Gameplay elements

Over time, Wheel of Fortune has introduced and occasionally retired various gameplay elements.

Current Elements
The current round structure is as follows:

 Bankrupt 

Introduced in the 1974 pilots, Bankrupt is a black wedge on the Wheel that takes away the player's score for that round when landing on it (score from previous rounds is not affected). Originally, the space had white outlines; this was changed by June 7, 1976 to its current appearance. Originally, there was one Bankrupt on the Wheel in Round 1, then two for each round thereafter; since the beginning of Season 27, both Bankrupts are present throughout the game.

The wedge's symbolic slide whistle was added sometime between June 7, 1976 and April 6, 1978 (one recollection claims it was added in 1977), and changed to the current sound on July 17, 1989. Strangely, starting in the late 1980s, the slide whistle sound was not heard if Pat hit it on the Final Spin.

For a time beginning on September 16, 1996, the second Bankrupt was "off model", using the Clarendon font with all letters the same size. This was fixed by October 29.

 Lose A Turn 

Present since the 1973 pilot Shopper's Bazaar, Lose A Turn simply makes the contestant lose his or her turn, but unlike Bankrupt does not remove money or prizes. Originally, a second wedge was added in Round 3; this was removed by June 7, 1976.

The wedge was originally yellow with white outlines around the lettering and the space itself. By June 7, 1976 the outlines were removed, and on September 16, 1996 the wedge adopted its current appearance (a very light shade of yellow, nearly white).

 Toss-Ups 

The Toss-Up rounds were introduced with the Season 18 premiere on September 4, 2000. For that season only, there were only two: one before the interviews, to determine who starts Round 1, and one before Round 4 to determine who starts that round. Both Toss-Ups were valued at $1,000, and the round was not split-screened; home viewers saw only the puzzle board.

In Season 19, a third Toss-Up was added, with the values set at $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000. The $1,000 is essentially a "warm-up" for the contestants, determining who is interviewed first. The $2,000 Toss-Up determines who starts Round 1, and the $3,000 one (still before Round 4) determines who starts that round.

During a Toss-Up round, the puzzle answer is revealed one letter at a time. Contestants are given buzzers similar to those on Jeopardy! and may ring in when they think they know the answer. When a contestant rings in, the "right letter" ding is heard. Giving an incorrect guess "locks out" that player for the rest of the Toss-Up.

On rare occasions, Toss-Up rounds are unsolved; most frequently, this results from a contestant giving a wrong answer with most of the puzzle filled in, leaving little to no time for the next contestant(s) to ring in. However, there are several known cases of all three contestants ringing in with wrong answers (with the third answer almost always coming just ahead of the last letter being revealed), and at least one instance where no one even rang in at all. If no one gives a correct answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, then the player in the red position is interviewed first; if the $2,000 one is not solved, then the red player starts Round 1; and if the $3,000 one is not solved, the player who started Round 1 also starts Round 4. The "time's up" buzzer from the Bonus Round also sounds if a Toss-Up goes unsolved.

Tie games are currently broken by a fourth Toss-Up between the tied contestants, which does not have a cash value. This happened on March 13, 2003 and March 2, 2006.

 Prize Puzzle 

Introduced in Season 21, the Prize Puzzle offers an extra prize to the contestant who solves the puzzle (usually trips). Since Season 23, every game has a Prize Puzzle; previously, they occurred randomly throughout the week.

On March 15, 2004, the show debuted the Wheel Watchers Club, which allows home viewers a chance at winning the prize as well. After each Prize Puzzle, a SPIN ID is drawn, and if a home viewer sees their ID on the show, they have 24 hours to verify it on the show's website. SPIN IDs are sporadically used for other home viewer sweepstakes, and until 2009, were also used if a contestant won a car in the Bonus Round. Beginning in April 2007, Wheel Watchers Club members who have an active Sony Card receive $50,000 as well.

Until Season 28, a Prize Puzzle could occur in any of the first three rounds; from that point onward, they are no longer in Round 1. It is not known why this change was made, but it may have been done to lessen the chance of a contestant building an early runaway lead.

Mystery Round

Introduced in Season 20, the Mystery Round offers a chance at an extra prize in the main game. Two Mystery wedges are placed on the Wheel in Round 3. Both are valued at $1,000 ($500 until Season 22), and offer the choice of taking their face value or forfeiting it for a chance at the prize. One wedge has the prize on the reverse; the other has a Bankrupt. If either wedge is flipped over, the other functions as a $1,000 space for the rest of the round and cannot be flipped over.

The prize was often a compact car when the round debuted, but starting in September 24, it was sometimes a $10,000 cash prize instead. Since October 3, 2005, it has always been $10,000 cash (except for October 19 and 20, which were taped before this rule change). Also starting on October 3, 2005, a graphic effect shows home viewers what is on the reverse of a wedge if it is landed on.

The Mystery wedges have been redesigned twice, although they have always included a question mark in a circle above the dollar amount. In season 22, they were recolored from black to blue (and obviously changed to read $1,000 instead of $500), and in season 23, the circle around the question mark was changed from black to red.

 Speed-Up 

Present since the earliest days, the Speed-Up round is used when time is running short.

During a Speed-Up, the host gives the Wheel a Final Spin, to determine the cash amount of each consonant called; since October 4, 1999, the Final Spin has $1,000 added to its value. Vowels called in a Speed-Up round are free. Initially in the shopping era, a shopping round always followed the Speed-Up, but not long after Pat took over, Speed-Ups were played for gift certificates if the round began as a Speed-Up.

Control begins with the player who was in control at the time that the Speed-Up bells ring. Each player calls one letter at a time, going in order from the viewer's left to right. After calling a letter, the contestant has three seconds (reduced from five on April 13, 1998) in which to solve the puzzle. Since around 2000, every game ends in a Speed-Up round, most likely to allow for a better chance at a comeback by a trailing contestant.

Initially, if the host hit something other than a cash amount on the Final Spin, it was left in. This led to a particularly interesting oddity in fall 1989, where Pat's Final Spin hit Bankrupt three times before he finally hit $5,000 on the fourth spin. The practice of editing out "bad" Final Spins appears to have begun around February 1997.

In the early years, clacking and chalkboard taps were frequently heard during the Speed-Up round; these were from the Used Letter Board, as letters were discarded and scores changed.

Tie games on nighttime were originally broken by a second Speed-Up round (complete with a second Final Spin), played only between the tied contestants. In these cases, the non-tied contestant was dismissed during the commercial break, and Pat gave the Wheel another Final Spin to start the tiebreaker round; as a result, the Bonus Round and closing were in the same segment.

 Free Play 

Free Play is a special wedge introduced in Season 27 that is essentially a successor to the Free Spin. If a contestant calls a wrong letter or makes an incorrect solve while on Free Play, the wedge allows the player to keep their turn. It also allows the contestant to call a free vowel. Consonants called on Free Play are worth $500 each.

The concept of free vowels actually goes all the way back to the Shopper's Bazaar pilot, which had a wedge marked "Free Vowel".

Prize Wedges

The concept of a Prize wedge was first tried on the hour-long daytime episodes in 1975 and 1976. Unlike the current ones, these were claimed immediately upon being hit, and apparently did not require solving the puzzle to be won. Also, if a contestant lost it to Bankrupt, it was placed back on the Wheel.

Around September 1983, Prize wedges were introduced permanently. Like all other winnings, they are held if the contestant solves that round's puzzle without hitting Bankrupt.

Initially, a contestant who hit a prize wedge claimed it automatically upon hitting it, then called a letter for the dollar value underneath. From Season 8 (1990-91) onward, the contestant has to call a right letter before claiming the wedge.

From the retirement of the shopping era to the late 1990s, Wheel prizes were introduced in Rounds 2 and 4, obviously unless Round 4 began as a Speed-Up. In Season 14 (1996-97), the second one was retired. For a short time after the retirement of the Surprise wedge (see below), the second Wheel prize was reinstated in round 3, but it was retired again around January 2002. Currently, the Wheel prize is always in Round 1. While Bob Goen was the host, the daytime version generally introduced a new prize in each of the first three rounds.

Until around the late 1990s, Prize wedges were kept on the Wheel through Round 4 and beyond if time permits. They are presently removed before round 4, to decrease the odds of Pat's Final Spin hitting something other than a cash amount.

 Million-Dollar Wedge 

The Million-Dollar Wedge is a special, 1/3-size wedge which offers a chance at $1,000,000 in the bonus round; it is shiny green and surrounded by 1/3-size Bankrupts. The contestant must hit the wedge and solve that round's puzzle without losing it to Bankrupt to get a chance at the top prize. If s/he then wins the game without hitting Bankrupt, the $100,000 envelope is removed from the Bonus Wheel and replaced with a $1,000,000 envelope.

The $1,000,000 bonus envelope has been hit once, on October 14, 2008. Contestant Michelle Loewenstein solved the bonus puzzle LEAKY FAUCET to win the prize.

A disclaimer in the credits of the October 14 episode confirms that contestants who win the $1,000,000 may have it paid in installments over 20 years or take a lump sum of $660,000.

 Jackpot Round 

Introduced on September 16, 1996, the Jackpot is a special cash prize which starts at $5,000 and has the value of each successive spin added to it. An onscreen display throughout the round shows how much is in the Jackpot. To claim it, the contestant must land on the wedge, call a right letter and solve all within the same turn. The first Jackpot win was on September 26, 1996, at the base value of $5,000.

Initially, the Jackpot was in Round 3. It moved to Round 2 on the weeks of May 1 and 8, 2000, a change that became official in the next season. In Season 27 (2009-10), it moved again to Round 1.

From Season 24 onward, letters called on the Jackpot wedge are worth $500 each, even if the Jackpot is won. Previously, they had no value.

From September 4, 1997 until the retirement of the "Friday Finals" format, the Jackpot started at $10,000 on Friday Finals episodes.

Daytime used a different Jackpot from 1986 to 1988.

Wild Card

Introduced in 2007, the Wild Card offers an extra letter to be called on a spin, for the same amount as the contestant is currently sitting on. Alternatively, it can be taken to the Bonus Round, where it allows for a fourth consonant. The Wild Card is over the green $700 space.

Bonus Round

The first bonus round ever used on the show was on the 1973 pilot, Shopper's Bazaar. The "Shopper's Special" was the name of the prize the contestant was playing for. The winner was shown all vowels in the puzzle, then had 30 seconds to give consonants to fill in the solution.

The second bonus round was during the hour-long episodes between December 1, 1975 and January 16, 1976. While details on the hour-long format are sketchy, it is believed that three contestants competed in the first half-hour and three more in the second half-hour; the two winners then played a final round to determine the top winner, who was asked for four consonants and a vowel, then given the category and 15 seconds to solve.

The third bonus round was present in Spring 1978. Called the Star Bonus, this was a token that allowed a trailing contestant to play a special puzzle in the middle of the show. The disc was placed over a $100 wedge, and was not lost if a contestant hit Bankrupt. Here, the contestant could pick among four different prizes, with the difficulty of the puzzle corresponding to the prize's value (Easy, Medium, Hard, Difficult). If the contestant made it to the Star Bonus round, it was played identically to the bonus round used in the hour-long episodes, with an onscreen "stopwatch" graphic counting down the time. Star Bonus was retired most likely because there was no guarantee that it would be played, and if it was, the interviews were considerably cut down to squeeze it in. There are three known instances of the Star Bonus being played: two Difficults and a Medium.

The current bonus round has been in place since at least the week of December 14, 1981. Originally in the current bonus round, the contestant was provided a blank puzzle and a category, and asked for five consonants and a vowel. He or she then had 15 seconds to solve. Almost all contestants chose some permutation of R, S, T, L, N and E, because those letters are the most common.

The current rules were introduced on October 3, 1988. Now, the contestant is given those six letters automatically, and then asked for three more consonants and a vowel (plus a fourth if he or she is holding a Wild Card). Also, the time limit is reduced to 10 seconds, and the puzzles are made slightly harder; it is extremely rare for R, S, T, L, N and E to comprise half or more of the answer, and several puzzles between 1992-95 did not have any of those letters.

The Big Month of Cash in October 1987 introduced a $25,000 cash prize as one of the bonus round prizes. With the vast majority of nighttime contestants picking the cash, the prize selection on nighttime was changed to a random draw from envelopes spelling out W-H-E-E-L; any prize that was won was taken out of rotation for the rest of the week. Daytime included a $5,000 cash prize starting with Bob Goen's first episode, but still allowed contestants to pick any prize they wanted.

Starting in September 1998, the $25,000 envelope was kept in play even if it was won. In the first few weeks of the 2001-02 season, the W-H-E-E-L envelopes comprised three cars and two $25,000 prizes, and none were taken out if won; they were retired on October 22, 2001 and replaced with the current 24-envelope bonus wheel. Prize distribution on the wheel has changed over time, although there has always been only one $100,000 envelope. Additional cash amounts (from $30,000 to $50,000 in $5,000 increments) were added for Big Money Week in February 2002, then made permanent that September. Several $25,000 envelopes were originally present as well, but Season 28 replaced these with additional $30,000 envelopes.

Retired Elements
 Your Own Clue 

Used only in the 1973 pilot Shopper's Bazaar, Your Own Clue was a space on the Wheel that activated the rotary phone in front of the contestants. The player who landed on it picked up the phone and received a hint from announcer Mike Lawrence about the puzzle solution. If that same player landed on Your Own Clue again, Lawrence gave her a more detailed clue; if another contestant landed on the space, she started from the first clue.

Despite Your Own Clue being discarded from the American format after this pilot, the concept found its way into various foreign versions of Wheel (albeit without the phone).

 Buy A Vowel 

First used in the Shopper's Bazaar pilot, Buy A Vowel was a red wedge on the Wheel (two from Round 3 onward) which allowed contestants to purchase a vowel. However, it seems that the option to buy a vowel at the player's discretion was in place even then. One still from an early episode shows a contestant with a negative score, so it is believed that the $250 was still deducted accordingly even if the contestant did not have that much.

While the wedge was retired early on, it remains unknown as to when. Various accounts say it remained anywhere from a few weeks up until the end of 1975, and it is known to have outlasted the original two-digit values (as seen in Milton-Bradley's two board game adaptations from 1975). In any event, the wedge was removed by June 7, 1976.

 Free Spin 

Also introduced in the 1974 pilots, Free Spin was originally a single tan wedge on the Wheel. Hitting it automatically gave the contestant a Free Spin disc, and s/he spun again. A Free Spin could be used at any time after a contestant lost a turn, or saved for later.

The wedge originally had white outlines like the other three special spaces, which was removed by June 7, 1976. On October 16, 1989, the wedge was replaced with another $300 space and Free Spin was reduced to a single disc placed over a random dollar amount. It spent all of Season 13 on the purple $200 (next to Lose A Turn), and then moved to the green $300 on September 16, 1996, staying there until its retirement. It was most likely changed to a single disc to prevent contestants gaining unfair advantages by amassing multiple Free Spins, or banking several Free Spins that never got used.

From Season 25 until its retirement, Free Spin's rules were changed slightly, so that hitting it gave both the Free Spin and $300 per letter; previously, it awarded only the disc. To indicate this rule change, the disc was moved up the wedge slightly so that it did not obscure the 3.

Double Play

Present only in Season 13, the Double Play token could be used before any turn in to double the value of the next spin. If used before hitting Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, it was discarded. It is also believed that it would have been discarded if used before hitting a prize, Surprise or Free Spin, although this never happened; however, one pair of contestants during Sweethearts Week in February 1996 used it to double the $10,000 cash prize.

Surprise

Used from October 5, 1992 to June 1998, the Surprise wedge was a special Wheel prize present throughout the entire game. It was claimed identically to the other prize wedges, but the prize was not revealed until after the contestant won it.

Originally, Surprise used a far thinner, Arial-esque font; the regular font was introduced by October 26. Both versions of the wedge used black text on a pink background.

Surprise was retired at the end of Season 15, and was essentially replaced in September 1998 by a second Wheel prize.

Puzzler

First introduced on June 12, 1998 and made official on September 21 of the same year, Puzzler was a special "extra" puzzle done immediately after any of the first three rounds. The Puzzler answer was related to the puzzle immediately before it. In a Puzzler round, the contestant was given an appropriate category and about half of the letters in the answer. S/he then had 5 seconds to try and solve it for a cash bonus of $2,000 ($3,000 in the 1999-2000 season); the bonus round beeps played during the 5 seconds.

Until some point between October 12 and November 12, 1998, the Puzzler was indicated by a series of bells.

Preview Puzzle

Introduced on October 4, 1999 and retired June 2000. The Preview Puzzle was a short, partially filled-in puzzle (complete with category) shown before the intro. While it was shown, Vanna announced it through a voiceover: "Here's tonight's Preview Puzzle just for you at home. It's a [category]. Can you solve it? Stay tuned for the correct answer." After she and Pat walked out, she would then reveal the Preview Puzzle answer. The first one used was a Proper Name of TOM CRUISE.

The Preview Puzzle is unique in that it had literally no bearing on the game whatsoever, and was entirely for the home viewing audience. It was most likely an attempt to provide more play-along factors for home viewers, something which has since been done more smoothly and successfully with the Toss-Ups.

$10,000 Prize

Introduced on November 28, 1994 and retired in September 2008, when it was replaced with the Million-Dollar Wedge. The $10,000 wedge featured a one-peg-wide, golden $10,000 design, with a one-peg-wide Bankrupt on either side. Hitting the $10,000 portion gave the contestant a $10,000 cash prize if a correct letter was called, which was treated as a prize and could not be spent on vowels. The reverse of the wedge was originally blank, but sometime in late 1995 it gained a shiny $10,000 design on the reverse, identical to the design of the other Top $ wedges. It is believed that the reverse of the wedge was used as a cash value for one week.

Initially, it was introduced in Round 3 and stayed on the wheel through subsequent rounds until claimed. In Season 14, it was only in play during Round 2, and it moved back to Round 3 in Season 18. From Season 20 until its retirement, it was only available in Round 1.

Big Money Wedge

A special wedge used in the Mystery Round for Season 25 only. This wedge alternated randomly among values of $5,000, $7,500, and $25,000, plus Lose A Turn and Bankrupt. Its cash values were obviously flat rates. If hit for any cash amount, the wedge functioned as a $1,000-per-letter space for the rest of that round. For the first week of Season 25 only, its amounts were treated as prizes, but for the rest of the season, any money won with it could be spent on vowels. Also, for the first week only, the contestant's scoreboard displayed "BIG MONEY" along with the score. If it was landed on for any of its cash amounts, the wedge was "enhanced" by a graphic effect that highlighted it with a yellow outline.

The housing of the Big Money Wedge is currently used for the Jackpot wedge.

25 Wedge

A second Wheel prize, also present only in Season 25. To celebrate the show's 25th nighttime season, this wedge offered a special prize with a theme of 25 (such as a $2,500 cash prize, $2,500 in gas cards, etc.). It functioned identically to the existing prize wedges.

½ Car Wedge

A special wedge used only for the week of April 11, 2011, offering a chance at winning a car. Similarly to the $10,000 and Million-Dollar Wedges, it had a one-third-sized "Car" space surrounded by one-third-sized $500 wedges. Hitting the "car" space gave a license plate-shaped "Car" tag, two of which had to be claimed to win a car. The ½ Car wedges were in play from Rounds 1-3.

The "Car" tags were unique in that they were not lost to Bankrupts hit in subsequent rounds (but are lost to Bankrupts hit in the same round). Also, if one was claimed, it was replaced with another in the next round, meaning that as many as six "Car" tags could theoretically be gathered. During the week that these were in play, only one of the tags was ever claimed and several variables involving the tags were not explored (such as what would happen if more than one contestant had two).

Another unique property of the ½ Car Wedge is that it affected two other spaces on the Wheel for aesthetic purposes: the red $900 wedge was changed to blue, and the Wild Card moved to the pink $900. Both of these changes were reverted on April 18.

 Red-Letter Puzzles 

Present in Seasons 11 and 12, Red-Letter puzzles could occur at any time during the main game, in any category. In these rounds, the puzzle answer has some letters which are red. After the contestant solves the puzzle, he or she is given 5 seconds to unscramble the red letters, which spell out a short (usually 4-6 letters) word; to make the letters stand out more, the "normal" letters in the puzzle were turned off. Unscrambling the word won a $1,000 bonus.

The show also held several home viewer sweepstakes with similar puzzles, starting with a Red Letter Sweepstakes in Season 10. In these sweepstakes, home viewers could submit the word spelled out by the red letters for a chance at winning a prize. Later sweepstakes used red-and-blue letters that spell out the name of a U.S. President, gold letters that spell out the name of an Academy Award winner, and red-and-blue letters that spell out the name of an Olympic event.

 Jackpot (Daytime) 

Used from September 15, 1986 through September 16, 1988, the daytime version had a Jackpot wedge in Round 3. Unlike the current Jackpot discussed above, this one started at $1,000 and increased by $1,000 every day until it was won; treated like a prize wedge, the player only had to hit the wedge and solve the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt.

Money won through the daytime Jackpot was awarded in cash, and as such could not be used in shopping rounds. It is known that this Jackpot exceeded $20,000 at one point.

 Shopping 

"The prices of the prizes were furnished to the contestants prior to the show and have been rounded off to the nearest dollar. Gift certificates do not include sales tax."

Arguably the most famous retired element. After solving a puzzle, a contestant could spend his or her winnings on prizes in a showcase. This element was unofficially retired from nighttime on October 5, 1987 with the Big Month of Cash, an experimental play-for-cash format that seamlessly became permanent. Daytime, however, kept shopping until June 30, 1989.

Contestants could put money "on account" at any time during a shopping round, which allowed the money to carry over to the next round (but at the risk of being lost to Bankrupt). From about late 1975 onward, the winnings could also be placed on a gift certificate. If a contestant did not have enough money left over to buy another prize, s/he would almost always choose to have the remainder on a gift certificate.

It should also be noted that contestants did not have to spend all of their winnings on prizes; a contestant could choose to put winnings "on account" or on a gift certificate at any time, even without buying a prize. According to one personal recollection, a contestant placed all of his winnings on account immediately, and then used the combined total in a late round to buy the most expensive prize.

Probably the most fondly-remembered part of the shopping rounds is the ceramic Dalmatian, which several contestants purchased. The prize has since become a semi-cultural icon associated with the show – the Retro Week "Shopping" wedge was a picture of the Dalmatian, both Pat and Vanna own one (and displayed them on occasion), the Wheel Watchers Club released an exclusive bobblehead, and an episode of the FOX cartoon Family Guy opened with a parody of the pre-RSTLNE shopping era where Peter Griffin bought one right off the bat.

 Returning Champions 

Another well-known retired element is the concept of returning champions. When Wheel debuted in 1975, contestants could stay on for up to five days; this was reduced to three days at some point between June 7, 1976 and December 31, 1979. A notable exception is the champion from Rolf Benirschke's last show on June 30, 1989, who did not return for Bob Goen's first episode on July 17.

The nighttime show originally did not use returning champions, adopting the concept when it moved to Television City in September 1989. The element was replaced from 1996-98 by the Friday Finals, where the three highest-scoring players from Monday-Thursday returned to compete again.

Since 1998, the show has returned to one-and-done for all contestants. Pat Sajak explained on the Sony Rewards website that this change was made because the most skilled players are not always the big winners – a good puzzle solver may end up hitting Bankrupt or Lose A Turn over and over while a lousy solver could stumble into a runaway lead. While this is true, many would consider skill and luck while spinning the Wheel to be half the point of the game; further, it should be noted that the change came after a 1997 court order to bar former contestant Raymond Taylor from attending tapings.

In any case, the return to one-and-done has resulted in several contestants leaving with very little to show for their efforts, including several winning scores of less than $10,000 (one of the lowest, if not the low record, being $6,550 on December 13, 2004).

Unlike Jeopardy!, where contestants who appeared on a version other than the Alex Trebek run can appear again, contestants who were on Wheel at any time in its American history are not allowed back. For a time on the show's official website, the contestant application page specifically mentioned Wheel 2000 and the daytime show (name-checking Chuck Woolery, Goen, and Sajak); this was later changed to the far more generic "Our rule is that you can be on the show only once in a lifetime. There are a lot of people who want to spin the wheel!"

"Wheel 2000" Elements
Other than Bankrupt and Lose A Turn (renamed The Creature and Loser respectively), Wheel 2000 used several unique elements.

 www.Wheel2000.com 

A blue wedge worth 750 points which was named after the website. If a contestant landed on it, Cyber Lucy read the name and hometown of a viewer who had registered on the site; if the player called a correct letter, the home viewer got a Wheel 2000 hat and t-shirt while the contestant got 750 points per consonant.

A new viewer was picked each time the space was hit, regardless of whether the previous viewer won.

 Double Up 

A purple wedge with green font which allowed the contestant to try for double the wedge's value, or 1,000 points per correct consonant, by correctly answering a question posed by host David Sidoni. At least two Double Up questions were multiple-choice from three answers.

 Prize Box 

Another purple wedge with green font, this one had a large green box facing toward the contestant with the Wheel of Fortune 2000 logo on top. If the player called a correct consonant, s/he got 100 points per appearance and opened the box to get the small prize inside, such as a Game.com. The prize was kept regardless of the game's outcome, and a new prize was added for each round.

A very similar idea, and the only known reference to this version, was used as a joke on December 25, 1998. The box contained a CD jewel case with Pat Sajak's picture on it, which he gave to the winning contestant before the bonus round.

 Physical Games 

Wheel 2000 utilized various stunts over its run, which were played if a contestant landed on one of the three red, double-width 250-point spaces. According to one recollection, there were only two episodes where a physical game was not played.


 * Alientoss: The player faced a small 12-square board and threw stuffed aliens at the numbers to try and match shapes. A letter was earned for each shape matched. (The game was played slightly differently for the Bravo Card tour, with just four pairs on a nine-square board {possibly according to a theme, such as Halloween with a trick-or-treat bag, a pumpkin, a bat, and a skeleton}; the remaining space was taken by Bravo, which acted as a wild card).
 * Call Waiting: The contestant stood behind a semicircular table with five phones on top, with 60 seconds on the clock. The player had to pick up the phone and, after saying "Who's calling?", had to determine the famous person from the clues they gave. The trick was that all five phones were ringing at nearly the same time, and only rang four times each.
 * Chutes and Letters: The player stood over a 12-wedge wheel (four each of red, yellow, and blue) and had 60 seconds to correctly guess where a ball (rolled by them down a chute) would land.
 * Cube Roll: Unknown; its only known appearance, during Round 2 on the first taped episode, was edited out.
 * Feed the Raptor: Known to have involved a giant raptor head and a sort of "sandbox".
 * Letter Launch: The player stood by a catapult and tried to launch UFOs (placed on the catapult by David) into one of four "pods" extending from a giant rotating cog. While the contestant began with 30 seconds, s/he could add 15 or 30 more by answering two true-or-false questions posed by David.
 * Match It: The player had four colored helmets and three humanoid aliens (the latter's colors revealed to the audience), and was given 60 seconds to match the proper helmet to each alien. Upon placing the helmets, a podium lit up with up to three lights, denoting how many were correctly placed. (Unlike the other games, all three letters were awarded upon winning; it is assumed that if the player ran out of time, the number of correct placements determined how many letters were earned.)
 * Smell-O-Letter: The contestant, wearing a haz-mat helmet with a nozzle, had 60 seconds to smell up to four items (shown to the home audience) and try to name them.
 * Wash and Wear Words: The player put on various hats, shirts, pants, and shoes all showing a letter, and had to guess the word spelled out by that clothing (always a four-letter word; as far as is known, the game was always set up to avoid "dirty" words).
 * (unknown): The player drove an R/C car along a maze-like course with five lines. While the first was the starting point, crossing the second line awarded one letter; the third line awarded a Wheel 2000 hat, the fourth gave a second letter, and crossing the finish line awarded the third letter.

Following the stunt, the space became a double-width 250-point wedge.