The Game of Life from Hasbro Review and Reader Giveaway

The Game of Life from Hasbro has gone through a lot of changes in the last 30 years. See how the newest version compares to the original.

There are certain games that bring back strong memories of childhood.  For me, one of those games is THE GAME OF LIFE.  I do not know how many times we played that game, but I remember hours and hours of sitting on the floor, driving my little plastic car around the game board and picking up little plastic peg husband and kids as I went.  

So, I was really excited to check out the latest version of THE GAME OF LIFE from Hasbro.

To be honest, the old game in the picture below isn’t even my original game set!!  The one below is a 1985 version that I bought as an adult because my original game, which is from the 1970s, is still at my Mom’s house.

First, I’ll give you the “official” info about the NEW game:

The Game of Life Description:

Where will your choices take you?

You made it through high school, so now what’s next? Go to college or start a career -it’s your choice. Think the family life is for you? Take that path and see how many kids you’ll have! Will you venture down the risky road where fortunes can be won… and lost? Do whatever it takes to retire in style with the most wealth at the end of the game.

Spin the wheel of fate and take a drive along the twisting roads families have enjoyed for more than 50 years! Do good deeds as you go through the game to earn Life Tiles and more money down the road!

Includes: Game board, 6 Plastic Pawns, Pink and Blue “People” pegs, 1 bridge, Label Sheet, 3 Mountains, 25 LIFE tiles, Banker’s tray, 7 Buildings, 24 Spin to Win Tokens, Spin to Win Strip, Deck of 54 Cards, Spinner Base, Ring and Dial, Stack of Play Money, Bank Loan and Pay Raises and Instructions.

For 2 to 4 players.

Adult assembly required.

Ages 9 to Adult.

To put the newest version of THE GAME OF LIFE to the test, we had a grown-up only game night with just me and my hubby, Mario.  He’s often not the first one to want to play board games, so I was surprised at how totally ready to play he was. He has great memories of the game himself, so wanted to check it out. He even took charge of reading the directions.

The game itself is very similar to the original version in many ways.  You still choose whether you’ll go the college route or straight to career route.  You get married, you get babies, you collect your salary, you travel through life.

One of the additions is that there are now Action Cards you draw every time you land on a space that isn’t otherwise occupied by another instruction.  With each of these cards you have the chance to complete an activity and either gain or lose money.

As you can see above, someone thought he was realllllly hilarious when he landed on the Get Married space.  Actually, he is pretty funny because on one of the Action Cards it said, “Bonus Payday!  Choose another player to be your boss and tell them a joke.  If they laugh, collect a bonus payday from the bank.”  

I tried my hardest to keep a straight face when he dew that card, but as hard as I tried I couldn’t help myself and ended up laughing. He was happy to get his bonus salary!

Bonus Salary Rules from Earlier Version of The Game of Life

In the 80s version you were also able to get a Game of Life bonus salary, but it wasn’t quite as fun as telling jokes! In that game there were certain Career Spaces around the board and if you landed on one of them, the rules said you had to pay any player who had the corresponding career.

For example, if you landed on the Ski Accident space, it was one of the Doctor’s Career Spaces so you would have to pay $5K to the person with the Doctor Card or if you landed on the Taxes Due space you had to pay the accountant. And if you had the Police Officer career card, then whenever anyone spun a 10 they had to pay you $5000!

All-in-all, we had a lot of fun playing THE GAME OF LIFE.  It’s always interesting to see what new twists and turns can be added to our favorite classic games to make them all new for the next generation.