I'm shocked no one's done this one...
Sale of the Century
American Publishing Company, 1986
Box Cover: A
Simple black cover depicting three players playing the game in a small inset on the lower right hand corner, with the show's 1980's-era logo in big white letters dominating the rest of the cover. Rainbow-colored \"chasing lights\" trim the outer area.
Game Materials: A+
The game uses a \"traditional-style\" game board (i.e., a big colorful square cardboard playing surface, much like a Monopoly board) and six scoring markers to keep score. The prizes are simulated with five stacks of prize cards (of flimsy cardstock, unfortunately). They consist of three \"instant bargain\" decks, one $5, one $10 and one $15, consisting of eight cards each; one Fame Game deck of 14 cards; and one Winner's deck of 24 cards. The cards feature photos of the prizes being won. Also, there's a large rules/question book containing 120 \"rounds\" of questions. Each round is supposed to represent a full episode of the show, and contains 22 questions: twenty standard questions and two Fame Games; this is actually about two thirds of the questions asked on a standard episode of the show, not including the Speed Round, which the game also lacks. The game makes up for this by designating all of the eight questions after the second Fame Game as being worth double. But the distinguishing component of the game is the legendary Quizzard buzzer system, a simple, durable, electronic six-player player lockout unit. Sale was the first game to include a full-fledged electronic buzzer system, and the Quizzard was so cool, that stand-alone units featuring a random selection feature (perfect for [/I]Russian Roulette[/I]) and a simple 5-60 second timer were made.
Playability: A+
Very true to the television series. The reduced number of questions in each round allows several episodes worth of action to be played very quickly. This is important, since the object is to win the most money in prizes. Prize values are kept in $250 increments to make adding values quick and easy. Instant Bargains are offered when a player reaches the $35 space (where they are offered a $5 Instant Bargain card), the $45 space (where they look at a $10 card), and the $55 space (a $15 card is offered here). Correct answers to the Fame Game question earn a Fame Game Card, containing either a small prize, added to the player's winnings, or a Money Card, added to the player's score (unlike the show, where the values are $10, $15, and $25, the cards in the game are $10, $15 and $20). The winner of each round receives the top card from the Winner's deck, regardless of their current score, which simplifies things (as opposed to the Aussie version from which this game is adapted, whose Winner's prizes have variable costs), but because of two big prizes in the game, it can sometimes get a bit unbalanced. This is rare however, since the odds of getting those two cards are quite low. After a predetermined number of rounds, the player with the most money in \"prizes\" is the winner.
The Aussies knew they had a killer game on their hands, and made FIVE editions of their version of the game. Each version presumably included new prizes and almost certainly featured new questions.
Overall: A+
Say it with me, folks:
Best. Adaptation. EVER.
\"Game Show Man\" Joe Van Ginkel
gameshowman@winning.com
