Author Topic: Which Games Could Be Improved?  (Read 13523 times)

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Offline Josh444

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #15 on: January 10, 2019, 10:19:48 PM »
I realize you can't do it now since it would look like the show is getting cheap, but I would have been fine with replacing the $1,500 with $0 on each of the dice.

That’s a great idea!

Or, to make things more difficult, eliminate one of the car sides and have values of “2,000”, “1,000”, “500”, and “0”. It makes the game even more like Yahtzee. Five cars is awesome, but who would pass up $10,000? At least the 0 side would add more tension on that final roll. As the game plays now, I’m not going to be down about winning a one bid and $500 cash.

Now, I think Magic # needs major help. It’s close to be being broken. A cash incentive in the form of a Magic # may help contestants be more strategic instead of lowballing it. It has the Range Game-effect. Contestants become uneasy waiting for so long, and it seems like they are doing something wrong by going higher with the lever.

Offline thatvhstapeguy

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #16 on: January 10, 2019, 10:33:26 PM »
I'm kinda late to the party here, but the reason why Stack the Deck is so difficult is because it's a great game to balance the books with. If they've been giving away too many cars because of games like Any Number or Money Game or other easy games, then they pull out the difficult games like Stack the Deck and Hole in One... or Two. You can easily set up the grocery portion to be very difficult, and plus, most contestants automatically think that they should ask for the first number, when in reality that is the worst possible thing you can do in that game. Which makes it all the more refreshing when you get a contestant who asks for the fifth number, then the fourth, then the third (assuming they get all three grocery prices correct).
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Offline blozier2006

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2019, 10:53:22 PM »
... most contestants automatically think that they should ask for the first number, when in reality that is the worst possible thing you can do in that game. Which makes it all the more refreshing when you get a contestant who asks for the fifth number, then the fourth, then the third (assuming they get all three grocery prices correct).
Minor nitpick, but if you're unsure of the first digit (and assuming there's both a 1 and a 2 among your choices), isn't the smart thing to call for the second digit (that way, if it's an 8 or a 9, you know the first digit is a 1; if the second digit is a 0 or a 1, pick 2 for the first digit... basically)? And from there, ask for the third and fourth digits?

Offline JayC

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #18 on: January 10, 2019, 11:00:09 PM »
Now, I think Magic # needs major help. It’s close to be being broken. A cash incentive in the form of a Magic # may help contestants be more strategic instead of lowballing it. It has the Range Game-effect. Contestants become uneasy waiting for so long, and it seems like they are doing something wrong by going higher with the lever.
Definitely agree with this. It would really help with getting contestants to set a higher magic number.

Offline dmaingame

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #19 on: January 11, 2019, 12:00:11 AM »
Secret X:  Add a third small prize so that perfect pricing guarantees a win.  Even have the contestant try to guess where the Secret X is located for a cash prize like in Shell Game.
Bonus Game:  If you get all four small prizes right, guess the correct window for the bonus and win a cash prize.
Hole In One:  Up the bonus for perfect pricing to $1,000.00.  They did this for the nighttime specials in 1986, and $1,000.00 was a lot more then than it is now.
Three Strikes:  Make the strike balls look more like the number balls to prevent cheating.  Also have Drew instruct the contestants to keep their eyes up when reaching into the bag.  (Bob used to frequently advise contestants to do so).
Pick a number:  Throw it in the dumpster behind Television City.

Offline Alfonzo

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #20 on: January 11, 2019, 06:00:58 AM »
Secret X:  Add a third small prize so that perfect pricing guarantees a win.  Even have the contestant try to guess where the Secret X is located for a cash prize like in Shell Game.
Bonus Game:  If you get all four small prizes right, guess the correct window for the bonus and win a cash prize.
Hole In One:  Up the bonus for perfect pricing to $1,000.00.  They did this for the nighttime specials in 1986, and $1,000.00 was a lot more then than it is now.
Three Strikes:  Make the strike balls look more like the number balls to prevent cheating.  Also have Drew instruct the contestants to keep their eyes up when reaching into the bag.  (Bob used to frequently advise contestants to do so).
Pick a number:  Throw it in the dumpster behind Television City.

1) My idea for Secret "X" would have the contestant keeping the free "X", but using three small prizes. The Secret "X" would be behind any of the five middle squares. Getting all three small prizes would be an auto-win, but even getting two out of three makes better odds than the current version.

2) Why don't they just play Shell Game more often if they want to do that?

3) Totally agree. As rare as it is to get all six grocery items in a row, they might as well make it $2,500!

4) Not one of my favorite games. If they're going to keep it at least give it a better set!
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Offline JayC

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #21 on: January 11, 2019, 11:42:41 AM »
Love that idea for Secret X Alfonzo. Also agree about the Hole in One bonus, it's crazy they've never increased it. They made the Shell Game bonus the cash value of the prize, yet Hole in One's has always been $500.

This is more overhaul than mere improvement, but scale down Pay the Rent. Make the top prize either $20,000 or $25,000 and place the mailbox item for free at the start of the game (with the prize scale still $1,000-$5,000-$10,000 before the top prize).

Online gamesurf

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #22 on: January 11, 2019, 01:32:56 PM »
4) Not one of my favorite games. If they're going to keep it at least give it a better set!

Seriously. Who thought “Better redo Double Prices” but gave a pass to Pick-a-Number?

I’d also like to see Triple Play redone. For a game that offers three cars it sure feels kind of dinky.
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Offline JT

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #23 on: January 13, 2019, 09:57:56 AM »
My list:
Hole in One- $1,000 bonus for sure.  Bring back the old camera angle during the putts as well.
Pick a Number - Remodel the logo and upper part of the prop; the mix of digits on the bottom is ok for now
Swap Meet - Really dated, update that hot pink
Golden Road - The font on the GR sign is so standard; create a special font for this special game and make it light up.
Triple Play -There should be a triple play logo behind each car and when the 3rd car is revealed, they can light up/reveal the ones behind the first 2 cars.
Grand Game - increase the top prize to $20,000 permanently.  ($10,000 in 1980 is like $30K today due to inflation)
Hi-Lo - roll out the game to center stage again... just because

Offline noahproblem

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #24 on: January 13, 2019, 05:01:48 PM »
The problem with getting rid of the free roll is that you're going to have to set it up so the contestant wins a roll anyway. Similar to Punch-A-Bunch, it's no fun to have the ramp set up and not even use it.


They dion't do that with Rat Race and that game has to be even less fun to set up.
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Offline Flerbert419

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #25 on: January 13, 2019, 07:42:33 PM »
We've gone 54 playings since a contestant lost all three rats (December 27, 2013). I'm pretty sure they figured it out!

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Offline thatvhstapeguy

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #26 on: January 13, 2019, 08:40:04 PM »
I think that one change we can all agree on is that the Hole in One... or Two bonus should be significantly increased.

Hell, nobody ever wins it... why not up it to $5K? That $500 bonus is probably one of the cheapest things on the show right now.
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Offline billiamk

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #27 on: January 13, 2019, 08:46:59 PM »
-3 Strikes: Make the design of the strike balls identical to the number balls (white with black text) to prevent cheating.  As soon as the balls were changed to red for Holiday Week, we had a clear cheater.

Change the hopper so it operates like the cages for home bingo games. Spinning it one way mixes the balls. Spinning it the other way and a ball rolls out. Drew could still show and drop in all of the balls then close the "cage" lid. But instead of a cage it would be a solid ball painted to look like a baseball. In the event that more than one ball comes out, only the first ball out is in play. The other(s) are returned to the hopper for a future turn.
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Offline bagels

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #28 on: January 14, 2019, 12:29:44 PM »
Here's my simple solution to improving Stack The Deck: burn it in a fire.

No, I'm serious. Get rid of it entirely. That game sucks. It's so heavily stacked against the contestant and it almost always results in a loss. It's time for that game to be retired.

Offline SteveGavazzi

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Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
« Reply #29 on: January 15, 2019, 12:42:05 AM »
No, I'm serious. Get rid of it entirely. That game sucks. It's so heavily stacked against the contestant and it almost always results in a loss. It's time for that game to be retired.

You do understand that this is exactly how they're intending for Stack the Deck to play out, right?

Getting wins in Stack the Deck would be simple -- they'd just need to start setting it up to be won again, and it would be.

We've gone 54 playings since a contestant lost all three rats (December 27, 2013). I'm pretty sure they figured it out!

Serious question:  Has there ever been a playing of Rat Race where bidding $200 wouldn't have won the third rat?
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