Just a random thought. How would the history of Deal or No Deal look if Box 23 had been a part of the game from episode 1?

The intro of “22 boxes, a quarter of a million pounds...” wouldn’t work as there’d be 23 boxes and a potential £500,000.

The first six £250,000 winners could have had something of an anti climax at the end like Roop did. The same could have happened for other big winners too. Win huge money but then end up disappointed knowing they could have doubled it.

Would we even have a 1p club with a lowest possible prize of nothing? And would there be more members of the Nothing Network? How many members of the 1p club would there even be?

The unluckiest games (Derek Brown, Nikki Tucker and Mark de Sousa for example) could have won an extra £10,000 and completed a major turnaround.

Fewer blue wins? More ‘tactical’ deals to maximise 23? There’d be no need for any ‘double or nothing’ gambles as 23 takes care of that. Fewer Banker spankings?

I'm very interested how Box 23 would've been approached by the early 2007 contestants. I imagine at least one of not several of them would've smashed Pat's £20,000 for the highest amount risked on 23. Greek Deal is having a similar run right now and loads of contestants are risking over €3,000 on their Box 23 even though it's EV- (i.e. the equivalent of turning down an offer above the average).

After that though I imagine it would've been more of the same of what we saw in it's lifetime. A few more risky No Deals in the main-game with the relative lifeline of having Box 23 perhaps, but no one risking loads on 23 except for the occasional contestant risking about £10,000.

If Box 23 had been with the show from the start, I very much doubt the show would've lasted as long as it did. Seeing blue winners getting rescued by +£10,000 could well have alienated potential viewers the same way it did long term viewers.

Early 2007 contestants might've risked smashing Pat's £20,000 on Box 23. Now, Greek Deal sees €3,000+ risks, despite EV-. Later, £10,000 risks occasionally surfaced.

It’s a double-edged sword, really. Sure, Box 23 negated a bunch of blue wins and doubled middling amounts of money risked on it, turning them into decent amounts. And those were certainly nice situations.

But for every successful +£10,000 or +£20,000 rescue or successful double, there was someone losing half or three-quarters of their money, or losing it all.

It was an interesting addition at the time, but if Box 23 had been a part of the game since day one, it wouldn’t have been as much of a novelty and it would have become old hat quickly. Plus, as others have said, the show would not have had the long run that it did.