1975 - Present
For most Price is Right fans, Golden Road represents the epitome of excitement. The prize at the end of the Golden Road is always something incredible and is often the most expensive prize ever offered on the show (huge Winnebagos, monstrous boats, Corvettes, Porsches, Vipers, etc.) However, getting to the end of the Golden Road and winning that spectacular prize is no easy feat. The game starts with a small grocery item less than $1. With that two-digit grocery item, the contestant plays for a three-digit prize. The first digit of the three-digit prize is concealed. One of the digits in the small grocery item represents that first digit and the contestant must guess which. If the contestant is right, the three-digit price is used to guess a four-digit prize. Again, a number in the four-digit prize is concealed (usually the second), and the contestant must pick one of the numbers in the three-digit prize that corresponds to the concealed digit. If the contestant guesses correctly, s/he moves to the end of the Golden Road which has the spectacular prize. One of the five digits in this prize is concealed (usually one of the last digits, thereby adding difficulty), and the contestant must guess which one it is using one of the numbers from the four-digit prize. If the contestant guesses correctly, s/he wins it all. If the contestant guesses incorrectly at any point along the Golden Road, the game is over, but any prizes won up to that point are his/hers to keep.
A big win on Golden Road is guaranteed to draw the biggest cheers from the audience because of the high odds against winning all three prizes. Despite the bad odds, there are some tricks to remember. Digits in the prices rarely repeat, so if the contestant is choosing among numbers and one of them would cause a repeat in the prize s/he is guessing, it must be avoided! Also, the concealed digit in the prize the contesant is playing for is rarely the digit that was concealed in the previous prize. Despite that help, a big win at Golden Road is far from guaranteed, thereby making the rare wins that much more exciting.
In terms of setup, Golden Road is the most elaborate game on the show and takes up the entire stage. It is always played as the first game, so when Bob would walk out during the show's opening, the podiums and Road would be already in place, giving away the surprise of the game to the television audience. Since the beginning of the '90s, Bob enters the stage from the studio audience as to not give away the game.
In early 2002, a Dodge Viper worth over $86,000 was won on Golden Road, making it the most expensive single prize ever won on the daytime show. On a nightime $1,000,000 special in December, 2003, a $100,000+ motor home was offered in the game, but was not won.
Set Changes: The first Golden "Road" was more of a gold-covered carpet that formed a path from prize to prize. However, this carpet had the tendency to nearly trip Bob and the contestants, so it was scrapped for a series of golden dots strewn all over the set. The podiums that hold the prizes first used a lever to reveal the concealed digit, followed by a button that Bob would push. In both cases, the setup often caused the sleeve that concealed the digit to get stuck...or reveal prematurely. To correct the problem, the producers constructed the sleeve so that Bob simply pulls it out with his hand. At first the game used special podiums that spun around to reveal the three- and four-digit prizes; these days, the three doors are used to conceal each of the prizes. The sign that says "Golden Road" was redone in the 1980s. The cutesey "Pot of Gold" cloud and rainbow backgrounds are still used to this day behind the spectacular prize at the end of the Golden Road.
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| No wonder this lady's excited to see Bob! She's going to play Golden Road! | Here's a great shot of the Golden Road carpeting as well as the spinning podiums that reveal the smaller prizes. |
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| Gadzooks! Look at the size of that Lincoln! It was $12,000+, which was super expensive back in 1975. Note the rainbow behind the car which is still used today. | This price cleary exhibits the Golden Road strategy. There are already a "1", "2", and "0" in the price of the car. Plus, that "0" was concealed in the previous prize. It must be a 3! |
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| What did I tell ya! This was the first big win on Golden Road. Note the button that Bob is pushing. It failed on the first prize and revealed the hidden digit too early! | Here are the Golden Road dots we see today. Note the varying sizes. Usually they are not clumped together like this, though. |
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| Bob's entering from the back...it must be... | ...Golden Road! Here's the current sign. |
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| It all starts with muffin mix worth 61 cents... | ...and ends with a $70,000 Dodge Viper! Holy cow! |
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| Here it is! The new Golden Road sign from the 28th Season. | And the new price podiums as well. |
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| Look at this giant motor home!! Worth over $100,000. |