Truly a "Game of Life"
Written: Nov 13 '01
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Pros: Fun and entertainment while giving your kids a valuable education on Life.
Cons: Game more dependent on luck than skill and you get paid too often!
The Bottom Line: An entertaining game for the whole family, which also subtly educates you on Life. My biggest regret about the game is that I never played it as a kid!!
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| dellbhai's Full Review: Family Games Game of Life |
I came across this game while I was looking for Monopoly and bought it out of instinct. The idea of the game appealed to me and I was just hoping that it would be different and interesting. All in all, I think the game definitely gives you a feel of various aspects of life, though it gives you a pleasant chill how you can run through life in a couple of hours :-).
What is the game all about?
The game starts from the time you go to college to the time when you retire (I guess in that way this game misses out on probably the best phase of Life - childhood !!!). The aim of the game is to collect as much wealth as possible by the time you retire. The game gives a nice philosophical twist to normal games by claiming that your wealth is not measured alone by the dollars that you save, but also by the virtues and deeds you do in life. Thus, when you do a good deed or reach a major milestone in life - you are rewarded with a "Life Card", which quantifies the achievement. The sum of the dollar value of your earnings and the value of the Life cards denotes your overall wealth. I thought this was rather neat, as you really don't want to teach your kids that the only thing that matters in hard cash !!!
Game Play
I think the game play of "The Game of Life" is what separates it from most other board games. It simulates life fairly if not perfectly and presents several scenarios that you are likely to face in real life. You are given the option of choosing to go to college or to directly joining a job. The merits of going to college are illustrated by the fact that you get a choice of 3 careers and 3 salaries in additional to certain degree-required jobs (like doctors etc) if you go to college. If you don't go to college, you are forced to pick the career and salary that you select from a pack of cards. See kids - going to college will give you more choices :-). It also shows that if you opt to go for college, you will have to pay your tuition and lose pay, but hey its well rewarded.
Even after school, you are taught that you better get auto-insurance, house-insurance and invest in stocks to get good returns. If you are not covered, you do pay hefty sums if you have an accident. Stocks are very cleverly simulated by the number of the spin dial. Thus, if you buy a stock for number 5, you get paid everytime someone spun the dial and number 5 appeared in it. Be rest assured that stocks will make you a lot of money, unless the market crashes - Fairly true, right?
In the game, you go through all the stages in life. You get married, have kids (sometimes more than you wish) and face different scenarios like accidents, income tax refunds and what not. You get paid when your friends land in spots where they pay your profession, and you pay when you land in spots where you have to pay their profession. There could be a scenario where you have a mid-life crisis and may switch jobs or someone else might snatch your pay-check from you. Be aware and be prepared always !!! I must admit though that some of the messages on the board are really funny. As you get wobbly and head towards retirement, the final twist tests how risky you are. If you are willing to bet that you have the most money, then you can stake claim to 4 LIFE cards, or else you can safely take your one LIFE card and retire in peace. Once you retire add all your moolah (LIFE card value plus your cash) and see who the winner is.
Pros
- I love the educational value of the game. Kids can learn about the various aspects of the game without feeling that someone is lecturing them. What better way to learn the virtues of auto insurance than crashing your car and having to pay up.
- The game is very rich and has a lot of twists which make it very interesting. At no stage do you get bored and you are always doing something new. I mean you go through 80 years of life in 2 hours - It is exciting.
- The rules have made the game competitive and it makes it more fun. When you land at a spot where you can swap your salary with anyone, the person with the highest salary normally gets miffed. Also, the LIFE cards are limited and once they run out, you can claim a LIFE card from anyone who has it. You sure don't want to play this with someone you have had a fight with that day:-).
- I like the fact that the game has a clear start and a clear end and the game normally ends in under 2 hours. My biggest complaint against monopoly was that it could get never-ending.
- Board is simple yet eye-catching making it attractive for kids to try the game.
Cons
- I think you get paid too much. I mean there are times when you get paid twice for the turn. It makes you undervalue money and takes the charm away a little.
- As I said the game depends more on luck than skill. But its fun nevertheless.
- Sometimes you feel that the game is too simple and you feel the need to make it more interesting (especially when you play as an adult). We make up our own rules and its a lot of fun that way.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19.99
Type of Toy: Board Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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Epinions.com ID:
dellbhai
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Location: Northern NJ
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Strong believer in customer's rights to choose. Love using Epinions and writing for it.
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