Author Topic: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?  (Read 5011 times)

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Offline ooboh

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Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« on: May 22, 2018, 01:41:11 PM »
As we all know, virtually everyone — including casuals, new fans, and LFaTs — hates Stack for its perceived extreme difficulty. So I’ve taken the liberty to start a new thread: if you could implement changes to make the game easier to win or less unbearable to play?

My idea is a $500 bonus for each pair of grocery items the contestant gets correct, like Half Off’s initial rules under Drew Carey.

Offline digiblader

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2018, 01:58:00 PM »
Unless they're going to start playing it permanently for luxury cars like 3 Strikes (see today's episode), perhaps they should allow contestants to have a free number if they're still playing it for the normal cars.

Offline JayC

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2018, 03:23:59 PM »
Either giving the contestants a free number to begin or eliminating one of the incorrect numbers would help make it a little more winnable. It doesn't help when they make the GP pairs very difficult though.

Offline mechamind

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2018, 03:53:04 PM »
The bonus in 1/2 Off makes up for a luck-based game. Stack is not pure luck, so they don't really "need" the bonus.
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Offline sideshowPA

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2018, 03:59:12 PM »
Bonuses for each number correct would neither make the game easier, not increase the drama.

My idea? Decrease the number of digits in the "pool" from 7 to 6.  I haven't run the numbers on this yet, but this would make the game easier, yet they could increase the challenge by adding more meaningful distractors.
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Offline mechamind

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2018, 05:56:20 PM »
That's probably the best option. Slightly improved odds with only 6 numbers, and some won't even think about the difference at all.
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Offline gamesurf

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2018, 09:08:43 PM »
Make the GP portion easier. Like, Let-Em-Roll easy. And not just once in a while, but regularly. Seeing anybody walk away with two numbers or less should be a once-or-twice-a-season event.

If the show needs to set a game up for a loss, don't play Stack the Deck. Play Pocket Change. Play One Away. Play a tougher Gridlock setup. Shift the losses to other games until Stack the Deck regularly gets about a 50-50 win ratio.

Two reasons:
  • It demonstrates that Stack the Deck can not only be won, but it can be won often and consistently.
  • Play-along ability. Home viewers love to feel clever. Home viewers will feel more confident in their pricing ability once they've "gotten" three GPs right in a row. And it's difficult to focus on playing along when the audience needs to mentally fill in three or more numbers in the car price.

Stack the Deck is a good game as is. It's a great concept. There's a lot of opportunities to play along. When everything plays out correctly and the right price is narrowed down, it's satisfying in a way that few other games are. But it's easy to forget its good points if that scenario doesn't happen often enough.
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Online Flerbert419

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2018, 09:59:41 PM »
Seeing anybody walk away with two numbers or less should be a once-or-twice-a-season event.

I'm not going to go this far - but here's the split when Roger was there in S35 and S36:
3 free numbers: 61%
2 free numbers: 21%
1 free number: 14%
0 free numbers: 4%

And here's the split ever since then:
3 free numbers: 18%
2 free numbers: 39%
1 free number: 31%
0 free numbers: 12%

The thing is, even with the Roger split, contestants still lost more often than they won (it went 11-17). So they shouldn't be so afraid to offer up 3 free numbers, because odds are good contestants will misuse them or still have a tricky choice to make with the 2 numbers remaining.

Shift the losses to other games until Stack the Deck regularly gets about a 50-50 win ratio.

This seems unrealistic since almost no car game is this high. Since S29, the only car game above .500 is Hole in One.

(Special thanks, as always, to Scorpz.)
« Last Edit: May 22, 2018, 10:06:21 PM by Flerbert419 »
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Offline gamesurf

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2018, 12:57:38 AM »
I'm not going to go this far - but here's the split when Roger was there in S35 and S36:
3 free numbers: 61%
2 free numbers: 21%
1 free number: 14%
0 free numbers: 4%

And here's the split ever since then:
3 free numbers: 18%
2 free numbers: 39%
1 free number: 31%
0 free numbers: 12%

The thing is, even with the Roger split, contestants still lost more often than they won (it went 11-17). So they shouldn't be so afraid to offer up 3 free numbers, because odds are good contestants will misuse them or still have a tricky choice to make with the 2 numbers remaining.

This seems unrealistic since almost no car game is this high. Since S29, the only car game above .500 is Hole in One.

(Special thanks, as always, to Scorpz.)

Fair points. Maybe the goal was a little high.

But good golly, those numbers really DO tell a story, don't they?
Quote from: Bill Todman
"The sign of a good game, is when you don't have to explain it every day. The key is not simplicity, but apparent simplicity. Password looks like any idiot could have made it up, but we have 14 of our people working on that show. There is a great complexity behind the screen. It requires great work to keep it simple."

Offline JT

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2018, 07:35:51 AM »
Make the first number a gimme.  When the choices for the first 2 numbers are 18, 19, 20 and 21, it makes the game super hard for the casual viewer.  And yes, decrease some of the "traps" in the grocery set ups.

Offline Hag

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2018, 08:35:41 AM »
I agree. Give them one number for free.
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Offline Superballer

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2018, 09:15:51 AM »
That probably would be the best option.  Do you think such a scenario would work best if they gave the first number like many car games current do, or if it was any number chosen by the contestant? 

Offline Hag

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2018, 09:38:53 AM »
I'd say any number they want.
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Offline Teddy

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2018, 02:24:49 PM »
I was thinking more along the lines of games like Lucky $even, Any Number, Temptation and Dice Game, where you get the first number for free, but I guess any position would work (a la 2 for the Price of 1).

Offline JohnHolder

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Re: Thoughts on how to improve “Stack the Deck”?
« Reply #14 on: May 25, 2018, 08:17:03 PM »
(A) four grocery items and potentially four free numbers; (B) six numbers to choose from instead of seven; (C) both.