Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune got its start in 1975, with Chuck Woolery as host and Susan Stafford as the letter turner. The game had no real test knowledge or quiz; three players just had contests to figure out phrases. To start with, all they knew were the number of letters in each word and the subject of: a person’s name, a phrase, a movie title etc. Players spun a large wheel with dollar values and “Bankrupt” signs. If they got a dollar amount, they asked for a letter. For each one in the puzzle, they got that amount. The tiles would light up, and Susan would turn them. The player answers questions or spins again. If they asked for a letter that wasn’t in the puzzle, landed on “Bankrupt” or got the puzzle wrong, play passed to the next player. Eventually, someone would solve the puzzle, and they then got to win money. They were then presented with a sort of store from which they’d buy furniture, clothes, and other prizes.
In 1982, Pat Sajak replaced Woolery and Vanna White replaced Ms Stafford on Wheel of Fortune. The two of them have been the hosts ever since, even through Vanna’s pregnancies. The letters no longer turn; now they’re small computer screens that light up, and she switches them on. The dollar values have gone up, and other types of prizes have been added: shopping sprees, trips, and so on. Also, the store has been dropped; they just win money. The player who wins the most money goes to the final round. They spin a wheel, Pat holds the envelope they land on, and they try to guess a final puzzle quiz. They’re given the letters R, S, T, L, N and E, and they get to add 3 more letters and 1 vowel. They have 10 seconds to solve the puzzle. If they do, they win what’s in the envelope. It can be cash from $25,000 to $100,000 or a new car.
Celebrities have appeared on Wheel of Fortune as partners with players, their winnings go to charity, and the all-time highest winner is Michelle Loewenstein who won $1,026,080 in October 2008.
While Wheel of Fortune has gone “on the road” to many cities, and had many contests over the years, it’s still limited in the number of people that can participate. There’s even an online game version of it, but you don’t win any real prizes with it. For that you have to take the next step and try Money4Intellect. On the Money4Intellect website a player answers questions that are multiple choice on general knowledge topics to win money; their contests are a test knowledge type rather than a simple puzzle, but you can win as much as $1,000 in one quiz and upwards of $10,000 over several contests.