances

The contestant is given ten chances to correctly price three prizes. The first has a two-digit price, the second a three-digit price and the third is a car. The contestant is given three digits for the two-digit price and must guess the price using two of the digits in any order. The process repeats for the second prize, where a contestant is given four digits for a three-digit prize, and the car, where a contestant has to arrange the five digits in order. The game ostensibly includes a ten-second time limit for writing down each choice, though this is rarely enforced.

Originally, the game used cars with four digits in the price and the contestant had to use four of the five available digits to form the price of the car.

That's Too Much

The contestant is shown up to ten prices for a car in ascending order of price. The contestant wins the car by correctly identifying the first revealed price which is higher than the actual price by calling out "That's Too Much!"

3 Strikes

The contestant is shown eight discs: five marked with digits in the price of a car and three marked with an X – a strike. The discs are placed into a bag and shuffled, and the contestant blindly draws a disc from the bag. If a digit is drawn, the contestant must choose which position it fits in the price. If correct, the digit is lit up in the price display on a gameboard and the disc is removed from play; if incorrect, the disc is returned to the bag. If a strike is drawn, an X is lit up in the strike display on the gameboard and that disc is removed from play. The contestant continues to draw discs until they either correctly position each digit in the price and win the car, or draw all three strikes and lose the game.

Originally, when the game was played for cars with four-digit prices, there were seven discs in the bag: the four digits of the price and the three strikes. The game was briefly known as 3 Strikes + when cars priced above $10,000 were first offered. Originally, and again for a brief period in 2008, the value of cars offered was similar to those offered in other pricing games. Otherwise, since 1993, the game has been played for luxury cars except during episodes with special themes, where a vehicle worth at least $40,000 is used. Since 2013, cars priced above $100,000 have occasionally been offered. When this occurs, the game begins with nine discs in play: six marked with digits in the price plus the three strikes.

The game has undergone several rules changes in its history. From 1998 to 2008, only one strike chip was used, and it was returned to the bag after being drawn. The contestant lost by drawing the strike chip three times. For a brief period in 2008, the first digit in the price was lit to the contestant at the beginning of the game.

Time is Money

The contestant is shown five grocery items as well as a table with three specific price categories: $0–$2.99, $3–$5.99, and $6 and higher. The contestant has ten seconds to place each grocery item in the proper category. If the contestant correctly places all five grocery items in the correct category, the contestant wins $20,000. If the contestant is wrong, the contestant is given an additional 20 seconds to rearrange the products; however, the potential cash prize available (which is displayed on a monitor) decreases by $1,000 per second that passes (time is calibrated to the thousandths). After rearranging the products, the contestant then presses a button. If each of the grocery items is placed correctly, the clock is stopped and the contestant wins in dollars, the time remaining multiplied by $1,000 (e g, 16.315 seconds is worth $16,315). If the guess is incorrect, a buzzer sounds and the contestant may make further guesses if the 20-second time limit has not expired; however, the contestant is never told specifically how many items are placed correctly or which ones.

The revamped game premiered on 22 September 2014.^[13] Under the original rules the game was played for a large prize and $500 instead of $20,000 cash. The contestant had 15 seconds to correctly group all of the items. If the contestant was correct, he or she also won $500 in addition to the prize. If unsuccessful, the contestant could stop playing and keep the $500, or exchange it for another 15 seconds to regroup the items, without knowing how many items were incorrectly placed or which ones. After two playings, the rules were changed to remove the $500 bonus and offer the contestant two chances to correctly place the items, with a 20-second time limit for each chance, and the contestant was told how many items were incorrectly placed after the first attempt (although not specifically which individual products were placed correctly). If the contestant was incorrect on the second chance, the game ended and he or she won nothing.

Triple Play

Triple Play is the only game to regularly offer three cars. The contestant is shown two price choices for the first car, three for the second and four for the third. For each car, the contestant must choose which of the displayed prices is closest to the actual price of the car without going over. The contestant may not stop the game after correctly pricing the first or second car. If the contestant chooses correctly for all three cars, he or she wins all three. If the contestant chooses incorrectly at any point, the game ends and he or she wins nothing.

2 for the Price of 1

The game is played for two prizes, one of which has three digits in its price. The contestant must select which of two digits displayed is the correct digit in each position of the price. The contestant is offered a free digit of his or her choice and then selects which of the remaining digits are correct. If the contestant correctly determines the price, he or she wins both prizes.

Inactive games

When the 1972 version of the show premiered, many games did not have official names which were used on the air. Some of the names below are unofficial or assigned by the production staff.

A

Add 'em Up

The contestant was shown a car with a four-digit price, which contained no repeating digits. The sum of the digits in the price was shown to the contestant, who then selected one of the digits in the price to be revealed. That digit was subtracted from the total sum and the contestant attempted to guess the three remaining digits in the price. After each correct guess, the digit was revealed and the remaining total was provided to the contestant. The contestant won the car by guessing the remaining digits in the price before making two mistakes.

B

Balance Game

Five small prizes were presented and the contestant was given five Barker silver dollars. In order to win, the contestant attempted to balance a scale with the correct combination of small prizes and, if necessary, the silver dollars given to him or her. The contestant selected prizes one by one and placed them on either side of the scale. If the total value of the prizes placed on one side of the scale equaled the total value of the prizes placed on the other side, the contestant won a larger prize package. If the totals were within five dollars of each other, the contestant could use the silver dollars to balance the scale.

Regardless of the outcome, the contestant kept any small prizes used in the game and any unused silver dollars.

Bullseye

The contestant was given seven chances to guess the actual price of a car. In response to each guess, the host told the contestant whether the actual price was higher or lower. In some appearances of the game, the contestant was given a $500 range into which the price fell.

Bump

The contestant was shown two prizes and a British-themed gameboard containing four double decker buses, each with a price on it. The first and last buses displayed the same price and the name of each prize was placed below the two middle buses. The contestant decided which way to bump the buses, knocking two of them off the board resulting in either the first two or the last two buses being positioned over the names of the prizes. The contestant won both prizes if the prices displayed on the buses matched those of the prizes below them.

Buy or Sell

Three prizes were shown, each with an incorrect price. The contestant bought prizes he or she believed were under-priced and sold prizes he or she believed were overpriced. The actual prices were then revealed, one at a time. For each correct decision, the difference between the two prices was added to a bank; for each incorrect decision, the difference was subtracted from the bank. If the contestant had made $100 or more at the end of the game, he won all three prizes as well as any money accumulated in the bank. The most money that could be accumulated was $1,900. Prior to 1997, winning contestants did not receive any money accumulated.

C

Clearance Sale

Three prizes were shown and the contestant was given three price tags, each of which bore a sale price lower than one of the items' actual retail price. The contestant placed a price tag on each prize and won all three prizes if each of the sale prices was below the actual price of its respective prize.

Credit Card

Five prizes, each usually worth $200–$3,000, were shown. The contestant was then presented with a large credit card, which was inserted into an ATM, which then displayed a credit limit (usually $1,800–$2,500). To win all five prizes, the contestant needed to select, one at a time, the three prizes whose total price was below the credit limit. If the total did not exceed the credit limit, the contestant won all five prizes.

D

Double Bullseye

The game was reformatted after never producing a winner in the first month into a two-player format early in the show's run, the only pricing game that guaranteed a winner. After the first contestant won his or her way on stage, another contestant was called from the audience, and another item went up for bids. After the second contestant won his or her way on stage, the car was shown. Barker asked each one to give him a bid on the price of the car after giving a price range of $500. He then told the opponent whether the price was higher or lower than the bid, and the two alternated until one gave the exact price, winning the car.

Australia's version of The Price is Right used this format for their Showcase round. Hosts Ian Turpie or Larry Emdur gave a price range and asked the two contestants to bid in the same manner. Whoever gave the exact price won the opportunity to play for the showcase.

Double Digits

A car was shown along with four small prizes. For each small prize, the contestant was shown the second digit in that prize's price, and then two possibilities for the first digit. The contestant attempted to select the correct first digit in the price, which also corresponded to a digit in the car's price. If the four correct digits had been chosen, the contestant won the car and all four small prizes. If the contestant failed to win the car, he or she still won any small prizes which were priced correctly.

F

Finish Line

Six small prizes were described in three pairs. For each pair, the contestant tried to pick the more expensive item. The sum of the prices of the rejected prizes made up a finish line that a miniature horse and jockey would have to cross. After all three choices were made, the horse moved one step for each dollar in the total value of the prizes the contestant had selected. If the horse passed the finish line, the contestant won a larger prize. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant kept the three chosen prizes.

Fortune Hunter

Fortune Hunter was played for four prizes and $5,000. It involved four boxes, one of which contained the cash prize. The host read three clues to help the contestant eliminate the prizes associated with them, based on their prices. The remaining box was then opened. If the cash was hidden inside, the contestant won all four prizes plus the $5,000. However, if the chosen box was empty, the contestant won nothing.

The contestant did not have to eliminate the prizes in the order the clues were read. The prizes could be eliminated in any order, as long as only the box that contained the money was left.

G

Gallery Game

A painting of the prize that the contestant was playing for was shown to the contestant. Below the painting was a price, which was missing part of one digit. To win the prize, the contestant had to paint the digit. The contestant won the prize if the price he or she painted matched its actual price.

Give or Keep

Six small prizes were presented in three pairs. From each pair, the contestant picked what he believed was the more expensive prize. If the sum of the prices of the prizes the contestant kept was equal to or greater than the sum of the prices of the prizes they gave away, the contestant won a larger prize. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant won the three prizes they chose to keep.

H

Hit Me

Before the game began, the contestant cut a deck of oversized playing cards, from which the house's hand was made. Like in blackjack, the object of the game was to come closer than the house to 21 without going over. The contestant was shown six grocery items. One item always displayed the actual price of the item, another always showed the item marked at the actual price multiplied by 10, and the others were marked at an amount of a multiple of two through nine.

The contestant selected items to acquire cards until reaching 21, freezing, or exceeding 21. The contestant won the game regardless of the house's score if their score reached 21. If the contestant froze, the house's cards were revealed and additional cards were drawn from the deck and added to the house's hand until the total reached 17 or higher (at which point the house froze) or exceeded 21. The contestant won the game and a large prize if the house busted or if their total equaled or exceeded the house's score without busting.

Situations involving an ace in the house's hand — and whether it should be counted as one or eleven when the result would be in favor of the house — were handled inconsistently over the course of the game's time on the show.

Hurdles

A grocery item was described that served as the base price and six more products were shown to the contestant in three pairs. The objective was to choose the item of each pair that was priced below the base price, and a blue flag was placed for each choice. After the selections were made, a starter's pistol was fired and a hurdler moved across a gameboard. As the hurdler moved, the price of each of the selected products rose up the board. If the hurdle's price was lower than the base price, the hurdler continued to move across the board. If the hurdler successfully cleared all three hurdles, the contestant won the game and a large prize. However, if a hurdle's price was higher than the base price, the hurdler crashed and the contestant lost.

I

It's Optional

Two cars were shown, each of the same make and model. The contestant was told the second car was priced a set amount higher than the first and told the difference in the two prices, then shown a list of a list of nine options. Selecting options one at a time, the contestant attempted to increase the price of the first car to within $100 of the price of the second car without going over. The number of options a contestant was allowed to choose during the course of the game changed each time it was played but was generally between three and five.

J

Joker

The contestant was shown a hand of five cards, one of which was a joker. For each of four small prizes then shown, the contestant attempted to select the correct price among two prices provided. For each prize, the two price choices included the same digits (e.g., $37 or $73). The contestant won the prize by selecting the correct price and also discarded a card from the hand. The remaining cards in the hand were then revealed. If the contestant had discarded the joker, he or she won an additional larger prize.

M

Make Your Mark

Three prizes were shown along with four prices on a gameboard. The contestant was given $500 and attempted to mark what he believed were the three correct prices. Two random correct prices were then revealed and the contestant was given the choice to either hold onto the $500 and leave the third marker as it was or forfeit the money and switch the marker to the originally unselected price. If the third price was correct, the contestant won all three prizes, plus the $500 if he had not given it back. However, if the third price was incorrect, the contestant lost all three prizes and the $500.

The game was originally titled Barker's Markers in reference to former host Bob Barker, but was re-titled Make Your Mark after Drew Carey took over as host and during the game's single appearance on the 1994 syndicated version hosted by Doug Davidson.

On the October 9, 2008 episode,^[14] the only playing of Make Your Mark in season 37, Drew Carey incorrectly explained the rules that the contestant was allowed to keep the $500 regardless of whether or not they ultimately won the game, so as long as they did not change the last marker.

Mystery Price

A prize package was presented to the contestant and the price of the least expensive item in the package was dubbed the "mystery price". Four smaller prizes were shown individually and the contestant placed a bid on each of them. If their bid was equal to or lower than the item's actual price, the contestant won that prize and the amount of their bid was placed into a bank. If the contestant overbid on the prize, it was lost and no value was added to the bank.

After all four small prizes were played, the mystery price was revealed. The contestant won the larger prize package in addition to any small prizes they did not overbid on if the bank was equal to or greater than the mystery price.

O

On the Nose

In order to win a car, the contestant competed in one of five possible sporting events. The events varied each time the game was played and included throwing a baseball or football into a specified area, shooting a basketball into a hoop, hitting a tennis ball with a racket into a specified area or popping a balloon with a dart.

After being shown the car, the contestant was presented with four possible prices. The contestant selected the one they believed was the actual price of the car and, if correct, won a $1,000 bonus and four attempts at the sporting event preselected for that day. The further away the selected price was from the actual price, the fewer attempts at the sporting event the contestant received with no bonus. If the contestant succeeded in the sporting event, he or she won the car.

On the Spot

Six small prizes were described and the contestant was shown three paths, colored blue, yellow and pink, extending outward from a center black spot. Each path was marked with three prices. To win a car, the contestant attempted to match the three prices in any path to the six prizes in play. After choosing a path, the contestant had to correctly determine which prize was associated with each price along the path in turn. If the contestant made a mistake, they returned to the center spot and chose a new path. Making mistakes on all three paths ended the game.

Some of the prices on a path were repeated on other paths, and the contestant could automatically step to the next price along the path if he or she had already correctly matched the associated prize on a previous path.

P

Penny Ante

Two grocery items were described. For each item, four possible prices were presented. The contestant was given three oversized pennies and attempted to select the correct price for each of the two items. Each mistake the contestant made cost him or her a penny. The contestant won a larger prize if he or she was able to guess the actual price of both items before losing all three pennies.

The first five times the game was played, the board was not divided into halves for each grocery item. Instead, the two correct prices were hidden among all eight choices. Whenever an incorrect price was guessed, one penny fell from the side of the gameboard into a bucket for each cent in the amount of the guess. A scoreboard was attached to the front of the gameboard, which kept track of the pennies accumulated. The contestant lost the game if the total of the incorrect guesses made before finding the two correct prices equaled 100 pennies or more.

The Phone Home Game

The contestant and a preselected home viewer competing via telephone teamed to attempt to win up to $15,000. Before the game began, the home viewer was given a list of the actual prices for each of seven grocery items. The items were then described to the contestant and the home viewer gave a price for one of the items. The contestant selected the item he or she believed matched that price. If the contestant was correct, the team shared a hidden cash award associated with that specific product. If the contestant was incorrect, both the guessed product and the correct product were removed from play and that particular cash award was lost. The contestant and home viewer attempted to make three matches and win three cash awards. If the home viewer read the name of a product at any time instead of a price, that turn was lost.

The cash awards for the matched products were revealed and the team split the total amount won. The cash awards hidden beside the seven products included one each of $10,000, $3,000, and $2,000, and two each of $1,000 and $200.

Poker Game

Four prizes were shown. The contestant selected two of the prizes and the digits in their prices were used to form a poker hand, with nines high and zeroes low. After the hand was revealed, the contestant chose either to keep their hand or to pass it to the house. The prices of the other two prizes were then revealed and if the contestant made a better hand than the house, they won all four prizes.

The hand rankings were similar to those of poker and included five of a kind, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. However, straights did not count, and without suits, flushes were not possible.

In early playings, the contestant was allowed to make their hand with any five of the six digits of the prices of the two prizes they had chosen, but did not have the option to pass their chosen hand to the house.

Professor Price

The contestant attempted to answer general knowledge questions with numerical answers, such as "How many innings are there in a regulation baseball game?", in order to win a car. After answering the first question, the contestant was asked if the correct answer to that question, which was always a digit from zero to nine, was also contained in the price of the car. General knowledge and pricing questions were repeated in this manner until the contestant either gave three correct responses and won the car, or gave three incorrect responses and lost the game.

A large animatronic puppet known as Professor Price was central to the game. The contestant's progress was tracked by the professor's hands, with correct answers counted by upward-pointing fingers on the puppet's right hand and incorrect answers counted by downward-pointing fingers on his left hand.

The game was played only twice, making it the shortest-lived game in the show's history. It was also the only game to have a perfect record, having been won both times it was played.

S

Shower Game

The contestant was shown six shower stalls, each marked with a possible price for a car. Three stalls contained confetti, two contained 100 $1 bills, and the one with the actual price contained a key to the car. If the contestant chose the stall with the confetti, he or she continued to choose stalls until he or she found either of the two with $100, winning the cash, or the keys, winning the car.

Split Decision

A car and a medium prize were shown and a string of eight digits was displayed on a gameboard. The numbers in the prices of the prizes appeared in order but were not necessarily placed side by side. The contestant was given 20 seconds to pull down the three digits that made up the price of the smaller prize, leaving the five digits that made up the price of the car. To stop the clock, the contestant pushed a button on the gameboard. If the correct three-digit price for the smaller prize had been pulled down, the contestant won both prizes. If incorrect, the contestant continued guessing until a correct guess was made or time ran out.

A later variation in the rules did not feature a clock. Instead, the contestant was given only three chances to win.

Super Ball!!

Three large prizes were shown, each associated with a ball marked #1, #2 or #3. The contestant then attempted to correctly choose from among two possible prices for each of three small prizes. For each correct choice, he or she won that small prize and earned a ball, which he or she rolled up a skee ball ramp containing three rings marked $50, $100 and WIN! If the contestant rolled a ball into the WIN! ring, he or she won the associated large prize. If he or she rolled it into either cash ring, he or she won that amount of money.

A fourth small prize was then revealed, along with a Super Ball. If the contestant won that small prize and earned the Super Ball and rolled it into the WIN! ring, he or she won any of the three large prizes not previously won. Otherwise, the contestant won triple the value of the cash ring in which the ball landed. In the rare event that the contestant had already won all three large prizes, rolling the Super Ball into the WIN! ring earned the contestant a $3,000 bonus.

Super Saver

Six grocery items were presented, each marked with a price. Five of the items were priced lower than the actual retail price, and one item was priced higher than the actual retail price. The contestant chose four of the items, one at a time, and the difference between the marked price and the actual price was added to a bank. If the contestant saved at least $1 in the four choices, the contestant won a larger prize. It was mathematically possible to choose the item marked higher than its actual price but still win the game if the other three purchases saved enough. Also, a contestant was required to choose four items, even if the bank total exceeded $1 from the first two or three choices.

T

Telephone Game

A car and two smaller prizes were shown, along with four grocery items. The contestant was given $1 to purchase two of the four grocery items, attempting to spend less than 90¢ so that he or she would have a dime left in order to use a pay telephone. If the contestant succeeded, he or she dialed one of three given sets of four-digit telephone numbers and won whatever prize's price was associated with that number. The number for the car represented its price in dollars, while the numbers for the two small prizes represented their prices in dollars and cents. The contestant won nothing if their grocery item purchase exceeded 90¢.

Trader Bob

A large prize was shown and the game used seven small prizes. The contestant started with one small prize, which served as the base and was shown, one at a time, six small prizes in three pairs that were rolled out on barrels. One prize of each pair was worth more than the base and the contestant attempted to choose that prize. If the contestant successfully arranged all three selected prizes in ascending order, they also won the large prize. However, if one mistake is made, they won only the last small prize whose price had been revealed.

W

Walk of Fame

Four prizes were shown and the contestant had to guess each price within a set range to win. The winning range increased with every subsequent prize. If the contestant made a mistake on any prize (except for the final prize, in which case the game ended), he or she was given a choice of two autograph books signed by the show's cast, one of which also contained the words "Second Chance" written in it. If the contestant selected the Second Chance book, the game continued, but the contestant did not win the prize with which he or she made the mistake. The contestant lost by either choosing the incorrect autograph book or making a second mistake on a subsequent prize.

Special rule changes

Since 2008, rules to certain pricing games have occasionally been changed on special episodes. These started in the 2008 prime time series, but in 2013 began to be featured on daytime episodes for specially-themed weeks, mostly Big Money Week or Dream Car Week.

The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular

In 2008, episodes of The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular featured rule changes to some pricing games which awarded a $1 million bonus to the contestant for achieving specific goals.

• Clock Game—The contestant was required to guess the retail prices of both prizes within a total of 10 seconds to win the bonus. Winning both prizes awarded $5,000 regardless of how much time was left on the clock.
• Cover Up, One Away—The contestant was required to guess all five digits in the car's price correctly on his/her first attempt to win the bonus.
• 1/2 Off—A contestant who found the $25,000 could either quit or risk it for a chance at the bonus. A $1 million check was hidden in one of the other 15 boxes, and the contestant had one chance to guess where it was. An incorrect guess forfeited the $25,000.
• Plinko—If at least three chips landed in the $20,000 slot, the contestant was given a golden Plinko chip. If the golden chip landed in the $20,000 slot, the contestant won the bonus.
• Punch a Bunch—The contestant could win the bonus by finding the $50,000 prize with their first punch.
• Range Game—After stopping the range finder, the contestant provided a guess for the exact price of the prize. If the correct price fell within the $150 range, the contestant won the prize. If their exact guess matched the actual retail price of the prize, the contestant also won the bonus.
• Safe Crackers—After winning the game under the standard rules, the contestant could quit with the prizes won (one of which was always a car) or risk them to try for the bonus. The safe was re-locked with a new five-digit combination that was the same as the price of the car. Each dial contained the same five digits; however, each digit did not necessarily appear in the price of the car, and the contestant was told the price of the car could potentially contain repeated digits. Setting the correct combination won the bonus, while an incorrect combination forfeited the prizes earlier won.
• Switcheroo—The contestant could win the bonus by correctly pricing all five prizes within the initial 30 seconds.

Specially-themed episodes

Starting in 2012, rule changes were also made to some pricing games for episodes with special themes, mostly Big Money Week, Dream Car Week, or episodes where viewers could choose game options via Twitter.

• Card Game—The opening bid when playing for a luxury car is $60,000.
• Grand Game—The prize in this game on 40th anniversary episode was $40,000, with the contestant being given the option to quit at $4,000. For Big Money Week, the prize was $100,000, with the option to quit at $10,000.
• 1/2 Off—The prize was $100,000.
• It's in the Bag—The value of the first bag was increased to $5,000, with standard multipliers for each subsequent bag, for a total of $80,000 for the fifth bag.^[15]
• Plinko—The rules were modified multiple times for specially-themed episodes. From April 9 through 13, 2012,^{[16][17][18][19][20]} in conjunction with Publishers Clearing House, the game was played daily and featured a growing jackpot for the final chip. If the last chip landed in the center slot, the contestant won $20,000 instead of the usual $10,000 prize. However, if the last chip did not land in the center slot, another $20,000 was added to the jackpot on the next episode. On April 26^[21] and October 18, 2013,^[22] during "Big Money Week", the game was played for $500,000, with a $100,000 slot replacing the normal $10,000 center slot. During Big Money Week in 2014, the episode which aired November 13^[23] featured a center slot worth $200,000, for a top prize of $1,000,000. For the game's 30th anniversary, Plinko was played six times on the episode which aired September 27, 2013.^[24] In five of the six playings, the two $1,000 slots were replaced with different prizes. If either prize was won by having a chip land in the slot, the slot became a $1,000 cash prize once it was hit again. On the episode which aired February 19, 2015,^[25] during a special Twitter-themed episode, viewers voted before the taping to either change the center slot from $10,000 to $25,000 or change the values of the two $100 slots to $10,000.
• Punch a Bunch—A $250,000 award replaced the $25,000 award.
• Rat Race—During Big Money Week, instead of offering a prize for each rat, a different cash award was offered depending upon how the contestant's chosen rat finished. Each playing with this modification featured different amounts for win, place and show. On the November 14, 2014 episode, prizes of $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000 were offered.^[26] On February 16, 2015, during a Twitter-themed episode, viewers voted Rat Race over Grand Game as the $100,000 game, and prizes offered were $75,000, $15,000 and $10,000 for first, second and third-place finishes.^[27]
• Time Is Money—Each second remaining on the clock is worth $10,000, for a total prize of $200,000.^[28]

References

External links

• CBS.com's official Price Is Right site
• FremantleMedia's official Price Is Right site

The Price Is Right United States Versions The Price Is Right The Price Is Right (1956–65) The New Price Is Right (1994–95) Gameshow Marathon The Price Is Right Live! Pricing games List of The Price Is Right pricing games Network Hosts Bill Cullen (1956–65) Bob Barker (1972–2007) Drew Carey (2007–present) Syndicated Hosts Dennis James (1972–77) Tom Kennedy (1985–86) Doug Davidson (1994–95) On-air personalities Don Pardo Johnny Gilbert Johnny Olson Rod Roddy Rich Fields George Gray Burton Richardson Models Production staff Paul Alter Marc Breslow Roger Dobkowitz Mark Goodson Mike Richards Bob Stewart Bill Todman Frank Wayne Jay Wolpert International Versions Australia Current series 1957-1974 original series United Kingdom France Mexico Philippines ABC version ABS-CBN version Italy Other international versions Hosts Ian Turpie Larry Emdur Leslie Crowther Bob Warman Bruce Forsyth Joe Pasquale Gigi Sabani Iva Zanicchi Silvio Santos Marco Antonio Regil Carlo Boszhard Dawn Zulueta Kris Aquino