Hobbies And Interests
Setting up
The game of life can be played with as few as two and as many as six players. Along with the expected game board and spinner that come with most board games, the Game of Life also includes insurance policies and bank loans for the game's unique real-world twists.
When the game is played for the first time, there are stickers and sets, such as mountains, to be applied to the board. Follow the in-game instructions for those; once you have completed them the first time, you will not need to redo them each time you play.
When starting a new game, players must agree on a banker to keep track of the money and loans throughout the game. All of the cards should be shuffled, and the spinner placed in a convenient place where everyone can reach it (normally in the center of the board). Each player chooses a car and inserts one peg in the driver's seat to represent the player himself. Then each player chooses a life path: begin college (the player starts off in debt but can score a higher-paying job later) or start a career (a shorter path, but less likely to earn the player a lot of money). Each player also receives a "Share the Wealth" card, which is kept face down, a $1,000 bill and three $500 bills to start with.
Playing the game
Each player starts at the same point and spins the spinner to move a number of spaces. Throughout the course of the game, each player will choose a career, get married, have children and purchase real estate, insurance and investments. They will also experience hardships along the way, such as paying taxes and other such financial mishaps. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins.
History of the game
Milton Bradley's very first game, produced in 1860, was called the Checkered Game of Life. It was immensely popular at the time, selling more than 45,000 copies in its first year of production.
In 1959, for the 100th anniversary of the Milton Bradley company, executives brought in a new game inventor named Reuben Klamer to revamp Bradley's original idea for a more modern audience. The new game, titled simply the Game of Life, was released in 1960. In the 1990s the game was updated again to include more current topics, such as recycling and environmental health and drug use among youth.
Today, the Game of Life is ranked as one of the top 10 most loved board games; rankers cite the game's education value (teaching children how to count money and the value of investing) and longevity, reincarnated once and still going strong after 49 years.