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Studio 33 - Price is Right Discussion => The TALK Is Right => Topic started by: GameShowFan9001 on January 09, 2019, 12:09:44 PM

Title: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: GameShowFan9001 on January 09, 2019, 12:09:44 PM
Personally, I'd like to see these:
-Money Game: Add a simple display a la the one introduced last year for Bullseye to track the money.
-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.
-Temptation and/or Stack the Deck: Due to their difficulty, play them exclusively for luxury cars.
-Any Number: Instead of winning the prize whose price is filled out first, award that prize and the prizes below it.
-Plinko: Change all the yellow lights to white.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: gamesurf on January 09, 2019, 02:18:35 PM
Personally, I'd like to see these:
-Money Game: Add a simple display a la the one introduced last year for Bullseye to track the money.

The focus of Money Game isn’t the money, it’s the car. Displaying the money earned makes it look like one of the game’s objetives is to earn as much money as possible, and if “earning as much money as possible” is even 1% of a contestant’s strategy, they’re playing it wrong.

-Temptation and/or Stack the Deck: Due to their difficulty, play them exclusively for luxury cars.

Those games would become even more difficult played for luxury cars. And Stack the Deck’s main problem is not the car prices, but that the GPs are not set up properly. It’s been discussed before (http://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,28615.msg458476.html#msg458476), but setting up all three GPs to be won most of the time would bring the win/loss ratio in line with other car games.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: blozier2006 on January 09, 2019, 02:22:48 PM
And Stack the Deck’s main problem is not the car prices, but that the GPs are not set up properly. It’s been discussed before (http://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,28615.msg458476.html#msg458476), but setting up all three GPs to be won most of the time would bring the win/loss ratio in line with other car games.
Which is precisely why Stack the Deck is set up in such a nasty manner. Mike deliberately uses it as a budget-saver. (not that I agree with that tactic, mind you, but there is a reason behind it)
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: JayC on January 09, 2019, 04:16:11 PM
I'd be fine with Stack the Deck adding a free number removal before the GP portion in lieu of easier setups or playing it exclusively for luxury cars.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Hag on January 09, 2019, 04:22:28 PM
Rat Race: If the person nails the first or second prize exactly, s/he gets the rest of the remaining rats automatically.

Punch A Bunch: Bring back the second chances.




Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: GameShowFan9001 on January 09, 2019, 04:35:57 PM
Rat Race: If the person nails the first or second prize exactly, s/he gets the rest of the remaining rats automatically.

I don’t understand why they haven’t done that already.  Why only the first two prizes though?
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Hag on January 09, 2019, 04:38:11 PM
Fair enough. Let's say an exacta on any of the prizes wins all three rats.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: gamesurf on January 09, 2019, 04:51:33 PM
I'd be fine with Stack the Deck adding a free number removal before the GP portion in lieu of easier setups or playing it exclusively for luxury cars.

I assume Stacky is being won exactly as much as the producers want it to be won. If they wanted the game to be won more often, there’s an easy, proven solution that’s been done in the past. The fact that it isn’t being done suggests that Stack’s win-loss record is intentional.

If they added a free number, they would either add an eighth digit to the board or make the GPs even harder to compensate. They’re not looking to solve a problem that they themselves are intentionally causing.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: ssetta on January 09, 2019, 06:31:18 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.


They had white balls with red X's on the first playing with the new set. I think they changed them so they would be easier to tell. I think they need to make the container harder to look through before the ball is pulled out.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: whowouldeverhurtawhammy on January 09, 2019, 11:08:26 PM
In regards to Any Number, change the Piggy Bank to a Debit Card, and eliminate the decimal point, so that the contestant gets a substantial cash consolation.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: SteveGavazzi on January 10, 2019, 02:33:49 AM
In regards to Any Number, change the Piggy Bank to a Debit Card, and eliminate the decimal point, so that the contestant gets a substantial cash consolation.

The piggy bank is a booby prize.  It isn't supposed to be substantial.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Alfonzo on January 10, 2019, 05:35:09 AM
The piggy bank is a booby prize.  It isn't supposed to be substantial.

Exactly. Not much of a game I'd there's no chance of losing. That's why I snarkingly call Lem 'em Roll "The Five Hundred Dollar Giveaway".
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Josh444 on January 10, 2019, 10:27:50 AM
Exactly. Not much of a game I'd there's no chance of losing. That's why I snarkingly call Lem 'em Roll "The Five Hundred Dollar Giveaway".

That always bothered me. I wish they would add one more grocery item, and start with no free rolls. Unlike other games which get a "freebie" like Plinko and Pass the Buck, there is no chance for a complete loss at all in this game.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: SteveGavazzi on January 10, 2019, 08:44:37 PM
That always bothered me. I wish they would add one more grocery item, and start with no free rolls. Unlike other games which get a "freebie" like Plinko and Pass the Buck, there is no chance for a complete loss at all in this game.

For what it's worth, winning exactly $500 counts as a full loss.

Your point is still valid, though -- Let 'em Roll is weird in that regard.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Flerbert419 on January 10, 2019, 09:05:41 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.

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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Josh444 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: thatvhstapeguy 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).
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: blozier2006 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?
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: JayC 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: dmaingame 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Alfonzo 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!
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: JayC 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).
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: gamesurf 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: JT 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
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: noahproblem 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Flerbert419 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!

The third prize is almost always won.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: thatvhstapeguy 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: billiamk 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: bagels 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.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: SteveGavazzi 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?
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Roadgeek Adam on January 15, 2019, 12:57:28 AM
Stack the Deck is one of the best games. If they insist on setting it up this way, they need to start investing in better cars.

$25,000 or more cars in Stack with those setups makes more sense than those setups for $18-19-20K pieces of garbage.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: gamesurf on January 15, 2019, 12:01:57 PM
Serious question:  Has there ever been a playing of Rat Race where bidding $200 wouldn't have won the third rat?

The premiere had a $400 Blu-Ray player. Seems like they stopped using $301+ items after the first two or three months.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: SonicWhammy on January 21, 2019, 12:19:19 PM
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.
I've always wanted them to update Secret X, too, and digitally enhance it like Double Cross & Bonus Game so that the winning X pops up on the LED screens or whatever. But, actually, with 3 out of the 4 corners covers in Secret X, the odds go DOWN on winning if there's only 1 X in the other 5 spaces. It's only 60% to win versus the 66.7% it is now. (Trust the math teacher on this.)

I'd actually argue to instead install TWO X's into the 5 hidden squares, and no third item.
> With 2 out of 4 corners covered, you'd have a 40% chance to win (up from 33.3%), as 4 out of the 10 combinations of X locations would have one of them land in your winning square.
> With 3 out of 4 corners covered, you'd have a 90% chance to win. The only way you can lose is for both Secret X's to be in the two bad squares. (Ex: Your X's are in squares 1, 3 and 7, and the Secret X's are in 6 and 8.)
> And heck, if you want, install a cash bonus ($2500, $5000?) if both of the Secret X's make a tic-tac-toe.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Alfonzo on January 21, 2019, 08:05:17 PM
I've always wanted them to update Secret X, too, and digitally enhance it like Double Cross & Bonus Game so that the winning X pops up on the LED screens or whatever. But, actually, with 3 out of the 4 corners covers in Secret X, the odds go DOWN on winning if there's only 1 X in the other 5 spaces. It's only 60% to win versus the 66.7% it is now. (Trust the math teacher on this.)

I'd actually argue to instead install TWO X's into the 5 hidden squares, and no third item.
> With 2 out of 4 corners covered, you'd have a 40% chance to win (up from 33.3%), as 4 out of the 10 combinations of X locations would have one of them land in your winning square.
> With 3 out of 4 corners covered, you'd have a 90% chance to win. The only way you can lose is for both Secret X's to be in the two bad squares. (Ex: Your X's are in squares 1, 3 and 7, and the Secret X's are in 6 and 8.)
> And heck, if you want, install a cash bonus ($2500, $5000?) if both of the Secret X's make a tic-tac-toe.

Yes, the odds do go down (I was waiting for someone to catch that after I posted it), but it still allows for perfect pricing to cover for it. At least in my scenario two 'X's gets you three chances to win.

I'm not so sure about adding another "X", though. That seems a little...much.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: SonicWhammy on January 22, 2019, 12:31:20 AM
It's six of one, I guess, Alfonzo. The main reason I proposed it that way is because of the odds going down with only 1 X, which therefore makes the game harder to win, and that would rub fans the wrong way. Likewise, I can understand how raising the odds in the contestant's favor as my idea does would make production wary because it increases the chances of eating into the prize budget, as much as you like to see people win. It would still, however, hold to the core of the game's history that you can do everything right but still have a chance to lose, as it does come down to being a game of chance as the "Secret" has always allowed it to be.

The bottom line: Short of actually retiring the game, if you're gonna keep a game in the rotation that has this always had this one glaring flaw to it, what's the ultimate answer to fixing it?
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: PhillyFlash on January 22, 2019, 01:34:33 PM
For Magic# replace the lever with an old Check Out style keypad.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: SteveGavazzi on January 22, 2019, 03:21:03 PM
For Magic# replace the lever with an old Check Out style keypad.

Why?  Without the lever, Magic # doesn't really have much of a reason to exist -- it's much more about the spectacle than it is about the game.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: PhillyFlash on January 22, 2019, 03:39:09 PM
Why?  Without the lever, Magic # doesn't really have much of a reason to exist -- it's much more about the spectacle than it is about the game.

It just seems like the contestants are afraid of the lever. Like if they lift the lever too high the number will go to like 27500 or something. I do see your point in it being the spectacle of it.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: Casey on January 22, 2019, 04:58:30 PM
Under the category of “it’s not my money” - I think you’d entice more people to put the Magic # in the correct place if you gave them the value of the Magic # as a cash bonus and maybe cheapened the prizes a little bit.  They’ve tried as hard as they can to set the values of the prizes to be so far apart from each other that just setting the Magic # at $3000 would win nearly every single playing, but contestants still don’t do that.

If Drew told you to set the Magic # between the prices and if you are right, you win them plus the amount of the Magic # in cash, you’d probably be more inclined to set it too high than too low.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: easy1 on January 23, 2019, 06:54:46 AM
Punch-A-Bunch is a game that needs to be improved. It needs to being back the Second Chances
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: GobGlom on January 23, 2019, 05:04:32 PM
Under the category of “it’s not my money” - I think you’d entice more people to put the Magic # in the correct place if you gave them the value of the Magic # as a cash bonus and maybe cheapened the prizes a little bit.  They’ve tried as hard as they can to set the values of the prizes to be so far apart from each other that just setting the Magic # at $3000 would win nearly every single playing, but contestants still don’t do that.

That's not a terrible idea. They've been throwing in a bonus prize in Clock Game.

But you hit on one core issue: Contestants. No matter how they set up a game with prizes and prices, the player will always be the variable.
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: tradersnob10 on January 23, 2019, 07:53:41 PM
One Wrong Price: Give an second chance.
Clock Game: Announce the price of the bonus prize.
Vend-O-Price: Combine all three prices of three shelves and multiply by 50x for wins.
Freeze Frame, Flip Flop, Bonkers and Coming or Going: Play for cars using the last four digits of the car.
Cliff Hangers: $100 bonus for any steps remaining.
Secret X: Introduce a third small prize if the contestant won the first two prizes, if right it is not only an automatic win, but give a cash bonus for finding the Secret X
Bargain Game: Cash bonus for wins:
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: JT on January 23, 2019, 09:20:34 PM
One Wrong Price: Give an second chance.
Clock Game: Announce the price of the bonus prize.
Vend-O-Price: Combine all three prices of three shelves and multiply by 50x for wins.
Freeze Frame, Flip Flop, Bonkers and Coming or Going: Play for cars using the last four digits of the car.
Cliff Hangers: $100 bonus for any steps remaining.
Secret X: Introduce a third small prize if the contestant won the first two prizes, if right it is not only an automatic win, but give a cash bonus for finding the Secret X
Bargain Game: Cash bonus for wins:
The only one I actually see them doing on the show one day is Bonkers for a car!  They can put a "1" or "2" on the left center side of the board just like they did with Deluxe Dice Game back in the 80s.  The game play is the same.  Would be very exciting to hit the button and win a car in this game!   
Title: Re: Which Games Could Be Improved?
Post by: jhc2010 on January 23, 2019, 11:01:11 PM
Clock Game:
Go back to showing the price of each of the prizes to be bid on BEFORE the contestant starts bidding. Bob would always pause and allow the graphic to appear and the sound effect to be heard.