New Pricing Game Idea 10: Treasure Chest

[Teddy]

This is my last in a series of pricing games for Big Jon to consider. Here's a cash game called Treasure Chest.

The game is played on Center Stage, and it uses SPs. The contestant starts out with one free pick from the five chests on display, and then must guess correctly whether the price is higher or lower than the one shown for each SP. He/She then selects from the five chests, which have the following cash distributions:

• $1,000
  $2,000
  $5,000
  $10,000
  $25,000

The contestant can walk away at any point, in which case he/she would take the money won so far, so the highest possible winnings would be $40,000. On MDSs, the cash values would be increased to these values:

• $2,000
  $5,000
  $10,000
  $25,000
  $50,000

Under this format, the most money that could be won is $85,000. (Not exactly a number I had in mind when I created this game, but then again, they offer $16,000/$24,000 in It's in the Bag, and a contestant could win up to $15,000 in The Phone Home Game, so anything goes.) Anyway, now that my PG ideas are complete, it's time to send them off to Big Jon. But before I do that, I'd like to hear some ideas and suggestions from you. As always, thanks for your input!

[hmtriplecrown]

I don't like the 1 in 5 chance at $25,000, especially when a somewhat similar game which has been around for 30 years (Punch-a-Bunch) has a much lower likeliness of winning its top prize, which is 40% of yours.  Maybe if you had 5 chests with 1000-1000-2000-3000-5000, with a max payout of $10,000...

[Teddy]

I don't like the 1 in 5 chance at $25,000, especially when a somewhat similar game which has been around for 30 years (Punch-a-Bunch) has a much lower likeliness of winning its top prize, which is 40% of yours.  Maybe if you had 5 chests with 1000-1000-2000-3000-5000, with a max payout of $10,000...

Sure, that too could work. In this case, primetime could be doubled to 2000-2000-4000-6000-10000, for a total of $20,000. However, this would be eerily similar to Grand Game, since that game's top prize is also $10,000. But I could see this format working here.

[JokerFan]

I don't understand the idea of this game.  You say "guess correctly whether the price is higher or lower than the one shown for each SP".  What do you mean by that?  Perhaps if you were to make a post giving us a sample playing, it may make more sense.

[Teddy]

I don't understand the idea of this game.  You say "guess correctly whether the price is higher or lower than the one shown for each SP".  What do you mean by that?  Perhaps if you were to make a post giving us a sample playing, it may make more sense.

Just like in the majority of pricing games with SPs (think Bonus Game, Shell Game, and Punch-a-Bunch; I guess Let 'Em Roll could also qualify, even though it is played with grocery items), there is a wrong price for each prize, and the actual price is either higher or lower. Like if you guess higher on a SP, but the price is actually lower, you don't get to pick a chest. However, if you guess lower on that same prize, and again, the price is lower, you can choose from one of the available chests (including the one free pick you started the game with).

[JokerFan]

Okay.  Since the maximum you can get is $40,000, does this mean that there are 2 SPs?

[Teddy]

Okay.  Since the maximum you can get is $40,000, does this mean that there are 2 SPs?

Why yes, there are!

[Teddy]

Sure, that too could work. In this case, primetime could be doubled to 2000-2000-4000-6000-10000, for a total of $20,000. However, this would be eerily similar to Grand Game, since that game's top prize is also $10,000. But I could see this format working here.

Or I could leave one of the $1000 chests on the primetime version and increase the other $1000 chest to $2000.