A Lifer's Diary: Part 16: Reimagining Generation II for Car Nuts

A Lifer's Diary: Part 16: Reimagining Generation II for Car Nuts

After imagining what Generation III of the Game of Life would look like with a car-themed reskin, I've decided to do the same thing with Generation II, its immediate predecessor. Keep in mind that this particular generation debuted in 1991 and remained in print until 2006 - the longest print run since the 1960 original. However, this was the last generation to not only have separate decks for Career and Salary Cards, but also to have a unified Career Card deck, and it was also the only generation with a unified House card deck. An automotive-themed retheming would therefore only require one each of Segment and Garage Card decks (resulting from a renaming of the Career Card and House decks, respectively), instead of two.

Although taxes would still be called Service in this retheming, Salary Cards would have had to be renamed to Engine Cards, as follows:

• 3-Cylinder (salary $20,000/service $5,000)
• 4-Cylinder (salary $30,000/service $10,000)
• Turbo 4-Cylinder (salary $40,000/service $15,000)
• 6-Cylinder/Rotary (salary $50,000/service $20,000)
• Turbo 6-Cylinder (salary $60,000/service $25,000)
• Small-Block V8 (salary $70,000/service $30,000)
• Big-Block V8 (salary $80,000/service $35,000)
• V10 (salary $90,000/service $40,000)
• V12 (salary $100,000/service $45,000)

The new names of the Segment Cards in Generation II would've been as follows, with those requiring an Engineering School degree being italicized:

• Hatchback (replaces Salesperson)
• Sedan (replaces Travel Agent/Computer Consultant)
• Van/Minivan (replaces Teacher)
• SUV/Truck (replaces Police Officer)
• Muscle/Pony (replaces Artist)
• Luxury Car (replaces Accountant)
• Sports Car (replaces Superstar/Entertainer)
• Supercar (replaces Athlete)
• Hypercar (replaces Doctor)

In addition, House Cards would now have had to be called Garage Cards, as follows:

• Small Garage (replaces Split-Level; cost $40,000/insurance $10,000/resale $60,000)
• Medium Garage (replaces Mobile Home; cost $60,000/insurance $15,000/resale $90,000)
• Small Dealer (replaces Log Cabin; cost $80,000/insurance $20,000/resale $120,000)
• Large Garage (replaces Cozy Condo; cost $100,000/insurance $25,000/resale $150,000)
• Main Dealer (replaces Dutch Colonial; cost $120,000/insurance $30,000/resale $180,000)
• Super Garage (replaces Beach House; cost $140,000/insurance $35,000/resale $210,000)
• Road Course (replaces Farmhouse; cost $160,000/insurance $40,000/resale $240,000) 
• Luxury Showroom (replaces Tudor; cost $180,000/insurance $45,000/resale $270,000)
• Superspeedway (replaces Victorian; cost $200,000/insurance $50,000/resale $300,000)

Moreover, Stock Cards would have been renamed to Part Cards, as follows:

• 1: Engine/Exhaust
• 2: Gearbox/Drivetrain
• 3: Suspension
• 4: Wheels/Tires
• 5: Forced Induction
• 6: Body/Chassis
• 7: Aerodynamics
• 8: Interior/Audio/Safety
• 9: Lights/Accessories

Other changes include renaming the Get Married, Lose Your Job/Mid-Life Crisis, Stock Market Boom, Stock Market Crash, and Baby/Twins spaces to "Hire Test Driver", "Change Manufacturers", "New Part Contract", "Part Supplier Closes", and "Get A Fan/Get 2 Fans", respectively. Furthermore, all other spaces would have to be renamed in accordance with the automotive-themed reskin.

As in Generation III, Life Tiles would retain their default values and names, but with different descriptions to match the new theme. The two retirement options, Countryside Acres and Millionaire Estates, would now be called Private Garage and Motor Museum, respectively, but they would still have the same effect as before. Pay Raises (which were introduced in Generation III) would've been called Tune-Ups here, had they been featured - but they weren't in Generation II, which makes that issue moot. Finally, the movers would have had a different, sleeker, more sports car-like shape instead of the more angular minivan/SUV-like forms found in the original game.

In short, had a Car Crazy Edition (my suggestion for the new theme's name) of Generation II of The Game of Life been made, it could have convinced Hasbro to do the same for Generation III - which is something I've already discussed. And had that one also been greenlit and gone on to become a commercial success, they could have done the same thing for at least the next Generation or two. Those, however, should be stories for another time.