Rat Race is a pricing game where a contestant can win up to three prizes by earning the right to "bet" on three of the five plush toy rats set up on a race track. The pricing portion of the game has similarities to Power of 10, a game show Drew Carey hosted on CBS before taking over Price.
Gameplay
- The contestant must price three items within specified ranges: a grocery item priced under $10 within $1; a small prize priced under $100 within $10; and a medium prize priced under $500 within $100. For each bid given within the correct range, the contestant chooses one of five colored mechanical rats (yellow, green, pink, orange and blue), which are positioned on a large dollar sign-shaped race track. If the contestant does not win any of the Rats, the game ends immediately (the first time this has happened was on December 23, 2010, #5364K).
- The rats are then set in motion on the track by pulling a handle. If one of the selected rats finishes in third place, the contestant wins an additional small prize; in second, a medium-sized prize; and if a selected rat wins the race, the contestant wins a car. Contestants can win more than one prize depending upon how the chosen rats finish the race; a contestant can win all three prizes by earning three rats and having each of them come in either first, second, or third place.
- While the track is designed to be the same length for all five rats, not all of the rats are guaranteed to finish; indeed, occasionally one of the rats gets stuck on the track, and the race continues to play out, just as competitors occasionally do not finish in various races in real life. There have even been times where a rat doesn't start at all.
- There are actually at least a couple hundred mechanical rats in storage backstage, with each rat running the race at a different speed. The rats are picked at random and placed onto the track. This is evident as the rats never appear in the same order from left to right in each episode.
History
- This game was created by Drew Carey and premiered on June 16, 2010 (#5213K).
- Rat Race was the second pricing game to premiere under Drew's tenure as host (the first was Gas Money in Season 37), and the last pricing game to premiere before Rich Fields' firing.
- The game got its first official win after the third playing on November 12, 2010 (#5305K, aired out of order on October 15), where all three prizes were won.
- Five times during the game's lifespan (December 23, 2010, #5364K, December 14, 2011, #5753K, May 2, 2012, #5953K, October 26, 2012, #6085K, aired out of order on October 8, and December 30, 2013, #6551K, aired out of order on December 27), the contestant wiped out and didn't even get to have a race.
- On October 31, 2013 (#6474K), as part of the episode's Halloween theme, Rat Race was renamed "Bat Race"; the toy rats donned bat ears and wings and the cartoon rat on the game display also appeared in costume.
- On May 1, 2014 (#6724K), two of the rats didn't make it and the last rat ended up third. On November 14, 2016, the pink rat didn't make it and the pink rat ended up fifth.
- On November 17, 2014 (#6891K, aired out of order on November 10), as part of "Big Money Week," Rat Race had a cash prize of $175,000 (1st-place: $100,000, 2nd-place: $50,000, 3rd-place: $25,000) and $100,000 was won.
- On February 16, 2015 (#7011K), as part of "#UDecide Week," it had a cash prize of $100,000 (1st-place: $75,000, 2nd-place: $15,000, 3rd-place: $10,000) and $75,000 was won.
- On January 15, 2015 (#6964K), October 30, 2015 (#7265K), May 17, 2016 (#7542K), June 8, 2016 (#7573K), and October 21, 2016 (#7655K), the first two prizes were in front of Door #3 and the car was revealed afterwards.
- On June 3, 2015 (#7163K), the blue rat did not move at all.
- Rat Race has been officially won 28 times (excluding the $100,000 won on November 17, 2014, #6891K, , aired out of order on November 10, and the $75,000 won on February 16, 2015, #7011K), four of which were perfect (all three prizes won). The most recent win happened on May 3, 2017.
- Rat Race has never been the first or second game to be played in the game's slotting list. (Check for the reason in the Trivia section.)
- Starting on September 25, 2015 (#7215K), the light blue tint was removed from the prize results screen.
- On October 30, 2015 (#7265K), as part of the episode's Halloween theme, the rats were wearing Drew Carey's signature glasses.
- On May 25, 2016 (#036SP), as part of the episode's Amazing Race theme, Rat Race was renamed "The Amazing Rat Race"; normally a model starts the Rat Race, but the special guest Phil Keoghan started "The Amazing Rat Race" by saying, "GO".
Trivia
- As in Master Key and Switcheroo, the contestant only needs to win the car (not necessarily all three prizes) for the game to be officially counted as won. A win of only one or two of the smaller prizes is considered a "partial win" as far as affecting perfect or winless shows; winning none of the three announced main prizes (i.e. no rats placing third or higher or one or two rats placing fourth or fifth if a contestant wins one or two rats) is considered a wipeout. And contestant winning three rats guarantees winning at least one prize.
- Rat Race has never been the first or second pricing game to start any show because it needs time to start up. The game can be no earlier than third on the show.
- Rat Race is the 2nd pricing game that has never played by the former host Bob Barker.
- If Rat Race were to be the Million Dollar Game on a Million Dollar Spectacular. To win the bonus, the contestant needs to win three prizes if the rats finished in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
- The most number of times this game was played in any season was 15.
Gallery
Rat Race Prize Display
YouTube Videos
Rat Race Premiere (June 16, 2010, #5213K)
First Rat Race Perfect win! (November 12, 2010, #5305K, aired out of order on October 15)
A Rat Race Car Win! (January 30, 2012, #5821K,, aired out of order on January 16)
Another Rat Race Car Win! (June 10, 2013, #6391K, aired out of order on May 9)
Another Rat Race Car Win! (February 26, 2013, #6242K)
Another Rat Race Car Win! (October 23, 2013, #6463K, aired out of order on October 9)
Another Rat Race Car Win! (November 25, 2013, #6511K)
A Rat Race Shutout (December 30, 2013, #6551K, aired out of order on December 27)
Rat Race for $175,000 (November 17, 2014, #6891K, aired out of order on November 10)
The Amazing Rat Race (May 25, 2016, #036SP)