During every holiday break as a kid, The Game of Life was my favorite game to play with my seven siblings. In this board game, the mechanics revolve around each player representing their life’s milestones and decision-making processes through their progression as a miniature car filled with a tiny people figure(s) moving along a squiggly path. Players take turns spinning a wheel that randomly places them along different events on the board and allows them to make choices about education, career, relationships, and investments.
The dynamics emerge from the interactions between players’ choices and the unfolding consequences over time. For instance, certain occupations allow you to benefit off of certain actions made by other players. Ex. if you are the police, you get to collect a fine for speeding if another player spins the maximum action – 10 spots forward. As players progress through the game, they experience the highs and lows of life, from achieving career success as a breakthrough artist to facing unexpected setbacks like expensive family emergencies. This dynamic interplay of events creates suspense and emotional investment as players navigate through the game’s creative, unexpected triumphs and challenges.
The aesthetics of The Game of Life heavily rely on narrative: game as drama. This is evident as my siblings and I were all able to fantasize and design our lives starting from college to retirement and experience the defeat of bankruptcies and happiness of marriages through a board game all while being in elementary, middle, and high school. Challenge aesthetics arise from the obstacles and unforeseen events that players encounter along the way, such as managing financial resources when a child gets sick or a hefty donation is made. The game also relies on fellowship aesthetics as we learned to form alliances or compete against each other to reach retirement first or accumulate the most wealth.
Overall, the mechanics of The Game of Life create a dynamic that fosters a sense of fantasy, challenge and fellowship through the drama of designing a fun, long-lived life. This board game successfully allows players to navigate life’s randomness and engage in storytelling alongside friends and family.
