The Game of Life is one of the most popular board games played as indoor party games and was created the very first as long back as in 1860 by Milton Bradley who had named it The Checkered Game of Life then.
Later in 1960 Milton Bradley Company, which is a subsidiary of Hasbro now, published the game in its modern version. Although the game is designed for two to six players to participate but it can be extended to as much as eight to ten players as well.
The 1970s/1980s version of the game is a journey from "Infancy" to "Happy Old Age" passing through the "good" spaces by landing on to them and collecting 100 points for doing so, spinning a small wheel on which any number from 1 to 10 can be gotten to move ahead. The wheel is placed in the middle of the board, which also accommodates mountains, buildings, automobiles and a bank issuing notes, insurance policies, promissory notes, and stock certificates.
Players get their salaries either through shorter route called Business paying $12,000 per pay day, or through the longer route called College paying anything from $16,000 to $50,000 per pay day. The players also get "Share the Wealth" cards of three types - Collect, Pay, and Exemption.
On important life events adding members to the family, the players "collect presents" from other players. There are three insurance policies - automobile, life, and fire. Some spaces are marked "Lucky Day" rewarding players with money. Retirement could be settled for in the "Millionaire" space where the player with the largest sum of money wins the game.
There are three newer versions - the 1992 version, the 1998 CD-ROM version, and the 2007 Current Version of The Game of Life - one of the most popular board games played as indoor party games; which we shall be taking up in our next posts to come.
US $47.72
