Game of Life Glossary: Key Terms Explained

Game of Life Glossary: Key Terms Explained

While the Game of Life is generally easy to pick up and play, it has a surprisingly deep metagame, one that not many players know about, and actually winning it takes a great deal of skill. With this in mind, I have devised a glossary detailing the terminology used to describe the game's many elements. Please note that many of these terms are unofficial, and I am using pre-inflation values when referring to Generation I. Moreover, the various spin-offs of the Game of Life have their own different rule sets and are generally outside the scope of this glossary.

A

• Action Card: A type of card introduced in Generation IV, replacing the Life Tiles found in Generations II and III. Its instructions are printed on the reverse side, and it can be obtained by landing on an Action Space. Each Action Card is worth $100,000 at the end of the game, and once a player acquires it, that card will remain in that player's possession until the end of the game. Action Cards have a yellow background on their obverse side.
• Action Space: This type of space is only found in Generation IV. It is a yellow space that will give any player who lands on it an Action Card, and most of the spaces on the board are of this type.
• Anniversary Edition: A term referring to the rare re-issued versions of Generation II and III while they were still in production, released to commemorate several decades since the original Game of Life was launched. The former is subtitled 40th Anniversary Edition and was released in 2000; the latter bore the 50th Anniversary Edition subtitle and was released in 2010.
• All In: The act of betting $50,000 (the largest possible amount) in Spin to Win (and therefore giving oneself a chance of collecting $500,000 if successful). This only applies to Generation III, which uses a different Spin to Win system compared to Generation IV.

B 

• Baby Boom: Slang for when two or more players land on a Baby Space on consecutive turns.
• Baby Boy: A type of Baby Space in which anyone landing on them must place a blue peg in their mover if possible.
• Baby Gift: A small amount of money a player collects from each of their opponents upon landing on a Baby Space. Originally, baby gifts were valued at $500 for each child added to a player's family during a turn. However, Baby Gifts were omitted from Generations II and IV, although Generation III reintroduced them with a fixed value of $5,000 per opponent (regardless of whether or not the player who gained children landed on a Twins space).
• Baby Girl: A type of Baby Space in which anyone landing on them must place a pink peg in their mover if possible.
• Baby Space: A special type of Life Space (in Generations II and III) or Action Space (in Generation IV) which will give players 1 or 2 children (in addition to a Life Tile) if landed on. There are three types: Baby Boy, Baby Girl and Twins. In Generation V, this became a Team Space (see below)
• Bachelor's Degree: The least lucrative career obtainable through college in the original version of the Game of Life, with a salary of $6,000 (although this is still higher than the fixed $5,000 salary obtainable through the Business route). Any player who goes to college and reaches the Bachelor's Degree space without landing on the preceding Career spaces will automatically receive this career.
• Backwards Motion: A phenomenon unique to Generation I which occurs if a player is forced to go back 10 spaces as a result of having Revenge declared on them. When moving backwards, a player will ignore any rewards or penalties from any spaces they pass over or land on, and if they end up on an occupied space, they will continue to move backwards until they reach the first unoccupied one. In addition, rewards and penalties are only earned when moving forward except for getting married (which can only occur once per player), and any player who is sent back to the start must follow the Business route, although their career and salary remained unchanged.
• Bank: The plastic tray in which all items (cards, money and assorted paper notes, from bank loans to pay raises and insurance policies, depending on version) are stored.
• Bank Balance: A term used to refer to the amount of cash on hand (not including children's gift, house, or Life Tile/Action Card values) a player has at a particular point in the game.
• Bank Loan: A fixed loan of $20,000 that a player must take to cover a payment if they have too little cash on hand to do so. Each Loan comes with a fixed amount of interest, and can be repaid manually at any time before retirement; in addition, upon retirement, any outstanding Loans will be paid back automatically. Note that in Generation I, it is impossible to take out a loan in order to place a side bet or to cover a Revenge payment to an opponent.
• Banker: The person whose duty it is to represent all transactions (monetary or otherwise) within the game. It is optional for one of the players to assume this role.
• Bankrupt: Slang describing a player who finishes a game with a negative net worth (from Generation II onwards) or made an unsuccessful attempt to become a Millionaire Tycoon (in Generation I). This is least likely to occur in Generations IV and V, where players can accumulate money much more quickly and easily.
• Bankruptcy: A loss condition exclusive to the original version of the Game of Life in which a player makes an unsuccessful attempt to become Millionaire Tycoon and is therefore immediately eliminated from the game. Any player who loses the game in this way must place their mover to the Poor Farm.
• Bet: The amount of money a player wagers during Lucky Day, Spin to Win, or Side Bets.
• Big Family/Team: This term refers to a family with at least five people in total (in Generations I through IV) or a team with five or more pegs of any kind (in Generation V).
• Big Three/Four: A term introduced in Generation II that refers to the most lucrative three (or four) Careers obtainable. Originally, this was called the Big Three, and referred to the three most lucrative Careers (Accountant, Athlete and Artist - collectively referred to as Triple-A) from the nine available. For Generation III, this became the Big Four, in reference to the four Careers (Entertainer, Athlete, Lawyer and Doctor) with the highest potential salary values at the end of the game. In Generation IV this reverted to the Big Three and referred to the Actor, Lawyer and Doctor. In Generation V this includes the Astronaut, Doctor and Lawyer.
• Bonus Salary: This feature is exclusive to Generation V and refers to the increased amount of money a player can acquire upon landing exactly on (as opposed to passing over) a Pay Day space.
• Blue Space: Any space with a blue background. Before Generation III, these spaces were Option Spaces, in which players would only follow the instructions printed on them if they landed there; however, in Generation III, these became Lawsuit Spaces, and they were completely absent from Generation IV. They would be reintroduced in Generation V in the form of Team Spaces (see below)
• Branch Space: A space on the board that gives any player who reaches it the option of taking one of two paths. From Generation III onwards, all such spaces would also be Stop Spaces (see below), in contrast to previous versions where they were always normal spaces.
• Bug: Any situation that makes a game impossible to complete without the implementation of a house rule. In some video game adaptations, it can cause the game to crash, forcing a reload or restart. Thankfully, there have been none since the release of Generation 2.5.
• Business: One of two starting options in the original version of the Game of Life. It will give any player who selects it a salary of $5,000. However, it would be replaced by Start Career from Generation II onwards.

C

• Car Insurance: A type of insurance policy present in Generations I and II that protects its owner from damage to (or theft of) their vehicle. In Generation I, it could be lost indefinitely upon landing on a "reckless driver" space; however, in Generation II, once a player had purchased it, that player would retain ownership of it for the remainder of the game. Along with House Insurance, this policy would be removed altogether from Generation III onwards.
• Card: A rectangular card that represents an item or event in the game. There are many different types of cards, with the exact types varying depending on the game version. As an aside, cards in Generations IV and V are longer and narrower than those found in Generations II and III; in addition, cards in Generation III are unique in having rounded corners.
• Card Hoarding: As applied to Generations I and III, this term referred to the tactic of waiting to use Share the Wealth Cards until they were most needed, as opposed to using them at the earliest opportunity. Anyone who saves their Share the Wealth Cards for such important situations is called a Card Hoarder.
• Career: The occupation of the player's character, and the primary source of their income.
• Career Card: A card with a blue background on its obverse side that contains a description of the player character's occupation (in all versions) and its salary (only in Generation III onwards). In Generation 2.5, each Career Card was compatible with any salaries that belonged to either of two Salary Groups whose colors were printed on the reverse side.
• Career Change: Not to be confused with Change Career below, this occurs whenever a player replaces their current Career, either voluntarily or involuntarily.
• Career Choice: A special space in the game that forces anyone who reaches it to stop and randomly select multiple Career Cards (three of any kind in Generation II, two College Careers in Generation III onwards), then choose the one they want before spinning again.
• Career Shortage: This occurs when a player has to replace their career when none are available. In Generation II, this could occur in a 6-player game upon landing on a Lose Your Job Space when not in possession of a College Degree and no non-College Careers (i.e. those that do not have the words "Degree Required" printed on the reverse side) are available; this would make it impossible to continue the game without the implementation of a house rule that waived the Teacher's requirement for a degree (and, in fact, this House Rule became an official rule in Generation 2.5). In Generation III, this term instead refers to a rare situation when a player lands on a Lose Your Job space when none of the six regular Careers are available (while all six of the College Careers are still available). In these circumstances, that player will retain their current Career, although they must still return all their Pay Raises to the bank. Note that this kind of shortage is also possible only in a 6-player game. From Generation IV onwards, such shortages are impossible, since there can be no more than four players, and there are now more than four regular and College Careers each.
• Career Space: A type of space found only in Generation II in which a player who lands on it makes a payment to the bank (if there are no players with the corresponding Career symbol), to an opponent (if that player has the Career with the matching symbol), or not at all (if the Career belongs to the player who landed on it). However, some rule sets in video game adaptations of Generation III turn some Pay Spaces into Career Spaces.
• Career Trade Space: This is a space exclusive to Generation V. It has a magenta background, and anyone who lands on it may replace their Career with an unused one of the same type (unless they have a college degree, in which case they can choose any unused career they want) using the standard career change rules.
• Change Career: A Stop Space unique to Generation III located where the Return to School branch merges with the Path of Life. Any player who reaches this space must stop, then either replace their current Career with a College Career by drawing two College Career Cards face-down, before taking the card they want (along with returning any Pay Raises they have to the bank), or take two $10,000 Pay Raises, and finally spin again. In the former scenario, if only one College Career Card is available, that player will automatically receive it, while their previous College Career Card is returned to its deck; also, if no College Career Cards are available, a College Career Shortage occurs as detailed below. The function of this space was merged with that of the Return to School space for Generation IV (see below).
• Child: A term referring to any person added to a player's family upon their landing on a Baby Space. Can either be a boy or girl, which are represented by blue and pink pegs respectively. Except in Generation II, each baby would contribute a small amount of money (called a Children's Gift - see below) to the final score of the player that had them.
• Child Support Space: This term originated in Generation II and refers to a Pay Space whose value depended on the number of children belonging to the player who landed on it. In Generation II, any player who had the Teacher Career Card would be exempted from their associated payments and would also collect other players' expenses when they landed on these spaces. In Generation III, some of these spaces require any player who lands on them to pay a fixed amount in addition to a specific sum multiplied by the number of children they have. There are no such spaces in Generation IV, however.
• Childless: This term refers to a player who completes a game without landing on any Baby Spaces at all and therefore does not have any children. There was no penalty for this in Generation II except for collecting fewer Life Tiles; in all other versions, not having any children will also prevent a player from collecting a Children's Gift (see below) upon retirement.
• Children's Gift: A gift of $10,000 ($20,000 in Generation I) provided by each child in a player's family upon their retirement. This feature was absent from Generation II, but was reintroduced in Generation III and retained for Generation IV. It would be replaced by the Team Gift in Generation V (see below).
• Choice Space: An informal synonym for Option Space (see below).
• Classic Game: The standard rule set of The Game of Life, with no modifications. Only explicitly referred to as such in video game adaptations.
• Collect Card: A type of Share the Wealth Card found in Generations I and III that allows a player who uses it to collect 50% of the money gained from a Collect Space when an opponent lands there. Only one such card can be used against another player during a turn; if more than one player wishes to do so, they must spin once each, and whoever spins the highest number will use their Collect Card. In Generation III, if the amount collected cannot be split equally between two players, the player who used the Collect Card would always collect the lower amount, and as was the case in Generation I, Collect Cards could not be used to split amounts of $5,000 or less.
• Collect Space: A type of space which rewards a player who lands on it with money from the bank. In Generations I and III, a player could use a Collect Card on an opponent who landed on any such space on the board if they had one. In Generation IV, they are only present on the Risky Path of Life, and are distinguished from Pay Day spaces by their blank green background and the lack of a Pay Day symbol on them.
• College Career: Any career that requires a degree and therefore cannot be drawn when choosing the Start Career option at the start of a game (or, in Generation III, immediately after landing on a Lose your Job space). In Generations II and III, their corresponding cards had the words "Degree Required" and "Requires a College Degree", respectively, printed on the reverse side. Also, from Generation III onwards, these careers were generally more lucrative (i.e. their built-in salaries paid more) than other careers and were given their own card deck; in Generation IV, they were given a darker blue background on the obverse side to distinguish them from other Career Cards.
• College Career Choice: The final space at the end of the Start College path before it merges with the Start Career Path. In Generation II, it was referred to as simply "Career Choice"; a player who reached it would have to stop, draw three Career Cards, choose the one they wanted, and repeat the same process for the Salary Cards before spinning again, with Generation 2.5 adding the restriction that the Salary Cards chosen must all match the colors printed on the Career Card they chose. In Generations III and IV, upon reaching this space, a player would have to draw two College Career Cards face-down at random, then choose the card they wanted before spinning again; also, in Generation III, if there was only one College Career Card available, that player would receive it automatically. In Generation V, players must spin at least once upon reaching this space; if the number spun is less than 3, their turn ends, and they must wait until their next turn to get a College Career, but if the number spun is greater than 2, they must immediately draw four College Career Cards, select the one they want and spin again
• College Career Shortage: This refers to a rare situation unique to Generation III in which a player decides to return to school, but is then unable to change careers upon reaching the Change Career space due to a lack of available College Career Cards. That player will instead automatically receive two $10,000 Pay Raises (effectively increasing their salary by $20,000) and then spin again.
• College Debt: The amount of money borrowed (including interest) to cover tuition fees if a player chooses the Start College option at the beginning of a game. This was introduced in Generation II, with a total debt of $50,000; however, Generation 2.5 increased this to $125,000. The value was left unchanged for Generation III, but this feature was removed in Generation IV in favor of an immediate $100,000 payment (see below) due to players now starting with $200,000 instead of $10,000.
• College Degree: A prerequisite for all College Careers, only obtainable through College or Night school.
• College Fee: Introduced in Generation II, this is the value of the tuition fee paid when a player chooses the Start College option at the beginning of a game. Originally, this was set at $40,000, but in from Generation 2.5 onwards this was increased to $100,000, and it has stayed at that value ever since, although starting in Generation IV, players no longer have to take out any loans to pay it off.
• Counter-Lawsuit: In Generation III, this refers to the act of attempting to sue an opponent who has previously tried to sue you, regardless of whether they were successful or not.
• Countryside Acres: One of two retirement options available at the end of the game, first introduced in Generation II. Originally, retiring here would give you a Life Tile if any of them are available (to take from the draw pile, or if it is empty, any opponents who have themselves not retired at Countryside Acres); however, in Generation III, anyone who retired here would not receive any Life Tiles. In both of these versions, no other players could take Life Tiles from a Countryside Acres retiree. However, in Generation IV, there are no longer any benefits or drawbacks to retiring at Countryside Acres, thereby rendering its presence somewhat pointless.

D

• Day of Reckoning: The final space on the board in Generation I. Any player who landed on it would receive $20,000 per child, pay back their debt at 25% interest, and either go to Millionaire Estates or attempt to become a Millionaire Tycoon (but not both at once). It would be replaced by the Retirement space from Generation II onwards.
• Debt: The total value of all Bank Loans in a player's possession, including interest for each loan.
• Debt-Free: A slang term referring to a player who did not borrow any money during a game. In Generations II and III, this could never have applied to a player who chose the Start College option at the beginning of a game due to the fact that it requires going into debt at the very start. However, in Generation IV, this is much more likely given that money is more easily earned than before, and the Start College option no longer comes with any debt at all.
• Default: Another term used to refer to being bankrupt (see above), applicable to Generation II onwards.
• Defendant: This term is only used in Generation III and refers to any player who gets sued by an opponent who has just landed on a Lawsuit Space.
• Degree: Short for College Degree (see above).
• Deck: A set of cards that all belong to a certain category. Generation I had two decks (one each for Stock and Share the Wealth Cards). Generations II and III had four decks (one each for Careers, Stocks/Long-Term Investments, Houses, and Salaries in the former, or Share the Wealth Cards in the latter). Generation IV also had four decks, but the Stock/Long-Term Investment and Share the Wealth Card decks have been replaced by a College Career and Action Card deck respectively.
• Description: The text printed on a space that shows the instructions a player must follow upon landing on it.
• Die: Though not used in any version of the game due to its inventors' dislike of them (for being considered as wicked items only fit for gamblers), the spinner essentially functions like one, albeit a 10-sided item. In fact, if the spinner is missing, a 10-sided die can be used to simulate a spinner (with 0 simulating a spin of 10), given that all 10 numbers have equal area allocated to them on the spinner.
• Double Stock: In Generation II, this refers to the act of owning two Stock Cards at once. In order to do so, a player must land on the Stock Market Boom space after having previously purchased a Stock Card. However, due to the fact that there are only nine such cards available, no more than three players are capable of owning two stocks at any one time; therefore, if three different players already have two different stocks each, landing on the Stock Market Boom space will have no effect. This became impossible in Generation III, where no player could own more than one Long-Term Investment at a time.
• Draw: The act of taking a card at random from a certain deck.
• Draw Pile: In Generations II and III, this term referred to the supply of Life Tiles that was not placed in Millionaire Estates at the start of the game, but had not yet been claimed by any players. If the Draw Pile is empty, a Life Shortage occurs (see below).

E

• Early Retiree: A player who reaches the Retirement space before their opponents do. Before Generation III, there was no incentive whatsoever to retiring early, except in Generation I where the first player to retire received a $100,000 bonus, chose a number on the spinner, and received an additional $10,000 from any player who spun that number until the end of the game. This was made much easier with the introduction of the Early Retirement space in Generation V (see below).
• Early Retirement: A new type of space introduced in Generation V. It is located near the end of the Path of Life, and any player who reaches it must decide whether or not to retire early; if they do so, they follow a much shorter path to the Retirement space than usual, consisting of one Pay Day space and an Action Space.
• Elimination: Another term for going bankrupt. This only applies to Generation I, since later versions do not allow for a player to be eliminated in this way.
• Eloping: The act of landing on the Elope space in Generation III. Any player who does so will immediately advance to the Get Married space.
• Enhanced Game: A special rule set found only in some video game adaptations in which the rules are significantly different from the ones found in the Classic Game. Also referred to as Enhanced Mode.
• Enhanced Share The Wealth Card: A type of Share the Wealth Card exclusively found in the Enhanced Mode of some video game adaptations of Generation III, replacing the standard Share the Wealth Cards normally present. These cards are not given out to players at the start of a game; instead, when a player draws one upon landing on a Share the Wealth Card space, that player must immediately follow the instructions printed on its reverse side, if possible. If the player who drew the card cannot follow those instructions, he/she must draw another card as many times as necessary until they draw a card for which they can follow its instructions. In any case, said instructions are different from those found in the standard Share the Wealth Cards used in a regular game.
• Extra Spin: This occurs when a player reaches a Stop Space. After following the instructions specific to that space, their turn continues; hence, that player must spin the spinner again to complete their turn.
• Extra Token: In Generation IV, this refers to the bonus Spin to Win token (which is colored silver, to distinguish it from the single token each player can normally use) given to the player whose turn it is upon landing on a Spin to Win space. That player can use that token to select another number in addition to the one they originally chose.

F

• Family: The pegs representing all the people in a player's mover (the player's character, and, where applicable, their spouse and children).
• Family Path: A branch on the Path of Life that is longer than the main path, but provides anyone who takes it a better chance of having a child than usual. This was first introduced in Generation III, and was carried over to Generation IV virtually unchanged, with the exception that there is now a Stop Space at the end, and anyone who reaches it must spin exactly once to determine how many children they will receive; depending on the number they spun, they will receive one, two, or three children, or none at all. Before the term was officially introduced, however, some players referred to the right-hand path after the first Branch Space as this due to it having two Baby Spaces, whereas the left-hand path from this branch had none. Generation V overhauled the Family Path so that there are now two Baby Spaces and one Twins Space.
• Family Space: A new type of space introduced in Generation V. Anyone who lands on this space must place a peg in their mover (or two pegs, if they land on a Family Space with the word Twins on it) if possible.
• Fire Insurance: An obsolete form of insurance exclusive to Generation I that protects its owner from corresponding payment spaces, and remains in their possession indefinitely until they retire or land on a "careless" space.
• First Spin: A full round of turns made before the start of a game to determine the order in which players take their turns. Each player spins once, and the player who spins the highest number goes first, after which play proceeds clockwise; if there is a tie for the highest number, the tied players must spin again as many times as necessary until there is a winner among them.
• Fortress: In Generation III, this is a slang term for any player's inventory with a high net worth and at least two Exemption cards. Such an inventory is more resistant to other players' Lawsuits and Share the Wealth Cards than usual.
• Full House: The act of filling all six slots in your mover by getting married, then having at least four children (or, in Generation V, acquiring five pegs of any kind) later on. Actually having more than four children (or five pegs in Generation V), however, will lead to the phenomenon some players refer to as Overfill (see below).

G

• Generation: A term used to describe a version of the mainstream Game of Life. So far, there have been five distinct Generations: Generation I (1960-1990, revised in the 1970s/1980s and reissued in 2010), Generation II (1991-2006, with a 40th Anniversary reissue in 2000, and a slightly revised Generation 2.5 debuting in 2002), Generation III (2007-12, with a 50th Anniversary reissue in 2010), Generation IV (2013-2020) and Generation V (2021-present).
• Get Married: A special space in which players must stop upon reaching it, then take a person peg that represents their spouse (in addition to a Life Tile) and spin again (except in Generation V, where players can choose whether or not to get married upon reaching this space). Getting married usually involves spinning for wedding gifts before spinning again (except in Generation II, where spinning for wedding gifts was only featured in the Enhanced Mode of its video game adaptation). Each player can only get married once per game at most.
• Gift: A minor monetary reward acquired from getting married, having a child, or retiring with children (or, in Generation V, retiring with any pegs other than the one a player started the game with) in one's family. Not present in Generation II (except in the Enhanced Game mode of its video game adaptation).
• Golden House: This term was coined in Generation II to refer to the most expensive house a player can purchase. For example, in Generation II, the Victorian house had this status, while in Generation III, this title belonged to the Tudor Style and Mansion for being the most expensive Starter Home and House, respectively, available for purchase. Another incentive to buy such properties before anyone else does so is that they have higher resale values than any other houses, whether explicitly stated in the default rule set or through a house rule.
• Golden Salary: This term is only applicable to Generation II and refers to the most valuable Salary Card in play. Anyone holding this will gain more money from Pay Day spaces than other players; however, this makes them a tempting target for salary traders (see below).
• Green Space: A space with a green background. In Generation I, anyone who landed on these spaces could take Revenge on an opponent; however, from Generation II onwards, these became Pay Day spaces. In Generation IV, there are a few Green Spaces on the Risky Path of Life that will reward anyone who lands on them with a large amount of money; these spaces are distinguished by the lack of a Pay Day symbol.

H

• Holy Trinity: An alternate term for Big Three (see above). In Generations II and III, some players also used this term to refer to the three Life Tiles with the highest values ($250,000 each in Generation II, $50,000 each in Generation 2.5 and Generation III).
• House: A type of purchasable property found in all versions of the game. Except in Generations IV and V, no player can own more than one of these at a time.
• House Card: A card (whose obverse side had an orange background in Generations II-III and a lime green background in Generations IV-V) that represents a house, although players could never own more than one house at a time prior to Generation IV. Houses vary widely in purchase price and, from Generation 2.5 onwards, in resale value. In Generation II, they were a mandatory purchase, and there were 9 House Cards available, with values ranging from $40,000 to $200,000 (in $20,000 increments); in Generation III, there were only 6 Houses available, with prices from $300,000 to $800,000 (in $100,000 increments), and purchasing them was optional. Also, whereas House Cards were randomly selected in Generations II, IV and V (and in the latter two, players who buy a house must draw two House Cards, then select the one they want to buy), this was not the case in Generation III, where players could manually select the House they wanted to buy. Generation V significantly reduced the prices of many Houses compared to Generation IV.
• House Insurance: A type of insurance policy in Generations I and II that requires owning a House to purchase, but when purchased, prevents its owner from having to pay anything when their House is damaged. In Generation II, the cost of House Insurance was always 25% of the value of the House the player owned. As with Car Insurance, this policy was removed from Generation III onwards.
• House Rule: A deviation from the standard rules of the Game of Life that is not printed in the manual and is instead created by one of the players. There is a wide variety of house rules across all versions, but using too many of them will make the game feel overly complicated, so most games are played using no more than one or two of them at a time, or none at all. One of the most common uses of house rules is to prevent any situations that cause game-ending bugs (see above). Other times, house rules can be used for an easier or more challenging game.
• House Sale Spin: The act of spinning to determine your house's resale value. First introduced in Generation 2.5, it was brought back from Generation IV onwards. Some number and house combinations result in a loss, others result in a profit, and still others will only break even. This gameplay mechanic was not present in Generation III, in which every Starter Home and House would have a fixed resale value without the use of house rules (see above).
• House Space: This is a space in which anyone who lands on it must stop, buy a House and spin again. In Generation I, it was mandatory to buy a house (for a flat $40,000 sum) upon passing or landing on a House space (of which there were two) if a player had not done so already. However, in Generations II and III, the House space was now a Stop space; the latter had two of these, the second of which gave players the option to trade in their current Starter Home for a new House. In Generation IV, House spaces are treated in a similar way to Action spaces - passing over them has no effect whatsoever, but landing on them provides the player with the option to buy a new house, sell one they already own, or do neither (but not both at once).
• House Trade: The act of selling your house and buying a new one (in Generation 2.5) or trading in your Starter Home for a better House (in III). This is not possible in Generation IV, since players can no longer sell their current house and buy another one on the same turn.
• House Trade Space: This is a Stop Space that is unique to Generation 2.5. It was placed immediately after a Stock Market Crash space, replacing a Life Space that had been present in earlier Generation II sets. Anyone who reached this space could sell their house; if they did so, they would have to spin to determine its resale value, then purchase another House as per the usual procedure, and return their previous House Card to its deck before they can spin again.
• Hunting: A tactic in which a player tries to hinder the progress of a specific opponent (usually the one with the highest net worth). Originally, this entailed exacting revenge (either by taking $100,000, or forcing them to move back 10 spaces) on another player as often as possible, but in Generation II, this would be replaced by trading Salary Cards with an opponent; if that opponent had the Golden Salary before (or after) such a trade (see above), it would make them an inviting target for another opponent who had a chance to trade salaries with them. In Generation III, it instead involved targeting an opponent for Lawsuits and/or Share the Wealth Card usage in the hopes of collecting money from them. Anyone who uses this tactic is called a Hunter.

I

• Immortality: A fan-made term used to refer to the fact that due to the fact that the last space represents retirement, player characters in the Game of Life can never actually die; however, they can end up being Bankrupt (Generation I only) or extremely poor, in some cases with a negative bank balance (Generation II onwards).
• Inflation: A term used to refer to the doubling of all monetary values partway through the print run of Generation I sets, reflecting real-life financial inflation at the time.
• Initial Salary: In Generation III, this refers to the salary a Career has when a player draws the card from its deck, before its value has been increased through Pay Raises.
• Initial Spins: The first round of spins in a game, used to determine the order in which players take their turns. The player who spins the highest number goes first; play then continues clockwise. If two or more players have a tie for the highest number spun, they must spin again as many times as is necessary until one of them spins the highest number among them. Some players take this idea further with a house rule requiring tie-breaker spins to decide who goes second, then third, etc. if necessary.
• Insurance Policy: A purchasable item in Generations I and II which indemnifies its buyer from payments related to certain "tragedy" spaces. For each type of Insurance Policy, each player could own up to one at a time. However, in Generation I, landing on some spaces would cause a player to return a specific type of Insurance Policy to the bank if they owned one. In addition, Insurance Policies were absent from Generation III onwards due to how unlikely it was to land on a tragedy space in previous versions, given that there were so few of them.
• Insured: In Generations I and II, this term is used to refer to a player who owns at least one type of insurance policy. A player who owns every type of available insurance policy at once is said to be Fully Insured. On the other hand, a player who owns some (but not all) such policies at once is deemed to be Partially Insured.
• Interest: A small amount of money that accompanies every Bank Loan and must be paid along with the loan itself. Usually, interest is fixed at $5,000 per loan.
• Inventory: The collection of all the money and items (which includes Houses, and in some versions, Action Cards, Life Tiles and/or Share the Wealth Cards) owned by a player at any point in the game.
• Investment: Not to be confused with the Long-Term Investment in Generation III, this is a new feature in Generation V that replaces the Lucky Number in Generation IV. It can only be bought upon landing on an Invest Space and costs $50,000 to purchase. A player who purchases it can assign it to any number that is not already tied to an Investment. The amount of money earned when any player (including its owner) spins the number linked to an investment is initially $10,000, but increases by $10,000 for every such subsequent spin, up to a maximum of $50,000; as such, it takes at least three turns for an Investment to pay for itself. However, if a player changes the number linked to their Investment, its progress will be reset. Finally, landing on an Invest Space will cause a player to receive an immediate increase in their Investment Value (see below) and earn it at the same time.
• Investment Number: The number printed on the reverse side of a Stock or Long-Term Investment Card (in Generations II and III respectively). Generation V reintroduced this feature; unlike in previous versions, players could now change it at any time after buying an Investment, at the expense of resetting their return on investment to $10,000.
• Investment Return: The amount of money a player earns any time the number on their Stock Card (Generation II), Long-Term Investment (Generation III) or Lucky Number (Generation IV) is spun. Originally, this amount was set at $10,000, before being reduced to $5,000 in Generation III, and increased to $20,000 in Generation IV.
• Investment Space: This space has an orange background and is new to Generation V. Any player who lands on it may purchase an Investment for $50,000.
• Investment Trade: A term applicable only to Generation III, used to refer to the act of replacing your Long-Term Investment with another one. This costs $10,000 and is only possible as part of a house rule or in some video game adaptations.
• Investment Value: In Generation V, this refers to the amount of money any player can earn whenever a number tied to the Investment they own is spun.

J

• Jack of All Trades: Slang for a player who changes careers more than once in the same game, regardless of whether or not that player re-acquires a career they had previously obtained.
• Jackpot: A term that refers to winning $500,000 (the highest possible amount) from a Spin to Win. Any player who wants to do so must bet $50,000 during a Spin to Win. This term only applies to Generation III. Note that getting the Jackpot, or winning a Spin to Win in General, does not require the use of Spin to Win cards, although those items will definitely make it easier to accomplish.
• Job: Another name for a Career.
• Job Loyalty: Refers to the act of finishing a game with the same Career you started with.

K

• Kamikaze: Slang for any action by a player that will have severe negative consequences if unsuccessful, but will yield a significant financial reward if successful.
• Killer Move: A term some players use for any action during turn that makes it impossible (or at least very difficult) for a specific opponent to win a game even in a best-case scenario.
• King: Slang for a player who wins a Game of Life.
• Kingmaker: This refers to any situation in which a player who cannot win a game can still influence its outcome by hindering an opponent such that another opponent can claim victory. In Generations II and III, for example, this could be done by taking a Life Tile from an opponent; also, in the former, Salary Card trades could do the trick, whereas in the latter, Lawsuits, Share the Wealth Cards and even Spin to Win would have a similar effect.

L

• Late Retiree: A term used to refer to the last player to reach the Retirement space. There is no penalty for being the last player to retire, except in Generation IV, where the first player to retire always receives $400,000, and any players who retire after this will receive less money in $100,000 increments; therefore, in a four-player game, the last player to retire in a game will only receive $100,000.
• Lawsuit: The act of taking $100,000 from an opponent in Generation III upon landing on a blue Lawsuit Space. It can be negated using an Exemption Card if you have one. This mechanic is present in Generation IV, but with a few major differences: Lawsuits now only occur if you pick up certain Action Cards, and the amount earned from those cards is not only variable, but has also generally been reduced compared to Generation III.
• Lawsuit Space: A blue space found only in Generation III as a replacement for the Option Space found in earlier versions. Any player who landed on it could attempt to sue another player for $100,000. There are nine of these spaces scattered throughout the board; however, one of these spaces is accessible only by taking the Risky Path of Life late in the game.
• Leader: The player with the highest net worth at any point in the game. Of course, this comes with drawbacks such as being a tempting target for Revenge (in Generation I), Salary Card trades (in Generation II) or Lawsuits (in Generation III).
• Life Drought: This is more extreme version of a Life Shortage. In Generations II and III, it occurs when a player lands on a Life Space, but is unable to receive a Life Tile due to every other player having retired at Countryside Acres and/or not having any Life Tiles of their own. In Generation II, it can also occur if a player retires at Countryside Acres when taking Life Tiles from opponents has become impossible for the reasons stated previously.
• Life Insurance: A form of Insurance Policy exclusive to Generation I whose purchase is necessary for earning money from landing on its associated spaces. This policy is worth $3,000 at the end of the game.
• Life Shortage: In Generations II and III, this occurs when a player lands on a Life Space after the draw pile is emptied and must take a Life Tile from another opponent. If this is impossible, a Life Drought occurs (see above). Due to the absence of Life Tiles from Generations I and IV, it is impossible for a Life Shortage or Drought to occur in either of these versions.
• Life Space: A space on the board that will reward anyone who lands on it with a Life Tile. This space was introduced in Generation II and retained for Generation III before being removed from Generation IV.
• Life Thief: Also known as a Tile Thief. Slang for any player who has taken a Life Tile from another player.
• Life Tile: An item found in Generations II and III that is usually acquired by landing on a Life Space. In addition to the LIFE logo on a white background printed on the obverse side, each Life Tile has a monetary value printed on its reverse side, but this value is not revealed and added to its owner's net worth until the end of the game. In Generation II, there were three $250,000 Life Tiles, four $200,000 Life Tiles, five $150,000 Life Tiles, six $100,000 Life Tiles and seven $50,000 Life Tiles, for a total of 25, and each Life Tile also had its own brief description printed on the reverse side, with black text on an orange background; from Generation 2.5 onwards, these values were reduced by 80%. Generation III kept the Life Tile values unchanged, but changed the reverse side to show black-edged white text on a yellow background and removed the descriptions (while retaining the values). This item was absent from Generation IV, in which the Action Card took its place.
• Lifeless: In Generations II and III, this is a slang term that describes anyone who finishes the game without any Life Tiles in their possession. Such a condition was undesirable in Generation II, but less so from Generation 2.5 onwards, where Life Tile values were significantly reduced.
• Lifers: Slang term for fans of The Game of Life. Some of them are more passionate than others, but all of them are devoted to this game in some way.
• Loan: Short for Bank Loan (see above).
• Long Shot: Slang term referring to a player who has little chance to win the game.
• Long-Term Investment: A purchasable item present only in Generation III as a replacement for the Stock Card from earlier versions, and subsequently replaced by careers' built-in Lucky Numbers in Generation IV. There were 9 Long-Term Investments, and each one had a number between 1 and 9 printed on its reverse side. Each investment cost $10,000 to purchase, and its owner would receive $5,000 whenever anyone (including themselves) spun its number; therefore, it took two turns for a Long-Term Investment buyer to recoup their investment. In addition, once a player has purchased a Long-Term Investment, it would remain in their possession for the remainder of the game, and no player could own multiple investments at once. However, some video game adaptations allow players to pay the bank $10,000 to replace their existing Long-Term Investments with new ones (see above). Long-Term Investments have the same purple backgrounds on their obverse sides as Stock Cards did in Generation II.
• Lose Your Job: A special space in Generations II and III that forces any player who lands on it to draw a new Career Card and return their previous one to its deck. Generally the least desirable space on the board to land on, except for players with low salaries (who therefore have a chance of getting a more lucrative career/salary combo). In Generation II, there were only two of them on the board, and a player who landed on either of them must also replace their Salary Card with a new one. In Generation III, however, there were four of these spaces, and any player who landed on them must return all of their Pay Raises and replace their current Career Card (regardless of type) with an unused regular Career Card (not a College Career Card), if possible. It was absent in Generation IV due to the fact that some Action Cards now have the same effect (see below).
• Lose Your Job Card: Exclusive to Generation IV, this is a special kind of Action Card that forces anyone who draws it to replace their current Career Card with another Career Card of the same type.
• Lucky Day: A space found in Generation I that will cause any player to immediately receive $10,000; that player can either keep the cash or gamble it by selecting two numbers and then spinning again. If the number spun does not match either of the chosen numbers, the player will lose their $10,000 bet; otherwise, that player will earn $150,000 from the bank.
• Lucky Investor: Slang for a player who receives at least 10 returns from a Stock Card (Generation II), Long-Term Investment (Generation III) or Lucky Number (Generation IV)
• Lucky Number: The number on the spinner that is tied to a Career in Generation IV, replacing the Stock Card and Long-Term Investment from previous versions. Any opponent who spins this number will pay the player with the corresponding Career a small amount of money (usually $20,000). If the player with said Career spins that number, they will receive that amount of money from the bank instead. Regular Career Cards have Lucky Numbers ranging from 1 to 5; College Career Cards have Lucky Numbers ranging from 6 to 10. Unlike Stock Cards and Long-Term Investments, they are included with a career for free and do not require any purchases. In addition, some Lucky Numbers are shared between two Careers.
• Lucky Spin: Any Spin to Win that results in at least one player winning their bet. From Generation IV onwards, every Spin to Win becomes this due to the fact that the player whose turn it is must spin as many times as required until the number spun matches any of the players' chosen numbers (including their own).

M

• Marriage: The act of getting married in the Game of Life. Before Generation IV, this was a mandatory process that could only occur once per player, regardless of what version of the game is being played. However, in Generation IV, this became optional, but any player who got married would still receive a peg as normal.
• Maxed Out: In Generation III, this is slang for a career whose salary has reached its maximum value. Note that careers without a maximum salary can theoretically have up to seven Pay Raises; however, this is only possible if a player maintains it throughout the entire game, in addition to returning to school partway through and taking the $20,000 Pay Raise, as well as refusing to take the Family Path later on.
• Maximum Salary: This feature is exclusive to Generation III and refers to the highest possible salary attainable by a Career. All Careers in Generation III (except for the Entertainer, Athlete, Lawyer and Doctor) have this feature, wherein the maximum salary is either $30,000 (3 Pay Raises) or $40,000 (4 Pay Raises) greater than the initial salary. Careers without this restriction can theoretically have a salary that is $70,000 (7 Pay Raises) greater than their base values. However, to get that many Pay Raises with any of those careers, one must not only avoid landing on any Lose Your Job spaces, but also return to school, then take the $20,000 Pay Raise option upon reaching the Change Career space, and later on, forgo the Family Path altogether in favor of continuing on the Path of Life.
• Midlife Spinout: A new kind of Stop Space introduced in Generation V. Any player who reaches it must stop, spin the spinner once, and either take the longer, more challenging Midlife Crisis path (if they spun an odd number) or the shorter, less challenging Path of Life (if they spun an even number). Both paths from the Midlife Spinout eventually converge after a short distance. It is worth noting that in Generation V, the Midlife Crisis Path and the regular Path of Life fulfill a similar function to the Risky and Safe Paths, respectively, from Generations III and IV.
• Millionaire: A term that refers to a player whose net worth is at least $1 million. If a player's net worth is at least $2 million, that player can also be called a multi-millionaire (see below).
• Millionaire Estates: One of two retirement options at the end of the game (in Generation I, it was originally called Millionaire Acres). It is generally only advisable to retire here if you have the most money. In addition, in Generation I, anyone who retired there could still make Side Bets on their opponents' turns and serve as a Toll Collector (if they had gained that privilege). However, in Generation II, the wealthiest player to retire at Millionaire Estates will receive 4 additional Life Tiles once all other players have retired (although if there is a tie between two players who retired there, they will gain two Life Tiles each), while in Generation III, the first three players to retire there would gain an extra Life Tile each; in both of these versions, any player who retired at Millionaire Estates could have their Life Tiles stolen if the draw pile is depleted. Finally, in Generation IV, there are no benefits or drawbacks to retiring at Millionaire Estates, thereby rendering its presence moot.
• Millionaire Tycoon: A term only applicable to Generation I referring to any player who wins the game by choosing a number on the spinner (which involves placing their mover or all of their money on it) upon reaching the Day of Reckoning space, then making a spin in which the number spun matches the one they chose.
• Min-maxing: A common problem in Generation II where certain game elements could be exploited. For example, the Accountant was the most lucrative Career of all, with the Athlete a close second; having children would earn you a Life Tile (if any were available to take from the draw pile, or failing that, an opponent who had at least one such tile of their own and had not retired at Countryside Acres), but increased the cost of landing on Child Support Spaces; buying the cheapest houses was preferable (except when Resale Values are in effect, whether through a house rule or not); and finally, it was inadvisable to buy insurance due to the lack of Tragedy Spaces and the low likelihood of landing on them. However, min-maxing has been less prevalent since Generation III, where the most expensive houses are often the most desirable.
• Mini-game: A term referring to a side-activity within the game such as Side Bets and Spin to Win, in which players could gain or lose money. Some video game adaptations use more of these in addition to (or in place of) those stated above, at least in certain game modes.
• Miss Next Turn: A type of space first seen in Generation II, which would cause any player who landed on it to skip their next turn. Generation III had only one such space (on the Start College path), and Generation IV had no such spaces. Landing on such spaces is often (but not always) undesirable.
• Mistrial: This is a term referring to when a Lawsuit in Generation III is unsuccessful due to the defendant using an Exemption Card, resulting in the plaintiff not receiving any money. Mistrials are no longer possible in Generation IV, where Share the Wealth Cards are completely absent, and the Lawsuit Action Cards guarantee that any player who collects them will take a certain amount of money from any opponent of their choice.
• Model Citizen: Slang for a player who successfully sues an opponent at least once without being sued themselves. Only applies to Generation III.
• Money: The unit of value used for transactions during a game. For example, Generations II and III both had five denominations of money each: $5,000 (blue paper bill), $10,000 (yellow paper bill), $20,000 (red paper bill), $50,000 (green paper bill), and $100,000 (orange paper bill).
• Mover: The car-shaped token that represents the player's movement along the board. It has holes for 6 pegs (representing the player and their spouse, plus their children) and comes in one of six different colors (four in Generation IV).
• Multi-House Owner: This term is only applicable to Generation IV and refers to a player who owns more than one house at the same time.
• Multi-Millionaire: A term referring to a player who finishes the game with a net worth of at least $2 million. This is most likely to occur in Generation IV, where money is easier to come by than in other versions, but it can also happen in any other version under the right circumstances, and it is possible for more than one player (or even all of them) to attain this status by the end of the game.

N

• Net Income: The difference between the amount of money a player earned during their turn and the amount of money they lost in that same turn due to payments. A player's net income during a turn can be negative if their expenses for that turn exceeded their income.
• Net Worth: The total value of a player's assets. This is calculated by adding their cash on hand to the value of the House/Starter Home (as determined by a spin for resale value in some versions) they currently own, if they have one (from Generation II onwards), before subtracting their debt (including interest). At the end of the game, children's gifts (in all versions except for Generation II) and money from Life Tiles (in Generations II and III) or Action Cards (in Generations IV and V) will be added to this value.
• Night School: This was one of two types of Blue Spaces in Generation II. In that version, a player who landed on it could pay the bank (or the opponent with the Teacher Career Card, if there was one) $20,000 to replace their Career and/or Salary Cards, then draw two Career and Salary Cards each, before choosing the cards they want from each deck. In Generation 2.5, it became mandatory for players to change salaries if they chose a new Career through Night School, and thus they could no longer retain their existing Career or Salary Cards if they accepted the offer. Night School would be overhauled and renamed Return to School (see below) from Generation III onwards.
• Normal Career: A Career that does not require a College Degree. From Generation III onwards, these careers became generally less lucrative (i.e. their built-in salaries paid less) than other careers, and were also given their own card deck; from Generation IV onwards, these cards had a light blue background on the obverse side.
• Normal Space: Any space on the board that is not an Option (Generations I through III only), Pay Day, Revenge (Generation I only) or Stop Space. In Generation I, these spaces had white text on a black background; to make them more legible, later prints changed this to black text on a yellow background. Generation II changed the background color of these spaces to orange, although this was changed to yellow (or, in the case of the 50th Anniversary Edition, gold) from Generation III onwards.

O

• Old Age Phase: A slang term some players use to refer the last 20 to 30 spaces on the board before the Retirement space.
• Open Daycare: This space was only present in Generation III and was the second space on the Family Path. Anyone who landed on it would receive a gift of $5,000 per child from every other player. Obviously, a player landing on this space would not receive any money if none of their opponents had any children, and if this occurred in the video game adaptations, the message "No other player has any children to send to your daycare" will appear on screen.
• Option Space: A space which allows players to decide whether or not to make an important optional decision and which (usually) has a blue background. In Generation I, some of these spaces gave players who landed on or passed over them an opportunity to buy a Stock Card or an Insurance Policy. Others were marked "Play the Market" and can only lead to monetary gain (or loss) if a player who landed on or passed over them owned a Stock Card. Starting with Generation II, landing on some of these spaces gave you a chance to enter Night School, while others would give you an opportunity to trade Salary Cards with an opponent; in Generation III, landing on them would trigger a Lawsuit. However, Option Spaces are completely absent from Generation IV, although in Generation V, the Get Married space inherited their functionality.
• Overfill: A term used mainly in over-the-board play when a player's family exceeds 6 people and therefore cannot be fully be accommodated in a mover (which has a maximum capacity of 6 pegs). Some video game adaptations make this impossible by limiting players' families to a maximum of exactly 6 people each (themselves, their spouses, and four children). In Generation V. this occurs when a player is unable to add a peg to their mover due to already having done so five times previously since the start of the game.
• Overspin: This refers to a spin in which the spinner travels farther than you expected it to.
• Overtake: This occurs when a player spins the spinner and ends up spinning a number such that their mover passes another player's mover on their turn and must therefore advance to the next unoccupied space on the board, given that no more than one player can occupy a given space at any one time (except via house rule) - it is impossible for two or more players to occupy the same space.
• Over-the-board: A term referring to a game played using a physical set instead of in video game format.

P

• Pass & Play: As applied to the video game adaptations, this refers to a multiplayer game that is not played online, but solely on one device (which can be a home console, a PC or a mobile device, depending on the version). In versions which do not support online multiplayer, this is the only way to play a multiplayer game.
• Pay Card: A Share the Wealth Card found in Generations I and III that can be given to another player upon landing on a Pay Space (and on Taxes Due in Generation I). Anyone who receives this card must pay 50% of the amount the card's user would normally pay to the bank, unless the recipient negates its effect with an Exemption Card. In Generation III, if the amount paid cannot be split equally between two players, the player who used the Pay Card would always pay the lower amount, and Pay Cards could not be used to split amounts of $5,000 or less (whereas in Generation I, they could be used on spaces requiring a payment of at least $5,000). Finally, Pay Cards could not be used after retirement.
• Pay Cut: An informal term used only in Generation III to refer to when a player lands on a Lose your Job space, but cannot replace their existing career with a new one due to a lack of available regular Career Cards. They will thus retain their current career, but must still return all of their Pay Raises to the bank as usual.
• Pay Day: A green space on the board (red in Generation I) that rewards any player who passes or lands on it with their salary as stated on their Career Card. In Generation I, any player who landed on these spaces would also receive a Share the Wealth Card, and in addition to these, some of these spaces were marked as "Interest Due", whereupon any player who landed on or passed them would also pay $500 in interest for every bank loan they had. However, in Generation III, some of these spaces were Pay Raise spaces; anyone who landed on or passed such spaces would receive a Pay Raise unless their career's salary had reached its maximum value. Finally, in Generation V, any player who landed exactly on a Pay Day space would receive their Bonus Salary from the bank (see above) instead of their usual salary.
• Pay Raise: An item unique to Generation III that could be acquired by passing or landing on a Pay Raise space. However, it cannot be obtained by a player whose career's salary had reached its maximum value, and it would not take effect until the first Pay Day space after the raise was collected. Also, a player who changed careers for any reason would have to return all of their Pay Raises to the bank. Finally, once collected, Pay Raises would remain in a player's inventory indefinitely until they retired or changed careers (for any reason) - whichever came first.
• Pay Space: A space on the board that requires any player who lands on it to pay a specific amount of money. In Generations I and III, landing on these kinds of spaces provides the player with an opportunity to use a Pay Card on an opponent if they had one. However, in Generation IV, they are only found on the Risky Path of Life. In Generation V, this type of space was removed entirely.
• Path of Life: The route a player follows during a game, from Start College/Start Career at the very start, all the way to Retirement at the end of the game.
• Peg: A small plastic piece, usually colored pink or blue, that represents a person in a player's family (or, in Generation V, a friend or pet). Pegs are placed into holes in a player's mover (see above).
• Pension: The penultimate space on the board in Generations II and III. Originally, anyone who landed on it would have to spin once and receive $20,000 multiplied by the number they had spun; therefore, this space could originally yield up to $200,000. However, in Generation III, the amount of money that could be earned through pension was halved; it now equated to $10,000 multiplied by the number the player had spun, therefore yielding a maximum reward of $100,000.
• Plaintiff: A player who lands on a Lawsuit Space and therefore gets to sue an opponent for $100,000. This only applies to Generation III.
• Play the Market: A type of Blue Space in which a player who landed on or passed it while owning a Stock Certificate could make a bet by covering the numbers 4 through 6 with their Stock. That player would then spin the wheel once. If they spun less than 4, they would pay the bank $25,000; if they spun higher than 7, they would earn $50,000 from the bank; if they spun any other number (between 4 and 6 inclusive), they would not gain or lose any money. No other players can bet on the spinner while someone is Playing the Market.
• Poor Farm: In Generation I, this is where players place their movers if they eliminate themselves from the game by making an unsuccessful attempt to become a Millionaire Tycoon and therefore becoming Bankrupt. It would be replaced by Countryside Acres from Generation II onwards.
• Post-Retirement Spin: In Generation III, this refers to any spin made by a player who has already retired. Any player can receive money from their Long-Term Investment during these turns if the number spun matches their investment number. This feature was also present in the Enhanced Mode of the video game version of Generation II, where players could gain or lose money depending on where they retired and the number they spun.
• Profit Margin: Another term for Resale Value (see above).
• Promissory Note: Obsolete term for Bank Loan, used only in Generation I.

Q

• Quick Game: A term used to refer to a shortened game mode in some video game adaptations.
• Quick Spin: An option in some video game adaptations that lets the AI spin the wheel automatically, instead of manually spinning by clicking on the wheel and dragging it in an arcing or elliptical motion.

R

• Range: The furthest a player can travel along the board during their turn.
• Ranking: The order in which the players finish (in terms of net worth) at the end of a game.
• Resale Value: The amount of money a player can earn from selling a Starter Home (in Generation III only) or House (from Generation 2.5 onwards). Usually, this is a fixed amount, but some versions require the property's owner to spin once to determine how much money they will earn from the sale. In that case, depending on the number spun, that player can make a loss, earn a profit, or simply break even. Early Generation II sets did not have this feature (nor was it present in Generation I), although it can be implemented via a house rule.
• Retiree: A player who has retired by reaching the final space on the board. That player must then wait until all other players have retired before he/she can calculate their final net worth.
• Retirement: The final space on the board from Generation II onwards, replacing the Day of Reckoning space from Generation I. Any player who reaches this space must stop, repay the entirety of their debt, sell any houses they own, and return their Career Card to the bank (in addition to their Salary Card and Insurance Policies in Generation II, or their Pay Raises in Generation III), as well as receiving gifts from any children they have (from Generation III onwards). From here, a player can retire either to Countryside Acres or Millionaire Estates (see above for info on these terms) depending on how confident they are in being the wealthiest player, but they must still retain their Stock Card (in Generation II) or Long-Term Investment and Share the Wealth Cards (in Generation III). Finally, in Generation IV, the first, second, third and fourth players to retire will receive $400,000, $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively.
• Retrograde: Another term for Backward Motion (see above).
• Return To School: Introduced in Generations III and IV as a replacement for Night School, this is one of the options a player can choose upon reaching the first Branch Space. Selecting it in Generation III requires a $50,000 payment (borrowing from the bank if necessary) and then spinning again. In Generation IV, however, returning to school involves paying $100,000, followed immediately by drawing two College Career Cards, and finally choosing the desired card as a replacement for your current career, before spinning again to continue your turn.
• Revenge: A mechanic introduced in Generation I in which a player can force an opponent to pay them $100,000 (if they have at least that much money available) or move back 10 spaces, although it cannot be levied against anyone who has retired at Millionaire Acres. In Generation II, it was only available in the Enhanced Mode of the video game adaptation, and even then, it involved collecting their salary from any opponent who had not retired at Countryside Acres by landing on a Pay Day space. No other versions have this feature, however; Generation III, for example, replaced it with Lawsuits.
• Revenge Lawsuit: Another term for a counter-lawsuit (see above).
• Revenge Salary Trade: A term some players use for trading salary cards with another player who had previously done the same to you. Especially satisfying if you re-acquire a salary you previously had in the process.
• Revision: An official change to the rule set of a specific version of the game made during its print run. This has happened once with each of the four main versions, with the exception of Generation III.
• Risky Path of Life: Introduced in Generation III, this was one of two options a player could choose late in the game. Originally, it contained four Spin to Win spaces, a Lawsuit Space, and a few high-value Pay Spaces in addition to a Pay Day space. However, this was simplified in Generation IV; it now consists of a sequence of high-value Collect Spaces with some Pay Spaces in between.
• Rotation: The order in which the players take their turns, as determined by the initial round of spins.
• Round: A term referring to a complete cycle of turns. If there are fewer players, there will be more rounds in the game, but each one will have fewer turns; on the other hand, if there are more players, there will fewer rounds in the game, but each one will have more turns. Although the minimum length of a round has always been 2 turns (for a 2-player game), the maximum length of a round was originally 6 turns due to the game supporting a maximum of six players, but this was decreased to 4 turns in Generation IV, which only supports four players at most.
• Running Order: The order in which the players' net worth is listed (in descending order) at any point in a game.

S

• Safe Path of Life: Also introduced in Generation III along with the Risky Path of Life, this is the more conservative of the two options available to a player late in the game. It was originally much shorter than the Risky Path (4 spaces compared to the Risky Path's 8) and had two Life Spaces, a low-value Pay Space and a Pay Day space. However, in Generation IV, it now mostly consists of Action Spaces.
• Salary: The amount of money a player earns upon passing or landing on a Pay Day space. This is tied to a player's career, except in Generation II, which had a separate Salary Card deck for salaries (see below). In Generation III, it could be increased through Pay Raises until a player retired, lost their job, or reached the maximum salary for their career (whichever came first).
• Salary Card: A type of card with a green background on its obverse side. It is exclusive to Generation II and represents a player's salary, with values ranging from $20,000 to $100,000. Originally, any Salary Card could be combined with any Career Card, but Generation 2.5 made this impossible by placing salaries in one of four different Salary Groups (see below).
• Salary Group: A set of one, two or three Salary Cards distinguished by the color of the text representing the amount printed on the reverse side. There are four Salary Groups: Blue ($20,000 and $50,000), Red ($30,000, $40,000 and $80,000), Green ($60,000, $70,000 and $90,000) and Yellow ($100,000). This feature was only used in Generation 2.5. However, it does not affect Salary Trades (see below)
• Salary Trade: The act of trading salaries with another player. This can only occur in Generation II; even then, a player must land on a Trade Salary space to be able to do so. Obviously, if all other players have retired, trading salaries with other players becomes impossible. The greater the positive difference in salaries, the more effective the trade is; hence, it is always best to trade salaries with a player whose salary is more lucrative than your own. Anyone who exchanges Salary Cards in this way is called a Salary Trader.
• Share the Wealth Card: A collectible inventory item present in Generations I and III that a player could use against an opponent (or, in the case of Spin to Win Cards, which were exclusive to Generation III) on oneself when the opportunity arose. In Generation I, each player started with one of these cards and could collect more by landing on Pay Day spaces, but they could not be used against an opponent who was Playing the Market or having a Lucky Day; in Generation III, each player started with three of these cards and could collect more by landing on Share the Wealth Spaces (see below). In either of these versions, you can use Share the Wealth Cards against anyone who has retired.
• Share the Wealth Space: A special space (found only in Generation III) with the words "Take a Share the Wealth Card" printed on it. Any player who lands on it will receive a random Share the Wealth Card.
• Side Bet: In Generation I, this referred to a wager a player could make during an opponent's turn. Any player making a Side Bet must choose up to two numbers and wager up to $20,000. If the number spun matches any of the numbers chosen during a Side Bet, the player who chose that number will receive 10 times the amount of money they wagered from the bank. Note that the player whose turn it is can only bet during a Lucky Day and never during a Side Bet. In addition, side bets cannot be made if an opponent is Playing the Market. However, from Generation III onwards, some players use this term to refer to any and all wagers placed during a Spin to Win by any players other than the one whose turn it is.
• Single: A term referring to a player who has not married yet. In Generation V, a player can stay single for the entire duration of the game simply by choosing not to get married.
• Silver Salary: This is a term applicable solely to Generation II. It refers to the second most valuable Salary Card currently in play. For example, if the most lucrative salary currently in play is worth $100,000, then the next most valuable salary in play can be worth up to $90,000. Given that salary trades usually involve the player with the most valuable salary currently in play, having the Silver Salary is generally preferable under such circumstances.
• Solo: A slang term most commonly used in Generation V to refer to a player who has not yet acquired any pegs of any kind, other than the one with which they started the game. Unlike in previous versions, it is possible for a player to retire while in this state, and any player who does so will not receive any bonuses for extra pegs.
• Space: A section of track on the board that makes up the Path of Life. There are many different types of spaces, but not all of these types have been present throughout every version of the Game of Life.
• Special Ability: A unique ability specific to each Career designed to improve its chances of earning money throughout the game. Each special ability has a different description that is printed on the reverse side of the corresponding Career Card. This feature was first introduced in Generation II, but initially, only the Police Officer had it. For Generation 2.5, all other Careers (except for those that require a degree) were given their own unique special abilities. Generations III and IV, however, did not have this feature (except in some video game adaptations of the former, and even then, only when playing the Enhanced Mode).
• Speeding Ticket: A small amount of cash (usually $5,000, except in Generation 2.5 where it was $10,000) paid by any opponent who spins a 10 to the player with the Police Officer Career Card. If none of the players have that career, they will not have to pay any Speeding Tickets. This feature is only present in Generations II and III (although there exists a house rule to remove it from the latter), but was completely absent from Generation IV onwards.
• Spin: The act of spinning the spinner, usually done to determine a player's movement along the board, and in some versions, to determine monetary rewards, such as house resale values, and the value of gifts (if any) received from other players. For a spin to be valid, it must make at least one full 360-degree revolution - any rotation less than 360 degrees will result in the player having to spin the spinner again.
• Spin-Off: Any version of the Game of Life that does not use the standard rule set for the generation produced alongside it, instead using a different rule set specific to it. There have been many of these throughout the years; some spin-offs only exist in video game format, but most are produced only in physical sets.
• Spin Duel: This gameplay element was introduced in Generation III to decide who would give an opponent a Collect Card if more than one player chose to do so. All players spin as many times as necessary until one of them spins the highest number. That player will then use a Collect Card on the selected opponent. In Generation IV, it was overhauled so that Spin Duels are initiated by collecting certain Action Cards, and some of them result in the winner collecting money from an opponent, while others lead to the winner collecting money from the bank. In addition, some Action Cards have instructions for a Spin Duel that can involve up to four players, with the largest amount going to the player who spun the highest number. This mechanic was mostly unchanged for Generation V.
• Spin to Win: A gameplay mechanic introduced in Generation III that replaced (and is similar to) Lucky Day from Generation I. A Spin to Win begins when a player lands on a Spin to Win space. In Generation III, during a Spin to Win, all players may choose whether or not to place a wager; those who do son will then select one, two or four numbers (depending not only on whether or not they used a Spin to Win Card, but also what type of card if they had any) by placing the corresponding number of Spin to Win Tokens on them, before wagering between $5,000 to $50,000 in $5,000 increments. If at least one player made a wager, the player whose turn it is then spins once; if this spin matches a player's chosen number, that player will collect 10 times the amount of money they wagered from the bank. A player will have to pay the bank the amount of money they wagered if the number spun during a Spin to Win does not match any of the numbers they chose. Spin to Win would be overhauled in Generation IV, resulting in what some players call Spin to Win II (see below). However, Spin to Win is completely absent from Generation V, making that version the first one since Generation II not to have this feature.
• Spin to Win II: An informal term used to refer to the revised version of Spin to Win introduced in Generation IV. It works similarly to the previous version of Spin to Win, but all players select exactly one number each, except for the player who landed on the Spin to Win space; that player can select one additional number, before spinning the spinner as many times as necessary until the number spun matches one that was selected; the player whose number was spun would then collected $200,000. Unlike in Generation III, there can only ever be exactly one winner from a Spin to Win in Generation IV.
• Spin to Win Card: A type of Share the Wealth Card exclusive to Generation III. It is unique among Share the Wealth Cards in that anyone who owns one must use it on themselves instead of an opponent, and if they do so, they can select multiple numbers during a Spin to Win. There are two types of Spin to Win Cards: one allows its user to select two different numbers when used, the other allows its user to choose four different numbers when used.
• Spin to Win Space: A special space first introduced in Generation III that begins a Spin to Win whenever anyone lands on it. There are several of them scattered throughout the board.
• Spin to Win Token: An item introduced in Generation III, used only during a Spin to Win to determine the numbers chosen by each player involved. They were originally square-shaped, but became circular in Generation IV, where a silver Token was added for use only by the player who landed on a Spin to Win Space.
• Spinner: The roughly circular plastic piece in the center of the board, which has ten sections individually numbered 1 to 10. Each section is identical in size to the others, making it functionally identical to a 10-sided die (a 1d10) in which the 0 represents 10. Each number also has a different background color to help differentiate them.
• Spouse: The peg added to the player's mover upon reaching the Get Married space. This is usually (but not always) of the opposite gender to that of the player. In Generation V, players do not need to acquire a spouse, since marriage is now optional, whereas in previous versions, it was mandatory.
• Start Career: Introduced in Generation II as a replacement for the Business route, this is one of two options available to a player at the start of the game. Originally, any player who selected it must draw one Normal Career Card (i.e. it did not have the words "Degree Required" printed on the reverse side) and one Salary Card (with Generation 2.5 adding the further restriction that the Salary Card had to belong to either of the Salary Groups the chosen Career Card is compatible with) before they can spin to start their turn. However, from Generation III onwards, selecting this option only requires a player to draw a Normal Career Card at the start of their first turn before they can spin. Furthermore, from Generation IV onwards, any player who chooses Start Career at the beginning must now draw two normal Career Cards and select the one they want. In any case, a player who choose Start Career will not incur any debt (or have to make an immediate cash payment) from the outset.
• Start College: The second of two options available to players on their first turn, and generally the more lucrative of the two. Originally, any player who chose this starting option would have a salary between $6,000 and $20,000 depending on whether or not they landed on the space before the Bachelor's Degree space (and even then, only the first such square counted). In Generation II, Start College required borrowing $40,000 in tuition fees (which was increased to $100,000 in Generation 2.5). This was left unchanged for Generation III, but in Generation IV, instead of starting the game in debt, players who chose this option now had to pay $100,000 due to the amount of starting cash being increased from $10,000 to $100,000.
• Starter Home: A type of property exclusive to Generation III that is purchased upon reaching the Stop Space with the words "Buy a Starter Home" printed on it. Unlike the Houses featured in Generation III, they cost much less, and most (but not all) of them have a resale value-to-purchase-price ratio greater than 1:1 (i.e. they can be sold for more money than they were purchased). Moreover, it is mandatory to buy a Starter Home, although it is optional to trade it in for a better House later on. Finally, a player can select the Starter Home they want to buy, much as they can if they buy a better House.
• Stock Card: A purchasable item found in Generations I and II (referred to as a Stock Certificate in the former) that served as a predecessor to the Long-Term Investment in Generation III. Each stock had a purple background on its obverse side, bore a number from 1 to 9 printed on its reverse side and cost $50,000 to purchase. In Generation I, no player could own more than one Stock at any given time; moreover, owning a stock was mandatory for earning (or losing) money from spaces related to Stock Cards, as well as for Playing the Market, and each Stock Card was worth $50,000 at the end of the game. However, in Generation II, the Stock Card became much less useful; the only way for a player to earn money after obtaining it was to have someone (including themselves) spin its number, thereby earning them $10,000. As such, a player who buys a Stock Card in Generation II will need at least five turns to recoup their investment. Finally, a player must return a Stock Card to the Bank upon landing on a Stock Market Crash space (see below).
• Stock Market Boom: This space (of which there is only one, accessible only on one optional branch partway through the game) is unique to Generation II. Any player who lands on it must collect a Stock Card if any of them are available, regardless of whether or not that player had previously bought a Stock Card.
• Stock Market Crash: This space (of which there are two) is also unique to Generation II. Any player who lands on it must return their Stock Card to the bank; if that player owned two such cards upon landing there, they must choose which one to return. A player who is left without any Stock Cards after landing on this space can purchase another one at the start of any of their subsequent turns.
• Stonewalling: This is a term used to refer to a highly defensive strategy employed in Generation III, where a player has at least one Exemption Card and reserves it for when it will be most needed, while also avoiding participation in Spin to Win (or at least wagering small amounts at most).
• Stop Space: These spaces were first introduced in Generation II and have a red background (except in Generation III, where they had an orange background). Any player who reaches this space must stop, follow the corresponding instructions, and then spin again.
• Sub-Deck: A set of cards within a deck that has a different set of attributes from all other cards in that deck. This only applied to Generation III, where properties and Careers were split into two sub-decks each (Starter Homes/Houses for the former, and Normal/College Careers in the latter).

T

• Tax Evasion: Slang for when a player does not land on any Taxes Due spaces during a game (and, in Generation II, has a Career Card other than Accountant in addition to this). This only applies to Generations II and III due to Taxes Due spaces being absent from all other versions.
• Taxes: In Generations II and III, this is the amount of money a player pays upon landing on a Taxes Due space, with the exact amount being dependent on the player's Salary Card (in Generation II) or their Career Card (in Generation III). Although this feature was removed from Generation IV, some newer video game adaptations retain it in some form.
• Taxes Due: A type of space found only in Generations II and III that forces anyone who lands on it to pay their taxes. In Generation II, a player who held the Accountant Career Card would collect taxes from their opponents, without having to pay taxes themselves.
• Team: This term only applies to Generation V and refers to the collection of pegs a player has at any point in the game. It includes the peg that player started the game with, in addition to those acquired by getting married or landing on Team Spaces. Pegs obtained through the latter are often referred to as Teammates.
• Team Gift: A variation of the Children's Gift in previous versions, introduced in Generation V, referring to the $50,000 bonus each player receives at the end of the game for any peg in their team other than the one they started with.
• Team Space: This type of Blue Space is exclusive to Generation V. There are three types of Team Spaces: Baby, Friend and Pet. The last two of these are new to Generation V; any player who lands on these spaces would gain a friend and pet respectively.
• Tie: A rare situation that occurs at the end of the game when there are two or more players with the same net worth. If at least two players are tied for the lead (in terms of overall net worth) when the game ends, they will all share the victory due to the absence of a tie-breaker condition by default. In general, two-way ties are rare enough, and three-way ties are even more so.
• Tie-Breaker: A special house rule that is seldom implemented in the event of a tie. The conditions vary from house values, to quantity or quality of Life Tiles/Action Cards (with the latter referring to the combined value), and so on.
• Tile: Short for Life Tile (see above).
• Tile Hoarding: A strategy only applicable to Generations II and III wherein a player aims to collect as many Life Tiles as they can in the early stages of a game, then hold on to as many of them as they can for as long as possible. A player who uses this strategy is therefore called a Tile Hoarder. Naturally, such players are tempting targets for anyone who wants to take their Life Tiles if the draw pile is fully depleted; to prevent this, Tile Hoarders prefer to reach the Retirement space as quickly as they can, and retire at Countryside Acres (to prevent opponents from taking their Life Tiles) when they get there.
• Toll Bridge: A set of spaces on the board present solely in Generation I that allows the first player who passes all of its spaces to collect $20,000 in tolls from every opponent who reaches it unless he/she goes bankrupt or is sent back over them due to an opponent taking Revenge on them, after which the second player to pass the bridge can collect tolls.
• Toll Collector: A term applicable only to Generation I, used to refer to a player who collects tolls from their opponents.
• Toll Transfer: This refers to when a player gains the ability to collect tolls by being the second player to pass all of the Toll Bridge spaces after the first player to do so went bankrupt or was sent back over them due to Revenge.
• Trade Salary Card: This is one of two types of Blue Space found only in Generation II; it has the words "Trade salary card with any player" printed on it. A player who lands on any of these spaces may trade their current Salary Card with one belonging to another player if one is available, or they may instead choose to retain their current salary. In Generation 2.5, its function remained unchanged due to Salary Groups not affecting the values of salaries that can be traded.
• Track: The route followed by the Path of Life. It is divided into many spaces, with the exact length depending on the version being played and the route a player chooses.
• Tragedy Space: A term used to refer to a Pay Space whose instructions make an explicit reference to damage to a house or car, thereby forcing any player who did not have the appropriate insurance property to pay the bank the amount of money stated on them. This is a particularly undesirable space to land on in Generation III, which did not have Insurance Policies; however, they are not present in Generation IV, where payments are usually (but not always) tied to specific Action Cards.
• Turn: The actions undertaken by a player when they make their move (spinning the spinner, paying or collecting money, etc.). In Generations I and III, this includes the use of Share the Wealth Cards.
• Twins: This is a type of Baby Space that will cause any player who lands on it to receive two children (instead of one), both of which can be any gender that player chooses.
• Tycooned: Slang for a player who loses the game due to an opponent successfully becoming a Millionaire Tycoon. This only applies to Generation I due to the Millionaire Tycoon victory condition (and its requirements) being removed from Generation II onwards. Conversely, the act of winning the game by becoming a Millionaire Tycoon is called Tycooning.

U

• Underspin: This occurs when you spin the spinner, but it does not travel as far as you expected it to.
• Uninsured: In Generations I and II, this refers to a player who does not own any insurance policies.
• Unlucky Spin: Slang for a Spin to Win in which the number spun does not match any of the numbers chosen by any of the players who placed a wager. Only applies to Generation III; this became impossible in Generation IV due to every Spin to Win resulting in a Lucky Spin (see above).
• Unspin: This can occur in Generation III when a player lands on a Spin to Win space, but none of the players (including the one whose turn it is) place any wagers, ensuring that no money can be gained or lost due to the Spin to Win effectively not taking place. It is impossible for this to occur in Generation IV, which requires every player to take part in a Spin to Win regardless of whose turn it was when a player landed on a Spin to Win space.

V

• Victory Condition: The objective that must be completed in order to win a game. In most versions, this simply means having the most money at the end of the game, but some versions and spin-offs (including many video game adaptations) have other requirements in place of (or in addition to) this simple requirement. In addition, Generation I has an additional victory condition that can only be attained by becoming a Millionaire Tycoon (see above).

W

• Wager: The value of a player's bet during Side Bets/Lucky Days/Playing the Market (in Generation I) or a Spin to Win (from Generation III onwards). Wagers are completely absent from Generation II, which does not have any betting mini-games by default. In Generation IV, all wagers have a fixed value of $200,000.
• Wedding Gift: A small amount of money that can be acquired from other players by spinning the spinner upon reaching the Get Married space. The amount earned depends on the number spun and the game version being played. In Generation I, no gifts could be earned if a player spun 7 or more; however, spinning a 4, 5 or 6 would earn that player $500 per opponent, and spinning 3 or less would yield a wedding gift of $1,000 per opponent. This is in contrast to Generation III, where no gifts could be earned if a player spun any number less than 5, but spinning a 5, 6 or 7 would yield a wedding gift of $5,000 from every other player, and spinning an 8 or higher would yield $10,000 per opponent. Finally, in Generation IV, wedding gifts are now worth $50,000 if an odd number is spun, or $100,000 if an even number is spun.
• Whammy: Slang for any space (or, in Generation IV, an Action Card) that requires any player who lands on it to make a large payment (usually at least $50,000) or to replace their Career Card (and, in Generation II, their Salary Card as well).

X

• X-Ray: Another term for an overtake (see above), used to refer to the fact that a player must pass over (and never land on) a space occupied by another player during their turn.

Y

• Youth Phase: A slang term some players use to the spaces on the board before the Get Married space.

Z

• Zero Net Worth: Not to be confused with bankruptcy, this is a very rare situation that can befall a player if the net worth of all their possessions (including debt) is equal to (or less than) zero. The Lawsuit mechanic in Generation III makes it more common in that version, though, since a player who is sued too often will be more likely to reach this state.

A Simulated Game of Life: An Example Game

A Simulated Game of Life: An Example Game

Disclaimer: I do not own The Game of Life or any of Hasbro's other board games. This is a fan-made experiment in which a full-length Game of Life is simulated, while mostly following the original rule set.

As an expert on the various incarnations of Hasbro's Game of Life, I have been toying with the idea of posting a simulated game on this blog. Well, I've finally gone ahead with it, and to start off, I will simulate a six-player game using the Generation III rule set, using a random number generator to simulate each spin (which is equivalent to rolling a 10-sided die), career choice, and most major decisions. The only rule changes are that the Police Officer's special ability has been removed, and there is an infinite supply of Share the Wealth Cards, thereby bringing it in line with its video game adaptations. Moreover, Pay Cards can be used immediately after landing on a Pay Space whose value is not divisible by 10,000 - more on which below. On top of that, baby gifts are now valued at $5,000 per child, instead of $5,000 per space (which means that any player who lands on a Twins space will receive a baby gift of $10,000 from every other player). Finally, there is an infinite supply of money for the bank(er) to provide to every player over the course of the game - also just like the video game.

Why am I Doing This?

 As far as I am aware, no other person has done it before. Moreover, a typical play session in The Game of Life lasts no more than 3-4 hours on average depending on the version. This simulated playthrough is therefore slower-paced, but this leaves much more time for analyzing the state of play in between rounds - a round is a complete cycle of turns, so the more players there are, the more turns will be required to complete a round. In addition, for each and every single round of a game, I will list every turn in chronological order.

How the Random Number System Works

Spins will be determined using a random number generator (taken from here), as are most major decisions, Share the Wealth Card selections, and Life Tile values. The system is as follows:

• Any spin for movement along the board is represented by a random number from 1 to 10.
• Share the Wealth Cards: 1 = Pay Card; 2 = Collect Card; 3 = Exemption Card; 4 = Spin to Win x2; 5 = Spin to Win x4.
• Spin to Win: Same as for movement along the board, except repeat 2 or 4 times if a player has the corresponding Spin to Win Card. In such cases, if the same number occurs again, generate another number until the required number of unique values has been generated.
• Life Tile values (only after retirement): 1 = $10,000; 2 = $20,000; 3 = $30,000; 4 = $40,000; 5 = $50,000. If no Tiles of a particular denomination remain, you may generate another random integer within this range until it matches a denomination of which there is at least one tile left.
• Career and College Career choice: 1-6, in which the higher the number, the more lucrative the career is. For each career type, decrease the maximum value by 1 every time a career of that type is chosen. If the same number occurs again when choosing College Careers, generate another number.
• Start College or Start Career: 0 or 1, where 0 indicates Start Career and 1 indicates Start College (which requires a loan of $100,000, for a total debt of $125,000).
• Return to School: 1 = return to school (which requires a $50,000 payment); 0 = no return to school.
• Change Career or Get $20,000 Pay Raise: 0 = $20,000 Pay Raise; 1 = Change Career.
• Twins: 0 = two boys; 1 = 1 boy and 1 girl; 2 = 2 girls.
• Take the Family Path: 1 = Family Path; 0 = no Family Path.
• Safe or Risky Path: 1 = Risky Path; 0 = Safe Path.
• Color choice: 1 = red; 2 = orange; 3 = yellow; 4 = green; 5 = blue; 6 = purple. After a particular color is selected, decrease the maximum value by 1, and adjust all other color positions accordingly if necessary (the last color remaining will be assigned to the last remaining player when only one color remains).
• Long-Term Investments (LTIs): 1-9. If a number has already been chosen, generate another number until an unused one comes up.

Note that this system does not apply to buying a Starter Home or House, since for each of these, players should be allowed to manually choose the one they want when the opportunity arises to buy them. Also, players should also be allowed to decide whether or not they want to use a Collect Card whenever they are able to do so.

Career Card Shortages

Sometimes, there may be too few Career Cards of a particular type available for selection. This is resolved as follows: 

• If only one College Career is available, it will be selected automatically. 
• If no other regular Careers are available after a player loses their job, their current one will not be replaced (although Pay Raises will still be lost).
• If no College Careers are available when a player reaches the Change Career space, that player will automatically receive a $20,000 Pay Raise.

Share the Wealth Card Key: P = Pay Card; C = Collect Card; X = Exemption Card; S2W2 = Spin To Win x2; S2W4 = Spin to Win x4.

Career Tax Rate and Salary Range Guide

As per the standard rules, the careers' salary ranges (with the lower value indicating the initial salary, and the upper value showing the maximum salary where applicable) - note that salaries are collected when passing over or landing on a Pay Day or Pay Raise space - and tax rates (the values of which are paid only when landing on Taxes Due spaces) are as follows. Please note that Pay Raises add $10,000 to any Career, regardless of type. Careers in bold denote College Careers, which require a College Degree to obtain. In any case, a player with a career whose salary has already reached its maximum value will not receive a Pay Raise upon landing on or passing over a Pay Raise space.

• Salesperson: $20k-$50k, taxes $5k.
• Mechanic and Hair Stylist: $30k-$60k each, taxes $10k.
• Police Officer and Teacher: $40k-$70k each, taxes $15k.
• Entertainer: $50k and up (no maximum salary), taxes $20k.
• Athlete: $60k and up (no maximum salary), taxes $25k.
• Computer Designer: $50k-$80k, taxes $20k.
• Accountant: $70k-$110k, taxes $30k.
• Veterinarian: $80k-$120k, taxes $35k.
• Lawyer: $90k and up (no maximum salary), taxes $40k.
• Doctor: $100k and up (no maximum salary), taxes $45k.

Prologue

In this example game, we have six players: Bob, John, Ernie, Mary, Rachel and Joan. I have deliberately chosen these names in honor of the video game adaptation of this version of the Game of Life, which used these exact names (among others) for its avatars. Their movers' colors are as follows:

• Bob: Red
• John: Orange
• Ernie: Blue
• Mary: Purple
• Rachel: Green
• Joan: Yellow

These players will now spin to see who goes first. Bob, John, Ernie, Mary, Rachel and Joan spun a 4, 9, 3, 1, 5 and 9 respectively. That means John and Joan must spin again, and this time John spun a 10, which means that he will spin first, followed by Joan, and then by Rachel, Bob, Ernie and Mary (in that order. Now the players will receive $10,000 and three Share the Wealth Cards each. The random generator will be used to generate a set of three cards for each player as stated above, with the process being repeated for each player until they have all received their cards. After several rounds of random generation, the cards that each player will start with are as follows:

• John: 1 Pay Card, 1 Exemption Card, and 1 Spin to Win x2 Card.
• Joan: 2 Collect Cards and 1 Spin to Win x2 Card.
• Rachel: 1 Collect Card, 1 Spin to Win x2 Card, and 1 Spin to Win x4 card.
• Bob: 1 Pay Card and 2 Collect Cards.
• Ernie: 2 Pay Cards and 1 Spin to Win x4 Card.
• Mary: 3 Exemption Cards.

The game will now begin.

Round 1

All players start with $10,000 and 3 Share the Wealth Cards, the types of which are shown above.

John goes first. He chooses a career and draws the Athlete Career Card, which has an initial salary of $60,000. He decides to buy a Long-Term Investment on number 5, and makes his first spin - which turns out to be a 10. By the end of his turn, he has $120,000 in his possession along with a Life Tile, which he received for volunteering at a soup kitchen.

Next is Joan. She goes to college at the start, borrowing $100,000 for tuition fees in the process, and spins a 10. At Career Choice, she draws the Veterinarian and Doctor College Career Cards, eventually choosing the latter for its $100,000 starting salary. She then buys a Long-Term Investment on number 1, and then spins again. This time, she spins a 2, earning $100,000 and a Life Tile (for adopting a pet from an animal shelter) in the process.

It is now Rachel's turn. She follows Joan by going to college at the start ($100,000 debt and all), buys a Long-Term Investment on number 8, and spins a 4, receiving $10,000 for a part-time job. However, Joan and Bob have at least one Collect Card each in their inventories. After pondering whether or not to use them, both players decide to use their cards, and spin to decide who gets to do so. Joan spins a 3, while Bob spins a 2, and so it is the former who uses a Collect Card on Rachel, ensuring that both players receive $5,000 each; as a result, Joan is left with $105,000.

Bob is up next. He chooses a career, just like John, but this time he ends up with the Salesperson Career Card, the least lucrative one of them all. He shrugs, buys a Long-Term Investment on number 3, and spins a 6. He receives a Share the Wealth Card - which turns out to be a Pay Card. He finishes his turn with $40,000.

Now for Ernie's turn. He goes to college, debt and all, buys a Long-Term Investment on number 4, and spins a 4. His turn ends with him having gained $5,000 from his investment and a Life Tile - which he earned for a semester in London.

Last but not least is Mary. She chooses a career, and to her surprise (and relief) she draws the Entertainer Career Card, with a starting salary of $50,000. She buys a Long-Term Investment on number 2 right before spinning a 7. This leaves her with $100,000 and a Life Tile (which she earned from getting engaged).

Round Summary: At the end of the first round, John, Mary and Joan are in a good position, with their high-paying careers. On the other hand, Bob is already in deep trouble; he started with the least lucrative career possible, but all is not yet lost for him if he can turn things around later on. Rachel and Ernie, meanwhile, are currently unknown quantities, since they have not graduated from college yet.

Round 2

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

• John: Athlete ($60k), cash $120k, 1 Life Tile, 3 STW Cards (1P, 1X, 1 S2W2), LTI number 5.
• Joan: Doctor ($100k), cash $105k, debt $125k, 1 Life Tile, 2 STW Cards (1C,1 S2W2), LTI number 1.
• Rachel: No career yet, cash $5k, debt $125k, 0 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (1C, 1 S2W2, 1 S2W4), LTI number 8.
• Bob: Salesperson ($20k), cash $40k, 0 Life Tiles, 4 STW Cards (2P, 2C), LTI number 3.
• Ernie: No career yet, cash $5k, debt $125k, 1 Life Tile, 3 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4.
• Mary: Entertainer ($50k), cash $100k, 1 Life Tile, 3 STW Cards (3X), LTI number 2.

John spins a 3, causing Bob to receive $5,000 from his Long-Term Investment. He receives $60,000 from a Pay Day, along with an additional $10,000 for winning a race - but Rachel and Bob both choose to use a Collect Card on him. Rachel spins a 2, but Bob spins a 6 and collects $5,000 from John, who now has $185,000 in his possession compared to Bob's relatively pitiful $45,000.

Joan pays $100,000 in debt, then spins a 7. By landing on a Pay Day space, she finishes her turn with $105,000 - the same amount with which she started it.

Rachel spins a 5, receiving a Life Tile for Graduation Day in the process, and at the same time, John now has $190,000 in his account thanks to his Long-Term Investment.

Bob spins a 4, causing him to earn a Life Tile for volunteering at a soup kitchen, and Ernie to receive $5,000 from his Long-Term Investment.

Ernie spins a 10 and finally graduates. He draws the Lawyer and Teacher College Career Cards, and immediately chooses the latter for its $90,000 starting salary. He spins again, and again he gets a 10. This takes him straight to marriage and a Life Tile. He then spins for wedding gifts, but doesn't receive any because he spun a 1 (which also gives Joan a $5,000 investment return). He spins yet again, this time getting a 2 (which gives Mary an investment return of her own), and he receives yet another Life Tile for a happy honeymoon. After paying off all his debt, he now has $65,000 left in his account.

Now for Mary's turn. She spins a 3, which causes Bob to receive $5,000 from his Long-Term Investment for the second time this round. As for Mary, she receives another Life Tile for her engagement party, and now has $105,000.

Round Summary: Ernie graduated and got married, but apart from this, the status quo remains mostly unchanged.

Round 3

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($60k), cash $190k, 1 Life Tile, 3 STW Cards (1P, 1X, 1 S2W2), LTI number 5.

Joan: Doctor ($100k), cash $110k, debt $25k, 1 Life Tile, 2 STW Cards (1C,1 S2W2), LTI number 1.

Rachel: No career yet, cash $5k, debt $125k, 1 Life Tile, 3 STW Cards (1C, 1 S2W2, 1 S2W4), LTI number 8.

Bob: Salesperson ($20k), cash $45k, 1 Life Tile, 3 STW Cards (2P, 1C), LTI number 3.

Ernie: Lawyer ($90k), cash $65k, 3 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4.

Mary: Entertainer ($50k), cash $105k, 2 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (3X), LTI number 2. 

John spins a 9 and gets married, earning a Life Tile for his troubles. His next spin is not quite as good; he spins a 1 and therefore does not receive any wedding gifts (on the other hand, Joan is contented with the $5,000 she has just received from her Long-Term Investment). To make matters worse, his next spin lands him on a Taxes Due space - after paying $25,000 in taxes, he has $225,000 in the bank. At least he has a Pay Raise, making him the first player in this game to receive one.

Joan spins a 4 (Ernie's investment number), becoming the second player to get married after John. Her next spin is a 1, which means she doesn't get any wedding gifts either, although she does receive a Life Tile and $5,000 in Long-Term Investment returns. She pays off the rest of her debt, then spins. This time it's a 6, which puts her on a Pay Raise space, ultimately leaving her with $190,000.

Rachel spins a 1 (which gives Joan an extra $5,000 in Long-Term Investment returns) and finally graduates from college. At Career Choice, she draws the Teacher and Accountant College Career Cards, and takes the latter due to its higher starting salary ($70,000 versus $40,000 for the Teacher). On her next spin, she gets an 8, collecting $5,000 from her Long-Term Investment in the process in addition to a Life Tile for an engagement party. She now has $80,000 in cash by the end of this turn.

Bob spins a 2, causing him to elope (which takes him to the Get Married space via a Pay Day space), and Mary to collect $5,000 in Long-Term Investment returns. Having just received a Life Tile, Bob spins again; this time it's a 4, which means he does not receive any wedding gifts (and to add insult to injury, Ernie also received a further $5,000 from his Long-Term Investment). He then spins a 10, taking him to the Buy a Starter Home space via a Pay Raise space. He chooses the Mobile Home, since it's the only one he can afford. He ends the turn by spinning another 2 - and loses his job and Pay Raise in the process. His new career is as a Mechanic with a starting salary of $30,000. All of this elicits no reaction from Mary, who once again receives $5,000 from her Long-Term Investment.

Ernie spins a 4, thereby receiving $5,000 from his Long-Term Investment. He passes the first Pay Raise space, before choosing to buy the Small Cape for $160,000. This uses up most of his cash on hand, but he remains confident that he can win. He spins again, and this time it's a 6. This puts him on a Pay Day space, for which he receives $100,000 from his salary (including his newly acquired Pay Raise).

Mary spins a 5 (which gives John an extra $5,000 in Long-Term Investment returns) taking her past a Pay Day space and to the Get Married space. She receives a Life Tile, then spins for wedding gifts. She is overjoyed to find out that this time, it's a 10 - which means that she receives $10,000 in wedding gifts from her opponents. On her next spin, she gets a 10, which not only yields a Pay Raise but also a choice of Starter Homes. She buys the most expensive one available - the Tudor Style - and spins again. This time it's a 2, and Mary has to pay $5,000 for a flat-screen plasma TV, negating one of her Long-Term Investment returns from this round of turns.

Round Summary: Bob's situation has not improved much, if at all, and in fact he is in debt for the first time in this game. Rachel is holding firm but has not yet married. John and Joan are about to buy a Starter Home, but Bob, Ernie and Mary have already done so. The latter two are shaping up to be the greatest threats to John and Joan's success - for now.

Round 4

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($70k), cash $220k, 2 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (1P, 1X, 1 S2W2), LTI number 5.

Joan: Doctor ($110k), cash $180k, 2 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1C,1 S2W2), LTI number 1.

Rachel: Accountant ($70k), cash $70k, debt $125k, 2 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (1C, 1 S2W2, 1 S2W4), LTI number 8.

Bob: Mechanic ($30k), cash $20k, debt $25k, 2 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (2P, 1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Lawyer ($100k), cash $110k, 3 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($60k), cash $75k, 3 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (3X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John starts his turn by spinning a 5, giving him $5,000 from his Long-Term Investment. He buys the Ranch Style for $140,000 (leaving him with $85,000), then spins again. His next spin is a 9, which causes him to receive $100,000 for winning the Ultimate Idol TV Show. Thanks to his use of an Exemption Card (which negated Joan's Collect Card), he now has $255,000.

Joan, slightly miffed at the fact that she couldn't get a share of John's winnings from her recently used Collect Card, spins a 6, and buys the Log Cabin, leaving her with $60,000. She spins a 5 (adding $5,000 to John's bank account in the process), and has to pay $5,000 to furnish her baby's room, leaving her with $55,000.

Rachel spins a 10, taking her straight to marriage and another Life Tile via a Pay Day space. She then spins a 9, collecting $10,000 from every other player in the process. Immediately afterwards, she pays off her entire debt, reducing her cash on hand to $65,000; she spins yet again, and this time it's another 10, which allows her to not only collect her first Pay Raise, but also buy the Condo, the last remaining unsold Starter Home. With $35,000 left in her bank account, she makes her last spin of the turn. She ends up having twins (twin boys in this case), and thanks to receiving $10,000 per player in wedding gifts, she now has $165,000.

It is now Bob's turn. He spins an 8 (which is Rachel's Long-Term Investment number), passing a Pay Day space in the process, but soon after has to pay $20,000 for the best seats at the big game. He seizes the opportunity to use a Pay Card on John, causing both of them to pay $10,000 instead. This leaves the beleaguered hair stylist with $30,000 - just barely enough to repay his small but significant debt.

Ernie has already lost $20,000 to Rachel in gifts by now, but he recovers some of it on his spin of 4. He receives a Life Tile for attending a Hollywood movie premiere, and despite only having $85,000 in his bank account by the end of his turn, feels a bit better now.

The round ends with Mary spinning a 5 (which gives John another $5,000 Long-Term Investment return). She now has $115,000 to go with the Life Tile she acquired for choosing to vote.

Round Summary: Everyone has gotten married and bought a Starter Home - Rachel even had twins for good measure. John is still in the lead, but everyone else is breathing down his neck - except for poor Bob, who is already a long way behind.

Round 5

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($70k), cash $245k, 2 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1P, 1 S2W2), LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($110k), cash $35k, 2 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1 S2W2), LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Accountant ($80k), cash $170k, 4 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (1C, 1 S2W2, 1 S2W4), LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($30k), cash $20k, debt $25k, 2 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1P, 1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Lawyer ($100k), cash $85k, 4 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($60k), cash $115k, 4 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (3X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John's turn begins with him spinning a 9. He receives $70k for passing a Pay Day space, taking him to $315,000, before landing on a Spin to Win space. Bob passes on the opportunity, but everyone else takes part and bets $50,000 each (except for Joan, who only bets $35,000), with Mary the only one not to have (and therefore be able to use) a Spin to Win Card. John chooses 8 and 9; Joan chooses 3 and 2; Rachel chooses 6, 10, 7 and 2; Ernie chooses 7, 9, 1 and 5; and Mary chooses a 4. John takes a deep breath and spins... and to his surprise and horror, he spins a 4, which means it's Mary who wins a whopping $500,000 from Spin to Win! She laughs with glee as her bank account is boosted to $610,000. On the other hand, John, Joan, Rachel and Ernie all shake their fists furiously at having to pay $50,000 each for losing their Spin to Win wagers. Bob, meanwhile, is completely nonplussed - he had no Spin to Win cards, and could not risk incurring any further debts.

Joan, shocked at having lost all of her cash on hand to a failed Spin to Win, spins a 10, taking her past one Pay Day space before landing on the next one. She now has $220,000.

Rachel spins a 9, and is horrified to find out that she has suddenly lost her job! Worse yet, she ends up with the Hair Stylist Career Card, which is one of the least lucrative of all. Her face fell, and even though she has $250,000 to spare at the end of her turn, she is resigned to the conclusion that winning this game may be much more difficult than she thought.

Bob spins a 6, which takes him to a Lawsuit space. He immediately sues Mary, who slaps him in the face with an Exemption Card. At least his $50,000 will be enough for him to pay off his debt - but at what cost?.

Ernie spins a 2, giving Mary another Long-Term Investment return. He receives a Share the Wealth card, and to his relief it turns out to be a Spin to Win x4 Card - the same type he had used unsuccessfully earlier.

Last but not least is Mary. She spins a 10, earning $60,000 from her salary, and ends up on the Return to School space. She then decides to return to school for $50,000. She spins a 1, causing herself to take a double course load for extra credit - which in the context of The Game of Life, equates to an extra spin. This time it's a 6, which takes her to the Change Career space. However, she wisely takes the $20,000 Pay Raise, and spins again. Her final spin is a 1, which puts her on a Lawsuit space. Her final action for this turn is to sue Rachel for $100,000, putting her rival on the back foot in the process. The turn concludes with her having a staggering $730,000 - well ahead of her nearest competitors. However, Joan received an extra $10,000 in Long-Term Investments during this round as well.

Round Summary: Anything can happen in the Game of Life, and this time it was something totally unexpected: Not only did Rachel lose her job (and a huge amount of money), but Mary, theoretically the least likely of the top contenders to win the game, jumped out into a huge lead by winning $500,000 from Spin to Win, leaving her rivals to lick their wounds. There is still a long way to go, though.

Round 6

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($70k), cash $265k, 2 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1P), LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($110k), cash $230k, 2 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($30k), cash $100k, 4 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1C, 1 S2W2, ), LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($30k), cash $20k, debt $25k, 2 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1P, 1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Lawyer ($100k), cash $35k, 4 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (2P), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($80k), cash $730k, 4 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (2X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John, still trying to put the disappointment of the first Spin to Win behind him, spins a 7, then decides to pay $50,000 to return to school. He then spins a 5, and receives a Life Tile for joining an Honor Society. Understandably, he feels slightly less disappointed at the end of this turn than at the end of the previous one, what with him having $220,000 in the bank and all..

Joan spins an 8, giving Rachel a Long-Term Investment return. Unlike John, she decides to continue on the Path of Life, feeling that she is already content with her job, and spins again. This time it's a 2, which gives Mary a Long-Term Investment return. As for Joan, she gets a Life Tile for visiting her in-laws.

Rachel is utterly shaken after the last round of turns proved to be disastrous for her, but decides to carry on anyway, and spins another 8, earning another Long-Term Investment in the process. She, like John, pays $50,000 to return to school, but then spins a 6 and has to pay $5,000 for going to a summer seminar, leaving her with $55,000.

Bob pays his debt, then spins a 7 and decides to continue on the Path of Life. He then spins an 8, giving Rachel yet another Long-Term Investment return, and earns a Life Tile for running for Congress. In addition to this, he passed a Pay Raise space, bringing his cash on hand to $55,000.

Ernie spins a 5 (John's investment number). He zooms past a Pay Day space and collects his $100,000 salary, only to land on one of those dreaded Lose your Job spaces. Understandably bitter at this twist of fate, he takes a regular Career Card - and to his horror, it's the Salesperson Career Card, which is the less lucrative of the two options available to him.

Mary also spins a 5 (again, John's investment number), passing a Pay Day space in the process. She ends the turn with an extra Share the Wealth Card in her possession along with $815,000 in the bank. The card turns out to be an Exemption Card - it could come in handy later.

Round Summary: Everyone is desperately trying to catch up to Mary, but against the expected run of form, Ernie has lost his job, and with it, any chance of winning. Or has he? We'll find out in short order. At any rate, unless anyone manages to stop Mary from running away with it at the front, this game could turn into a massacre.

Round 7

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($70k), cash $230k, 3 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1P), LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($120k), cash $230k, 3 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($30k), cash $60k, 4 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1C, 1 S2W2), LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($40k), cash $55k, 3 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1P, 1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($20k), cash $135k, 4 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($80k), cash $815k, 4 Life Tiles, 3 STW Cards (3X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John spins a 7 and takes the $20,000 Pay Raise. He spins a 3 (which is Bob's Long-Term Investment number) and lands on a Pay Day space, earning $90,000 from his salary in the process and bringing his total for this turn to $320,000.

Joan spins a 10, passing a Pay Raise space, followed by a regular Pay Day space, and lands on the space that tells her she's won $100,000 on a TV game show. Rachel uses a Collect Card to ensure that they split the winnings 50/50 (both players receive $50,000 each). Joan therefore has $510,000 at the end of this turn.

Rachel spins a 3 (which gives Bob a Long-Term Investment return), then decides to take the $20,000 Pay Raise as John did two turns earlier. She spins a 1, giving Joan a Long-Term Investment return, and sues Ernie, of all people, for $100,000 just to discourage him from returning to school. She now has $210,000 in her bank account.

Bob spins a 4 (giving Ernie a Long-Term Investment return) and lands on a Lawsuit space. He sues Mary for $100,000, but she nullifies it with an Exemption Card. He ends his turn with $100,000.

Ernie also spins a 4 and gets another Long-Term Investment return in addition to the one he picked up on Bob's most recent turn. He continues on the Path of Life and spins a 9, receiving a Pay Raise and a Life Tile (earned for running for Congress) for his troubles. He now has $60,000 in his bank account, but he has emptied the draw pile in doing so. Therefore, from this turn onwards, anyone attempting to acquire a Life Tile will now have to take one from an opponent if possible.

Mary spins a 9 and passes yet another Pay Raise space. She once again lands on a Lawsuit space and immediately sues Bob as retaliation for attempting to sue her two turns earlier. This puts her bank account at $1,005,000 (nearly twice as much as the next wealthiest player), making her the first player in this game to reach the million-dollar mark.

Round Summary: By now, Rachel, Bob and Ernie have fallen so far behind that, to all intents and purposes, they are out of contention unless their luck improves massively later on. Only two players (John and Joan) have a realistic chance of catching up to Mary, but can either of them pull it off? We'll have to wait and see.

Round 8

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($90k), cash $320k, 3 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1P), LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($130k), cash $515k, 3 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($50k), cash $210k, 4 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1 S2W2), LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($40k), cash $0k, 3 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (1P, 1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($30k), cash $60k, 5 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($90k), cash $1.005m, 4 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (2X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

To start things off, John spins a 6. He is forced to pay $20,000 for an art auction, but uses a Pay Card on Joan, thereby forcing both players to pay $10,000 each. This leaves our audacious athlete with $310,000.

Joan also spins a 6. She passes a Pay Raise space, taking her total cash to $630,000. She has to take the kids to sports camp for a payment of $5,000 per child - but without children, she has nothing to pay.

Rachel spins a 2 and lands on a Pay Day space. She ends her turn with $260,000. In addition to this, Mary receives $5,000 from her Long-Term investment.

Bob spins a 9, and in doing so, passes over a Pay Raise space, but is forced to pay $40,000 for buying an SUV. His bank account is still empty, so he uses a Pay Card on Mary, who slaps him in the face with an Exemption Card.

Ernie spins a 10. He passes a Pay Day space and a Pay Raise space only to land on a Taxes Due space. After paying $5,000 in taxes, he has $115,000 to spare.

Mary spins a 7, taking her to another Lawsuit space. She sues Rachel for $100,000. By the end of her turn, Mary has $1,200,000.

Round Summary: Mary is still in front by some margin after that last lawsuit. Joan is catching up, but time is running out. John is firmly in third, but behind him there is an intense fight brewing for the title of "best of the rest".

Round 9

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($90k), cash $310k, 3 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($130k), cash $630k, 3 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($50k), cash $160k, 4 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1 S2W2), LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($50k), cash $0k, 3 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($40k), cash $115k, 5 Life Tiles, 2 STW Cards (2P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($90k), cash $1.200m, 4 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John spins a 2 (giving Mary a Long-Term Investment return), passes a Pay Raise space, and earns a Life Tile for visiting the Grand Canyon. He chooses to take a Life Tile from Ernie - an unsurprising decision given that he has more Life Tiles than any other player. He ends his turn with $400,000.

Joan spins a 1, causing her to receive a Long-Term Investment return. She pays $40,000 for a donation to African orphans, and takes another Life Tile from Ernie, leaving her with $595,000.

Rachel spins an 8. She picks up her last Pay Raise and is approached to send her kids to sports camp - but without any children, she has nothing to pay. She now has $215,000.

Bob spins a 6. He passes a Pay Day space and considers summer school for his children - but he doesn't have any, and therefore doesn't have to pay anything. He now has $50,000.

Ernie spins a 5. He pays $40,000 for a brand-new SUV, but thanks to using a Pay Card on his closest rival Bob, both players pay $20,000 each, leaving Ernie with $95,000.

Mary spins a 4, causing Ernie to receive another Long-Term Investment return. She continues on the Path of Life and spins a 3, receiving a Life Tile (which she takes from Rachel) for learning CPR along with a Pay Raise. She now has $1,295,000 to go with her 5 Life Tiles.

Round Summary: Ernie has lost two of his Life Tiles to players who wanted them badly. He is now effectively locked into a rivalry with Bob for the wooden spoon, with Rachel now firmly in fourth. The top three remain unchanged, however.

Round 10

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($100k), cash $405k, 4 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($130k), cash $595k, 4 Life Tiles, 0 STW Cards, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $215k, 3 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1 S2W2), LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($50k), cash $30k, 3 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1C), LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($40k), cash $100k, 3 Life Tiles, 1 STW Cards (1P, 1 S2W4), LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($100k), cash $1.295m, 5 Life Tiles, 1 STW Card (1X), LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John spins a 10. He passes a Pay Day space and earns $100,000 for being a TV dance show winner. Bob doesn't take it well and immediately uses a Collect Card on him, ensuring that he gets a $50,000 share of the winnings. He now has $555,000.

Joan also spins a 10 and decides not to take the Family Path. She spins a 1, earning a Long-Term Investment return, but has to pay $30,000 for a home gym. This leaves her cash on hand at $690,000.

Rachel's spin is yet another 10, taking her past a Pay Day space and onto the Path of Life (which she chose voluntarily). She spins a 5 (John's investment number), passing a Pay Raise space (although with her salary at its maximum value, she cannot obtain any more Pay Raises) and landing on Spin to Win. This time, John and Joan choose 2 and 5, respectively; Rachel picks 7 and 10 (thanks to her Spin to Win x2 Card), Bob selects 3, Ernie takes 1, 6, 9 and 10 (due to having a Spin to Win x4 Card), and last but not least, Mary goes for 8. Unlike in the last Spin to Win, everyone bets $50,000. Rachel makes a Spin to Win... and the spinner lands on 2, giving John $500,000 while everyone else has to pay $50,000 each, although Mary takes some solace in getting a Long-Term Investment return. As for Rachel, she now has $285,000.

Bob spins a 2 before continuing on the Path of Life. He spins another 1 (which means that on this turn, both Joan and Mary received a Long-Term Investment return each) and lands on a Pay Raise space, collecting his third and last Pay Raise and leaving him with $80,000.

Ernie spins a 7, continues on the Path of Life, and spins a 9. He collects his final Pay Raise, then passes a Pay Day space, but immediately afterwards has to buy a lakeside cabin for $120,000. He uses his Pay Card on Mary - but to his dismay, Mary uses her last remaining Exemption Card on him, forcing him to pay full price and leaving him with $20,000.

Mary, shocked that John has suddenly erased most (but not all) of her lead, spins a 1 (Joan's investment number). She buys a foreign sports car for $30,000, leaving her with $1,225,000.

Round Summary: Suddenly the game has become a much more competitive affair. John has just won big in Spin to Win and narrowed the gap to Mary. Joan is in a distant third, Rachel and Ernie fell victim to the commentator's curse, and Bob may never really get going at all without several strokes of good luck. However, there is still some way to go before the conclusion of this game, during which anything can happen.

Round 11

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows. From this round onward, Share the Wealth Cards are no longer shown in inventories due to all players having used up all such cards and passed the last Take a Share the Wealth Card space.

John: Athlete ($100k), cash $1.06m, 4 Life Tiles,  LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($130k), cash $650k, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $285k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($60k), cash $80k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($50k), cash $20k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($100k), cash $1.225m, 5 Life Tiles, LTI number 2, owns Tudor Style.

John spins a 6, continues on the Path of Life, and then spins a 10. He passes two Pay Day spaces (the first of which is a Pay Raise space), then sues Joan for $100,000, elevating his bank account to $1,370,000, which keeps him in contention for the lead for now.

Joan spins a 5 (John's investment number), passing a Pay Raise space, and collects $500,000 for finding buried treasure. She ends her turn with $1,180,000.

Rachel spins a 4. Ernie gets a Long-Term Investment return, and Rachel passes a Pay Day space, before taking back a Life Tile from Mary. She now has $345,000.

Bob spins an 8, from which Rachel receives a Long-Term Investment return of her own. He passes a Pay Day space before earning a Life Tile (which he takes from Rachel) for adopting a pet from an animal shelter, and now has $140,000 in his bank account.

Ernie spins a 3, which gives Bob another Long-Term Investment return. He collects $100,000 for winning a Nobel Prize, taking his total to $280,000.

Mary spins a 10, taking her past a Pay Day space. She trades in her Tudor Style (which she sells for $200,000) for a Mansion (which costs $800,000), then spins again. She spins a 9, passing two Pay Day spaces (the latter of which is a Pay Raise space) and receives $20,000 of tax refunds. She ends her turn with $945,000.

Round Summary: This game is now a real three-cornered fight between John, Mary and Joan. With Mary the first player to trade in her Starter Home for a new House, this could spark a wave of house trade-ins.

Round 12

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows. No further career changes can occur from this round onward due to every player having passed the last Lose your Job space.

John: Athlete ($110k), cash $1.37m, 4 Life Tiles,  LTI number 5, owns Ranch Style.

Joan: Doctor ($140k), cash $1.18m, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 1, owns Log Cabin.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $350k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 8, owns Condo and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($60k), cash $145k, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 3, owns Mobile Home. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($50k), cash $280k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 4, owns Small Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($110k), cash $945k, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 2, owns Mansion.

John goes first as usual. He spins a 4 (giving Ernie a Long-Term Investment return), then trades in his Ranch Style for a Penthouse Suite - a trade-in costing $540,000. He then spins a 7, passing a Pay Day space, but then has to buy a sailboat for $30,000. He ends his turn with $910,000 in his bank account, which means he's not far behind Mary anymore.

Joan starts her turn by spinning a 7. She passes a Pay Day space, then trades in her Log Cabin for a Luxury Mountain Retreat. She has $860,000 by the time she leaves the Buy a Better Home space. She spins a 4 (again, Ernie's Long-Term Investment number), passing another Pay Day space in the process, and receives a further $200,000 for writing a best-selling book, taking her total by the end of her turn to $1,200,000. In fact, she ends her turn in the outright lead if house values are included in players' net worth.

Rachel spins an 8 and earns a Long-Term Investment. She trades in her Condo for a Modern Victorian, borrowing $40,000 from the bank to cover the payment, and knowing that she could pay off the resulting debt (including interest) quickly. She spins a 6, passing a Pay Day space, and sues Joan for $100,000. She ends her turn with $160,000, not counting her $50,000 debt.

Bob spins a 4, which means that Ernie received yet another Long-Term Investment return. He trades in his Mobile Home for a Double Wide + RV, borrowing $80,000 to make this trade-in successful. He spins another 4, providing Ernie with yet another Long-Term Investment return, and passes a Pay Day space, before landing on a space that required him to pay $50,000 for sending the kids to college - but he has nothing to pay due to not having any children. He ends his turn with $65,000 but is now $100,000 in debt.

Ernie spins a 5, giving John a Long-Term Investment return. He trades in his Small Cape for an Executive Cape and spins again. He then spins a 7, passing a Pay Day space before landing on a Pay Raise space, although he no longer has any room for any more Pay Raises. He now has $180,000.

Mary spins a 6, then chooses to take the Risky Path of Life - a no-brainer given that her confidence level is still at an all-time high. She spins a 7, passing a Pay Day space, then sues Joan for $100,000, thus ending her turn with $1,165,000.

Round Summary: Mary has responded to the threat from John and Joan by suing the latter. Now that everyone has traded in their Starter Home for a new House, we are approaching the closing stages of this game, and an exciting conclusion is virtually guaranteed.

Round 13

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($110k), cash $915k, 4 Life Tiles,  LTI number 5, owns Penthouse Suite.

Joan: Doctor ($140k), cash $1m, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 1, owns Luxury Mountain Retreat.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $160k, debt $50,000, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 8, owns Modern Victorian and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($60k), cash $65k, debt $100k, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 3, owns Double Wide + RV. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($50k), cash $180k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 4, owns Executive Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($110k), cash $1.165m, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 2, owns Mansion.

John goes first. He spins an 8 and passes a Pay Raise space, then takes the Risky Path of Life. He spins a 10, and earns a Life Tile for being a grandparent. He chooses to take a tile from Bob and ends his turn with $1,145,000 thanks to the Pay Day space he passed over on the Risky Path.

Joan, still shaken from being sued twice in the previous round of turns, spins an 8 (which means , passing a Pay Raise space in the process, before taking the Safe Path of Life. She spins a 1 (her Long-Term Investment Number) and has to pay $25,000 for taking her family on a theme park vacation (although she does not have to pay an additional $5,000 per child due to not having any children of her own), leaving her with $1,120,000.

Rachel, having received two Long-Term Investment returns so far this round, pays off her debt right away, then spins a 7, passing a Pay Raise space (ignoring the Pay Raise). She takes the Risky Path of Life, then spins again. This time it's a 9. She passes another Pay Day space, but has to pay $80,000 for redecorating her home. She ends her turn with $160,000 - the exact same amount as she had at the start of this round.

Bob spins a 3, passing the Pay Raise space that Ernie is currently occupying. He receives a tax refund worth $10,000 in addition to his Long-Term Investment return, and ends his turn with $140,000.

Ernie spins a 10 and takes the Risky Path of Life. His next spin is a 5, giving John a Long-Term Investment return. He passes a Pay Day space but is forced to pay a whopping $100,000 to undergo cosmetic surgery. He now has $130,000 left in his bank account.

Mary spins a 7. She passes a Pay Day space, then receives a Life Tile for hosting a family reunion. She chooses to take a Life Tile from Bob to avoid irritating her closest rivals too much. By the end of this round, she has $1,275,000.

Round Summary: The dramatic conclusion we had been awaiting for so long but almost didn't get has finally arrived. Mary is in a tight three-way battle against John and Joan for the overall lead. Meanwhile, the fight for fourth place is equally competitive, with Rachel having only a little more cash on hand than Ernie or Bob.

Round 14

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows:

John: Athlete ($120k), cash $1.15m, 5 Life Tiles,  LTI number 5, owns Penthouse Suite.

Joan: Doctor ($150k), cash $1.12m, 4 Life Tiles, LTI number 1, owns Luxury Mountain Retreat.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $160k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 8, owns Modern Victorian and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($60k), cash $130k, debt $100k, 2 Life Tiles, LTI number 3, owns Double Wide + RV. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($50k), cash $180k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 4, owns Executive Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($110k), cash $1.275m, 5 Life Tiles, LTI number 2, owns Mansion.

John goes first and spins a 10. He passes two Pay Day spaces (the last of which is the final Pay Raise space) before receiving a Life Tile (which he takes from Ernie) for visiting the Great Wall of China. He now has $1,390,000.

Joan also spins a 10. She passes two Pay Day spaces (taking her total to $1,420,000) before receiving a Life Tile (which she takes from Rachel) for becoming a grandparent.

Rachel spins an 8 (her Long-Term Investment number). She passes a Pay Day space (which increases her cash on hand to $225,000 if the effect of her Long-Term Investment is factored in), then receives a Life Tile (which she takes from Ernie) for going hiking in the European Alps.

Bob pays off the debt he incurred while trading up to a better house, then spins a 6. He takes the Safe Path and spins a 10. He passes over two Pay Day spaces, but has to pay $65,000 for hiring a maid and butler service, leaving him with $85,000.

Ernie spins an 8. This takes him past a Pay Day space (and yields another Long-Term Investment return for Rachel), but he lands on the space immediately after it and is shocked to discover he has to pay $125,000 to sponsor a public arts exhibit. He thus ends his turn with $105,000.

Mary spins a 10 and passes the final Pay Raise space. She earns another Life Tile (which she takes from Bob) for becoming a grandparent. At the end of this round, she has $1,385,000 in her bank account.

Round Summary: It could be too little, too late for John, who trails Mary by just $5,000 on paper, but is stuck with a less valuable house. Joan is still within striking distance of victory, but if the next round doesn't go her way, she could fall at the last hurdle.

Round 15

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows. Note that this is the first round in which any player has a chance of retiring.

John: Athlete ($130k), cash $1.39m, 6 Life Tiles,  LTI number 5, owns Penthouse Suite.

Joan: Doctor ($150k), cash $1.42m, 5 Life Tiles, LTI number 1, owns Luxury Mountain Retreat.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $230k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 8, owns Modern Victorian and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($60k), cash $85k, 1 Life Tile, LTI number 3, owns Double Wide + RV. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($50k), cash $105k, 1 Life Tile, LTI number 4, owns Executive Cape. 

Mary: Entertainer ($120k), cash $1.385m, 6 Life Tiles, LTI number 2, owns Mansion.

John spins a 7. He passes the final Pay Day space, then spins for pension, where he will collect $10,000 multiplied by the number he spins. To his relief it's a perfect 10, bringing his total cash to $1,620,000 by the end of his turn.

Joan spins a 10. This takes her past the final Pay Raise space, and she ends her turn by landing on the final Pay Day space. She now has $1,730,000.

Rachel spins a 4. Ernie gets a Long-Term Investment return from it, but Rachel ends up passing the final Pay Raise space only to have to pay $50,000 to undergo a life-saving operation, leaving her with $240,000.

Bob also spins a 10. He passes the last Pay Raise space and the last Pay Day space, but has to pay $35,000 for hosting an entertainment awards party. This leaves him with $170,000.

Ernie spins a 10, just like Joan and Bob did. He passes the final Pay Raise space, but then has to pay $50,000 for having his family website designed, effectively negating his salary and leaving him with $110,000 - the same amount as he had at the start of his turn.

Mary spins a 9. She passes the final Pay Day space before retiring at Millionaire Estates with a net worth of $2,305,000 and 7 Life Tiles.

Round Summary: Mary is the first player to retire, but it will not be long before her opponents do the same.

Round 16

The players' inventories at the start of this round are as follows. Note that this is the first round in which any player has a chance of retiring.

John: Athlete ($130k), cash $1.62m, 6 Life Tiles,  LTI number 5, owns Penthouse Suite.

Joan: Doctor ($160k), cash $1.73m, 5 Life Tiles, LTI number 1, owns Luxury Mountain Retreat.

Rachel: Hair Stylist ($60k), cash $240k, 3 Life Tiles, LTI number 8, owns Modern Victorian and has 2 sons.

Bob: Mechanic ($60k), cash $170k, 1 Life Tile, LTI number 3, owns Double Wide + RV. 

Ernie: Salesperson ($50k), cash $110k, 1 Life Tile, LTI number 4, owns Executive Cape. 

Mary: Retired with $2.305m and 7 Life Tiles, LTI number 2.

John spins a 7. He chooses to end his career by retiring at Millionaire Estates with a net worth of $2,320,000 and 7 Life Tiles. Will it be enough for him to win? He crosses his fingers and hopes for the best.

Joan spins a 6. She retires at Millionaire Estates with a net worth of $2,330,000 and 6 Life Tiles. This gives her more money than any other player, but it may not guarantee victory considering that she has one fewer Life Tile than John or Mary do.

Rachel spins an 8, earning $5,000 from her Long-Term Investment in addition to the salary she gained from passing the final Pay Day space. With no Life Tiles left in Millionaire Estates, she retires at Countryside Acres with a net worth of $805,000 and 3 Life Tiles.

Bob spins a 2, giving Mary a Long-Term investment return. He retires at Countryside Acres with a net worth of $470,000 and 1 Life Tile.

Ernie spins an 8, which yields another Long-Term Investment return for Rachel. He passes the last Pay Day space, collects his salary, and retires at Countryside Acres with a net worth of $560,000 and 1 Life Tile.

Round Summary: Every player has finally retired, which leaves us with one last task - calculate the values of each player's Life Tiles.

Mary has 3 $40,000 Life Tiles, 3 $10,000 Life Tiles, and a $20,000 Life Tile. This gives her a net worth of $2,480,000.

John has 2 $50,000 Life Tiles, 1 $20,000 Life Tile, and 4 $10,000 Life Tiles, giving him a net worth of $2,480,000 and tying him with Mary at the top of the leaderboard.

Joan has 1 $30,000 Life Tile, a $40,000 Life Tile, and 4 $20,000 Life Tiles. This puts her at the top of the leaderboard by taking her final score to $2,480,000, putting her level on cash with Mary and John.

Rachel has two $30,000 Life Tiles and a $50,000 Life Tile. This brings her final score up to $920,000.

Bob's sole Life Tile is worth $30,000, which increases his final score to $500,000.

Ernie's only Life Tile gives him $30,000, taking his net worth to $590,000.

This leaves a three-way tie for first place, and The Game of Life doesn't have a tiebreaker system, so...

Congratulations to Joan, Mary and John for winning this (simulated) Game of Life!!!

Aftermath

Now that the game has ended, let's take a look back on it and examine the key talking points.

College is Overrated... Or Is it?

Three players (Joan, Rachel and Ernie) started the game by going to college, but only one of those (Joan) retained their College Career throughout the game, and she leveraged that consistency until the very end. Moreover, of the top three players, two of them (Mary and John) never went to college at the start of the game.

Returning to School Pays Off... Most of the Time

Although Joan did not return to school, John, Mary and Rachel all did so. However, Rachel made a huge mistake by taking a double Pay Raise at a time when it was possible to trade in her current career for a high-paying college career. For John and Mary, taking the double Pay Raise was not a mistake; in fact, it was one of the most lucrative (if not the most lucrative) options available to them. Ernie and Bob did not return to school because they either couldn't do so or lacked the willingness to fork out so much cash for a potential career change, and they paid a heavy price for their lack of courage.

A Wise Investment

In this version of the Game of Life, it pays to purchase a Long-Term Investment as soon as possible - with this in mind, every player bought one on their very first turn. Some players earned more than others, but the top three in particular benefited from investing early. And while Ernie earned more Long-Term Investment returns than any other player, it was of little consequence after he lost his job early on, and refused to return to school afterwards. Speaking of which...

Consistency is Crucial

...winning the Game of Life usually hinges on whether or not you are able to maintain a consistently high-paying job from start to finish. This is especially true in Generation III, where house resale values and Life Tile bonuses are less important than they used to be.

It Pays to Share the Wealth

Skillful use of Share the Wealth Cards won't just protect you from losing too much money, it'll also help you earn money. In particular, Mary exploited the fact that she had at least one Exemption Card for most of the game, but the other players also generally made good use of STW cards. On that note...

Being Sued Sucks! (Unless You Have an Exemption Card)

...if you get sued often (which is most likely when you are in the lead), expect to lose a lot of cash to your opponents! You can safeguard against this by having an Exemption Card and using it to negate a Lawsuit from another player. And if you have multiple Exemption Cards, all the better.

Post-Game Awards

There is plenty of statistical trivia associated with this example game - here are the most notable examples.

• Most Valuable Life Tile Collection: Mary ($170,000), just ahead of John ($160,000).
• Best Turn: Mary for being the first to Spin to Win (and earn $500,000 from doing so without using Share the Wealth Cards).
• Worst Turn: Ernie for not returning to school immediately after losing his job. Justified in that he could not do so without incurring debt - a situation Bob also found himself in.
• Best Use of Share The Wealth Cards: Mary, for using four Exemption Cards (three to avoid lawsuits and one to negate a Pay Card from Ernie).
• Most Long-Term Investments Earned: Ernie ($65,000).
• Largest Family: Rachel (2 sons).
• Most Lawsuits Filed: Mary (4 lawsuits filed, all of which were successful).
• Unluckiest Player: Ernie, who lost Lawyer College Career early on, did not return to school on the very next turn, failed to earn money in two separate Spin to Win sessions despite using a Spin to Win x4 Card in each one, and had one of his Share the Wealth Cards negated by an Exemption Card, among others. At least he didn't finish last, though.

Conclusion

This project was quite time-consuming and difficult to complete, but it turned out very well in the end. If nothing else, it proved that The Game of Life, much like Monopoly and Clue, are known for their unpredictability, which makes them so fun to play. In fact, I enjoyed this experiment so much that I plan to repeat it - but I may consider doing it with a variation on the video game adaptation's Enhanced Play rule set, or in a completely different version of the board game, which will most likely be Generation II (which I grew up with before Generation III came along). Thanks for viewing, and enjoy your Life!

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 111: Into the Unknown

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 111: Into the Unknown

After recently trying out version 4.2 of Automation in its most recent state (open alpha LCV4.12), I can glad to tell you that I am most definitely impressed. Yes, there are still plenty of mods from earlier builds that have not been carried over yet, and some annoying bugs are still present (as I have already explained in the previous post in this series), but this latest build is generally an improvement over earlier ones. For one, there are now advanced trim settings for wheels, tires, suspension and engine placement, although these are purely aesthetic and will not affect a vehicle's stats in any way. The actual engine and trim configuration options, however, are far more comprehensive and realistic.

With the release of the 4.27 build, there are now many advanced aesthetic trim settings to choose from.

In particular, there are now many more options available when designing an engine. Balance shafts and harmonic dampers are now a selectable item, and are virtually mandatory for high-revving engines due to the durability bonus they provide when they are fitted. More significantly, turbochargers are now much more realistically depicted, with options to select wastegates, boost control and even smart boost depending on the year. In addition to this, thermal stress (which is shown in the turbo graph tab) has been factored in, and excessive thermal stress can even render an engine unusable.

Turbo tuning is more detailed than ever before, as this screenshot of the turbo setup graph shows.

One of the more useful trim settings is the weight balancer, which allows you to skew a vehicle's weight distribution to the front or rear - a handy tool for counteracting excessive oversteer or understeer. There's also a weight optimization slider which you can use to add or subtract weight depending on how much (or little) of it your vehicle needs. On top of that, you can select in-car entertainment systems and grades independently, with the availability of each variant being dependent on the era.

More significantly, though, there are plenty of new car bodies and exterior fixtures that have been introduced in this build, either by default or through mods. To go along with this, some of the existing bodies have been revised, with different measurements and unlock years compared to previous builds - and each body now has a list of compatible seating configurations displayed when you move your mouse over them. This makes it easier to find out if the body you wish to use is the right one for your needs.

One of the most significant changes in version 4.27 is the unlock year for a whole set of sedan bodies being changed to 2006, compared to 2009 in prior releases.

In terms of aesthetics, the range of options in the engine and trim tabs is now much wider than before. There are now far more areas in both tabs that can have their materials and/or colors changed, especially with the new material mods introduced in the opt-in open alpha. This is especially important for anyone seeking a period-accurate appearance for their build.

There are now far more engine components that can have their colors and materials changed - and this is also true of the car as a whole.

All in all, after a period of initial skepticism, I am pleased to tell you that the most recent open alpha build of Automation has finally delivered on its promises. It is still a long way from being as stable as the previous version (4.24), however, even with the latest 4.13 patch, but the gap has noticeably narrowed. In fact, it's now more complete than it's ever been - and it will get better over time.

Dual Vacuum Collapse: Is it Possible?

Dual Vacuum Collapse: Is it Possible?

By far the most dangerous item in the Infinite Space universe is the Limited Vacuum Collapser, a doomsday device that causes a five-lightyear-wide area of space to instantly collapse into a lower energy state, thereby destroying all ships, items and star systems (including your fleet, if it is within the blast radius at the time of detonation) in that part of the map. Normally, this can happen only once per game, but in Sea of Stars, the player can do this twice if the following conditions are met:

• The map contains not only a Limited Vacuum Collapser, but also a Timeless Bauble (which can be used to create a second LVC even if one is already present on the map).
• The player creates an LVC from the Timeless Bauble (which can only be used once).
• When the first vacuum collapse occurs, the Glory system (where the Terran home world, Hope, is located), the player's fleet, and the second LVC (or unconverted Timeless Bauble) are all outside the blast radius - the game will end if either of the former two are engulfed in a vacuum collapse.

This is a rare occurrence, but I've made it happen a few times in the past. In fact, there may be legitimate reasons to do so. For example, you could use the first LVC to eliminate a major threat to Glory (Kawangi dreadnought, Primordius, Urluquai crusaders, Ravian invasion fleets, pirate reinforcements), and detonate the second LVC to remove an ally and/or alien home world(s) you don't particularly like. Here's a recent example.

This screenshot was taken during a game in which I detonated two Limited Vacuum Collapsers on two separate occasions. This is what part of the map looks like after the first vacuum collapse: up until then, the Garthan and Urluquai home systems were present, but now, they are no more, and at least three other star systems were also engulfed.

Recently, I found myself in a situation in which I could cause two localized vacuum collapses in one game: one from a Limited Vacuum Collapser, and one from a Timeless Bauble that I could convert into a second LVC. I detonated the first LVC in a part of the map where it would engulf two alien home worlds (which in this case belonged to the Garthans and Urluquai), making sure to do all the necessary trading between them before the vacuum collapse. After buying the items I wanted, I set the timer, retreated to a safe distance and watched the fireworks. In the aftermath of the "explosion", where there was once a star cluster, there was now a featureless void - but I realized that, with an Anti-Graviton Shunt already fitted to one of my capital ships, I no longer needed to recover the abandoned capital ship Damocles to destroy Primordius, and decided to remove that ship from the map through a second vacuum collapse.

This is what the map looks like in the aftermath of the second vacuum collapse - three more star systems have simply vanished. Among them are the Tchorak home system and the red-orange star system where Damocles spawned.

After the second vacuum collapse, Damocles and the Tchorak were completely gone from the map. Normally this would have made it impossible to get to Primordius, but with one of my capital ships already fitted with an Anti-Graviton Shunt, I was able to reach it anyhow, and converted my flagship (a Terran corvette) into a missile boat armed with two Multi-Missile Launchers - exactly what was needed to blow Primordius to bits. With careful use of a cloaking device, I had no trouble reducing Primordius to an unrecognizable mass of debris.

There was another way I could have dealt with Primordius under these circumstances, however. I could have detonated the second LVC in the Theta system, which was close enough not only to the black hole Chernobog (where Primordius was located), but also the Calatian home system - and considering that I could not make peace with the Calatians this time around, it would have made perfect sense. Had I chosen this course of action, the Tchorak homeworld would have been spared, along with Damocles, and I could have used the latter in combat - but with the Urluquai home world gone by then, I would not have been able to buy another cloaking device to install on Damocles. Nevertheless, I was pleased at how well this particular game turned out.

So why is it now possible to cause two localized vacuum collapses in Sea of Stars? Well, for one, the Limited Vacuum Collapser is no longer a unique item, as was the case in Weird Worlds - as such, there can now be up to two of them present at once on the map at any one time. This may also apply to the original Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, but not in Weird Worlds - unless the LVC is detonated first, and a second LVC is created in its place using a Timeless Bauble - and even then, I have never tried this specific method in that game, so I don't yet know for certain.

In short, causing two localized vacuum collapses in one playthrough of Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars is actually quite wasteful - there is rarely, if ever, any justification to do so - but it definitely looks spectacular, and can even be cathartic if you need to dispose of large numbers of hostile ships at a time without engaging them in direct combat, especially now that there is a limit to how many times you can use a Chromium Gong before it disintegrates. Just make sure your fleet and your home system are at a safe distance at the times of detonation.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 110: A New Dawn

 Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 110: A New Dawn

A new build of Automation has been in the opt-in open alpha phase for the past few months, and in that time, the developers have done a lot to improve its stability, so here it is in a nutshell.

Version 4.2 of Automation not only brings with it reworked turbocharger setups, but also adds a whole host of additional engine and trim settings for a greater variety of options when building a car and its engine. In addition, many new bodies (in various sizes) have been added, along with advanced trim settings to adjust the visual size and shape of key components. Some of those bodies had previously been exclusive to beta testers, but they are now much more widely available for the general player base to use.

So why have I held off on switching to this build so far? For starters, it was notoriously buggy at launch, but thankfully most of these bugs have since been fixed. In fact, the current open alpha build (LCV 4.2.12) is the best it's ever been, but I would prefer to play it safe and wait for the next patch or two after that. Moreover, many mods from previous game builds have not yet been remade for the open alpha, although this situation is slowly improving. Finally, although there are now plenty of challenges running on the latest open alpha, I am not quite as eager to enter them as I once was, although this could change in the future, either due to a game update, the introduction of a new challenge with a particularly attractive rule set, or both.

On the other hand, LCV 4.2 will inevitably enter an open beta phase, by which time it will have been more fleshed out. By then, I will most likely have chosen to finally take the plunge and opt in to the new build, thereby providing myself with a clean slate. I could use this as an opportunity to revisit and rewrite the lore of whatever companies I have made in Automation, and remake some of my favorite designs in the process. Before any of that can happen, however, I'll examine all the new content so that I can understand it better, in the hopes of unlocking its full potential.