Life Is A Game (Game of Life)

Member Name: johnny040676

Product:	Game of Life
Date:	14/06/08 (171 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting board game everyone seems to like

Disadvantages: Takes a while to set up

Game Of Life one of the board games I remember from my childhood, when the whole family would sit down together on a Sunday, after Bullseye and Sunday Dinner, and play a game whether it be cards or one of the many board games we had.

History
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The game was originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley, and was called The Chequered Game Of Life, and it sold 45,000 copies in its first year of production. The game did not include a dice as these were considered by many to be wicked items and only for gamblers, and instead used a teetotum which is a six sided top, is where the spinner in the middle comes from. The original game was based around a chess board and the object was to land on good spaces and earn 100 points. You could earn another 50 points by reaching happy old age which was at the end of the game opposite infancy where you began.

One hundred years later, in 1960, the modern version of the game was introduced by Milton Bradley Company and featured a circular picture of Art Linkletter on the front as he endorsed the game. This modern version of the game that we know today was designed by Reuben Klamer. There were many republishings of the game over the years and the version I have and am reviewing is from 1978.

Whats In The Box??
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The contents of the box as per the instruction booklet is below;

* 1 Gameboard
* 3 Mountains, 1 Toll Bridge And 7 Buildings
* 1 'Wheel Of Fortune' with lucky number and strip pointer
* 6 Cars With Pink And Blue Pegs
* 2 Small Flags
* 1 Money Rack
* Money In Denomonations of 100,000, 50,000, 10,000, 5,000, 1,000
* Insurance Policies, Share Certificates and Promissory Notes
* 12 Share The Wealth Cards
* 18 Status Symbol Cards
* 1 Label Sheet
* Instuction Leaflet


The first time you play the game the mountains and toll bridge need stickers sticking on them as they make up part of the movement spaces. Also these mountains, toll bridge and the buildings need placing in the board along with the spinner giving the game board a 3d effect almost. There is an extra fold in the board to allow these items to be left in the board however the box does not close properly then and so you are best to dismantle it each time really.The six cars are different colours and it is these that each player uses as there movement piece, they each have six holes that the blue and pink pegs fit into and these represent male and female people.

How Do You Play It
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Once the money and share the wealth cards have been dished out accordingly, each player starts by choosing one of the six coloured cars, mentioned above, and places a blue or pink peg in the drivers seat, blue for male, pink for female. You then have to decide whether or not to go to university. If you do choose to go to university you have a chance to get a much better job than if you take the business route however the board is slightly longer this way so you don't get off to as good a start as the others. Once you have a job, every time you land on or pass a payday you receive your salary, however much it may be.

Not long after qualifying at your new career, you get married, this is compulsory, and you place another peg in your car, blue or pink again depending on what you have married!! You also spin the wheel to see how much of a wedding present your fellow players have to give you. The only way after this to get any more pegs in your car is by having children and you have to land on children spaces to do this.

The aim of the game is to have the most money at the end and there are many different ways to do this as well as earning your salary. You might get lucky gambling, or do well on the stock market, you might just have a lucky windfall, you might sue one of your fellow players for damages, this can cause major bitterness, you may end up in the millionaires mansion living off your status symbols or you may pick the retired life in the country cottage collecting your pension either way when the last person finishes there is a monetary count up nad the player with the most wins.

Is It Any Good
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To be perfectly honest yes it is a very good game as board games go. A lot of the new games that come out today are not a patch on these older, more established games, probably mainly down to board games not being played as much any more with the mass introduction of electronic games. Game Of Life has plenty to keep you interested in my opinion and I still play it every once in a while, my wife, sister, mum and dad all still enjoy a game of it as does my sisters daughter who is 7. Its good to get the family around a table and interact with each other while playing a competitive board game such as this and the possibilities of causing major bitterness by suing my mother is a definate plus also. The good thing about Game Of Life is that things can be different every game, and its never exactly the same game as the last time.

Other Information About Game Of Life
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Game of life is for two to six players, although I believe there are some versions that can accomodate up to eight or even ten players and is reccomended for players of eight years old plus, howvever my sisters daughter plays it very well and she is just turned seven.

Price And Availability
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I believe the game is still in production, and is now an electronic version, not sure how that works but it retails for around £30 I think. The electronic version also seems to sell on ebay for about £15, and the version I have reviewed is around the £10 mark on ebay, you may get lucky at a car boot sale, I saw this version the other week in good condition for 50p so there are some bargains available.

Thanks For Reading..........John........June 2008

Summary: A great family board game