Features of The Game of Life

Spinner

• A recognizable part of The Game of Life, the spinner is used as an alternative to the dice typically found in board games. The spinner features an arm and numbers along the outside; players spin to find out how many spaces on the game board they can move on each turn. The spinner has been present since the earliest incarnations of the game, becoming iconic in the process, as noted by the Hasbro corporate website. This fact is celebrated in the game's 50th Anniversary Edition by the presence of a gold-colored spinner.

College or Career

• The beginning of The Game of Life finds players facing a big decision: The player must choose whether to enroll at college or head straight onto the career path. Choosing the college option can help players get better careers during the game --- and thus earn more money overall. This option requires players to take out a bank loan, however, to pay for tuition.

Job Search

• Spaces on the game board include the Job Search, which forces players to stop regardless of how many moves they have left, since acquiring a job is a mandatory part of the game. At the Job Search, players are dealt a career card and a salary card, at random, from the relevant piles. These cards determine the type of job the player will be doing; for example, he might be a police officer or a teacher, and the amount of money he will receive on a regular basis during the game.

Career Spaces

• These game board spaces aid some players --- and antagonize others --- depending on the type of career each participant has taken up. If an individual lands on a career space, he must pay money to any other players with that job. For example, landing on the Tax square means paying any accountant players.

Life Tiles

• Life Tiles are given out to a player over the course of the game whenever she lands on a Life Space. These spaces depict good deeds such as helping out in the community, and ask the player to draw a Life Tile from the relevant pile. Each Life Tile a participant has accumulated at the game's end gives her extra money as described on the Tile itself.