Dekonstruer 3 - The Game of Life

What's Life?

The game of life is one of my favourite board games that simulates the events that occur in real life. It was made in 1860 by Milton Bradley who initially had it named 'The Checkered Game of Life'. Yea, I'm glad they changed it to make it more simpler. However, most people just call it Life in general. For this game, there are various kinds of game atoms that I will be discussing in this blog. So let's started shall we.

Gameplay/Rules

The game of Life allows 2 to 6 players but in other versions it can have up to 10 players. This game starts where the players choose a player object which is a little car. Players can choose if they want a blue car or a pink car.You place your player object in the car and place it at the beginning of the board. You then have to choose whether you want to go to college or straight to a job. If you choose college, you have to choose what type of study you want based on the choices available from the cards. If you choose career, you can choose different careers from a list of cards available in the game. At the start, each player will spin the wheel on the board to see who goes first. Afterwards, players will continue to spin the wheel before each play to see how much spaces to move.

Each player will also receive $10,000 from the bank. Players will be using this amount of money to pay off any necessary things instructed by the space they landed on. Every space will have an instruction of what to do for the turn.

Objectives

The main objective of this game is to collect the most Life tiles and have the most amount of money by the time you reach retirement. By accomplishing this you want to try to land on the spaces where you can get the Life tiles. The more of those you collect throughout the game the more of a chance you can get in winning. Sometimes a player may seem to have the most amount of money but in the end it is all up to those Life tiles. Life tiles are small cards that players receive throughout the game. Players are supposed to keep them face down until the end of the game.

Objects/Properties

Game pieces include the cars for the players, the player numbs, Life tiles, money, career cards, Insurance sheets and property cards. Each of these represent a different behaviour. These game objects are like a simulation of what a person receives in real life. For example, if a player where to purchase a house, they would receive a House Deed along with Insurance. From these players will be required to pay the amount listed on the cards. If the player cannot afford they can ask for a loan from the bank and so forth. 

Conflict

One of the biggest conflicts in this game is when you randomly pick a career that has the lowest income. When this happens it puts you in a disadvantage compared to the other players. Unless you get lucky by landing on the space where you can switch your career, you have to play the rest of the game with the least amount of income. It always happens to me. It sucks but this is a conflict that can prevent a player to achieve the goal of getting the highest amount of money by the end of the game.

Conclusion

I really enjoy playing this game with friends and family. It is a lot of fun. I really enjoy how it simulates real-life events that people will experience some way or another. If you haven't played this game before, PLAY IT.