We love to play games as a family. Board games are such classics that they always provide great entertainment for the entire family and offer good clean fun. Plus it is a great time to teach kids how to be good sports, be happy for those who win and be gracious losers as well. Plus it builds family relationships.
One of my favorites as a kid was The Game of Life. I have been wanting to get this game to add to our own family collection for quite a while but for some reason, I just never got around to it.
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Well, finally thanks to Hasbro; we now have the NEW Game of Life. And let me tell you it is a huge hit with my kids! This is the first experience my boys have had with this game. It was a lot of fun to see the excitement of someone who is playing the Game of Life for the very first time. Like I said, this was a favorite of mine and I had played it many times growing up. But the New Game of Life has quite a bit different from the original game.
First of all; the set up is a lot easier and faster. It no longer takes 20 minutes just to get the game started. So that is a big improvement. I like the new design of the board and game play actually goes a lot faster. And it is really simple for my boys to understand.
Not to mention the rule sheet is a lot easier to breeze through, it is easier to find all the rules for each square too. Plus there is a lot less money options. Now everything is in the thousands with $10,000 being the lowest, then 50K, 100K, and 500K. That is all. That means it is a lot easier to do all the math in the game.
Everyone starts with $200K and before the game even begins you decide if you are going the college route or just starting with a job. If you are going to college you pay $100K before you even spin the wheel. So at first, my kids didn’t want to go to college. But when they saw the difference in the pay day prices of career vs college career jobs they quickly changed their minds.
I personally love the idea of how they use cards to pick the careers now. Now you all have an equal shot of getting the best paying career and not have to worry about getting the exact number spin to land on the right square.
There are also a lot more opportunities to get kids and houses in the New Game of Life than in the original as well. And a lot of fun action cards and more ways for everyone to gain money throughout the game.
And as I mentioned multiple times before; the gameplay just goes a lot smoother and faster. So while the game still takes a good chunk of time to play; it doesn’t take as long as the original game used to take.
Although; we do miss a few features of the original. Such as only 4 people can play the New Game of Life. Instead of 6. Right now that isn’t too much of an issue because Miss Jade isn’t old enough to play yet, but as she gets older we all won’t be able to play the game together because our family is too big. So I think that was a big mistake in the game change.I would like to see future versions go back to the 2-6 players option.
And the cool “mountain” attachments to the board are no longer part of the game. That’s a silly feature to miss I know, but I do miss the cool mountain passes.
Also at the ending, you no longer have to guess if you should go to the Millionaire Mansion or not and pray that you have the most money otherwise you lose the game. It is now simply that the first person to reach the end gets the biggest cash bonus. With each subsequent playing getting a little less in bonus pay.
To finish off the game; you turn in all the action cards you earned, sell your house/homes, and get cash for each kid (yeah for child tax credit!). The person with the most money wins! Super easy. And cashing in the money is a lot faster with the smaller option in bills too. Although we did find that we often ran out of $10K bills and had to do a lot of cashing in as the game progressed.
For those that have been looking for the instructions, I found ours, and here are some close-up pictures, so you can remember how to play too!
But overall; our family has absolutely loved playing the New Game of Life. It is a classic that is a great addition to every family board game collection! My boys ask to play it every weekend when we have time. And on the other Snow Days or Holidays when we don’t have school. It is a hit and I think it will get a lot more gameplay for quite a while to come. We’ve already had to take it to the grandparent’s house so the kids to play it with the Grandparents.
And if you follow us on Instagram; you already saw it’s a great game for all these SNOW Days with school canceled. What a fun way to pass the time and enjoy the day together!
We give The New Game of Life two thumbs up. The Game if Life is available for purchase at mass retail stores nationwide, on Amazon and from Hasbro. Be sure to like Hasbro Game Night on Facebook for more great Family Game night ideas!
