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Players: 1-4 (ages 9+)
Playing Time: approx. 45 minutes and up
The times, they are a’changin’—and so is The Game of Life. In the latest version, The Game of Life: Twists and Turns, gone are the piles of fake bills and the “he who dies with the most money wins” attitude. In their place are credit cards and mysterious little things called “Life Points.”
The basic idea of The Game of Life: Twists and Turns is pretty much the same as the old board game. Players travel around the board as, in theory, they do through life. They get an education, they work toward promotions, they get married, they start families, they buy cars, they go on vacation. But this time, things are done a little differently.
To begin, each player gets a credit card and a number of career paths to choose from. You then choose how many rounds (“years”) you’ll play (the instructions recommend 10), and you enter the number into the electronic LIFEpod. Players then take their turns with the LIFEpod. At the beginning of each turn, you pop your credit card into the electronic pod, which adds your salary to your current cash flow and tallies your Life Points. You then spin and move around the board. There are four different sections to choose from: Learn It (education), Earn It (career), Live It (home/family), and Love It (leisure/vacations). As you make your way through the game, you have opportunities to buy a house or a car (you start out on a skateboard), to marry, to get an education, to go on vacation, to have children, and more. You also draw cards, which could earn you (or cost you) money or Life Points.
So what are these Life Points? Life Points, it seems, calculate the quality of your life. Whenever you’re in debt, you lose Life Points. If you learn to play the guitar, you’ll earn Life Points (but that may cause your neighbors to complain—and that could lead to a fine, which takes money from your account). If you get married or buy a house or learn another language, you get Life Points (all of which, incidentally, are automatically calculated by the LIFEpod). And, in the end, the player with the most Life Points (not the most money) is the winner.
Though it takes a while to figure it all out—and it isn’t exactly a quick game to play, either—The Game of Life: Twists and Turns is even more fun than the original. I always enjoyed playing the old board game as a kid, but it didn’t take long for me to lose interest. Perhaps it’s just because of the new bells and whistles (and I’ll admit to being absolutely fascinated by the LIFEpod), but not only did it hold my interest (and that of my nine-year-old nephew) through the whole game, but as soon as we finished, I was eager to play again.
Without the hassles with paper money, there’s less fuss and confusion—which makes it even better for kids. And while it still isn’t exactly true-to-life, there are a still few valuable lessons to be learned from The Game of Life. Most importantly, though, it’s a fun game that the whole family can agree on. It’s a great choice for your family’s game night.
