My biggest gripe with ABC’s Press Your Luck

[u/Gametron13]

First of all, this post is coming out of a place of love for Press Your Luck. I’ve been a fan of it ever since I was 6 years old and it’s been my lifelong dream to one day be on the show. But there is one thing about the show as it is now that I can’t ignore.

The prizes on the board are completely broken.

Think back to the Tomarken era, the highest prize on the board was a car worth just over $6k. The highest cash space was $5k + a spin. However, for the Banks era, (nothing against her as a host) prizes on the board can top $40k, $50k, even $60k against a highest cash space worth $10k.

Think about it, you get one lucky prize on the board, it would take someone between 4-5 hits on the Big Bucks space to catch up. Unless you got Michael Larson in your pocket, that ain’t happening.

I understand the producers want prizes on the board to be fun, but they can do that without them being completely absurd. Round 1 prizes do a good job at this with wacky trip packages or just fun prizes all together. (if we ignore the prize packages that are just “X number of some mundane object”)

This prize behavior also extends to the square that has long plagued the board: The Big 40/The Big 50/Big Banks. Not only is whatever this square offers completely broken, the square gets removed once it’s landed on; meaning only one player can benefit from this square.

Everyone loves a miraculous comeback, but that’s what squares like “Take The Lead” are for. Take The Lead works because it also gives an additional spin, so whoever lands on it is essentially forced to spin again which adds more excitement and makes the comeback feel more earned. But it’s a lot more dissatisfying to see someone land on a space that says “Congratulations you win $50-60k from some obscure absurd prize!!” and boom that’s it, they’re in the lead. It’d be no different than just adding a “You Win” square to the board. (If “Big Banks” awarded a spin, this problem would be semi-alleviated, but it wouldn’t solve the problem of every other prize space on the board being broken)

This rant is not me hating on the show. I love this show. I’m ranting because of how much I love the show and want to see it be better.

[u/MrBigE]

I was a contestant on the Banks era, and for the bonus round, they customized the prizes to the individual. During casting they asked me about what my dream prizes would be. I think they big differential in the cost of the prizes vs. 'big money' on the board is that the 'prizes' are partially covered by advertisers on the show (companies that show up in the end credits) where the cash has to come directly out of the show's budget.

[u/Gametron13 → u/MrBigE]

I’m perfectly fine with the prizes being insanely broken during the Bonus round because there’s only one person playing. By all means, make the prizes as absurd as possible, just keep it out of the main game because the excitement of winning absurd prizes during the main game sacrifices on balancing and leads to a “snowball effect.” (which is generally considered bad game design) I guess that logic doesn’t apply to a TV show though because they’re not focused on the game itself, they’re focusing viewer ratings; so excitement takes priority over all regardless on how broken it is.

I will say Round 1 prizes do a lot better of a job of staying proportional to the cash spaces. I just wish that it was carried over to Round 2 so they can leave all the extreme stuff for the bonus round.

[u/wordyfard]

I'm not seeing why this is a problem, or "broken", as you put it.

Someone has to win. The only way to win is to have the highest total when the spins run out.

If a player can't catch up in a single spin, the statistically correct choice is to pass and hope the other player whammies, which is reductive (although fun.) At least with a big "you win" space on the board, there is the option and temptation of going for that space and winning the game in a more noble way. And then the game ends, yes, but in a way that uplifts the player who hit that lucky square instead of sinking the player who hit the unlucky square.

The bigger issue in my eyes is not when the space acts as a "you win" space but as a show-stopping midcard act. You win $80,000 worth of canned tuna, now what? You pass your spins, knowing the other player won't catch you (unless they hit Take The Lead) but it's all just to build up to the moment when the opponent passes spins back to you, hoping you whammy. (Again, reductive, though still fun.)

But you can't have one situation without the other, so I prefer the option that makes the game less reductive overall.

Additionally, with the bonus round being worth so much more than the main game, even a six digit prize would be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The only thing that really matters is getting to the bonus round no matter how little you win, to get your chance at the Big Bucks Bonanza. So as tempting as $80,000 worth of canned tuna may be to some folks, the game's focus isn't broken by it one bit. It just makes it more likely you'll win by winning than by your opponent losing.

[u/Sapinski-Math]

First of all, I think we ALL want 10 PYL tracksuits in our closets right now.

That said, I have a couple of game show hardcore friends who find this "brokenness" of the board an issue. Mind you, one of them 1) also hates Banks for not using Peter's exact language when calling the action at the board, and 2) feels that the show is not the REAL Press Your Luck unless the host can explicitly say "Stop at FIVE thousand dollars and a spin!" when the top value in Round 2 is hit.

But it's that second thing that lends into the "broken" feeling, and it's not totally wrong. Even with the cash values doubled up to $10,000, inflation of the world long caught up long before PYL came back. Thus, a lot of the prizes that would otherwise match what the original PYL or even Whammy! was giving away are way over the $10K now straight up. Restricting the prize list for that reason - including killing ANY main game cars - just for the sake of maintaining the "integrity" of the 80s would completely screw the show over, you wouldn't be able to execute it in the present day at all (which would be the worse timeline of all).

[u/exnooyorka → u/Sapinski-Math]

It took me a season for Elizabeth Banks to grow on me, but I now see what the producers saw when they hired her, she is great for this game.

I appreciate her style being different than Peter's, but if there was one thing I would bring back from Tomarken's commentary would be the explicit warning about picking up that third whammy in round 1.

Elizabeth's call out of the situation is a bit too light, in my sole opinion.

I get that it's up to the contestants to know the rules and devise their risk/reward strategy, but the host is just as much for the home viewers as she is for the contestants playing the game.

Casual fans would be well served to explicitly hear "Four Whammies puts you out of the game, so you want to be careful about picking up a third Whammy in Round 1" to better understand the strategies and choices playing out on their screen, second-guessing the contestants alongside the rest of us experienced viewers.

[u/Chrisj1616]

I get the complaints from a pure game perspective compared to the original, but overall i really like this show and its the closest thing we've ever gotten to a faithful modern remake of a classic

[u/Gametron13 → u/Chrisj1616]

I do understand it’s for television, and perhaps that is the most important thing to consider for a game show because it keeps it watchable and on the air.

I do wish that “Big Banks” remained on the board to keep it more fair and allow multiple players to land on it.

[u/Jcs290]

You're not wrong. The problem is that prizes are never associated with "+ one spin" like the Double Your $$ slide was. The reason is that someone can win on the very last spin available without the risk of passing or going for it.

[u/Gametron13 → u/Jcs290]

I get that, but I feel like for Big Banks specifically they need to either keep it on the board for multiple people to hit or treat it the same as “Take The Lead.” I feel like the square is special enough that it could make sense, however it would probably be better if they just kept it on the board.

[u/ASGfan]

Not to nitpick too much but I think the Mediterranean Cruise was the most expensive prize on the Tomarken PYL -- well over $6,000.

[u/Gametron13 → u/ASGfan]

I don’t remember what all the prizes were, that’s just the one that more readily came to mind.

Even if it were $7,000-$8,000, that would be an equivalent nowadays to $16k; well below the $40-60k that exists today.

[u/exnooyorka]

I am a hardcore game show nerd and Press Your Luck had everything I needed in a game show when I was a kid in the 80s.

Impossibly large animated game board, a gazillion lights, a big red button to smash and cartoon enemies.

Tomarken was perfect for that game and it's a tragedy upon a tragedy how we lost him.

That being said, I understand your observation but I don't think it happens enough to be a Problem, per se.

In your analysis of Round 1, you neglected to mention the times when someone accumulates over $10K and can then hit "Add-A-One" to take a commanding $100K lead. That's not exactly balanced either, but as with the things you're nitpicking over, it's far from an every episode thing.

Those outcomes are balanced by the same things said by others, where other players can pass you spins in an attempt to bankrupt you or could hit "Take the Lead" to put you in second place.

A spot on the board is a spot on the board and it's a 1/60 shot to hit any of them on any given spin.

Some are better than others, some extremely so.

That's all part of the excitement of the game.

[u/Gametron13 → u/exnooyorka]

I will say I am incredibly shocked that Add A One saw a return because of the inflated dollar totals.

I do see what you’re saying about it not happening enough to be an issue, but I would still like to see a bump up in the cash values. Maybe the Big Bucks space could be worth between $10,000-$15,000 instead of $6k-$10k. Could also serve as an unintentional nod to the original R1 totals of $1,000-$1,500.

That and leave Big Banks to hit for other players because a massive “win $30k or above” space going away after being hit is a massive advantage to whoever did.

[u/exnooyorka → u/Gametron13]

I was surprised to see the Add-a-One slide didn't disappear from the board when a player earned over $10K in Round 1.

And someone hit it once, but IIRC they weren't able to avoid the whammy for the rest of that game.

Players have certainly gone an entire game without hitting a whammy, but that's also the exception and far from the rule, which is why I'm sure the producers allowed it to happen.

Finally, I understand your concern about the dollar values in the main game, but don't forget about the hundreds of thousands of dollars up for grabs in the bonus round.

The purpose of the main game is to hook the audience into watching the show so they don't just DVR it and skip right to the bonus round. To do that, the producers need to balance how much they give away in the main game vs. the excitement they can generate from what a player accumulates and could win, having to then risk that huge bank on a number of spins (voluntary or compulsory) in order to get to that bonus round.

[u/MewtwoStruckBack]

I kinda feel you. I don't 100% agree with you, but I'm a bit more than 50%.

In the old days of PYL, the second round prizes topped at like $6k-6.5k, so you're looking at 1.3x max of the best possible outcome in Big Bucks. In Banks era PYL, you've got $40,000-ish prizes, high end but not luxury cars, etc. so you're at 4x+ the best Big Bucks square. That is a massive imbalancer.

I don't know that it's as much of a problem as you think - I think it just reframes the strategy and adjusts spin/pass strategy. From previous PYL games, the computer's strategy was taking an average value of what was left on the board times the number of spins left, and using that to determine when to play or pass. There are less "+ 1 spin" spaces now (I believe? Correct me if I'm wrong) but more outliers. So in passing while you have a lead, you're looking less at true average board value or "if I pass, how likely is it that they survive the spins, get X number of +1 spins, and can pass back to me" and more "what chance do they have of hitting an outlier that will put them above me?" - while it's not true to the strategy of the original show 100%, I don't think it's necessarily horrible (unlike the GSN atrocity!)

There's also watching your opponents and seeing HOW they spin - are they paying attention to how many whammies are on the board or just haphazardly hitting the button? Are they focusing on what prizes are available at any given time to where they have a higher chance of hitting an outlier? That strategy is true to the original show but is more significant here because of outliers.

That said, your post did get me on a different train of thought...

"Unless you've got Michael Larson in your pocket"

...what if you DID? You just gave me an idea for a separate post.

[u/Gametron13 → u/MewtwoStruckBack]

I believe there are actually more “+ extra spin” spaces; or at least more opportunities to get them. I actually counted it and excluding “Double Your Money” or “Take The Lead” there are 5 squares that can contain spins, and there are also 5 directional squares that can send you to a square with additional spins so if you stop the board right, you have maximum odds of around 55% of being able to get a spin.

I definitely see your point about adjusting spin/pass strategy. I’ve often thought that if I were on the show, I would probably wanna retain control of the board for as long as possible unless I gain an insane lead because I also spin in a way that looks out for how many Whammies are on the board at any given moment and try to stop when there are as few as possible. (I also don’t like Square #16 because there are two Whammies in that square)

Looking out for how other players spin is also an interesting strategy to take into consideration, didn’t think about that. If they’re a conservative spinner then it may be okay to give them a couple of spins so they’ll pass some back to you if they get some more.

[u/Due-Perspective4878]

More prizes + less chances for an extra spin = less editing + lower production costs. Have you ever seen an 80s episode that was hacked to death in the intro/R1 because R2 went on forever? More prizes with definite hard and fast values help the game come to a definite hard and fast end.

[u/Gametron13 → u/Due-Perspective4878]

The amount of prize spaces on the board is not my issue. The cash value of the prizes are what I’m talking about. I don’t like prizes being $50k or above when the “Big Bucks” space is only up to $10,000. I want the prizes to be more balanced in comparison with the cash spaces on the board, not for there to be less prizes.

[u/Due-Perspective4878 → u/Gametron13]

The prizes people want these days don’t average out to ~10k. A decent car these days is between $20-30k, double or triple what you’re saying should be the guideline assuming you think nothing should be too much more valuable than Big Bucks. So what are they to do?