Dice Game (pricing game)
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- This article deals with the pricing game. For dice games in general, please see Dice game.
Dice Game is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on June 2, 1976, the game is played for a car.
[edit] Gameplay
The contestant is given the first digit in the price of a car, and then presented with four oversized (but otherwise standard) red dice with white dots.
One at a time, the contestant rolls each die to help him/her select the numbers in the car's price. Host Bob Barker checks to see whether or not the rolled number is the correct one, then puts the die in the slot on the game board that corresponds to the digit being guessed.
If the number is correct, it is revealed on the board, and the player rolls again. However, if the number rolled is incorrect, the contestant must guess whether that actual digit is higher or lower than the number shown on the die. He/she has to keep in mind that there are no zeroes in the price, and no numbers higher than six.
After all four dice are rolled, the actual retail price is revealed one digit at a time. If all the numbers and/or guesses are correct, the contestant wins the car; however, if there is even one mistake, the game ends in a loss.
For a roll to count, the die must land on the opposite side of the white line at the end of the rolling table. If a die lands before the line or on the line itself, even if it bounced there after passing the line first, then the roll is disqualified and the contestant must roll again. Rolls are also disqualified if they land on the floor.
[edit] Trivia
- The "no zeroes"/"nothing higher than six" rule was not in place during Dice Game's early playings (in 1976). Thus, car prices could (and did) contain zeroes, sevens, eights, and nines. This rule made the game extremely difficult to win (partly because some numbers were impossible to roll out exactly), and was quickly scrapped in favor of the current rules. However, this game was won at least once with the old rules.
- During the 1980s, when cars under $6,667 were still common, the game was occasionally played for cars worth more than $10,000. When such cars were offered, the game was known as "Deluxe Dice Game;" it is believed to have appeared for the first time on April 22, 1983.
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- By early 1988 (when there was no desirable car available worth under $6,667 worth giving away), the five-digit version of Dice Game became permanent; the game offered its last four-digit car on January 8, 1988. That fall, the "Deluxe" moniker was dropped.
- Dice Game's current set debuted on December 15, 1989.
- A few players have won Dice Game without having to make a decision by rolling only ones, sixes and correct digits; depending on the exact price of the car, the probability of doing so can be as high as 1 in 16 (if the price contains no ones or sixes) or as low as 1 in 81 (all ones or sixes). One contestant in 1996 even managed to roll the exact price.[1]
- During one playing in 1983, the chase lights around the numbers were malfunctioning. For that playing only, the correct number was lit up immediately after the player guessed higher or lower for each digit instead of at the end. The contestant lost on the third roll, ending the game immediately at that point, making her the only Dice Game player in history to roll less than four times.
- Dice Game was likely the first car game to switch from 4-digit cars to 5-digit cars permanently, as it is not compatible with any prices between $6,666 and $11,111.
