Its life Jim, but not as we know it! (Hasbro The Game of Life: Twists and Turns)

Member Name: emmachilcott

Product:	Hasbro The Game of Life: Twists and Turns
Date:	28/07/09 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun to play, different every time

Disadvantages: Complicated to begin with, only four up to four players

My sons received the Game of Life Twists and Turns for Christmas, and I have to admit that I did view it with initial trepidation. I had bought the electronic version of Monopoly and hated it, so I thought that this updated electronic version of the old favourite Game of Life would be along the same lines, but I was wrong.


I am sure that most of us have played the Game of Life when we were younger - if you were anything like me and my sister, you never could be bothered to read the instructions so never played it properly! This Twists and Turns game is along the same sort of thing; a journey through life, but it has been completely revamped: gone are the 3D structures, paper cash, centre spinner and little pegs that represent you, your spouse and your children, and in come a colourful flat board, a Life account card and an electronic "Lifepod".


~*~ Getting going ~*~

The first thing that you have to do is put batteries into the lifepod and to do this you need a tiny screwdriver to get into the battery compartment (Why do they have to do this, it drives me mad!). It takes two AA's, and we have had this game for six months now, used it a fair amount and we are still on the same set.

At the start of the game each player is provided with a life board, a swipe card, a skateboard (to be used as your initial counter) two career cards and two clips. Lay the board out flat, and you're ready to go.....if only it was that simple!

This game also comes with a comprehensive set of instructions, and for the first several times that you play this game, you will find yourself constantly referring back to them.


~*~ The aim of the game~*~

Unlike most board games where you have to gather the most amount of money in order to win; here you have to gain the most amount of "Lifepoints". It is still important to get money as at the end of the game, money is transferred in to lifepoints, but generally speaking, an eventful and fulfilled life gets you a lot more points so counts for much more - A lesson for us all!


~*~ Playing the game~*~

At the beginning of the game you select on the Lifepod the number of turns you wish to take. Obviously, the more turns you plump for, the longer the game is going to last. We have found that twenty turns lasts about an hour.

You have been given two career cards, and you have to choose which one has the most opportunity for promotion during the game. The one that you don't want goes back in the box and the one you choose gets clipped onto your life board, with the clip pointing towards your current wage.

The board is divided up into four sections; Learn it, Earn it, Love it and Live it, all joined together in the middle. You place your skateboard on the central circle at the beginning of whichever "zone" you choose.

Learn it: This zone gives you the opportunity to get your degree or PhD.
Earn it: Here you are most likely to gain promotions, or you can invest in business ventures.

Love it: This is where you have the opportunity to have babies and get married - doing this costs you money, but earns you a lot of lifepoints.

Live it: Have a bit of fun here: Go bungee jumping, white-water rafting or do a bit of gambling at the casino. Not much money to be made here, but masses of lifepoints for living life to the max!

You also have a pile of lifecards placed in the middle.

Next you place your account card into the lifepod and press the spin button. The pod will indicate how many squares you can move on. If you land on a blank square, another player reads out the instructions from a lifecard where you can lose or gain lifepoints or money (for example; you've invented a product, tell the other players what it is and gain 400 lifepoints and £20,000, or you cheated on an exam; lose 500 life points and get demoted). You then enter your data into the lifepod, take your card out and pass the pod onto the next player.

If you land on a square with instructions - follow the instructions. This can be anything like getting married, having a baby, casino, lottery, promotion....this is why you constantly have to refer to the instruction manual when you first start playing, but you soon get the hang of it.

Each time you put your card into the pod, your wage is paid in and your points are updated.

You also have the opportunity to buy a house or upgrade your skateboard to a saloon or sports car. You gain life points for this, but the asset costs you money each turn which is all worked out by the pod.


~*~ In conclusion ~*~

This game sounds really complicated to explain as there are so many twists and turns, but I hope that I have done it justice. You can end up playing a different game each time you play, and that is the beauty of this game - the choice is entirely yours.

The lifepod adds an extra dimension to the game, and it would be impossible to play such a precise game without it; you would constantly be calculating money, and someone wouldn't be able to play as they would have to be the dedicated banker. Although it sounds confusing, it really isn't; my son old quickly got the hang of it who was six at the time, even though it is recommended for ages eight and up.

One negative point to this game is that you only get four account cards, so it is for a maximum of four people, unless you started playing in pairs, but I don't think that this would work as well.

You can expect to pay around £23 for this game, made by MB Games. It is not readily available in a lot of high street shops, but It can be easily bought online.

Summary: A family board game, perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon