The Price Is Right received a new twist for one of its longtime games, and fans seemingly favored the concept.
While the game show launched in 1972, the popular game Plinko appeared on it 11 years later.
It features the relatively simple concept of winning Plinko chips by identifying the correct part of an item’s price and then dropping the chips one by one from the top of the game’s pegboard.
A chip falls down the pegboard to one of the spots at the bottom, with the center spot worth $10,000.
During the daytime episodes of The Price Is Right, contestants can win up to $50,000.
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However, the cash prize increased to $100,000 during primetime episodes of the game show.
Drew introduced a ‘special’ new twist for Plinko
During The Price Is Right at Night, a contestant named Michelle was on stage when announcer George Gray revealed she would play Plinko for “a chance to win up to $100,000.”
Host Drew Carey handed over her first Plinko chip, which he said could be worth up to $20,000 if it landed in the center spot at the bottom of the gameboard.
“You can win four more chips, but tonight we have a special twist to the game,” the host said.
He explained that one of the prizes in the pricing game had a “special golden Plinko chip attached.”
“If you get the gold Plinko chip, wherever that gold Plinko chip drops, we’re gonna times whatever it lands on by 10,” he revealed.
Drew said if that gold chip landed on $20,000, she could win $200,000 just for that.
The crowd cheered after Drew’s announcement, and the contestant seemed excited by the added twist.
The contestant tried to win the special Plinko chip
The Plinko revelation appeared in a primetime episode on CBS on January 29 called Jackpot: The Golden Plinko Chip.
In the episode, Michelle won her way onto the stage by guessing the closest to a price for a trip to Santa Barbara, California.
She won her first two prizes with regular Plinko chips when playing Plinko. When she won the third prize, it had the coveted golden Plinko chip.
Michelle missed winning the final regular chip, but Drew reminded her she’d won the important one.
Model Rachel Reynolds handed her the chips she won, including the golden Plinko chip. Drew said she could drop the chips in any order she wanted.
She dropped her three regular chips first. The first two landed on $5,000 each, and the third brought her another $5,000, giving her a total of $15,000.
The suspense built as she dropped the golden Plinko chip from the top right side of the board. It fell to the $2,000 spot, making it worth $20,000.
“Awww,” Drew said, seeming unhappy it didn’t get more, adding, “Well, $35,000 altogether!”
After coming down and getting congratulations from Drew and Rachel, their nearby microphones captured her saying, “You guys, you made my year. My life probably!”
Fans reacted to seeing this new Plinko twist
The unique twist for Plinko seemed to be a hit among the game show’s fans. Many expressed their approval in the Instagram comments section of the teaser clip.
“Ooh, I LIKE this twist!!!” a commenter wrote.
Another individual mentioned they’d had “this exact idea for about 10 years to help spice up plinko up a bit.”
“This marks the first time since 2008 that the golden plinko chip was last used,” a commenter posted, referencing “The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular.”
“NOW… that’s my kinda PLINKO game…,” another commenter wrote.
“Do this for daytime too!!” an individual suggested to the game show.
Another person commented that a contestant could win as much as $280,000 from the game with the golden Plinko chip.
It’s unclear if this twist will become a permanent addition to the popular game, but Drew, contestants, and fans appear to love it!