Pricing Game Idea: Time Travel (or something like that)

[mungojerry311]

This is another pricing game idea I came up with. Again, it may or may not be any good.

In this game, you'd have a few items, let's say five or six, lined up on a table, with a price displayed below them. I originally thought of this with grocery items but it would probably work better with bigger items like the ones in Cliffhangers.

The twist is that the price below them is the item's ARP but adjusted for inflation back to a certain year. There would be another table with the years the items "traveled back in time to." The contestant then must guess which year each item traveled back in time to. After the initial guess, the number the contestant got right would be revealed. The contestant would then have one chance to switch items around (like Switcheroo). Again, the amount they got right would be revealed and they would win only the prizes they guessed right on.

However, if they get all five or six items correct, they have the chance to win a bigger prize (such as a camper or spa). The prize would be revealed and the inflation adjusted price, along with three possible years. The contestant must guess which year is correct. If they are right, they obviously win the bigger prize. If they get it wrong, they lose but still win the five or six smaller prizes.

What do you people think?

[cornycrunch]

Good idea but it seems a little on the hard side. I think the difficulty would be just right if getting the first phase of the game right was all you needed to win. Alternatively, the second half of the game alone would be an interesting quickie.

[pannoni1]

I'd simply focus on the quickie, or even a progressive game, since we've already got GPs for a long-established "time travel" game (Now... or Then), SPs for this year's "Back to 72".

My progressive idea would start with an SP, work its way up to a three-digit prize, then a four-digit prize, and then a five-digit prize (usually a car). The first two items would have two choices, the third three and the car/grand prize four. A contestant wins whatever s/he had correctly guessed much like Golden Road or More or Less.

But a quickie would be the most practical given the show's runtime nowadays. I wouldn't mind trips even since car rental/airline/hotel prices have an interesting history of pricing as well, since many hotel brands/airlines have been long established. At least it means less appearances of Squeeze Play, Double Prices, or Coming/Going.

[mungojerry311]

Good idea but it seems a little on the hard side. I think the difficulty would be just right if getting the first phase of the game right was all you needed to win. Alternatively, the second half of the game alone would be an interesting quickie.

Yeah you're probably right. On second thought, maybe do away with the big prize part. Perhaps the game would be somewhat easier if instead of displaying a price below each item, the year would be displayed. The contestant would instead have to match the year with the price and not the other way around.

Still, I think the idea of adjusting prices back to a certain year could work somewhere.