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Money Game is a pricing game that offers a car and also awards small cash amounts.

Gameplay[]

  • The contestant is shown a board containing nine two-digit number cards and is given the third digit in the five-digit price of a car. He/she must then guess which cards represent the first two and last two digits in the price. To do this, the contestant selects one card at a time, which covers either a dollar sign or an image of half of a car. The front half of the car is hidden by the first two digits and the back of the card by the last two digits. If a dollar sign is revealed, the number is placed in the player's cash column. Should the contestant find both "halves" of the car before four dollar signs, they win the car; regardless, the player wins any cash they accumulate.

History and behind the scenes[]

  • When the game first premiered on Christmas Day 1972 (#0171D), it was won right away.
  • Originally, Money Game was played with four-digit cars and no free digit was given. Money Game was originally played on stage behind The Giant Price Tag until December 14, 1981 (#4311D), when it moved to the Turntable, though an exception was at least on December 28, 1981 (#4331D), when it was still played on stage. It was first played for a 5-digit car on February 22, 1990 (#7541D). The current game board debuted on September 10, 1991 (#8092D). The car silhouette used on the current board was based on a 1991 Ford Taurus until April 20, 2018 (#8305K).
  • In 1985 on both the CBS daytime and the syndicated TPIR hosted by Tom Kennedy, Money Game was sometimes played for cars worth at least $10,000. The game was dubbed "Big Money Game" and the last digit was revealed first, similar to that of Lucky Seven during the primetime specials, meaning that the contestant then had to find the first two digits and the third and fourth digits of the price.
  • On October 21, 1996 (#0101K), contestant David almost filled up the cash column while playing for a 1996 Dodge Neon Hi-line Sedan but David made an astonishing comeback by finding the first and last 2 numbers of the car's price and won the car.
  • One of Money Game's most memorable playings was on the episode aired February 19, 2002 (#2072K), when a contestant named Percy played for a $17,620 Ford Focus. As the car was described, Percy told Bob that his old car had recently been totaled. Percy went on to have an emotional and joyous win as he celebrated his replacement car. Percy made another appearance on the episode that aired on March 14, 2013 (#6264K). He wore a shirt that stated, "Money Game is my fame" and Drew gave him a shout out, as Money Game was played (and won) in that episode as well.
  • Money Game was the first pricing game played on the first show broadcast with Drew Carey hosting (October 30, 2007, #4062K, aired out of order on October 15), although this show was not his actual first aired episode (His actual first aired episode (#4041K) was originally scheduled for October 15, but aired out of order on October 16).
  • On October 23, 2013 (#6463K, aired out of order on October 9), a contestant named Adam Consovoy won a $20,000 bonus for being the first person on stage to win their pricing game during PCH week. It was played in the third slot. He went on to win his showcase.
  • On the April Fool's Day 2016 (#7475K) episode, the car silhouette on both the Money Game sign and the Price holder used a picture of a boat, though the car picture was still used on the board behind the correct numbers.
  • On the Thanksgiving College Rivals show on November 22, 2017 (#8103K), Phillip Stouffer of Georgia Tech won $222 in which he failed to win a Honda Fit, and Eric Sherman of Georgia gets $1,000.
  • On January 10, 2019 (#8574K), contestant Andre Wilson won a $20,000 bonus courtesy of Publishers Clearing House. It was played in the first slot.
  • On a primetime episode aired February 2, 2024, Money Game was played for two prizes simultaneously - a $40,000+ truck and a $21,000+ pontoon boat. The standard rule of finding four "$" symbols ending the game was in play. Once the contestant found the front and back of one prize, they would win that prize and could continue playing to try to win the other. The contestant, Kareem, managed to win the truck, but did not win the boat.

Trivia[]

  • The most amount of money you can win is $390 without winning the car. If you do win the car, the maximum amount is $294 if you pick the first two or last two numbers on your last chance.
  • There are three common practices the producers often use in hiding the correct price. One is called "El Cheapo" (as coined by the host Bob Barker, Carey continues that tradition today), where the last two digits of the car are hidden behind one of the smallest numbers on the board (usually requiring a 0 as the first digit to receive the moniker), which a contestant trying to bank the most money would be less likely to select. The other is the "old front and back trick" (also coined by Barker), where the first two numbers and the last two numbers are right next to each other, side by side, on the board. Another common choice is to hide the back of the car behind a number ending in zero or five. Unlike practices in some other games, these are not rules that apply to every playing of the game. The last two numbers are not usually hidden behind a season number; though in rare cases, the season number has the back of the car.
  • Whenever a contestant loses during Barker's era, he would often ask "What is it, audience?", meaning he usually asks the audience for the numbers needed to win the car. Whatever he hears, he removes that card. He will keep removing cards until both numbers are found. Carey has discontinued this practice and just reveals the price himself.
  • A running joke in Drew Carey's time as host of the show is that if a contestant chooses a 19 card in the game, Carey will repeat the number back as "N-n-n-nineteen." This is a reference to the song "19" by Paul Hardcastle from his self-titled album released in 1985, which features a sample of someone saying the word "nineteen" that loops back that same way.
  • First two-digit number choices are usually consecutive (Ex: 20, 21, 22) and the last two-digit number choice is a six choice number. There are usually only three logical possibilities for the first two digits in the price of the car, so while it's possible for a contestant to not get either the first or last numbers in the price of the car, they would have to play the game incredibly poorly for this to happen. 
  • Like in other games, the graphic that reveals the last two digits of the car is altered if the game is being played for a vehicle other than a car, such as an SUV or a truck.  
  • Although never used on-air, the losing horns are played once on February 3, 1995 (#9445D). Barring these anomalies, Money Game is the only game where the "ding" is the only sound effect played, even if the contestant winds up losing. However, for a brief period in 1985, the foghorn was used after the fourth wrong guess was made.
  • Money Game serves as the all-purpose substitute car game, should the intended car game break down, as it involves no electronics, and is easy to set up on short notice. An example of this happening was on October 28, 2003 (#2652K). It was not until Triple Play was lost on the first car when the staff realized that the wrong contestant was declared the winner of the One Bid. So the first act was reshot and contestant Jimmy who won the One Bid played Money Game for Triple Play’s second car, a Ford Windstar van worth $23,365, which he won.
  • During this game, the displays in Contestant's Row are used to keep track of the total amount of money that has been accumulated, this is generally not seen on-camera, though it has happened once.
  • The most number of times this game was played in any season was 48 (season 5), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 13 (season 24).
  • Money Game's board is in the shape of a giant dollar sign.
  • Money Game was one of seven pricing games seen on the second taping session of Season 36, which was seen on October 16, 2007 (#4042K, aired out of order on October 29), October 22, 2007 (#4051K, aired out of order on December 6), October 30, 2007 (#4062K, aired out of order on October 15), November 8, 2007 (#4074K, aired out of order on January 22, 2008), November 16, 2007 (#4085K, aired out of order on November 21), and November 21, 2007 (#4093K aired out of order on October 22). It was also one of three "old" pricing games seen on the eighth taping session of the season, which was seen on November 28, 2007 (#4013K, aired out of order on November 9), December 7, 2007 (#4115K), December 13, 2007 (#4124K, aired out of order on December 14), January 10, 2008 (#4134K), January 15, 2008 (#4142K), and January 21, 2008 (#4151K, aired out of order on November 16, 2007).
  • During the first time the 3rd digit was revealed for free, that digit was, fittingly, a 3.
  • The odds of winning the game are 5/18. This is because there are 126 combinations of 5 cards (2 for the car and 3 for the money on the side) and 35 of them will contain the 2 cards that win.
  • This, Any Number, Switcheroo, Spelling Bee and Cover Up are the only 5 car games that are played on the turntable.
  • Oddly, if this game is lost, the losing horns do not play - most likely because the money is enough to be a decent consolation prize on its own.

Foreign versions[]

Money Game has the same rules all around the world, but often may have slight differences:

  • Australia - Never played for a car. To win the prize, usually consisting of two pieces of furniture, the contestants had to find pictures of the prizes underneath the numbers.
  • The United Kingdom - On Bruce's version, not finding any half of the car had "NO" displayed vertically, with the "O" looking like a wheel. This was also used on Cash en Carlo "Cash and Carlo" in the Netherlands and O Preco Certo (em Euros) "The Right Price (in Euros)" in Portugal, although the Dutch version had contestants playing for a trip (by finding two halves of an airplane), while the Portuguese version has varying prices, sometimes worth under €1,000 (for example, a scooter worth €512 would be displayed as "0512"). During Leslie Crowther's run, there were three digits in the price, and the last digit was given for free and there was no zero among the options. On The New Price Is Right in 1989, three wrong choices ended the game.
  • Germany - The reveal of a car half (made to look like an old-fashioned car) or money amount was displayed on the other side of the card rather than underneath it. Otherwise, it was the same as the US.
  • Mexico - The first and fourth digits are given for free, as cars tend to be more than MX$100,000 down there due to the roughly 10-to-1 exchange rate on the peso. Otherwise, it was the same as the US.
  • Vietnam - Same as the US version. However, this version was played for a prize. Behind the numbers are parts of the word "Chocovina" (This game was sponsored by Biscafun). The "co" was given for free (third number) and the contestant has to find the "Cho" and the "Vina" hiding behind the numbers. If they found both of them, they won't receive the prize but will receive 12,000,000 VNĐ from Biscafun for winning. Later on, Chocovina was replaced with "Bánh gạo Richy".

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

A Playing Under "Big Money Game" (circa 1985)
An Early Playing of the 5-Digit Version (November 16, 1990, #7795D)
Another Playing of 5-Digit Version on Old Board (May 15, 1991, #8043D)
Unusual Money Game Playing (January 12, 1993, #8652D)
A Really Excited Money Game Winner (February 19, 2002, #2072K)
Final Playing With Bob Barker (June 14, 2007, #4034K)
Money Game With Halloween Colors (October 31, 2018, #8473K)
Money Game for a Truck and Boat (February 14, 2024, #078SP, aired out of order on February 2)

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