Bonus Game....why has a cash bonus never been offered if you won all 4 windows?

[pricefan18]

I noticed watching an episode of the original 80's Australian Price other day, that Ian Turpie offered a $50 bonus to a contestant that had gotten all 4 windows, if they could pick the one that had the bonus in it. I always have thought that shoulda been adopted here similar to what Shell Game has had. Is there a reason why it's not been over the years? Not wanting to be so similar to Shell maybe?

[Alfonzo]

Because it doesn't need it. Bonus and Shell are similar enough, why make it more obvious. I really didn't care for that time they added a car bonus to it during Dream Car Week. Made the perfect playing of it seem like a loss because she didn't win the car.

[123123123]

My best bet would be that picking a window is a bit arbitrary. You could argue that Shell Game is similar, but at least finding a ball under a shell is a common carnival game that people are familiar with. I bet if Shell Game wasn't around, the cash bonus would have found its way to Bonus Game.

[pricefan18]

Because it doesn't need it. Bonus and Shell are similar enough, why make it more obvious. I really didn't care for that time they added a car bonus to it during Dream Car Week. Made the perfect playing of it seem like a loss because she didn't win the car.

Yeah that would be excessive I think. I don't see the harm in adding a $500 bonus though, but I can see where it'd be seen as too similar at that point to Shell too.

[gamesurf]

Did the Australian 80’s version have Shell Game? They nearly retired Bonus Game here after Shell Game debuted—they stopped playing it for a year.

IMO adding a bonus would probably cause another “Clarence Sale/123” situation at some point down the line where producers just keep the game they like better and clear out the other. Besides, the bonus prize is already presented as a bonus—what would the cash prize be presented as? A “bonus bonus”?

Producers can solve the problem of “the finish in Bonus Game isn’t dramatic when they win all four” by avoiding situations where all four windows are easily won. They can just make one of the SP’s harder. It would have almost no effect on the win rate unless they wanted it to, since they predetermine where the bonus is.

[pricefan18]

Did the Australian 80’s version have Shell Game? They nearly retired Bonus Game here after Shell Game debuted—they stopped playing it for a year.

They did, it's in the International games pictures album elsewhere here, it looked very similar to ours at the time. Not sure if they offered a cash bonus too though, would have to be told by someone else who knew if they did or not. Interesting that Bonus Game was almost retired though way back when, didn't know that. Wonder what made them decide to keep both, lack of games in rotation still at that time?

[jhc2010]

Adding an additional prize to Bonus Game would make 75% of perfect playings feel like a loss as drew tosses to commercial. I’m sure the show would like less of that feeling, not more.
It happens enough in Shell Game already.

[Alfonzo]

Did the Australian 80’s version have Shell Game? They nearly retired Bonus Game here after Shell Game debuted—they stopped playing it for a year.

I think we can thank Dennis James for Bonus Game still being around. While Bonus Game left the daytime line-up for a year it was still being played on the nighttime show. The reason: Word was that Dennis didn't have the best memory and there was no reason for him to lose a game he was already familiar and comfortable with.

When the show was experimenting with the hour-long format in 1975 obviously more games would be needed to be added to the rotation. Since Bonus Game was still around being played on nighttime, why not bring it back?

[Flerbert419]

One of the main reasons for me that it doesn't make sense is because the winning spot is not random, unlike Shell Game.

You're asking me as the contestant to get into the head of the producer. Did they want the prize won? Was this a difficult setup that I was able to beat? How's the budget this season?

The answers to these questions are going to change what window I select depending on the SP associated with it.

[pricefan18]

One of the main reasons for me that it doesn't make sense is because the winning spot is not random, unlike Shell Game.

You're asking me as the contestant to get into the head of the producer. Did they want the prize won? Was this a difficult setup that I was able to beat? How's the budget this season?

The answers to these questions are going to change what window I select depending on the SP associated with it.

Good point, that is a fair argument. Hadn't thought about that.

[gamesurf]

I don't know if it's possible with the props they have now, but in the event of winning all 4 chips, I wonder if they couldn't "actually" play the shell game.

Reveal the ball, have the host hand off the microphone for a second, and have the host *actually* try shuffling the shells as best they can for 15-20 seconds with the contestant paying attention. Then let the contestant pick one. $500 if they get it right. It's not pricing, no, but it could have plenty of play-along value.

[pricefan18]

I don't know if it's possible with the props they have now, but in the event of winning all 4 chips, I wonder if they couldn't "actually" play the shell game.

Reveal the ball, have the host hand off the microphone for a second, and have the host *actually* try shuffling the shells as best they can for 15-20 seconds with the contestant paying attention. Then let the contestant pick one. $500 if they get it right. It's not pricing, no, but it could have plenty of play-along value.

That would actually be really fun. Probably take too much time though nowadays.

[JayC]

Because it doesn't need it. Bonus and Shell are similar enough, why make it more obvious. I really didn't care for that time they added a car bonus to it during Dream Car Week. Made the perfect playing of it seem like a loss because she didn't win the car.

I think that's the biggest issue with making the Shell Game bonus the cash value of the prize since it makes a win feel less like a win if the contestant doesn't choose the shell with the ball under it. When the bonus was $500 it didn't feel that bad if the contestant didn't get it since the prize was much more valuable.

It's also interesting they added Joker many years after which was similar to both games but with a different SP pricing element and perfect pricing did not guarantee a win since a contestant could only eliminate four out of five cards.

[TPIRfan#9821]

I'll throw out that they actually have put a car bonus for Bonus Game during Dream Car Week. I believe the rules were that before the game started, the contestant had to choose what window they thought had the bonus. The contestant then needed to get all four windows right, and then if they chose the right window, they won the car. I believe the contestant got all four slots right, but didn't guess the right slot for the bonus, so they left with a prize package.

I remember being alright with it as a one-off thing, but I felt that that it made the game way too close to Shell Game.

[ThomHuge]

I remember being alright with it as a one-off thing, but I felt that that it made the game way too close to Shell Game.

To me it felt too anticlimactic, kind of like the MDS where the wheel spin was after the showcase ARP reveals.