The "Game of Life" board game attempts to emulate life from early adulthood to retirement. Along the way, you can get married, start a job, go to college, earn money and have children. The version based on "The Simpsons" TV show replaces the normal pieces and places with characters and gags from the long-running series. The rules, however, are essentially the same.
Set Up
Insert the buildings, hills, and spinner piece into the game board in the corresponding locations. The spaces for these are marked on the board. Stick on any necessary decals.
Separate the cards into career, salary, house and stocks piles. Shuffle the decks of cards. Do the same with the LIFE tiles.
Organize the cash in the banker's tray. Make neat piles of the promissory notes and insurance policies. Give these to the player designated the banker.
Give $10,000 to each player. Each player takes a car token and a peg. The peg is placed in the car to represent that player.
Game Play
Spin the spinner to determine how many spaces to move your car. If this is your first turn, choose between a job or college.
Follow the directions written on the space on which you have landed.
Get a job when directed by a space. Choose a card at random from the stack. If you have not chosen to go to college, but have selected a "Degree required" card, replace it and select another card. Draw a "Salary" card at random to indicate the money you will earn at each "Pay Day" space. After getting a job, spin again and move.
Take out an educational loan if you choose the college route. College costs $100,000 in promissory notes. Promissory notes come in units of $20,000 and cost $25,000 to repay. You must get a job after completing your education.
Take a loan from Fat Tony if you need cash on your turn. Take a Promissory note, and $20,000 cash. You need to pay off all promissory notes before reaching retirement.
Land on an orange-colored space and read and follow its directions. These actions are not optional.
Stop on a blue space and read its directions. You can choose to follow its directions, or to skip them.
Land on a space with a "LIFE" icon and take a LIFE tile. Place this in front of you, face-down. Don't look at these until you retire.
Pass or land on a green space, marked "Pay Day" to collect your salary. The banker pays out the money listed on your card. You are paid when you go past the space, even if you have more spaces to move.
Halt at any space marked "Stop" and read its directions. Perform the directions listed on the space.
Change careers when given the option. Have another player shuffle and fan out the cards, then choose two of them at random. You can keep one or reject both if you would rather keep your current job.
Get married when you land on that space. Take a person peg and put that in your car. Spin again and move on.
Add children when directed to by a space or tile. Place pegs in your car to represent children.
Buy insurance from the banker. The cost is $10,000 for cars. The insurance cost for houses is listed on the card.
Buy into the stock market when you choose. Pay the banker $50,000. Whenever the number listed on your stock comes up on the spinner, the banker pays you $10,000 from the bank. You can only have one stock at a time unless you land on the "Stock Investorettes" space. Land there and you can take a second stock at no cost.
Reach retirement and wait for the other players to arrive. If you think you have the most money, place your car on Burns Manor. Otherwise, go to the retirement castle and take a LIFE tile. If the draw pile for LIFE tiles runs out, and a player is at Burns Manor, take tiles from her pile.
Flip over all of the LIFE tiles and add up the value totals when all players reach Burns Manor. The player with the most money, between cash and LIFE tiles, wins.
Tip
If you have lost the manual, consult the PDF under References.
References
Tips
- If you have lost the manual, consult the PDF under References.
Writer Bio
Grahame Turner has worked as a freelance writer since 2009 and a freelance reporter since 2010 for Wellesley Patch and Jamaica Plain Patch in Massachusetts. He also works part-time as a bookseller at the Northeastern University bookstore. He is a Northeastern University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
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