The Game of Life on Steam, Part 4: Trivia

The Game of Life on Steam, Part 4: Trivia

In many ways, the third generation of the Game of Life tabletop game (on which the PC adaptation was based) represented a transitional period in the game's history. On one hand, it marked the end of an era; on the other hand, it was also the beginning of another. Some of the trivia associated with this version of the game (referred to Generation III here) includes the following:

• Generation III of the Game of Life was the shortest-lived version, being in print from 2007 to 2013 - a six-year production run, one-fifth as long as that of Generation 1 (in print from 1960-1990, if its re-release during the 1970s is not treated as a separate generation).
• This was the last version of the Game of Life to support six players (and therefore six differently colored game pieces) or to feature stocks as a purchasable item (referred to as Long-Term Investments here, and costing $10,000 instead of $50,000 to purchase as in earlier versions), and also the only version since Generation I to feature Share The Wealth Cards. The absence of Long-Term Investments in Generation IV is explained by the fact that they have been replaced by Bonus Numbers, which are now tied to Career Cards.
• Spin To Win, first introduced in Generation I as Lucky Day, but omitted altogether from Generation II, was reintroduced in this version of the Game of Life and retained for Generation IV, albeit with significant format changes.
• Life Tiles, introduced in Generation II (in print from 1991 to 2006), were retained for Generation III, only to be replaced with Action Cards (which are always worth $100,000 each) in Generation IV (in print since 2013).
• This version introduced several new ideas for the game that were retained in Generation IV: wedding gifts, retirement gifts from children, separate branches dedicated for returning to school or attempting to raise a family (with the latter known as the Family Path), two separate Career Card decks (one for normal careers and another for college careers), and salaries tied to careers.
• Speaking of which, unlike in other versions, careers' salaries are not fixed, but can increase over time through accumulation of Pay Raises, up to a certain point (except for the Entertainer, Athlete, Lawyer and Doctor, which do not have a maximum salary).
• This is the only version to feature Lawsuit spaces, where any player who lands on it can sue an opponent for $100,000. It is also the only version where players must still spin on their turn after retirement for Long-Term Investments, and the only one to feature two House Card decks (one for the cheaper Starter Homes, and another for the more expensive Houses).
• More video game adaptations of Generation III of the Game of Life have been produced than for any other generation. The first one was released in 2008(!) for home computers and featured an optional "Enhanced Play" mode which featured various mini-games as well as a tweaked rule set. This was followed a few months later by a mobile phone game, which was more faithful to the original board game, except for the fact that it supported only four players instead of six, and featured an isometric view and animated character portraits. This version would later be remade with 3D graphics for more advanced handheld platforms (albeit without animated portraits), and was re-released again with support for six players, before ultimately being ported to PC via Steam and other digital distribution platforms. Finally, the entire game was featured as a mini-game (complete with its own unique mini-mini-games!) in Family Game Night 3, released in 2010 for seventh-generation home consoles.
• This is the only version to include a purple car token, and also the last one to have an orange car token; only four colors (red, yellow, green and blue) were retained for the car tokens in Generation IV.
• A special 50th Anniversary edition of the board game was released in 2010 to mark 50 years since its introduction in 1960. Apart from gold-colored buildings, landscape elements and regular spaces, as well as the addition of special tokens only obtainable from landing on certain spaces, it is mostly identical to the standard edition.
• This version of the Game of Life and its immediate predecessor are the only ones to have a Pension space immediately before the Retirement space. Anyone who lands on the Pension space must spin again to collect a money bonus multiplied by the number they spun ($20,000 times spin in Generation II, $10,000 in Generation III) before ending their turn.
• Unlike previous editions of the Game of Life, Generation III omitted insurance policies entirely - the first version of the game to do so.
• Generation III was the last version of the Game of Life to have at least one space on the board which would cause any player who landed on it to skip their next turn. In fact, there was only one, and it was located on the Start College branch near the very start of the Path of Life.
• Generation III was also the last version of the Game of Life to feature any spaces which were guaranteed to cause any players that landed on them to lose their current careers and take new ones in their place. There were four of these spaces on the board, but one of them could be bypassed altogether by taking the Return to School option part-way through the game.
• In the original board game release of Generation III, all players may choose whether or not to Spin to Win (and if they do, they must also specify an amount to wager in $5,000 increments), regardless of whose turn it is. However, in the 2008 video game adaptation, developed and published by PopCap Games and Electronic Arts (whose enhanced remake on Steam is the primary subject of this guide), respectively, only the player who lands on a Spin to Win space is able to Spin to Win.
• It is much more likely in Generation III for a player to retire with unpaid debts. This most commonly occurs if that player is sued enough times (beyond the point where it is becomes necessary to take out any loans to cover the payment caused by a lost lawsuit) and fails to make enough money during the game to compensate.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it still includes some of the more entertaining and unusual facts about this version of the Game of Life. I was hoping that this would be the final part in this relatively new series, but there will be at least one more - which will be posted soon, so stay tuned.