How to Set up and Play the Game of Life
The Game of Life allows you to live out an entire life on a game board: getting a job, starting a family, and (if you’re lucky) retiring as a millionaire. The most recent edition is easy to set up, can be played by 2-4 players, and is the only version that adds pets to your life story. There are many older editions of the game too. These take a little more set up before your first time playing, but they let you squeeze up to 6 players in one game.
Punch the pegs out of the plastic frame. If you have a brand new set, the plastic pegs come in a rectangular frame. Punch these out carefully. There are 24 pink and blue “people” pegs and 12 smaller, green “pet” pegs. If there are any sharp bits of plastic clinging to the pegs, shave them down with sandpaper or an emery board.
ALSO READ : How to the money left behind.
Put the spinner in the empty corner of the board. Unfold the game board. Put the plastic spinner wheel on top of the blue sky corner of the board, between the paths marked “College Path” and “Career Path”.
Shuffle and separate the five decks. The backs of the cards are labeled House, Action, Career, College Career, and Pet. Separate these, shuffle them, and put them face down next to the game board.
Give each player their starting pieces. Each player starts with:
1 plastic car
1 flat, circular token the same color as their car
1 large “person” peg (all pegs fit into the holes in your car)
1 small “pet” peg (give your pet a name!)
200K of paper money
Choose a banker. One player gets to be the banker. They’re in charge of giving players their salary and bank loans. It’s helpful for the banker to sit near the spinner, so they can store the bank’s money in the attached plastic compartment.
The banker is still a player, and keeps their own money separate from the bank’s stash.
Have each player choose Career or College. Your car can start next to either of the two arrows on the plastic spinner (between the wheel and the money compartment).
Each path has its advantages:
If you pick Career, look at the top two cards of the Career deck. Pick one to put face up in front of you, and put the other on the bottom of the deck. You start on the shorter path and will start earning money sooner.
If you pick College, pay the bank $100K. You start on the longer path and don’t have a career yet, but you’ll have a better chance at a high-paying job later.
Spin the spinner and move that many squares. The youngest player goes first, then play continues left (clockwise) around the table. Each turn starts with one spin to see how many squares you move.
Read your Career card for special “bonus number” instructions. Other players have to pay you a certain amount of money if their spin lands on your bonus number.
Draw an Action card when you land on Gold. When you land on a yellow square with a faint circle image on it, draw the top card of the Action deck. Read it aloud and do what it says.
Keep the card—it’s worth money at the end of the game.
Draw a Pet card when you land on the pink paw. Read the card aloud and follow its instructions.
Keep the card next to you after you’re done, since it’s worth money at the end of the game.
Play the Spin to Win minigame when you land on the spinner. Each player puts their circular token next to a number on the “Spin to Win” image in the corner of the board. The player whose turn it is takes the extra, silver token out of the box and chooses a second number. Spin the spinner until it points to a number someone has chosen. That player wins $200K from the bank.
Add pegs to your car when you land on Baby squares. Add one pink or blue peg to your car if the square says “Baby”. Add two if it says “Twins”. (Each baby is worth 50K at the end of the game.)
Collect salary when you pass a Payday square. Unlike most squares, you don’t have to land exactly on a green Payday square. Whenever you pass one, collect the salary listed on your Career card.
When you land exactly on a Payday square, collect your salary plus a 100K bonus!
Buy and sell houses on a House square. When you land on these squares, you have three options:
You can choose to do nothing.
You can buy a house: Draw two cards from the House deck. Pick one to keep, pay the bank the price listed on the card, and put the second card on the bottom of the deck.
You can choose one of your houses to sell, if you have one: Spin the spinner, and look at the inner circle to see if it landed on red or black. Collect the amount of money listed on your House card next to that color. Put that House card on the bottom of the deck
Stop moving when you hit a STOP square. Even if you have extra moves left, your piece stops here. Follow the special instructions for the STOP square you’re on: Graduation: Look at the top two College Career cards, pick one to put in front of you, and put the other on the bottom of the deck. Spin and move again.
Get Married: Add a blue or pink peg (your spouse) to your car. Spin and look at the inner circle: if it’s red, everyone gives you 50K each; if it’s black, everyone gives you 100K. Spin and move again.
Night School: You can choose to pay the bank 100K, draw the top card of the College Career deck, and (if you want) replace your old Career with the new card. Spin again and move on the Night School path. Or you can choose to not pay anything, spin again, and move on the Life path.
Family: Spin again and move onto either the Family path (if you want kids) or the Life path (if you don’t).
Spin for babies: Follow the instructions on the square, add that many people pegs to your car, then spin and move again.
Risky/Safe: Spin and move again onto either path. The Risky road has some squares with special instructions that can make or lose you money.
Get a bank loan if you run out of money. If you don’t have enough money to buy something or pay a debt, ask for a loan. The banker gives you the amount you need from the bank’s supply, plus one bank loan certificate for every 50K you borrow. Each bank loan certificate takes away 60K from your final score.
Retire at the end of the game. Unlike earlier versions of the game, the two end spaces (“Millionaire’s Mansion” and “Countryside Acres”) are there just for fun; it doesn’t matter which you pick. You do get a bonus for retiring first, though:
The first to retire gets 400K.
The second gets 300K.
The third gets 200K.
The fourth gets 100K.
Count money at the end of the game to see who wins. Once everyone has gone through the whole board and retired, whoever has the most money wins. But before you count, there are a few extra steps that will change your score:
Sell your Houses by spinning the wheel for each one and looking at the inner wheel color (red or black). You get the amount of money listed on your House card next to that color.
Get 100K for each Action card and each Pet card.
Get 50K for each baby you have.
Lose 60K for each bank loan certificate you have.
YOU-TUBE : CLICK HERE