Hello! I am new on this forum, and, as you can probably tell by the title, I'm from Russia
I haven't found any info about the Russian version of TPiR on the forum, so I'll give it a go and describe it in brief here.
The Russian version of TPiR was called "Tsena Udachi" (Цена удачи), meaning "The Price of Luck". This is quite true: since the price ranges are very different in Russia, it was mostly up to luck if you win or lose. The show ran from September 11, 2005 to June 25, 2006, surviving for less than a year. The hosts were Boris Smolkin (an actor) and Anton Komolov (previously an MTV-Russia presenter and a radio DJ). The announcer for both seasons was Pyotr Kuleshov (also the host of Russian version of Jeopardy!).
The rules were very similar to the worldwide format. At the beginning, 4 players are called to "come on down!" to the "contestant podiums" (Contestant's Row). They are then shown an item, and have to bid on its price. The contestant who bid the closest to the actual retail price without going over goes through to play a pricing game but
does not receive the item. However, if a contestant calls the price of the item exactly, he/she will then receive the price. This has never happened in the show's history. Also, never has there been a situation when all 4 contestants overbid.
So, the pricing games. There were not as many as in the USA. None were original, too. A lot of episodes had Switcheroo (called "Empty cell"), Cover Up (called "Ladder"), Plinko (called "Colored disks". what a lame name.), Race Game (called "Prize race"), Make Your Move (called "Two-Three-Four"), and Any Number (called "From 0 to 9"). There have also been various others, like "Let 'em Roll", "Lucky Seven", "Three Strikes" and others. The budget was quite limited, and the games too were limited by price length. In fact, the most expensive car ever offered was Toyota Avensis, which cost over 770,000 roubles (and was won in Lucky Seven). Despite the lengthy prices, no free digits were ever givevn, but during the first season the host would often, in more difficult games such as Lucky Seven or Three Strikes, offer to uncover one of the digits if the contestant gets beyond half-way through the game. Some games were varied from the original. For instance, Plinko was played with UK Pasquale-era rules: first, the player collects chips by going higher/lower on cheap prizes (because almost nothing bearable had a 2-digit price at that point). Then the contestants throws chips, and has a choice - walk out with that sum of money (up to 22500 roubles, at the time equal to approx. US$800 - about the cost of a decent laptop), or throw one more chip and go for the big prize (a trip or a washing machine most often, usually in the 20000-40000 rouble range). The slots at the bottom would change to "Yes/No" and some Yes slots will be covered up by No slots, depending on how well has the contestant done in the pricing segment). If it lands on "yes" they win the prize, on "no" - nothing. "Any Number", instead of 4-3-3 setup as in the USA, had a 5-3-2 setup (i.e. the top prize was in 10000-99999 range, but the first digit was not given for free). The piggy bank was worth maximum 99 roubles, or $3.50. "Hole in One" did not have the bonus if you have got all of the items in a row correct. 'Grand Game" was played for up to 50,000 roubles (approx. $1800), and featured 6 cheap items (between 10 and 500 roubles). The contestant could only win either 5,000 or 50,000 roubles (therefore a mistake on first, second or third item would make the contestant forfeit the winnings). "Cover up" could only have 2 tries - even if on 2nd try the contestant has one more number right than the last time, they lose.
Two quick pics: the Plinko set and the "Make Your Move" board:
There were 4 rounds of bidding, and all 4 contestants go to the showcase showdown. The contestants spin in order of appearance on stage, not their winnings. Whoever is closest to 100 points without going over in 1 or 2 spins goes on to the showcase. If a player gets 100 points in
one spin, he or she wins 5,000 roubles (approx. $180) and a bonus spin. If they get 100 points in a bonus spin, they win 50,000 more ($1,800). Landing on a 5 or 15 nets you nothing. If there's a tie, the procedure is different. Three matches are brought onto the stage, with covered lenghts. Players pick one match each. Whoever gets the longest one wins and goes through to the showcase. Also, you don't have to get the wheel all the way around at least once so people usually push it very gently, otherwise it would go on forever. In addition, a 100 in two spins does not equal to 100 in one spin - the player who got it in one spin will therefore win in that case, which makes no sense.
The showcase is solo. The player first uses the "Range finder" to determine the range of the guess - how far he/she can miss the showcase price. The values were 1000 to 4000 (a max. $140 error) in 1st season, increasing to 2000 to 5000 (a max. $180 error) in the 2nd season. The items are then revealed, and the contestant bids on the overall price. It is then revealed. If the guess is within the range of the actual price without going over, they win the showcase. There was no award for guessing the price within 250 roubles ($9) of the price or for exact guess (neither of these happened). The showcase prices were approx. 30000 to 60000 roubles ($1000-$2100).
Well, here it is! Let me know what you think!
Here's an episode to watch (in Russian):
http://video.yandex.ru/users/grishailyashev/view/235
