Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a game played for a car. Hence its name, contestants playing this game have to walk an orthogonal path of numbers which form the price of a new car.

Gameplay[]

The contestant is asked to stand on the center space of a 5-by-5 grid of 25 digits; that space represents the first digit in the price of the car. The second number in the price is on one of the four squares adjacent (not diagonal) to where the contestant is standing. The contestant is asked to step to the square they believe is the second digit. If they are right, they proceed to step to the third, fourth, and fifth digits in order, without using the same spaces twice. Doing so wins the car.
However, if at any point the contestant steps to an incorrect space, they must return to the previous space and earn a chance to continue. To earn these chances, three small prizes are used. Similar to Secret 'X' and Super Ball!!, the contestant is asked to choose one of them and play a mini version of Double Prices by selecting which of two displayed prices is correct. If they guess correctly, they win that item and may continue with the price of the car; if they are wrong, they must select one of the other small prizes, if one is available. The game is lost if the contestant makes an incorrect step with no small prizes left or guesses the final small prize incorrectly after having already made an incorrect step.

History[]

When Pathfinder debuted on April 7, 1987 (#6452D), The Price Is Right still offered cars worth less than $10,000. This first playing was a win with no mistakes made. When played for a car with four digits in the price, the center space where the contestant began was a G-T asterisk, the first window in the overhead display was a dollar sign and the contestant needed to light up all four digits in the car's price. Also when the game first premiered, it used regular bells to indicate that the contestant stepped to the right number and the standard buzzer when moving on the wrong number, as the clangs and "trap" sound were not in use yet; although the standard dings were used on April 25, 1997 (#0355K) playing, as the clangs did not work. When the 5-digit car format debuted on September 22, 1988 (#6954D), the contestant stood on the first number for free.
Pathfinder's price display prop is the same one used in Add 'Em Up. The sound indicating a contestant's step to an incorrect number was originally used as the "trap" sound from the short-lived 1984-85 Goodson-Todman game show Trivia Trap, which aired on ABC, and was also used for incorrect guesses on Mark Goodson's unsold 1986 game show pilot On a Roll.
On December 1, 1992 (#8602D), a contestant named Ben Reynolds (who was stout, had a full white beard, and dressed in red, prompting Santa Claus jokes from Bob), while playing for a $13,598 Buick Skylark briefly touched his foot to an adjacent number, but moved back waving his arms around, making it seems that he had lost his balance. That number he touched lit up, as though Ben was going to move there. Bob briefly pointed out his "slick maneuver", and warned him, "Santa Claus or not, don't try that again." The game proceeded as normal, with Ben going on to win without making any mistakes.
On November 30, 1993 (#8992D), contestant Jane Ward made a mistake and chose the Crocodile Dentist game to earn her second chance. Bob and Janice demonstrated the game, each taking a turn pressing a tooth until Bob pressed the "sore tooth" and the crocodile bit his hand. Some fans think the losing horns should have played during this unfortunate incident despite Jane winning in the end.
On November 12, 1996 (#0132K), a series of errors occurred. First off, when Bob asked them to light up the first number contestant Keith Loudin stood on in the center, which was a "2", the second number lit up instead, which was the "1" on his right. After the small prize descriptions, the "0" on the path lit up. After being on the fourth number, which was a "4", he moved to the "0" already lit up, which was incorrect, after being perfect on his first four numbers. He lost after guessing all three small prizes incorrectly, but before revealing the actual retail prices of the Showcases at the end of the show, Bob decided to award Keith the van due to the latter error.
On May 22, 1998 (#0785K), Bob explained that this game had a problem just before it was to be played next and that an electrician in the audience, Ann J. Kelly, had fixed it, immediately after which Ann was hilariously called to Come on Down. When the game was played, the 3rd and 4th digits had been switched on the screens ($21,764 instead of the correct $21,674), prompting contestant Beverly Barkinson to correctly step to the 7. Bob joked that Ann had crossed the wires deliberately. But this wasn’t considered a technical win, as Beverly won the van on her own. Ann then played Barker's Markers and also won.
The game board has been virtually unchanged since the game's debut, while the small prize stands have undergone several minor revisions. On November 9, 2000 (#1574K), the colors of the price choices and the price reveal were reversed. On December 4, 2007 (#4112K), the fonts were changed from Helvetica Bold and PT Banana Split to Kingpin and Dom Casual. On October 1, 2010 (#5245K), the colors were changed back to the original scheme. On December 12, 2014 (#6915K), the borders were made silver/grey with decorative arrows added to the ARP flap. The numbers also received a drop shadow effect. The green bases became silver/grey as well. On December 22, 2020 (#9243K), the green rectangular panels were added to the sides of the game board, to give Drew more room to maneuver without falling off the side; the board itself stayed the same.
On October 14, 2009 (#4863K), contestant Matthew Mattoon was playing perfectly until the last number. The price was known, but Matthew had to guess a small prize's price correctly to win the car. He had all three do-overs, but got all the prices wrong and lost the car.
On February 6, 2012 (#5831K), production used the wrong list of optional extras to determine the price of the car. Standards & Practices awarded contestant Celeste Green the car with the features described.
On January 5, 2017 (#7754K), during Publishers Clearing House week, contestant Thomas Kotlarsz won a $20,000 bonus for being the first contestant to win a pricing game. It was played in the fifth slot.
On May 18, 2017 (#7944K, aired out of order on May 16), during Dream Car Week, Pathfinder was played for a Range Rover Sport HSE worth $78,142, the most expensive car ever offered on Pathfinder. Unfortunately, it was lost at the third number.

Trivia[]

This was the last new pricing game to be introduced before Bob Barker allowed his hair to go gray.
The clangs heard when the contestant steps to the right number are the same ones that were used when a "perfect bid" was made in Contestants' Row and in other situations until 1991, when slightly different-sounding clangs debuted.
Pathfinder was played three times on the primetime version of the show. The first two were won: once with Bob Barker's as host and once with Drew Carey.
The most times this game was played in any season was 29 (seasons 18 and 19), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 8 (seasons 15 and 49).
There are 64 possible paths that the contestant can take.
No tile can border two tiles with the same number; as such, no two tiles with the same digit can border diagonally, and they also cannot be separated by 1 tile orthogonality (unless one of the repeated tiles is the center, starting tile).
It was played first only once on November 15, 1990 (#7794D). Bob presumably entered from the audience that episode.
As of some time in the 2010s, Pathfinder has never been the first or second pricing game in the lineup because it needs time to start up and the game can be played no earlier than third on the show.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, large green platform extenders were added to the game to allow for social distance. Even after all COVID protocols have been rescinded in Season 52, slightly shorter versions of these extenders still remain attached to the board; likely because it's believed the game simply looks better with them.

Foreign versions[]

On the UK's The Price Is Right (UK game show), the game used a replica of the American board, but much larger. It was played for four-digit cars, and its rules were the same as the American version, except should the contestant make a mistake, the contestant does not choose one of the three prizes, but rather they would go from the first prize to the last.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

Painful Pathfinder Loss from 1993 (September 28, 1993, #8902D)
A Pair of Pathfinder Trailblazers (October 18, 1994, #9312D, & May 19, 1997, #0391K)
Dan Saves Price is Right winning Pathfinder (May 12, 2006, #3615K)
Painful Pathfinder Loss from 2009 (October 14, 2009, #4863K)
Only Win of Season 39 (April 12, 2011, #5522K)
A Near Perfection from 2012 (June 12, 2012, #6012K, aired out of order on June 11)
Painful Pathfinder Loss from 2013 (June 4, 2013, #6382K)
Wipeout from 2014 (January 6, 2014, #6561K, aired out of order on January 7)
An Awesome Win from 2014 (May 8, 2014, #6734K)
Painful Pathfinder Loss from 2014 (June 17, 2014, #6792K)
First Playing with the Updated Pathfinder Small Prize Stands (December 12, 2014, #6915K)
A Painful Loss from 2015 (January 28, 2015, #6983K)
First Win with the Updated Small Prize Stands (February 16, 2015, #7011K)
Pathfinder $20,000 win (January 5, 2017, #7754K)
Only win from 2017 (October 26, 2017, #8064K)
Pathfinder win from 2018 (December 26, 2018, #8554K)
A Disastrous/Early Exit playing from 2019 (January 9, 2019, #8573K)
Pathfinder win from 2019 (April 2, 2019, #8702K)

Perfect Pathfinder Playings[]

Perfect Pathfinder Playing from 2024 Part 1 (April 4, 2024, #0563L)

Perfect Pathfinder Playing from 2024 Part 2 (April 16, 2024, #0582L)