Balance Game (1980s)
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Balance Game was a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Played from April 9, 1984 to December 3, 1985, it was played for a large prize worth more than $1,000, and used small prizes.
[edit] Gameplay
The contestant was given five silver dollars and shown five prizes with two-digit prices, each with a bucket in front of it containing a number of silver dollars equal to the item's price. The contestant picked any item and its bucket of dollars was poured into the dish on one side of the scale. The price was also revealed on the bottom of the bucket, which was stacked near the dish. The contestant then had to pick another prize whose coins were poured into the other side of the scale, and whose bucket was placed next to that side.
If the two items "balanced" the scale the contestant won the large prize. If the prices were within five dollars of each other, the contestant could use the free dollars they were given to balance the scale and win. If not, they had to select additional prizes whose dollars would be added to the scale in an attempt to balance them (or come within five dollars of doing so).
The game continued until the scale balanced or until all the prizes had been used and the five free silver dollars could not balance the scale. The contestant won any small prizes they had used on the scale regardless of whether or not they won the game, making this game one of five retired games (along with Finish Line, Give or Keep, Shower Game, and Trader Bob) in which the contestant would win something regardless of the game's outcome.
[edit] Barker Silver Dollars
The silver dollars used in the game were called "Barker Silver Dollars", and were specially-minted coins with host Bob Barker's face on them. When the new Balance Game debuted in 2006, the Barker Silver Dollars also returned; since 2007, when Drew Carey first hosted the show, they have been known as "Drew Dollars".
Contestants were allowed to keep any of their five free Barker Silver Dollars that had not been used in the game. Several sets of them have been offered for sale on eBay.
[edit] Retirement
The most common explanation for the game's retirement centers on its rules, which critics say were too confusing for most contestants. Barker often had to explain each aspect of the game, short of revealing the prices of each item.[citation needed]
A new pricing game, also called Balance Game, was introduced in 2006 with completely different gameplay. This is the second retired pricing game to lend its name to an active game on the show (the other is Bullseye).
