½ Off
½ Off is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on May 28, 2004, it is played for a cash prize of $10,000, and uses small prizes. On primetime specials, the prize is raised to $25,000.
Gameplay
The contestant is shown three pairs of small prizes, one pair at a time. One item in each pair is marked with the correct price, and the other is marked at half of its actual price. The contestant must choose which of the pair is marked half off; they win both small prizes for guessing correctly.
There are also 16 boxes displayed onstage, one of which contains the grand prize. For each correct guess with the small prizes, half of the boxes are removed from play (down to eight, four, and two boxes respectively for each correct decision). Once the three pairs have been played, the contestant must choose one of the remaining boxes and open it. If it contains the money, they have won the grand prize.
History and behind the scenes
½ Off was created by former FremantleMedia employee Mandel Ilagan. Its set is the most expensive prop ever built for The Price Is Right. The game was originally planned to be played for a car, with a set of keys in one of the boxes instead of the cash.