It was 10 A.M. on the morning of Saturday, February 5th, 2022, and James and Lily were in James's room recording a video for James Sirius's Playhouse.
"Good morning, everybody!" greeted James cheerfully, "This is James Sirius Potter. Welcome back to James Sirius's Playhouse. I am joined as usual today by my favorite sibling, Lily Luna Potter. Today, Lily and I are each going to be ranking our top five favorite Price is Right pricing games. Lily, give our viewers your number five pricing game."
"Coming in for me at number five is Most Expensive," revealed Lily, "Most Expensive is a simple game with good substance. The test of pricing skill in this game is fantastic as you have to use value judgement to determine which prize you think is the most expensive. First played on The Price is Right on October 16th, 1972, Most Expensive uses one of the most fundamental pricing concepts on the show. I like how there's no random luck factor in this game, it's all about whether you know or can determine which prize of the three is the most expensive."
"There's no question that Most Expensive has a very good pricing concept, " agreed James, "However, rounding out my top pricing games at number five is Easy As 1 2 3, a game with a similar concept but a bit more of a challenge. Debuting on The Price is Right on April 25, 1996, Easy s 1,2,3 requires contestants to place blocks numbered 1,2, and 3 on the three prizes on order from least expensive to most expensive."
"So," guessed Lily, "You prefer Easy As 1,2,3 over Most Expensive because contestants actually have to know which item of the two prizes that is not the most expensive prize the more expensive of the two?"
"Yes," confirmed James, "That adds an extra layer of pricing skill to the game. Plus, playing with giant blocks is fun."
"Yeah, that game does have a bit of a child at play feel to it, " mused Lily.
"That's part of its appeal, " said James cheerfully.
"Falling at number four on my list of favorite pricing games is Clock Game, which first appeared on the Price is Right on September 11th, 1972," piped up Lily, "Timed Games are a special kind of fun. You get thirty seconds to win both prizes by zeroing in on the price by being told whether your previous guess needs to be adjusted higher or lower. But I love the strategy of Clock Game. With the higher/lower concept, instead of just guessing random numbers, the best way to play Clock Game is to start by guessing $600 and then go in increments of 100, then 50, then 10, then 5, and then 1 until you hit the price. Play the game that way and you should win both prizes and the bonus almost every time."
"Having a strategic element is a major strength of Clock Game," grinned James, "And sometimes it's actually really fun to see this game being played terribly. On my end of the fence through, my favorite timed pricing game and fourth favorite overall is Race Game. Premiering on the Price is Right on August.14, 1974, Race Game gives you forty five seconds to correctly match each of four price tags on the appropriate prizes to match the price and prize. Once you've placed all four price tags, you hit the lever and see how many you have right. If you ever hit four, you win all four prizes and the game ends. If you have one or two prizes correct when time runs out, you win the prizes you have right. "
"It's a nice touch that you can win a prize or two even if you don't fully win," said Lily brightly.
"That's one thing I like about Race Game. I also like that polling the peanut gallery is a bad strategy because of the time it wastes and how the best way to play the game is to sink or swim on you own. I also appreciate the attentiveness factor. See, if you have two right and change two and have zero right, you should realize that you will win all four prizes if you switch the two switched back and then switch the other two."
"Race Game does have a set of nice nuances to it, " said Lily happily, "
""it's a classic, " said James glowingly.
"Landing in the third position on my list of favorite pricing games is Grand Game," cooed Lily, "Arriving on the scene on The Price is Right on May 16, 1980, the object of Grand Game is to pick the four out of six grocery items that are priced below that day's target price. Get one right and win ten dollars. Get two right and win a hundred dollars. Get three right and you win a thousand dollars and have a decision to make. You can take the thousand dollars and run or risk the thousand to make the fourth pick and if you get the fourth pick right you win ten thousand dollars. it's a good test of pricing skill. And the set, I LOVE the greenness of the set."
"No other pricing game has a set with such a clear cut prominent color quite like green in Grand Game, " observed James.
"Having such a green set is so fitting for a game that's always played for cash," said Lily glowingly.
"Coming in for me at three on my favorite pricing games list is Danger Price, " said James, trying to use a bit of a mysterious voice, "I love the phycological element of Danger Price. Born on The Price is Right on January 8th, 1976, Danger Price is played for four prizes. A danger price is shown at the start of the game and the object of the game is to pick the three prizes that do NOT have that price and avoid picking the prize with the Danger Price. Successfully avoiding the danger price results in the contestant winning all four prizes."
"By the phycological element?" inquired Lily, "Do you mean the idea that you're trying to avoid a price, but that price is planted in your mind?"
'Bingo," beamed James, "You have to keep your composure and remember to avoid rather than pick the prize with the danger price. A lot of losses probably occur because contestants lose the phycological battle and trip up by going for rather than avoiding the prize with the danger price. The phycological challenge makes this game fantastic."
"And the redness of the set is certainly fitting for the danger theme," smiled Lily, "My second favorite pricing game is Check Out. Coming into being on the Price is Right on January 28th, 1982, Check Out is played by guessing the exact price of five grocery items. If the contestant's total is within two dollars of the actual total, high or low, he or she wins the prize."
"So, it's really a four dollar margin," said James matter of factly.
"Yes," said Lily crisply, "I love Check Out because it's a great test of pricing skill. It's great because contestants have to guess specific prizes with no clues, choices, or number hints. It's a wonderful test of pricing skill with a very reasonable margin of error allowed."
"I get what you're saying having to guess specific prices, " acknowledged James, "But I'm not a huge Check Out fan because you can overshoot on one item and make it up by undershooting on another item."
"I can understand that " said Lilt fairly, "That's why we're each making our own list. Reasonable minds can disagree on these things. "
"I respect you opinion, " James assured Lily, "As for me, my preferred grocery game and second favorite pricing game overall is It's in the Bag. Bursting onto the scene on the Price is Right on September 26, 1997, It's in the Bag is played for sixteen thousand dollars. The contestant is shown five bags, each with a price, and six grocery items. The contestant attempts to match each item with its price and has to leave one item out. If the contestant gets the first item right, he or she wins one thousand dollars. From that point on, the contestant can always take what they've won and run as if they go for it and are wrong, they lose everything and exit the game winning nothing. If a contestant does go for it. the ensuing bags are worth two thousand, four thousand, eight thousand, and finally sixteen thousand dollars."
"It's worth noting," put forth Lily, "That the first two items are usually pretty easy and most competent contestants will get the third right. The real challenge is on the final two bags."
""it's a strong test of pricing skill with a fun concept, " explained James, "But what makes it such a favorite pricing game of mine is it forces you to be honest about how confident you are in how well you played the game. it's a game of how confident you are in your pricing skill as well as your pricing skill."
"It's not that unusual for someone to wisely bail with four thousand dollars," said Lily briskly, "This game definitely displays how confident you are or in some cases how daring you are. But, James, we both have the same favorite pricing game."
'CLIFFHANGERS!" shouted out James and Lily in unison.
"Cliffhangers originated on the Price is Right on April 12, 1976," said Lily radiantly, "A contestant is shown three small prizes and has guess to the exact price. For every dollar he or she is off, the Yodley Guy takes a step up the mountain. The goal in this game is to be within twenty five dollars across all three prizes. If the contestant ate within that twenty five dollar limit, he or she wins the prize."
"If not, " smirked James, "The Yodley Guy falls off the mountain to his "death". This game is sometimes called the Yodley Guy Game because of the idea of playing to "save" Yodley Guy. I LOVE the music that plays as Yodley Guy climbs the mountain."
"Cliffhangers has such a good presentation and an immense fun factor," said Lily glowingly, "And it has the hidden tricks. Twenty-thirty-forty usually winning. The prizes going in ascending price as the game progresses and so forth."
"You know," admitted James, "It took me about half an hour to finalize my two through five. It took me a nanosecond to choose Cliffhangers as my favorite pricing game."
"Ditto," grinned Lily, "When it comes to pricing games, Cliffhangers is King of the Mountain!"
"I see what you did there," beamed James, "Well, that concludes our reveal of our favorite pricing games. For my favorite sibling Lily Luna Potter, this is James Sirius Potter speaking for James Sirius's World. Until next time, Potters out."
Before they stop recording though, James and Lily both hummed The Price is Right theme music, a fitting end to the video.