Sticker Shock

How Sticker Shock works

Every day Sticker Shock shows five everyday things, each paired with a year: a dozen large eggs in 1987, a gallon of regular gas in 2008, a pound of ground coffee in 1995. Your job is to guess what Americans paid on average in that year. Type a price or drag the slider, lock it in and see how close you came. Each guess earns up to 100 points, for a best possible score of 500.

How scoring works

Scoring is based on how far off you are in percentage terms, not in cents. A guess within 5 percent of the real average price earns the full 100 points. Points fall steadily as the gap grows and reach zero once you are 60 percent off. Guessing double the real price costs exactly as much as guessing half of it, so a far-off guess on an expensive steak hurts no more than a far-off guess on a cheap banana.

• Blue with a check mark means 90 points or more: you nailed it.
• Orange with an approximately-equal sign means 50 to 89 points: close.
• Grey with a cross means under 50 points: the price surprised you.

What you learn after each guess

Every reveal shows three numbers. First, the real average price in that year. Second, what that price equals in today’s dollars after adjusting for overall inflation. Third, what the same item costs in the most recent year of data. Comparing them tells you whether an item simply followed inflation or became much cheaper or pricier than everything else.

Hints, streaks and sharing

If you are stuck, you can reveal a price range for any item. A free range adds a light bulb to your shared result. Your streak grows each day you finish the daily puzzle, and the share button copies your score with five colored dots so friends can compare without seeing the answers.

More ways to play

Want more? Unlimited mode is an endless higher-or-lower challenge: decide whether one price was higher or lower than another and see how long your streak lasts. Missed a day? The archive keeps every past puzzle. New players should read how to play and the strategy guide, and the data page explains where every number comes from. Sticker Shock is a game for fun and learning, not financial advice.