It's Optional

It's Optional was a pricing game in which a contestant had the chance to win two new cars.

Gameplay[]

The contestant was shown two cars; both of the same make and model. One car was a base model, while the other had certain unidentified options on it. The prices of the two cars were represented on a game board which had a horizontal ruled scale from zero to $1,200. The base model's price was placed at the start of the scale, while the more expensive price was marked down the scale at the difference between the two prices. Images of 1920s-style cars represented the two prize cars on the scale - one placed at each price.
The contestant was then shown a second game board listing nine factory options. The contestant selected options one at a time, and the base-model car on the game board drove down the scale a distance representing the price of the option (similar to the presentation of Cliff Hangers, which debuted two seasons earlier). The contestant had to come within $100 of the price of the more expensive car without going over to win both cars. They were given a certain maximum number of choices - usually three or four - but did not have to use them all if they won with fewer.
Winning contestants won the more expensive car with its predetermined, unidentified options, and the base model with the options that they had chosen during the game added to it.

Interestingly enough, this game premiered the same day as the infamous Shower Game.
It's Optional had different rules on its first playing. The player picked all their option choices before the car was driven, and there was no limit on how many options could be picked. On top of that, it received its very first win.
Until the premiere of Triple Play, It's Optional was the only pricing game to regularly be played for multiple cars.
The game is similar to Shopping Spree but is only offered two cars and uses a stimulation.
The game was played perfectly three times, on September 19, 1980 (#3785D), January 12, 1983 (#4753D) and February 4, 1983 (#4785D).

It's Optional was retired because most contestants did not know the price of car options and it wasn't widely known or available information.
Another plausible explanation is that the automotive industry at the time was starting to go down the direction of bundling a-la-carte options into different trim levels, effectively outdating the games' premise of pricing said a-la-carte options.

During its almost five years in the pricing game rotation, It's Optional was played on 45 shows and was won 27 of those times, exactly 60%.
The most number of times this game was played in any season was 12 (season 7), while the least amount of times this game was played in any season was 7 (seasons 9 and 10).
Due to the premise of the game, Johnny Olson didn't describe the car options on the board.

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1970s Pricing Games

Retired Pricing Games