This article contains the history & the rules for the pricing games out of existence featured on The Price is Right. The pricing games are listed in alphabetical order. When the 1972 version premiered, games didn't have official names that were used on the air. The names below are unofficial or assigned by the production staff.
A[]
Add 'Em Up[]
Debut: September 11, 1986 (#6175D)
Retired: October 3, 1988 (#6971D)
The contestant was shown a car with a four-digit price, which contained no repeating digits. The sum of the digits in the price was shown to the contestant, who then 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. This game was retired because of confusing rules and often anti-climatic wins, disliked by the staff, and it was only designed for cars with four-digit prices in a time when cars with five-digit prices were becoming more common due to inflation.
B[]
Balance Game (1)[]
Debut: April 9, 1984 (#5281D)
Retired: December 3, 1985 (#5912D)
Five small prizes were presented and the contestant was given five "Barker silver dollars". 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 or her. The contestant selected prizes one by one and placed them on either side of the scale. If the total value of the prizes placed on one side of the scale equaled the total value of the 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 silver dollars to balance the scale. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant kept any small prizes used in the game and any unused silver dollars. This game was retired because Bob had to keep explaining the rules in such detail that he was almost giving the answers and deemed the game too confusing.
Bullseye (1)[]
Debut: September 5, 1972 (#0012D, aired out-of-order on September 6, 1972)
Retired: September 14, 1972 (#0024D)
The contestant was given seven chances to guess the actual price of a car; in response to each guess, the host told the contestant whether the actual price was higher or lower. In later appearances of the game, the contestant was given a $500 range into which the price fell or the price was rounded to the nearest ten. The game was abruptly retired because it was deemed too difficult and was the very first pricing game to be retired. It was never won once. It is likely that the rules of this game were adapted into the Clock Game.
Bump[]
Debut: September 13, 1985 (#5795D)
Retired: November 20, 1991 (#8193D)
The contestant was shown two prizes and a British-themed gameboard containing four "double-decker" buses, each with a price on it. 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 and resulting in either the first two or the last two buses being 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 retired because Bob (after his infamous breakup with Dian) deemed the model's "bumping" the buses with their torsos was too risqué for a family show.
Buy or Sell[]
Debut: March 27, 1992 (#8365D)
Retired: May 29, 2008 (#4354K)
Three prizes were shown, each with an incorrect price. The contestant bought prizes he or she believed were under-priced and sold prizes he or she believed were overpriced. The actual prices were then revealed, one at a time. 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 at the end of the game, he or she won all three prizes as well as any cash accumulated in the bank. The most money that could be accumulated was $1,900, which happened in 2004. Before 1997, winning contestants did not receive any cash accumulated. This game was retired because too many contestants were confused by the concept of the game and staff disliked the game.
C[]
Clearance Sale[]
Debut: September 21, 1998 (#0821K, aired out-of-order on September 22, 1998)
Retired: January 6, 2009 (#4572K)
Three prizes were shown and the contestant was given three price tags, each of which bore a sale price lower than one of the items' actual retail price. The contestant placed a price tag on each prize and won all three prizes if each of the sale prices was below the actual price of its respective prize. This game was retired, because current host Drew Carey believed it was deemed too similar to Eazy az 1-2-3, and other producers seem to have agreed that the game had simply "run its course".
Credit Card[]
Debut: December 7, 1987 (#6681D)
Retired: October 31, 2008 (#4485K)
The contestant has a chance to win up to 5 prizes. The object of the game is to purchase 3 prizes and not exceed your credit limit, which is shown after the contestant inserts a large credit card into a makeshift ATM. 3 of the 5 prizes are very inexpensive and range from $100-$1,000. The other 2 prizes will cost between $1,500-$3,000. If the contestant exceeds their credit limit, the game ends and the contestant loses all 5 prizes; on the other hand, if the contestant manages to spend exactly the credit limit, which hardly ever happens, but mostly have less than $100 leftover after purchasing 3 prizes, the game ends and the contestant wins all 5 prizes. Yellow bars stick out to show the contestant the suggested prizes they could have selected to win the game. Though this game is not officially retired, it has not been played since 2008 for unknown reasons (possible reasons include lack of popularity, it took too long to describe all five prizes or because inflation made the game too difficult for most players to have a reasonable sense of cost for certain items). Nevertheless, the game's credit card got printed with an expiration date, too small to be legible on air. Originally, it was December 2007, meaning that the card has "expired," but this has not been acknowledged on-air.
D[]
Double Bullseye[]
Debut: September 19, 1972 (#0032D)
Retired: October 10, 1972 (#0062D)
This was the only pricing game to ever feature two contestants, guaranteeing a winner. After one contestant was called on stage, a second One Bid round was immediately played and the second winner joined the first on stage. A car or boat was revealed and described, and the two contestants were given a $500 range in which the price fell. Bids were alternated between the two contestants, with the host responding that the actual price was higher or lower than the bid. The contestant who bid the exact price won the prize. This game was retired presumably because it went against the concept of pricing games being single-player and receiving the unanimous support of the audience (this game was an attempted continuation of the aforementioned failed Bullseye game above, which ultimately was met with the same short-lived fate).
Double Digits[]
Debut: April 20, 1973 (#0335D)
Retired: May 18, 1973 (#0375D, aired out-of-order on June 15, 1973, redesignated as #0422D)
A car was shown along with four small prizes. For each small prize, the contestant was shown the second digit in that prize's price, and then two possibilities for the first digit. The contestant attempted to select the correct first digit in the price, which also corresponded to a digit in the car's price. If the four correct digits had been chosen, the contestant won the car and all four small prizes; if not, the contestant kept any small prizes from which he or she had used the correct digits. This game was retired because some contestants found it to be confusing and the staff ultimately deemed it to be too difficult (as in order to win, the contestant would essentially have to be lucky enough to correctly make four random guesses in a row, leading to a low win-lose ratio). It is possible that the core rules of this game were later modified and recycled into Temptation, which allowed for contestants to earn an entire package of small prizes if they opted out of gambling for the car, allowing for freedom of choice for the contestant and making the game more worth their while.
F[]
Finish Line[]
Debut: February 21, 1978 (#2702D)
Retired: September 25, 1978 (#2961D, aired out-of-order on September 22, 1978)
Six small prizes were described in three pairs. For each pair, the contestant tried to pick the more expensive item. The sum of the prices 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 passed the finish line, the contestant won a larger prize. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant kept the three chosen prizes. This game was retired due to recurring mechanical failures, and Bob didn't like the idea of horse racing.
Fortune Hunter[]
Debut: November 21, 1997 (#0535K)
Retired: May 11, 2000 (#1444K)
Fortune Hunter was played for four prizes and $5,000. It involved 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 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 only the box that contained the money was left, however in practice, this would often force the contestant to inadvertently eliminate the correct box later. This game was retired due to an abnormally low win rate and the clues that Bob gave were confusing too many contestants; the game was not won at all in its final season (it is likely that certain concepts of this game were adapted into 1/2 Off later on).
G[]
Gallery Game[]
Debut: September 10, 1990 (#7701D)
Retired: April 11, 1991 (#7994D)
A painting of the prize that the contestant was playing for was shown to the contestant. Below the painting was a price, which was missing part of one digit. To win the prize, the contestant had to paint the digit. The contestant won the prize if the price he or she painted matched its actual price. This game was retired presumably because of a low win-loss ratio and because its setup was inconsistent each time it was played (certain parts of one digit were much easier to identify than others were).
Give or Keep[]
Debut: December 27, 1972 (#0173D)
Retired: October 22, 1990 (#7761D)
Six small prizes were presented in three pairs. From each pair, the contestant picked what he believed was the more expensive prize. If the sum of the prices of the prizes the contestant kept was equal to or greater than the sum of the prices of the prizes they gave away, the contestant won a larger prize. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant won the three prizes they chose to keep. This game was retired because it was unpopular with the staff. Roger Dobkowitz planned to bring the game back sometime during Season 38, but he was fired before he could do so.
H[]
Hit Me[]
Debut: November 7, 1980 (#3855D)
Retired: October 13, 2006 (#3715K)
Before the game began, the contestant cut a deck of oversized playing cards, from which the house's hand was made. Like in blackjack, the object of the game was to come closer than the house to 21 without going over. The contestant was shown six grocery items; one always displayed the actual price of the item, another always showed the item marked at the actual price multiplied by 10, and the others were marked at an amount of a multiple of two through nine. The contestant selected items to acquire cards until reaching 21, freezing or exceeding 21. The contestant won the game regardless of the house's score if their score reached 21. 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. Situations involving an ace in the house's hand-- and whether it should be counted as a 1 or an 11 when one would end the game and the other wouldn't-- were handled inconsistently over the course of the game's time on the show. This game was retired because, like Poker Game, it became outdated, due to contestants being less familiar with the playing of Blackjack, making the game too confusing as time went on.
Hurdles[]
Debut: February 19, 1976 (#1814D)
Retired: March 31, 1983 (#4864D)
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, and a blue flag was placed for each choice. After the selections were made, a starter's pistol was fired and a hurdler moved across a gameboard. As the hurdler moved, the price of each of the selected products rose 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 successfully cleared 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. This game was retired because it was too mechanically complicated and frequently failed to work properly.
I[]
It's Optional[]
Debut: September 4, 1978 (#2931D, aired out-of-order on June 30, 1978)
Retired: May 9, 1983 (#4921D)
Two cars were shown, each of the same make and model. The contestant was informed that the second car was priced a set amount higher than the first, then attempted to add features from a list of nine options that would increase the price of the first car to within $100 of the price of the second car without going over. The number of options a contestant was allowed to choose during the game changed each time it was played but was generally between three and five. This game was likely retired for financial reasons, as giving away two cars at the same time became less affordable for the show to do as the economy progressed with time (another possible reason is that the game's premise became outdated with advancements in technology).
J[]
Joker[]
Debut: February 14, 1994 (#9081D)
Retired: March 5, 2007 (#3911K)
The contestant was shown a hand of five cards, one of which was a joker. For each of four small prizes then shown, the contestant attempted to select the correct price among two prices provided. For each prize, the two price choices included the same digits (e.g., $37 or $73). The contestant won the prize by selecting the correct price and also discarded a card from the hand. The remaining cards in the hand were then revealed; if the contestant had discarded the joker, he or she won an additional larger prize. Like Add 'Em Up and Give or Keep, this game was retired because it was unpopular with the staff, particularly host Drew Carey because of an awkward reveal and that it could be played perfectly and still be lost (Although other games like 1/2 Off and Secret 'X' can also be played perfectly and still be lost).
M[]
Magic Number[]
Debut: September 14, 1992 (#8491D)
Retired: November 24, 2021 (#9603K, aired out of order on November 17, 2021)
Two prizes are shown, with the second prize always being higher in price than the first. The contestant must use an electronic arrow panel built into the game to select a number that they believe is higher than the price of the first prize but lower than the price of the second. The game is won if the contestant successfully selects such a number or loses if they select a number that is either lower in value than the price of the first prize or higher in value than the price of the second prize. Despite the fact that the prop did move to Haven Studios, Drew confirmed that the game has been retired. The prop issues were not able to be resolved in a feasible manner, and Drew also thought that the game itself was "boring" and too frequently won.
Make Your Mark/Barker's Markers[]
Debut: September 12, 1994 (#9261D)
Retired: October 16, 2008 (#4464K, aired out-of-order on October 9, 2008)
Three prizes were shown along with four prices on a game board. The contestant was given $500 and attempted to mark what he believed were the three correct prices. Two random correct prices were then revealed and the contestant was given the choice to either hold onto the $500 and leave the third marker as it was or forfeit the money and switch the marker to the originally-unselected price. If the third price was correct, the contestant won all three prizes, plus the $500 if they had not given it back. However, if the third price was incorrect, the contestant lost everything. The game was originally titled Barker's Markers in reference to former host Bob Barker, but was retitled Make Your Mark after Drew Carey took over as host and during the game's single appearance on the 1994 syndicated version hosted by Doug Davidson. During the game's only playing in Season 37, Carey accidentally told the contestant they get to keep the $500 for not switching the marker regardless of whether or not they ultimately won the game. To avoid embarrassment, the staff decided on the fly that these would be the game's "new rules". The staff then immediately also decided to retire the game due to that.
Mystery Price[]
Debut: September 26, 1973 (#0563D, aired out-of-order on November 29, 1973)
Retired: February 21, 1974 (#0774D)
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. If their bid was equal to or lower than the item's actual price, the contestant won that prize 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. The contestant won the larger prize package in addition to any small prizes they did not overbid on if the bank was equal to or greater than the mystery price. Like Add 'Em Up, Balance Game, Double Digits, and Fortune Hunter, it was deemed too confusing.
O[]
On the Nose[]
Debut: September 14, 1984 (#5395D)
Retired: November 22, 1985 (#5895D)
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 presented with four possible prices. The contestant selected the one they believed was the actual price of the car and, if correct, won a $1,000 bonus and four attempts at the sporting event pre-selected for that day. The further away the selected price was from the actual price, the fewer attempts at the sporting event the contestant received with no bonus. If the contestant succeeded in the sporting event, he or she won the car. This game was retired because it depended heavily on contestants being physically adept, a requirement that was not designed for a show of The Price Is Right's nature, and most contestants were unable to fulfill the demands of the game due to lack of skill. After repeated failures, the staff decided the game was too difficult for the average person to win, and the game was shelved.
On the Spot[]
Debut: January 27, 2003 (#2411K)
Retired: November 5, 2004 (#3035K)
Six small prizes were described and the contestant was shown three paths, colored blue, yellow and pink, extending outward from a central black spot. 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 each price along the path in turn. If the contestant made a mistake, they returned to the center spot and chose a new path. Making mistakes on all three paths ended the game. Some of the prices on a path were repeated on other paths; the contestant could automatically step to the next price along the path if they had already correctly matched the associated prize. This game was retired after being deemed too confusing, as contestants and even Barker himself often had trouble remembering what paths had been used and what prices had been solved.
P[]
Penny Ante[]
Debut: January 25, 1979 (#3134D)
Retired: June 14, 2002 (#2215K)
Two grocery items were described; 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 him or her a penny. The contestant won a larger prize if he or she was able to guess the actual price of both items before losing all three pennies.
The first five times the game was played, the board was not divided into halves for each grocery item; instead, the two correct prices were hidden among all eight choices. Whenever an incorrect price was guessed, one penny fell from the side of the gameboard into a bucket for each cent in the amount of the guess; a scoreboard was attached to the top of the gameboard, which kept track of the pennies accumulated. The contestant lost the game if the total of the incorrect guesses made before finding the two correct prices equaled 100 pennies or more.
Penny Ante was retired because it was suffering recurring mechanical problems, much like Finish Line and Hurdles. Unlike those games, there was a staff debate to try to repair the board and bring Penny Ante back on the show, but by then the board had been left outside in the rain and became damaged beyond repair. Even worse, plans for a new board never got past the design stages, and in April 2007, Penny Ante was permanently shelved.
Phone Home Game[]
Debut: September 12, 1983 (#4991D)
Retired: November 3, 1989 (#7405D)
The contestant and a pre-selected home viewer competing via telephone teamed to attempt to win up to $15,000. 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 selected the item he or she believed matched that price. If the contestant was correct, the team shared a hidden cash award associated with that specific product. If the contestant was incorrect, both the guessed product and the correct product were removed from play and that particular cash award was lost. The contestant and home viewer attempted to make three matches and win three cash awards. If the home viewer 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 each of $10,000, $3,000 and $2,000 and two each of $1,000 and $200. This game was retired because it took an exceedingly long time to play and caused a lot of extra people to become ineligible to be contestants on The Price is Right (as this was before the rule change where prior contestants could come back after 10 years instead of being disallowed from being a repeat contestant for life).
Poker Game[]
Debut: September 9, 1975 (#1582D, aired out-of-order on September 12, 1975)
Retired: May 10, 2007 (#3984K)
Four prizes were shown. The contestant selected two of the prizes and the digits in their prices were used to form a poker hand, with nines high and zeroes low. After the hand was revealed, the contestant chose either to keep their hand or to 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 those 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; straights did not count and without suits, flushes were not possible. In early playings, the contestant was allowed to make their hand with any five of the six digits of the prices of the two prizes they had chosen but did not have the option to pass their chosen hand to the house. The game was retired because, like Hit Me, it became outdated, as contestants were growing less familiar with the rules of poker, making the game too confusing. Also, it did not - and by design, could not - offer prizes more than $1,000, creating a cheaper payout than other pricing games thanks to inflation.
Professor Price[]
Debut: November 14, 1977 (#2561D)
Retired: November 21, 1977 (#2571D)
The contestant attempted to answer general knowledge questions with numerical answers, such as "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 and won the car or three incorrect responses and lost the game. A large animatronic puppet dubbed Professor Price was central to the game. The contestant's progress was tracked by the professor's 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 played only twice, making it the shortest-lived game in the show's history, but it was also the only game to have a perfect record, having been won both times. It was retired because the producers deemed that the trivia part of the game did not fit in with the concept of the show (along with the concept of the game requiring audiences to remain completely silent for an extended duration of time, which invariably led to subdued reactions and pauses that killed the flow of the game show as a whole).
S[]
Shower Game[]
Debut: September 4, 1978 (#2931D, aired out-of-order on June 30, 1978)
Retired: November 30, 1978 (#3054D)
The contestant was shown six shower stalls, each marked with a possible price for a car. Three stalls contained confetti, two contained $100 and the one with the actual price contained a key to the car. If the contestant chose the stall with the confetti, he or she continued to choose stalls until he or she found either of the two with $100, winning the cash; or the keys, winning the car. This game was retired because of a lack of strategy and unpopularity with viewers, as the set reminded them of the Holocaust (another possible reason is that the staff may not have been keen on a game where there was no possible way to lose).
Split Decision[]
Debut: November 9, 1995 (#9724D)
Retired: January 16, 1997 (#0214K)
A car and a medium prize were shown and a string of eight digits was displayed on a gameboard. The numbers in the prices of the prizes appeared in order but were not necessarily placed side by side. The contestant was given 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 gameboard. If the correct three-digit price for the smaller prize had been pulled down, the contestant won both prizes. If incorrect, the contestant continued guessing until a correct guess was made or time ran out. A later variation in the rules did not feature a clock. Instead, the contestant was given only three chances to win, but this only lasted a few playings. This game was ultimately retired because of confusing rules and a high level of difficulty resulting in a low win rate.
Step Up[]
Debut: February 7, 2002 (#2054K)
Retired: October 15, 2014 (#6843K, aired out-of-order on October 17, 2014)
The contestant was shown four prizes, each usually worth from $500 to $3,000. The contestant selected one prize and, after its price was revealed, picked a second that he or she believed was priced higher. A correct guess netted both prizes and $500. The contestant could either stop and keep all accumulated winnings or select one of the remaining two prizes, again attempting to select a more expensive item to win all three prizes plus an additional $1,000. They again chose whether to stop or attempt to win the fourth item and an additional $1,500 in the same manner, for a total of $3,000 and all four prizes. If an incorrect guess was made at any time, the game ended and the contestant lost everything. This game was retired because of its low win-loss ratio of 5-23 since Drew Carey took over as host.
Super Ball!![]
Debut: February 3, 1981 (#3982D)
Retired: January 12, 1998 (#0601K)
Three large prizes were shown, each associated with a ball marked #1, #2 or #3. The contestant then attempted to correctly choose from among two possible prices for each of three small prizes. For each correct choice, he or she won that small prize and earned a ball, which he or she rolled up a Skee-Ball ramp containing three rings marked $50, $100 and WIN! If the contestant rolled a ball into the WIN! ring, he or she won the associated large prize. If he or she rolled it into either cash ring, he or she won that amount of money. A fourth small prize was then revealed, along with a "Super Ball." If the contestant won that small prize and earned the Super Ball and rolled it into the WIN! ring, he or she won any of the three large prizes not previously won. Otherwise, the contestant won triple the value of the cash ring in which the ball landed. In the rare event that the contestant had already won all three large prizes, rolling the Super Ball into the WIN! ring earned the contestant a $3,000 bonus (this only happened once, on September 23, 1992, #8503D). This game was retired because, much like Phone Home Game, it took an excessive amount of time to play and was deemed not popular enough to justify the time used (there were also many instances of contestants either not understanding the mechanics of how the game was to be played or were too physically uncoordinated to throw the ball properly, leading to awkward delays and anticlimactic endings on a somewhat frequent basis).
$uper $aver[]
Debut: May 10, 1989 (#7273D)
Retired: March 11, 1996 (#9891D)
The game used six grocery items; five were marked at various amounts lower than their actual prices and one of which was marked higher than its actual price. To win a larger prize, the contestant attempted to "purchase" four of the items and "save" at least $1 compared to those items' actual total value. The player was still required to choose four items, even if they had already saved $1 with the first two or three items. It was mathematically possible to choose the item marked higher than its actual price but still win the game if the other three purchases saved enough. This game was retired because, in its final playing, the fact that the one marked-up product could be chosen but still be "mathematically possible" to win the game was omitted, causing a loss in error. The contestant was subsequently awarded the prize, but Bob decided if omitting that part of the rules was too easy, the game wasn't worth keeping around.
T[]
Telephone Game[]
Debut: November 1, 1978 (#3013D)
Retired: November 29, 1978 (#3053D)
A car and two smaller prizes were shown, along with four grocery items. The contestant was given $1 to purchase two of the four grocery items, attempting to spend less than 90¢ so that he or she would have a dime left to use a pay telephone. If the contestant succeeded, he or she dialed one of three given 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 numbers for the two small prizes represented their prices in dollars and cents (with no decimal point). The contestant won nothing if their grocery item purchase exceeded 90¢. The official reason the game was retired is that the producers declared that "it was lame".
Trader Bob[]
Debut: April 29, 1980 (#3662D)
Retired: November 19, 1985 (#5892D)
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, one at a time, six small prizes in three pairs that were rolled out on barrels. One prize of each pair was worth more than the base and the contestant attempted to choose that prize. If the contestant successfully arranged all three selected prizes in ascending order, they also won the large prize. However, if one mistake is made, they won only the last small prize whose price had been revealed. This game was retired because its format had rules that did not allow any second chances or reasonable room for error (compared to the amount of time and steps required to win), causing a low win-loss ratio.
W[]
Walk of Fame[]
Debut: November 4, 1983 (#5065D)
Retired: November 27, 1985 (#5903D)
Four prizes were shown and the contestant had to guess each price within a set range to win. The winning range increased with every subsequent prize. If the contestant made a mistake on any prize (except for the final prize, in which case the game ended), he or she was given a choice of two autograph books signed by the show's cast, one of which also contained the words "Second Chance" written in it. If the contestant selected the "Second Chance" book, the game continued, but the contestant did not win the prize with which he or she made the mistake. The contestant lost by either choosing the incorrect autograph book or making a second mistake on a subsequent prize. This game was retired because inflation was increasing the difficulty level of the game excessively.