List of The Price Is Right pricing games

Pricing games are a feature of the game show The Price Is Right.

The contestant from Contestants' Row who places the winning bid has the chance to win a prize or cash. Only one contestant at a time is involved in a pricing game and tends to get the unanimous support of the audience. After the pricing game ends, a new contestant is selected for Contestants' Row and the process begins again. Six pricing games are played on each hour-long episode; three games per episode were played in the half-hour format.

A total of 104 games have been played on the show: 71 are in the current rotation and 33 have been retired. On a typical hour-long episode, two games (one in each half of the show) will be played for a car. One game will be played for a cash prize and the other three for merchandise or trips. One of the six games will involve grocery products and time permitting, another will involve smaller prizes, worth between approximately $5 and $500, used to win a larger prize package.

Active games

A

• Any Number

The gameboard contains spaces representing the digits for the price of a car, the three-digit price of a prize and an amount of money in dollars and cents less than $10. Each digit 0 through 9 appears on the board once. For the car that is priced higher than $10,000, one of the digits 1 through 9 is repeated as the first digit of the car price, which is revealed as the game begins. The contestant calls out digits, one at a time and wins the prize whose price is completely filled in first.

B

• Balance Game

The contestant is shown four prop bags of money: one represents the last three digits for the price of a prize and is placed on one side of a scale at the beginning of the game; each remaining bag represents a value in multiples of $1,000. In order to win the prize, the contestant must choose two of these three remaining bags to add to the first bag in order to "balance" a bag representing the total price on the other side of the scale. A previous game with the same name but different rules was played from 1984-1985.

• Bonkers

The contestant is shown an incorrect four-digit price for a prize and given four paddles to place on an eight-space gameboard, one space each above and below each digit. Within a 30-second time limit, the contestant must guess whether each actual digit is higher or lower by appropriately placing the paddle by each digit: above for higher, below for lower. The contestant then presses a button and if the guessed pattern is correct, the contestant wins the prize. If the guess is incorrect, the contestant must make another guess without knowing which individual choices are incorrect. The process repeats as long as time remains on the clock. The game ends either upon a correct guess or when time expires and the final guess is incorrect.

• Bonus Game

The contestant is asked whether each of four small prizes is priced higher or lower than the incorrect price given. Each prize corresponds to one of four windows on a gameboard, including one which conceals the word "Bonus." The contestant wins a bonus prize by correctly pricing the small prize with the window containing "Bonus." Pricing all four prizes correctly guarantees a win.

• Bullseye

The contestant is shown five grocery items and is asked to purchase a quantity of one item totaling between $10 and $12 in price. The contestant may have up to three turns using different items to reach the target range. If the quantity of the chosen product totals less than $10, the contestant receives a marker on a gameboard. If the quantity is either under $2 or over $12, no credit is given for the turn. If the contestant has not won the game after three item selections, the host reveals whether one of the items marked on the gameboard contains a "hidden bullseye", which also produces a win. The winning margin was originally $9-$10, but it was quickly changed to a range of $5-$6.

C

• Card Game

The contestant uses playing cards from a standard deck to bid on a car. Before playing the game, the contestant draws a card from another deck to determine how close their bid must be without going over to win. The contestant's bid starts at $15,000 and then increases as the contestant draws cards, with tens and face cards worth $1,000 and numbered cards worth their face value multiplied by $100. Aces are wild, can be either played immediately or held aside and can be made into any positive value. Once the contestant freezes their bid, the price is revealed. If the bid is within the specified range determined at the game's outset without going over, the contestant wins the car.

The starting bid and range have changed several times throughout the game's history. The starting bid was originally $0, then increased to $2,000, $8,000, $10,000 and then $12,000 before being increased to the current amount of $15,000. Also, the starting deck originally contained nine cards, one each with a value from $200-$1,000 in $100 increments. The deck was changed in 1983 to contain 12 cards with values from $500-$2,000, three of each in $500 increments. The current deck contains seven cards with values from $1,000-$3,000, two of each in $1,000 increments and one $5,000 card.

From the game's debut until 1983, aces could only be made any value up to $1,000.

• Check Game

The contestant is shown a prize and then asked to write an amount on an oversized blank check. The value of the prize is then combined with the amount written on the check. If the total is between $7,000 and $8,000, the contestant wins both the prize and the cash amount of the check. If the total is not within the winning range, the check is voided (stamped with a huge "VOID") and the contestant loses the game. The check is the contestant's to keep, win or lose and is not legal tender.

Originally, the game was known as "Blank Check," and the winning range was $3,000-$3,500. The range was later increased to $5,000-$6,000 before it was increased to the current range.

• Check-Out

The contestant is asked to price five grocery items, one at a time. After all five guesses are tallied, the actual prices of the items are revealed. If the contestant's cumulative total is within $2.00 above or below the actual total price of the five grocery items, the contestant wins a bonus prize. The winning range was originally 50¢; it later increased to $1.00 before it was increased to its current total.

• Cliff Hangers

The contestant is asked to price three small prizes within a total of $25 of their actual prices. A gameboard contains a mechanical mountain climber that ascends a mountain, taking one step up the mountain for each dollar the contestant is away from the actual price of each item in turn. If the climber takes more than 25 steps, he falls off the mountain and the contestant loses the game. However, if the climber takes less than 25 steps, the contestant wins a large prize in addition to the three small prizes.

• Clock Game

The game is played for two prizes. The actual price of the first prize is shown to the studio and home audiences. After the contestant gives their first bid, a 30-second clock is started and the host tells the contestant whether the actual price is higher or lower than the given bid. The contestant continues to give bids, responding to the host's clues, until either the contestant gives out the actual price of the prize or the time expires. If the time remains after the first prize is played, the process is repeated for the second prize.

If the contestant prices both prizes within 30 seconds, the contestant also wins an additional bonus prize and $1,000 in cash. The cash award was increased to $5,000 on all prime time episodes beginning in 2002.

Prior to 2009, no bonus prize was offered. From the game's inception until 1998, contestants on the daytime show only won the two prizes on which they bid. The $1,000 cash bonus was added in 1998 to compensate for low prize values; with few exceptions, traditionally only prizes valued below $1,000 have been offered in this game. On the 1986 prime time specials, the contestant blindly chose a cash bonus from one of four envelopes with possible values of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 and $5,000.

• Coming or Going

The contestant is shown the price of a prize, which may be displayed in either the correct or inverse order (e.g. $1,234 or $4,321). In order to win, the contestant must choose which of the two possibilities is the correct price.

• Cover Up

An incorrect price for a car is shown on a gameboard. Above each digit are the following alternate digits: two options for the first digit and one incremental option for each of other digits until six choices for the fifth digit. The contestant is asked to provide a new price for the car using the alternate digits, covering up the wrong digits with new ones. If the contestant's guess is correct, the contestant wins the car. If any digits in the price are correct, the correct digits are lit and the contestant again covers up the remaining incorrect digits. The game continues until the contestant chooses all five correct numbers in the price, winning the car, or provides a price in which no new numbers are correct, ending the game.

• Credit Card

Five prizes, each usually worth $200 to $3,000, are shown. The contestant is shown a credit limit, usually $1,800 to $2,500, and must select the three prizes, one at a time, whose prices total below the credit limit. If the total of the prices from the three selected prizes do not exceed the credit limit the contestant wins all five prizes.

D

• Danger Price

The contestant is shown four prizes, including one whose price is the "danger price." If the contestant avoids the danger price by sequentially choosing the other three prizes, the contestant wins all four prizes.

• Dice Game

The game is played for a car with a price that does not include the digits 0, 7, 8, or 9. The first digit of the price is revealed. The contestant takes four turns rolling a die on a dice table. Each turn corresponds to one of the remaining digits (1-6) in the price of the car. If the contestant rolls the actual digit, it is revealed on a gameboard and the contestant is given credit for that digit. If all four correct digits are rolled, the contestant wins the car automatically. If the contestant does not roll the actual digit, he or she is asked whether the actual digit is higher or lower than the digit rolled and wins the car if all of these guesses are correct. Prior to 1977, the car price occasionally included zeroes or digits higher than six. Also, when cars priced above $10,000 were first offered in the 1980s, the game was known as "Deluxe Dice Game", with an extra digit window attached to the left side of the gameboard representing the first digit in the price.

• Double Prices

The contestant wins a prize by choosing its correct price from the two choices.

E

• Easy as 1 2 3

The contestant is given blocks marked 1, 2 and 3, which are used to rank three prizes from least expensive to most expensive. The contestant wins the prizes by correctly ranking all three.

F

• Five Price Tags

The contestant is shown five price tags, one of which is the correct price of a car. The contestant is then shown four small prizes and must choose whether the price shown for each one is a true or false price for the item. Each correct guess wins that item and one choice of the five price tags. After pricing the four small items, selecting the actual price within the number of choices earned from the first part of the game wins a car.

• Flip Flop

The gameboard contains a four-digit price (e.g., $1,234) that begins with at least one set of reversed numbers for a prize. The first two digits may be "flipped" (in this case, producing a price of $2,134), the last two may be "flopped" (creating a price of $1,243), or the whole price may be "flip-flopped" (for a price of $2,143). A correct choice of the three options wins the prize.

• Freeze Frame

A ring of eight tiles, each with a two-digit number, rotates clockwise through a frame at the top of a gameboard. Two of the tiles appear in the frame at a time, forming a four-digit price. The contestant pulls a lever to stop the ring from moving when the selected price is formed within the frame. A correct guess wins the prize.

G

• Gas Money

The contestant is shown five prices for a car. One at a time, the contestant selects four prices they believe are not the price of the car. If the selected price is not the car price, the contestant wins an amount of money concealed behind the card. Each of the four incorrect prices are worth between $1,000-$4,000 in increments of $1,000. The contestant may choose to either stop with any money won or risk the money and reveal another price. If the contestant reveals all four incorrect prices, he or she wins the car and $10,000. If the car's actual price (represented by a "pink slip") is revealed at any time among one of the five prices, the game ends and the contestant loses any money accumulated to that point.

Contestants originally had to select what they believed to be the actual price of the car before attempting to eliminate the other four incorrect prices.

• Golden Road

The game involves three prizes, each with a three-, four- and five- (or occasionally six-) digit price. Due to its complex staging, it is always played as the first game on a show in which it appears. The contestant is shown the price of a grocery item worth less than $1 and is then asked which of the two digits is also the first (hundreds) digit in the price of the first prize. If the contestant prices the first prize correctly, the process repeats with the digits in the price of the that prize being the choices for the missing digit in the next prize which has four digits in the price; again the contestant is asked to choose the missing hundreds digit from the second prize. If the contestant correctly prices the second prize, the digits in its price make up the four choices for the missing hundreds digit in the price of the final prize. The contestant wins any prizes correctly priced and does not risk those prizes to continue in the game. The final prize is often billed as "the most expensive single prize offered on the show" and (since 2008) frequently a premium European car or other luxury car.

• Grand Game

The contestant is shown a target price and six grocery items, four of which are priced below the target price. One at a time, the contestant selects items believed to be under the target price. The contestant's winnings start at $1 and are multiplied by ten for each correct selection, to $10, $100 and $1,000. A contestant who makes an incorrect guess prior to reaching the $1,000 level keeps whatever money is accumulated to that point. After reaching the $1,000 level, the contestant is offered the chance to quit the game with their winnings or risk that money in order to attempt selecting the one remaining product that is less than the target price. A correct final choice wins the maximum of $10,000 (or $20,000 in prime time with the other amounts doubled as well). However, if the final item the contestant selects is above the target price, the contestants leaves with nothing.

• Grocery Game

The contestant is given five grocery items and asked to purchase quantities of them to total between $20 and $21, in order to win a prize. The contestant can purchase any quantity of any item, which is multiplied by the item's price and then rung up on a cash register. However, once an item is selected and its price is revealed, that item cannot be selected again. The game ends if the contestant's total exceeds $21 or they exhaust all five items before reaching $20. The original limit was $6.75 to $7.00.

The first four times the game was played the contestant received $100 in cash at the start of the game, theirs to keep if they won, chose to stop before reaching or exceeding $7.00, or lost without exceeding $7.00. Also, the contestant received supplies of the five items in each of those playings. The quantities varied, but always totaled at least $100 and counted toward the contestant's winnings.

H

• Half Off

Ten thousand dollars (or $25,000 in prime time) is hidden inside one of 16 boxes displayed onstage. The contestant is shown three sets of two prizes, one at a time and is asked which one of them is priced at half of its actual price. A correct guess nets the contestant that set of small prizes and $500 and reduces the number of boxes in play by one-half. With each successive correct guess, this field is again reduced by one-half, into eight, then four and finally two boxes. After all three pairs of prizes have been played, the contestant is asked to select the box that contains the grand prize from the remaining boxes in play. If that box contains money, he wins the grand prize. Prior to 2007, contestants did not receive an additional $500 for each correct guess during the pricing portion of the game.

• Hi Lo

The contestant is shown six grocery items and asked to choose the three highest-priced in order to win a prize. After the contestant's selections are chosen and placed in the Hi row, the lowest-priced of the selected items is kept and the remaining items' prices are checked and placed in the Lo row. If the lowest-priced items of the Hi row is higher than each of all three remaining items in the Lo row, the contestant wins.

In the first few playings, the contestant selected an item and then was asked whether that individual item's price belonged in the Hi row or the Lo row. The contestant either won the game by correctly placing each of the six prices or lost by making a mistake.

• Hole in One

The contestant is asked to place six grocery items in ascending order of price. The prices are then revealed one at a time. Each correct guess shortens the distance of putting a golf ball from the contestant to the hole. Correctly ordering all six items wins a $500 bonus ($1,000 in prime time) and the spot closest to the hole. An incorrect guess at any other spot forces the contestant to putt from the spot with the last correct guess. The contestant is then given two attempts to putt a golf ball into the hole from that line to win a car. Prior to 1986 the contestant was allowed only one putt to win the car. The game's name became "Hole in One....or Two" when the second-putt rule was instituted.

I

• It's in the Bag

The contestant is shown six grocery items and five grocery bags with prices and has a chance to win up to $16,000 (or $24,000 in prime time). One at a time, the host reads a price and the contestant must select the grocery item that corresponds with the price; however, one of the six items does not match up with any of the displayed prices. After all five pricing questions have been played, the host then reveals, one at a time, the price of each item, starting with the leftmost position. If the product there matches the price on the bag, the contestant wins $1,000. Each successive position on the game display is a double-or-nothing proposition–$2,000, $4,000, $8,000 and finally $16,000–with the option to quit at any time and keep the current winnings. If the contestant chooses to continue and is wrong at any point, he loses everything.

The last bag's value is the only value that is changed (from $16,000 to $24,000) for prime time episodes in which the game appears.

L

• Let 'em Roll

The game is played for a car or a cash prize. It uses five large dice, each marked with an image of a car on three sides and cash values of $500, $1,000 and $1,500 on the other three. The contestant is given one roll of the dice and can earn up to two more by using three grocery items. The price for the first item is given and the contestant must determine whether the price of the next item is higher or lower than of the preceding item. In order to win the car, the contestant must roll cars on all five dice in one of the earned rolls. If the car is not won on a given roll (i.e., some dice show cash amounts instead of car images), the contestant may keep whatever cash is won. If the contestant has won additional rolls, he or she may give back this money and re-roll whichever dice did not previously show a car. If the contestant has not won the car in the final roll, he or she wins whatever cash is displayed on the final roll.

• Line em Up

This game is played for a car and three other prizes. The contestant is shown the first and last digits of the car's price. The prices of the other three prizes are used for the remaining digits: two prizes three-digit prices for the second and forth digits and one prize with a two-digit price for the third. It is up to the contestant to line up the three prices into a frame to form a price for the car. If the guess is correct, the contestant wins everything. Otherwise, the contestant is told how many of the digits are correctly placed, but not specifically which ones; the contestant then earns another attempt to win by correcting any mistakes. An incorrect guess on the second attempt wins nothing.

• Lucky Seven

The contestant is given seven $1 bills and shown the first digit in the price of a car. The contestant guesses the numbers for the remaining digits in the price, one at a time and loses $1 for each digit their guess is away from the correct digit. If the contestant has at least $1 remaining after all digits are played, he or she may buy the car for $1. Originally, with cars priced under $10,000, the first digit was not given.

M

• Magic #

The contestant is shown two prizes and told which is the more-expensive and which is less-expensive. The contestant must then use a lever on the prop to set a "magic number" which must be between the prices of the two prizes: higher than the less-expensive prize and lower than the more-expensive. Doing so correctly wins both prizes.

• Make Your Move

The contestant is shown a sequence of nine digits on a gameboard which include, consecutively but in unknown order, the prices of three prizes: one of each with a two-, three- and four-digit price. There are also three color-coded sliders: a red slider for the two-digit prize, a yellow slider for the three-digit prize and a green slider for the four-digit prize. The contestant must move the slider corresponding to each prize under the digits representing its price, not overlapping and using each digit only once. The contestant must correctly price all three prizes to win.

• Master Key

The contestant can win up a car and two other prizes by opening locks from a set of five keys. The contestant can win up to two keys by selecting the correct two-digit price from a string of three digits for each of two small prizes.

After pricing the small prizes and earning at least one key, the earned keys are used in attempt to unlock three locks, each of them representing one prize. Each of the five keys have different effects on the locks: one key opens all three locks (dubbed the "master key"), another opens none of them and the three remaining keys opens only their own locks.

• Money Game

Played for a car, the contestant is given the third digit in the five-digit price and shown nine sets of two-digit numbers. One set of numbers are the first two digits in the price and another set are the last two digits. The remaining seven sets of numbers conceal dollar signs, representing money the contestant can win. In order to win the car, the contestant must pick the first two and last two digits of the car's price. Choosing a set of numbers that reveal a dollar sign places the tile in the "money column" and nets the contestant that amount in cash. The contestant wins the car if they are able to find both halves of the car before filling all four spaces in the money column, winning only the cash sum of selections.

For cars with four-digit prices, no digit in the price was revealed at the start of the game.

• More or Less

The game is played for a car and three additional prizes. The contestant is shown an incorrect price for the first prize and is asked to guess whether its actual price is "more" (higher) or "less" (lower) than the one displayed. If correct, the contestant wins that prize and moves on to the next one. This is repeated for each subsequent prize, with the car last. A mistake at any point ends the game, resulting the contestant winning only the prizes priced correctly to that point.

• Most Expensive

The contestant is shown three prizes and must choose which is the most expensive in order to win all three prizes.

N

• Now....or Then

The contestant is shown six grocery items, each with a price, arranged on a circular gameboard. A month and year, usually from the past 8 to 12 years, is provided and the contestant selects a grocery item. The contestant must determine whether the price given for the item is either the current price ("now") or the price as of the specified past date ("then"). To win the game and a large prize, the contestant must make correct guesses for three adjacent wedges of the circle. The original name of the game was "Now....and Then".

O

• One Away

The contestant is shown an incorrect price for a car. Each of the individual digits is "one away" from the correct price (i.e., either one digit higher or one digit lower than the one shown initially). After all five digits are changed, the contestant is asked if one, two, three, four and then five digits are right and is met with a car horn each time the answer is "yes." The contestant wins the car if they have correctly chosen all five digits in the price. However, unless all five digits are wrong, the contestant is given one opportunity to change the specified number of digits believed to be wrong without knowing which ones. The actual price is then revealed and the contestant wins if their guesses match the digits in the price of the car.

• 1 Right Price

The contestant is shown two prizes and a price corresponding to one of them. Correctly choosing the prize associated with the price wins both prizes.

• One Wrong Price

The contestant is shown three prizes, each with accompanying prices. Two prices are correct and one is priced incorrectly. The contestant wins all three prizes by choosing the prize with the "wrong price."

P

• Pass the Buck

A contestant can win a car and a cash prize of up to $9,000. The contestant is given one free choice at the start and is then shown two pairs of grocery items, one at a time, each pair containing one correctly-priced item and one reduced by $1. The contestant must "pass the buck" (position a dollar bill marker) beneath the item believed to be discounted. Each correct decision earns a choice, for a total of up to three choices, from six numbered spaces on a gameboard. Behind the numbered spaces are the following: one car, two marked "Lose Everything" and three cash values: $1,000, $3,000 and $5,000. The contestant can quit at anytime and keep what he/she has won or continue to select numbers, even after revealing one or both "Lose Everything" spaces, before exhausting all earned choices.

When the game debuted, the original rules had eight spaces instead of six, containing a third "Lose Everything" and a $2,000 cash award. Also, the contestant had to earn all three picks with three pairs of grocery items; no free pick was earned. These rules lasted for a few months before they were changed.

• Pathfinder

The game is played for a car. The gameboard is a five-by-five grid of 25 digits, including a five-digit "path" which is the price of the car. The first digit is the center square and each remaining digit is one of the squares adjacent (not diagonal) to the digit preceding it. At each turn, the contestant must step to the square that is the next digit in the price and walk the correct path to all five digits in order to win. If at any time during the game the contestant chooses an incorrect digit, he or she must return to the previous space, then pick one of three small prizes to play and finally pick the correct price of two to win that prize and another chance to step on correct squares to win a car. If incorrect on that prize, the contestant must pick another remaining prize. The process is repeated until the contestant either steps on an incorrect digit with no small prizes left or guesses the last remaining small prize incorrectly, ending the game, or wins the car by correctly stepping to the final digit in the price. Originally, the game used cars with four digits in the price and an asterisk was on the center square.

• Pick-a-Number

The contestant is shown a prize and its price with one digit missing. The contestant wins by correctly selecting the missing digit from three possible choices.

• Pick-a-Pair

Six grocery items are shown as three pairs, each two per pair with the same price. The contestant must pair two items with the same price in order to win a prize. If incorrect on their first try, the contestant chooses to keep one of the items and match it with one of the remaining items in the second try. Correctly matching two prices either in their first selection or second wins the prize.

• Plinko

Played for a cash prize of up to $50,000 (or $100,000 in prime time). The contestant is given one free chip and can win up to four more by answering pricing questions on items worth up to $99; those questions asked which digit was correct out of two shown, with a correct guess netting that small prize and a chip. After the questions were played, the contestant takes one chip at a time and places it on a pegboard, which sends the chip all over the board and eventually into one of nine spaces at the bottom: two each of $0, $100, $500 and $1,000 and one centrally-located $10,000 ($20,000 in prime time). The contestant wins corresponding value in which the chip lands. The game continues until the supply of chips is exhausted. Prior to 1998, the game's top cash prize was originally $25,000 with a $5,000 slot in the center.

• Pocket Change

The game is played for a car. The contestant begins the game with 25 cents, which is given as the car's initial selling price. Six digits are given: five which belongs to the price and one which does not. The first digit in the price is revealed, leaving five remaining digits. The contestant must choose from the remaining digits to place each digit in the price. When a digit is correctly chosen, it is removed from the available choices for the remaining spaces in the price. Each time a contestant chooses correctly, he or she selects an envelope from a gameboard; the envelope contains a value between $0.00 and $2.00, which may be applied to the purchase if necessary. Each incorrect choice raises the price by $0.25.

When the price is complete, any envelopes won by the contestant are opened and their amount of change are revealed. If the total change won by the contestant meets or exceeds the selling price, the contestant wins the car.

During the game's first two playings, the first digit was not given and the contestant had to guess all five digits.

• Punch a Bunch

Played for a cash prize of $25,000 (or $50,000 in prime time), the contestant can earn up to four punches on a 50-space (5-by-10) punchboard by answering higher-lower pricing questions on four items, one at a time. After all four questions are played, the contestant punches holes into the appropriate number of spaces on the board, which contain slips of paper with money amounts written on them. The host then reveals–one at a time and starting with the first hole punched–the amount written on the slip inside. If the slip says "Second Chance", a new hole is punched and the value of the slip inside is added to the total. The contestant may either quit and keep the amount won or reject it and try to win a better prize with the next slip drawn. The game continues in this manner until the contestant either quits, wins the top prize, or exhausts his supply of holes, in which case he must keep the last amount. It is possible to win more than the top prize, as the player can punch out all the Second Chance prizes (attached to the lowest amounts) and then the top prize. Prior to 2008, the game's top cash prize was originally $10,000 (or $25,000 in prime time).

• Push Over

The contestant is shown a prize and a series of nine numbered blocks which includes the correct price. The contestant must push the blocks representing digits of the correct price into a blue window in order to win the prize. However, once blocks fall over the edge into a bin, they can not be retrieved.

R

• Race Game

The contestant is shown four prizes and given the corresponding price tags. The contestant places the tags on the corresponding prizes and then runs back to pull a lever on a prop which then shows the number of correctly-placed tags. If the number displayed is less than four, the contestant rearranges the price tags and the process repeats. The contestant has 45 seconds to place all four tags correctly. The game ends when either the contestant correctly places all four tags on the appropriate prizes or time expires. If time expires and the contestant has not placed all four tags correctly, he still wins any of the prizes he has correctly priced to that point.

• Range Game

The contestant is presented a $600 range for the price of a prize and then asked to stop a $150 rangefinder within the area containing the prize's price. A correct guess wins the prize. Originally, the range was $50, but it was quickly increased to $100. The range was $200 for a brief period during the 1970s on the syndicated version of the show.

• Rat Race

The contestant is presented a grocery item under $10, a small prize under $100, and a medium prize under $1,000. One at a time, the contestant must guess the actual retail prices within a specified range: $1 for the grocery item, $10 for the second prize, and $100 for the third. Each prize the contestant correctly prices allows the contestant to choose one of five colored mechanical rats, positioned on a large dollar sign-shaped race track, for a maximum of three possible rats: blue, orange, purple, green, or yellow. The rats are then set in motion on the track. If one of the selected rats finishes in third place, the contestant wins an additional small prize; in second, a medium-sized prize; if a selected rat wins the race, the contestant wins a car. Depending on the number of rats won and the specific ones chosen in the race, the contestant may win one, two, or all three additional prizes.

S

• Safe Crackers

The contestant wins two prizes by correctly pricing the less-expensive prize which contains three unique digits in its price. The digits in the price must be entered in the proper order as the "combination" to open a safe containing the prizes.

• Secret "X"

The contestant attempts to place three Xs in a row on an oversized tic-tac-toe board. Hidden in the center column is a "secret X." At the start of the game, the contestant is given one free X to place anywhere in either the left or right column of the board and can win up to two more Xs. To win the additional Xs, the contestant must select the correct price from a choice of two prices for two small items. After placing their additional Xs, the contestant wins the game if they have formed a tic-tac-toe–either across or diagonally (up-and-down configurations are not possible in this game).

• Shell Game

The game uses small prizes and four shells, one of which conceals a ball. The contestant is asked whether each prize is higher or lower than a given incorrect price. For each correct guess, the contestant wins that small prize and is given a chip to place beside one of the shells. If the contestant places a chip by the shell containing the ball, he or she wins a bonus prize. If the contestant correctly prices all four items, he or she wins an additional $500 cash bonus for correctly guessing which shell conceals the ball; however, an incorrect guess will not forfeit the grand prize.

• Shopping Spree

The contestant is shown four prizes and asked to choose the three whose total prices exceed a given amount. Doing so wins all four prizes.

• Side by Side

The contestant is shown a prize and two sets of two numbers representing the first two and last two digits in its prize, e.g. 12 and 34. The contestant wins the prize by correctly determining the order of the pairs of digits, e.g. 1234 or 3412.

• Spelling Bee

The game is played for a car or up to $5,000 in cash. A gameboard contains 30 cards of the following: 11 Cs, 11 A's, 6 Rs, and two cards which read "CAR." In order to win the car, the contestant must accumulate cards whose letters spell out CAR (the "CAR" cards produce an automatic win). The contestant chooses two free cards from the board and then must win up to three more by pricing each of three small items within $10, high or low, of its actual price. Exactly pricing one of the items wins all three additional cards and all three small prizes, regardless if one was missed along the way. After the cards are chosen, the contestant is offered $1,000 per card to quit the game and walk away. The cards are revealed one at a time and if the car is not yet won, the cash buy-out offer is repeated with the remaining cards. The contestant wins nothing if the contestant fails to spell CAR after the last card is revealed. Prior to 2007, each card was worth $500 for a maximum cash amount of $2,500.

• Squeeze Play

The contestant is shown a prize and its price with one additional digit. The contestant is told that the first and last digits are correct and that one of the other remaining middle digits of the price must be removed in order to win.

• Stack the Deck

The game is played for a car. The contestant is shown seven playing cards containing digits, five of which make up the price of the car. The contestant is given an opportunity to "stack the deck" in favor of guessing and earn up to three digits of the car's price in their correct positions. The contestant is shown three pairs of grocery items, one at a time. Each pair has a price displayed, and the contestant must select the item that correctly corresponds to the price. For each correct answer, the contestant may choose which digit in the price of the car is to be revealed. After the three prices have been guessed, the contestant must fill in any remaining slots with the correct cards of the remaining ones to win the car. The car's price is then revealed and if the car is priced correctly, the contestant wins.

• Step Up

The contestant is shown four prizes, each usually worth from $500 to $3,000. The contestant selects one prize and, after its price is revealed, picks another that is assumed to be more than the preceding prize. A correct guess nets both prizes and $500. The contestant may then either stop and keep all accumulated winnings or put them all at risk and select one of the remaining two prizes they assume to be more expensive than the other two, to win all three plus an additional $1,000. A correct guess here means another stop-or-continue decision, and if the contestant continues, he can win the fourth item and an additional $1,500 if that item is the most expensive of all. The most desirable outcome is to win all four items plus $3,000 by effectively ordering all four items in ascending order of price; however, at any time, if an incorrect guess is made, everything accumulated to that point is lost, and the game is over.

• Swap Meet

The contestant is shown four prizes, one of which is the base prize and one of which has the same price as the base prize. The contestant must "swap" the base prize for the prize of equivalent value in order to win all four prizes.

• Switch?

The contestant is shown two prizes, each with a given price. The contestant must decide whether the prices are correct as given or need to be switched with each other. A correct decision wins both prizes.

• Switcheroo

A car is revealed and four additional prizes under $100 are described. The contestant is shown the prices for the five items, each of them missing the tens digit, and five numbered blocks. The contestant is given 30 seconds to place all blocks in the spaces that they are assumed to belong. After either the time limit expires or the contestant is satisfied, the contestant is told how many prizes are priced correctly, but not which ones. The contestant is given the option to either quit or take another 30 seconds to correct mistakes, if any. After the second gameplay period is over, the contestant is shown how many correct blocks he has placed and then told which items–if any–have been won.

T

• Take Two

The contestant is shown four prizes and a total which represents the price of two prizes added together. The contestant has two chances to choose the two prizes whose prices match the total given. A correct choice wins all four prizes.

• Temptation

The game is played for a car and four additional prizes. The first digit in the price of the car is given to the contestant. One at the time, the prices of the four additional prizes, each of which contains only two distinct digits, are shown. One digit in each price corresponds to one of the remaining digits in the price of the car. The contestant fills in what he or she believes to be the price of the car from these choices and is given the opportunity to make changes after the price is first filled in. The contestant is then offered two options: either take the four prizes and leave the game, or risk them and try to win the car. If the car's price is correct, the contestant wins the car and the four prizes. If the contestant chose to risk the prizes and the car price is incorrect, he or she wins nothing. Originally, when played for cars with four-digit prices, the first digit was not given.

• Ten Chances

The contestant is given "ten chances" to correctly price three prizes. The first has a two-digit price, the second a three-digit price, and the third is a car. The contestant is given three digits for the two-digit price and must write down the price using two of the digits in any order. If correct, the process repeats for the second prize which has four digits to use. If correct, the process repeats for the car, with all five digits given. The game ostensibly includes a ten-second time limit for writing down each choice, though this is rarely, if ever, enforced. Originally, the game used cars with four digits in the price, and the contestant had to use four of the five available digits to form the price of the car.

• That's Too Much!

The contestant is shown up to ten prices for a car in ascending order of price. The contestant announces what he thinks is the first marked-up price by calling out "That's Too Much!" and, if correct, wins the car.

• 3 Strikes

The contestant is shown eight discs: five as digits for the price of a car and three which are marked with an X, or a Strike. The discs are placed into a bag and shuffled and the contestant blindly draws a disc from the bag. If a digit is drawn, the contestant must choose which position it fits in the price. If correct, the digit is lit up in the price display on a gameboard, and the disc is removed from the game and deposited into a discard slot on the board. If incorrect, the disc returns to the bag. If a Strike is drawn, an X is lit on the gameboard and the strike chip is removed from the game and deposited into the discard slot. The contestant continues to draw discs until they either correctly position each digit in the price and win the car, or draw the three Strikes and lose the game. Originally, when played for four-digit cars, there were seven discs in the bag: four digits for the price and the three Strikes.

Prior to 1993, on the syndicated version from 1994, and for a brief period again in 2008, the value of cars offered was in-line with other pricing games at the time. Since 1993, the game has been played for American luxury cars, with foreign cars also added as a possibility since 2009.

This game has undergone several rules changes in its history. From 1998-2008, only one strike chip was used and was returned to the bag after being drawn. The strike had to be drawn three times in order for the contestant to lose. On the syndicated nighttime version of the show in 1994 and again on the daytime show briefly in 2008, the first digit in the price was given to the contestant at the beginning of the game. The game was also known as "3 Strikes +" when cars priced above $10,000 were first offered.

• Triple Play

This game is played for three cars. The contestant is shown two price choices for the first car, three for the second, and four for the third. For each car, the contestant must choose which of the displayed prices is closest to the actual price of the car without going over. If the contestant chooses correctly for all three cars, he or she wins all three. An incorrect choice at any point ends the game with no prize won, and the contestant is not allowed to stop prior to the third car.

• 2 for the Price of 1

The game is played for two prizes, one with three digits in the price. The contestant must choose each of the correct digits of the three-digit price from two choices, with one of the three digits of the contestant's choice revealed beforehand. Coming up with the correct three-digit price wins both prizes.

Retired games

When the 1972 version of the show premiered, many games did not have official names which were used on the air. Some of the names below are unofficial or assigned by the production staff.

A

• Add 'em Up

The contestant was shown a car with a four-digit price containing no repeating digits. The sum of the digits in the price was shown to the contestant, and the contestant selected one of the digits in the price to be revealed. That digit was subtracted from the total sum, and the contestant attempted to guess the three remaining digits in the price. After each correct guess, the digit was revealed, and the remaining total was provided to the contestant. The contestant won the car by guessing the remaining digits in the price before making two mistakes.

B

• Balance Game

Five small prizes were presented, and the contestant was given five coins dubbed "Barker Silver Dollars". In order to win, the contestant attempted to balance a scale with the correct combination of small prizes and, if necessary, the Silver Dollars given to him. The contestant selected prizes one by one and placed them on either side of the scale. If the total value of prizes on one side of the scale equaled the value of prizes placed on the other side, the contestant won a larger prize package. If the totals were within five dollars of each other, the contestant could use the Barker Dollars given to them at the onset of the game to balance the scale.

Regardless of the outcome, the contestant kept any small prizes used during the game as well as any unused Silver Dollars.

• Barker's Bargain Bar

Two prizes were shown, each displaying a bargain price (a price below the actual retail price of the prize). The contestant won both prizes by choosing which price displayed was bigger bargain (i.e., which price was more below the actual retail price than the other).

• Bullseye

The contestant was given seven chances to guess the actual price of a car, with the host responding that the actual price was "higher" or "lower" based upon the contestant's bids. This was the first game to ever be retired, as it was extremely difficult to win; in fact, it was never won in any of its five appearances on the show. In some playings, the contestant was given a $500 range in which the price fell.

• Bump

Two prizes were offered. On a gameboard were four buses, each with a price on them. The first and last buses displayed the same price, and the name of each prize was placed below the two middle buses. The contestant decided which way to bump the buses, knocking two of them off the board, resulting either the first two or the last two buses positioned over the names of the prizes. The contestant won both prizes if the prices displayed on the buses matched those of the prizes below them.

This game was better known for the models' provocative wind-up leading into the bump. A later dispute (unrelated to the game) between Bob Barker and Dian Parkinson led to the game being retired in 1991.

• Buy or Sell

Three prizes were shown, each with an incorrect price. The contestant "bought" prizes he believed were under-priced and "sold" prizes he believed were overpriced. The actual prices were then revealed, one at a time, and for each correct decision, the difference between the two prices was added to a bank; for each incorrect decision, the difference was subtracted from the bank. If the contestant had made $100 or more, he won all three prizes as well as any cash accumulated in the bank. The most money that could be accumulated was $1,900. Prior to 1997, winning contestants did not receive any cash accumulated.

C

• Clearance Sale

Three prizes were shown, and the contestant was given three price tags that showed sale prices (ones that were lower than the actual prices). The contestant then placed the price tags on all three prizes. The contestant won all three prizes if each of the sale prices were below the actual prices of the prizes on which they were placed.

D

• Double Bullseye

This was the only pricing game to ever use two contestants and thus guarantee a win. After one contestant was called on stage, a second One Bid round was immediately played and the second winner joined the first onstage. A car or boat was revealed and described, and the two contestants were given a $500 range in which the price fell between. Bids were alternated between the two, with the host responding that the actual price was "higher" or "lower" based upon the contestants' bids. The contestant who bid the exact price won the car.

• Double Digits

A car was shown along with four small prizes. The contestant attempted to form the price of the car by using digits from the prices of the small prizes. If the four correct digits had been chosen, the contestant won the car; however, the contestant kept any small prizes which he had used the correct digit to price the car.

F

• Finish Line

Three pairs of small prizes were described. For each pair, the contestant had to pick the more expensive item. The sum of the rejected prizes made up a finish line that a miniature horse and jockey would have to cross. After all three choices were made, the horse moved one step for each dollar in the total value of the prizes the contestant had selected. If the horse cleared the finish line, the contestant won a larger prize. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant won the three prizes chosen to keep.

• Fortune Hunter

This game was played for four prizes and $5,000 cash. There were four boxes, one of which contained the cash prize. The host read three clues to help the contestant eliminate the prizes associated with them, based on their prices. The last remaining box was then opened. If the cash was hidden inside, the contestant won all four prizes plus the $5,000. However, if the chosen box was empty, the contestant won nothing.

The contestant did not have to eliminate the prizes in the order the clues were read. The prizes could be eliminated in any order as long as the three empty boxes were eliminated, leaving only the box that contained the money.

G

• Gallery Game

A painting of the prize that the contestant was playing for was shown to the contestant. Below the painting was a price with an incomplete portion of one digit. To win the prize, the contestant had to paint the rest of the incomplete digit, forming a price. The contestant won the prize if the price he painted matched the actual price of the prize.

• Give or Keep

Three pairs of small prizes were presented. From each pair, the contestant picked what he believed was the more expensive prize. If the sum of the prices the contestant kept was equal to or greater than the sum of the prices they gave away, the contestant won a larger prize. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant won the three prizes chosen to keep.

H

• Hit Me

Before the game began, the contestant cut a deck of playing cards from which the house's hand was made. As in blackjack, the object of the game was to come closer to 21 than the house without going over. The contestant was shown six grocery items, each displaying a price that was either the actual price of the item or a multiple of up to ten. The price multiple corresponded to a playing card concealed beneath each grocery item. One price was always a multiple of ten (awarding a 10 or face card) and another was always the exact price (awarding an ace); the other four multiples ranged from two to nine.

The contestant continued choosing items and acquiring cards until they either reached 21, froze, or busted. If the former happened, the contestant automatically won the game regardless of the house's score. If the contestant froze, the house's cards were revealed and additional cards were drawn from the deck and added to the house's hand until the total reached 17 or higher (at which point the house froze), or exceeded 21. The contestant won the game and a large prize if the house busted or if their total equaled or exceeded the house's score without busting.

• Hurdles

A grocery item was described that served as the base price, and six more products were shown to the contestant in three pairs. The objective was to choose the item of each pair that was priced below the base price. After the selections were made, a hurdler moved across a gameboard. As the hurdler moved, the price of each of the selected products began to rise up the board. If the hurdle's price was lower than the base price, the hurdler continued to move across the board. If the hurdler could successfully clear all three hurdles, the contestant won the game and a large prize. However, if a hurdle's price was higher than the base price, the hurdler crashed, and the contestant lost.

I

• It's Optional

Two cars were shown, each of the same make and model. The contestant was informed that the second car was a set amount more than the first and then attempted to add features from a list of nine options that would increase the price of the first car to within $100 or less of the price of the second car without going over. The number of options a contestant was allowed to choose during the course of the game changed with each playing but was generally between three and five.

J

• Joker

The contestant was shown five cards, one of which was a joker. For each of four small prizes were then shown, the contestant attempted to select the correct price for that prize from a choice of two. For each prize, the two price choices included the same digits, inverses of each other (e.g., $37 or $73). The contestant won the prize for selecting the correct price and also discarded a card from the hand. After pricing the four prizes and discarding cards from the contestant's hand, the remaining cards were revealed. If the contestant had discarded the joker, he won a larger prize as well.

M

• Mystery Price

A prize package was presented to the contestant and the price of the least expensive item in the package was dubbed the "mystery price". Four smaller prizes were shown individually and the contestant placed a bid on each of them. The contestant won the smaller prize if their bid was equal to or lower than its actual price and the amount of their bid was placed into a bank. If the contestant overbid on the prize, it was lost and no value was added to the bank.

After all four small prizes were played, the mystery price was revealed. If the contestant's bank was equal to or greater than the mystery price, he won the larger prize package as well.

O

• On the Nose

In order to win a car, the contestant competed in one of five possible sporting events. The events varied each time the game was played and included throwing a baseball or football into a specified area, shooting a basketball into a hoop, hitting a tennis ball with a racket into a specified area or popping a balloon with a dart.

After being shown the car, the contestant was shown four possible prices. The contestant selected what they believed was the actual price of the car and if correct won a $1,000 cash bonus and four attempts at the sporting event preselected for that day. The further away the selected price was from the actual price, the fewer chances the contestant received with no bonus, either three, two or one. If the contestant was successful at the sporting event with any attempt, they won the car.

• On the Spot

Six small prizes were described and the contestant was shown three paths, colored blue, yellow and pink, extending outward from a center black spot and each path was marked with three prices. To win a car, the contestant attempted to match the three prices in any path to the six prizes in play. After choosing a path, the contestant had to correctly determine which prize was associated with the first price on the path in order to move to the next price. If a contestant made a mistake they returned to the center spot and chose a new path. The contestant won the game and the car by correctly picking the three items that belonged to each of the prices in one specific path. Making a mistake on all three paths ended the game.

Some of the prices on a path were repeated on other paths, meaning a contestant could automatically step to the next price in line if they had already correctly matched the prize associated with a previous price.

P

• Penny Ante

Two grocery items were described and for each item four possible prices were presented. The contestant was given three oversized pennies and attempted to select the correct price for each of the two items. Each mistake the contestant made cost them a penny. The contestant won a larger prize if they were able to guess the actual price of both items before losing all three pennies.

• The Phone Home Game

The contestant and a preselected home viewer competing via telephone competed as a team attempting to win up to $15,000 in cash. Before the game began, the home viewer was given a list of the actual prices for each of seven grocery items. The items were then described to the contestant and the home viewer gave a price for one of the items. The contestant then selected the item they believed matched the price. If correct, the team shared a hidden cash award associated with that specific product. If the contestant was incorrect, the guessed product and the correct product were both taken out of play and that particular cash award was lost. The contestant and at-home player attempted to make three matches and win three cash awards. If the at-home player read the name of a product at any time instead of a price, that turn was lost.

The cash awards for the matched products were revealed and the team split the total amount won. The cash awards hidden beside the seven products included one $10,000 award, one $3,000, one $2,000, two $1,000 awards and two $200 awards.

• Poker Game

Four prizes were shown and the contestant made a poker hand with two of the prizes by using the digits in their prices, with nines being high and zeros being low. After the hand was revealed, the contestant was given an opportunity to keep their hand or pass it to the house. The prices of the other two prizes were then revealed and if the contestant made a better hand than the house, they won all four prizes.

The hand rankings were similar to that of poker and included five of a kind, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card; flushes and straights did not count.

• Professor Price

The contestant attempted to answer general knowledge questions with numerical answers (i.e. "How many innings are there in a regulation baseball game?") in order to win a car. After answering the first question, the contestant was asked if the correct answer to that question (which was always a digit from zero to nine) was also contained in the price of the car. General knowledge and pricing questions were repeated in this manner until the contestant either gave three correct responses, winning the car, or three incorrect responses, ending the game.

Central to the game was a large animatronic puppet dubbed "Professor Price." The contestant's progress was tracked by the professor on his hands; correct answers were counted by upward-pointing fingers on the puppet's right hand and incorrect answers were counted by downward-pointing fingers on his left hand.

The game was only played twice, making it the shortest-lived game in the show's history. It was also the only game to have a perfect record, being won both times it was played.

S

• Shower Game

The contestant was shown six shower stalls, each marked with a possible price for a car. Three stalls contained confetti, two contained $100 in cash and the one with the actual price contained a key to the car. If the contestant chose the stall with the confetti, he continued to choose stalls until he either found the $100 (in which case he would not be able to choose another stall) or the key (in which case he won the car).

• Split Decision

A car and a medium prize were shown and a string of eight digits were shown on a game board. The contestant had 20 seconds to pull down the three digits that made up the price of the smaller prize, leaving the five digits that made up the price of the car. To stop the clock, the contestant pushed a button on the game board. If the correct three-digit price for the smaller prize was pulled down, the contestant won both prizes. If incorrect, the contestant continued guessing until a correct guess was made or until time ran out and the final guess was incorrect.

Some playings didn't involve the clock at all, but instead, the contestant was given only three chances to win.

• Super Ball!!

Three large prizes were shown (one of which was usually a car) and four small prizes were used. Balls marked #1, #2 and #3 were each specified for the large prizes in the order that they were shown. To earn a ball, the contestant had to correctly choose from two possible prices of the small prize. The contestant was given a practice ball which did not count among the winnings and he then rolled any earned balls up a skee ball ramp. There were three rings marked $50, $100 and WIN! If the contestant rolled a ball into the WIN! ring, he won the associated large prize. If he rolled it into either cash ring, he won that amount of money. The fourth small prize was then revealed, along with a titular Super Ball and the same consequences were played. If the contestant earned the Super Ball and rolled it into the WIN! ring, he won all three large prizes, plus a $3,000 cash bonus if they had already been won. Otherwise, the contestant won triple the value of the cash ring in which the ball landed (i.e. $150 or $300).

• Super Saver

A large prize was shown and the game used six grocery items. Five were marked at various amounts below their actual prices and one was marked above its actual price and the objective was to save at least $1 with four purchases. It was possible to choose the one item with that was marked above its actual price and still win with the other three purchases.

T

• Telephone Game

A car and two small prizes were shown and the game used four grocery items. The contestant was given $1 to start the game and tried to spend less than 90¢ so that he could have a dime left over to use a pay telephone. If the contestant succeeded in doing so, he then dialed one of three sets of four-digit telephone numbers and won whatever prize's price was associated with that number. The number for the car represented its price in dollars, while the digits for the two small prizes represented their prices in dollars and cents (with a decimal point between the second and third digits). An automatic loss resulted in the contestant spending anything over 90¢.

• Time Is Money

A large prize was shown and the game used five grocery items. The contestant had to place the items in three separate price groups: less than $3, $3-$6 and more than $6. He had up to two chances to correctly group all of the items, with a 20-second time limit for each chance. If he was unsuccessful in the first attempt, he was told how many items were incorrectly placed (but not specifically which ones) and uses the second chance to regroup the items. If incorrect on the second chance, the game ends and the player wins nothing.

During the game's first two playings, the contestant was given a 15-second time limit for each chance as well as a voucher for a $500 cash bonus. If the contestant was correct on the first chance, he won both the prize and the $500. If incorrect, he could either take the $500 and leave or exchange it for another 15 seconds to regroup the items, without knowing which items were incorrectly placed or how many. If incorrect on the second chance, the game ends and the player wins nothing.

• Trader Bob

A large prize was shown and the game used seven small prizes. The contestant started with one small prize, which served as the base and was shown a pair of small prizes which was rolled out on barrels, one of which was worth more than the base. The process was repeated with two more pairs. If the contestant successfully arranged all three selected prizes in ascending order, he won the large prize; however, if he made a mistake, he won only the last small prize whose price had been revealed.

W

• Walk of Fame

Four prizes were shown and the contestant had to guess within a set amount of the actual price of a prize to win. The winning range increased with every subsequent prize. If the contestant made one mistake on any prize (except for the final prize, in which case the game ended), he was then given a choice of two autograph books with signatures of the show's cast, one of which contained the words "Second Chance" written in it. If the contestant selected the "Second Chance" book, the game continued, but the contestant could not win the prize he made the first mistake with. The contestant lost by either making a second mistake on a subsequent prize or failing to find "Second Chance" in the chosen book.

External links

• CBS.com's official Price Is Right site
• FremantleMedia's official Price Is Right site