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Line 'Em Up is a game played for a car plus three additional prizes - one worth between $10 and $98, and two worth between $301 and $987. The game was created by former producer Kathy Greco. It is based on a concept originally presented by Password Plus staffer Chris Clementson.

Gameplay[]

  • The contestant is shown a game board that displays the first and last digits in the five-digit price of a car. Between these digits are the prices of three smaller prizes, each of which contains one of the other three digits in the price of the car. The contestant slides these prices horizontally so that the digits in the price of the car line up vertically in a yellow (originally white) frame. The first and third prizes always have three-digit prices, while the second has a two-digit price.
  • If the contestant correctly lines up all three prizes, the contestant wins the car and the prizes. Otherwise, the contestant is told how many (but not specifically which) of the digits are correctly placed. Knowing only this, the contestant then has one more opportunity to line up the prices and win the car and prizes as before. If the price is not correct twice, he/she loses the game.

History[]

  • On its first playing, it was won on the first try. Also, the prize labels were light gray with black letters. They changed to black with white letters on the next playing.
  • When the game first debuted, the car was the first to be shown, followed by the three small prizes, possibly to continue the tradition of Barker getting contestants ready for a car offering. However, on October 7, 2004 (#2994K), it was changed so the reveals go in the opposite direction, and for more excitement.
  • On March 31, 2014 (#6681K), May 21, 2014 (#6753K), November 20, 2014 (#6894K, aired out of order on November 13), January 6, 2015 (#6952K), January 6, 2016 (#7353K), February 1, 2016 (#7391K), April 11, 2016 (#7491K), and April 27, 2016 (#7513K), the first three prizes were shown in front of Door #3, and the car was revealed behind Door #2 afterward.
  • Additionally, from the game's debut until May 18, 1998 (#0781K), the current think music from Check Game was used, from June 2, 1998 (#0802K) onward, a brand new think music debuted and was later also used for Push Over, and on occasion, Make Your Move, and Cover Up. The think music for this game was originally a prize cue for 1994's The New Price is Right.
  • On October 2, 2014 (#6824K, aired out of order on December 26) the game board received a fresh coat of paint of exactly the same colors.
  • On May 16, 2016 (#7541K), contestant Erin Walters-Bugbee got no numbers correct on her first try. However, on her second try, she redeemed herself, got all 3 numbers right, and won the car, so did contestant Richard Alvarado on October 27, 2017 (#8065K).
  • The concept was originally presented by Chris Clementson during a game presentation attended by Mark Goodson and executive producer Frank Wayne in January 1980, when car prices were typically comprised of four digits. Clementson's version lacked the sliders and offered four smaller prizes, the prices of which each contained a digit in the price of the car. The contestant was not given any "free" digits in the price of the car and had to guess all four digits.

Trivia[]

  • For this game to be played, any car can be played, but the 3 prizes have to include 1 of the 3 middle numbers needed.
  • Also, the three prizes cannot have any repeating digits.
  • The most number of times this game was played in any season was 17 (season 42), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 7 (season 36).
  • Despite the three small prizes used to 'line up' the car price being priced below $1,000, this is not officially a 'small prize' game; such a distinction means that the small prizes must be priced by the contestant and must also cost less than $300; the 3-digit prizes used in Line 'Em Up cost $300 or more in price.
  • As shown in this image, the odds of winning the game are 2 out of 9, or 22.22%.
  • This is the last pricing game to premiere before 2000 to use any form of display. This one uses a single digit eggcrate display to indicate the number of correctly guessed digits in the price after the buzzer sounds to signify that the contestant has not won.
  • Having zero numbers correct after the first try is arguably a better fate than having one or two. The middle (hundreds') digit must be changed, the top (thousands' digit) is usually easy to correct, leaving only two possible choices for the bottom (tens') digit.
  • Like Take Two, Gas Money, More or Less, Rat Race, Double Cross, Ten Chances, and Time is Money, Line 'Em Up has never been the first game to be played in the lineup because it needs time to start up and the game can be played no earlier than second on the show.

Foreign versions of Line 'Em Up[]

  • On several foreign formats, Line 'Em Up is played exactly the same way as it is on the American version. The game board also looks very similar to the one used in the American version.
  • While the Australian version was played for a car or a motorcycle, the Vietnamese version (titled "Một Hàng Dọc"/"a line") never offer prizes worth more than VND 30,000,000.
  • When the game was revived in Vietnam, the set was the same, but the color is black now.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

Sarah goes crazy after winning Line 'Em Up (January 5, 2005, #3113K)
First Win of Season 43 (March 16, 2015, #7051K)

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