Fans of the show have been confused about a lot of aspects of the game for a while.

Screenshots showing Drew Carey and the contestant alongside the prize (Cover image source: YouTube/The Price Is Right)

“The Price is Right” has games ranging from fun and quirky to tough and tricky, but it also has a host who is known to be helpful and patient with contestants. Drew Carey has also created one of the newer games called ‘Rat Race,’ and viewers have long debated how the unpredictable game worked. The host finally cleared the air for a contestant named Sandy, who went on to win big.

Screenshot showing Carey telling the contestant how the game works (Image source: YouTube/The Price Is Right)
During the episode, Sandy joined Carey, and the show’s announcer, George Gray, revealed that she would be playing the “Rat Race” game for a brand new 2025 Kia K4 LXS, worth $24,145. In the game, the contestant gets a chance to win two prizes and a car by placing the right bet on a ‘rat race.’ The game features five colored mechanical rats that race along a track to the end. Before the race, the player has to price three items within the given range of under $1, $10, and $100 to win the smaller prizes and choose up to three rats to bet on. Thus, if players win all three items, they get to pick three rats, and if any one of them wins the race, the players win the car and the smaller prizes.
Screenshot showing the mechanical rats (Image source: YouTube/The Price Is Right)
The rats are then set off by a model by pushing a button. In case any of the selected rats fail to win but finish in third or second place, the player wins a small or medium-sized prize, respectively.  If none of the rats gets a podium, the player wins none of the additional prizes. While the game seems straightforward, there is a big catch. The mechanical rats do not go at the same speed, and some don’t even start. Even if a rat starts, it may not reach the finish line as it could stop or fall off the track in the middle of the race. Thus, viewers have long debated how the show selects these rats.
Screenshot showing the set up for the game (Image source: YouTube/The Price Is Right)
Carey provided an explanation for this after mentioning the rules of the game to Sandy. “Over there, we have five mechanical rats. We have a bunch of them backstage. We pick five at random, wind them up, and put them on the track,” he explained. He added that the rats are picked randomly, so there is no way of knowing which rat would win. According to the Wiki Fandom page of the game, the show has a couple hundred mechanical rats backstage, so the producers have plenty to choose from. Sandy got the prices of all three items right and placed her bets on the blue, yellow, and green rats.

When the race kicked off, the yellow rat took an early lead. While the other rats tumbled over the race track to finish, the yellow rat preserved its lead and won the race. However, the other two rats that Sandy picked finished fourth and fifth, which meant she only won the Kia car from the race.