The Game of Life Card Game
The Game of Life Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
72 LIFE cards, 14 Career cards, 4 Student/Married cards.
Object
Have the most points at the end of the game. You'll gain points by playing cards from your hand.
Setup
Separate the cards into Career cards, Student/Married cards, Early LIFE cards, and Later LIFE cards. (You can tell which is which by the card backs.) See Figure 1. Shuffle each deck separately. Deal 4 Early LIFE cards to each player; then place the remaining Early LIFE cards facedown on top of the Later LIFE cards. Place the LIFE card pile and the Career card pile facedown, where everyone can reach them. Place the Student/Married cards off to the side.
Figure 1: The card backs for the Career, Student/Married, Early LIFE and Later LIFE decks, with the Early LIFE cards placed on top of the Later LIFE cards.
Everyone looks at his/her cards, but doesn't show anyone else. And no trying to sneak a peek at someone else's cards! The youngest player goes first. Play then passes to the left.
Before You Begin: College or Career?
Before your first turn, you must decide whether you will go to college or start a career.
If you choose to go to college, take a Student/Married card and place it Student-side up in front of you. It will take you 3 turns to earn your degree. Follow the directions on the card.
If you choose to start a career without going to college, draw the top 2 cards from the Career card deck and look at them.
- If neither card requires a degree, choose one and discard the other.
- If one requires a degree and the other doesn't, you must choose the one without a degree. Discard the card that required the degree.
- If both require a degree, discard both cards and draw again (2 at a time). Keep trying until you draw one that doesn't require a degree.
After choosing your career, place your Career card faceup in front of you so everyone can see, and shuffle the discarded card(s) back into the Career card deck.
Figure: The Student/Married card. Its Student side lists Time 2 for Turn 1, Time 2 for Turn 2, and Time 4 for Turn 3, with Money 0 each turn. At the end of Turn 3, before discarding, draw 2 Career cards and choose one. Reshuffle the others back into the Career deck.
On Your Turn
- Draw cards.
- Decide if you are going to spend Time or Money this turn.
- Play one or more cards from your hand.
- Discard a card.
1. Draw Cards
Draw as many LIFE cards as you need to bring your hand to 5.
For your first card, you have a choice. You can draw the top card from either the LIFE card draw pile or the discard pile. (If you are the first player and there is no discard pile started, you must draw from the draw pile.) If you need to draw more than one card (in order to bring your hand to 5), all cards after the first one must be drawn from the draw pile. In Later LIFE, if the card you draw has just one large letter on it (an L, I, F or E), immediately put it faceup on the table and draw a new card (see LETTER cards, on the reverse side).
2. Decide If You Are Going to Spend Time or Money This Turn
Every Career card and Student card has both a Time value and Money value listed on it. These tell you how much Time OR Money you can spend on each turn. (Students have no Money, just Time, as listed on the Student card.) Most of the LIFE cards also have a Time value or Money value listed on them. This tells you how much these cards cost to play. You decide which you are going to spend, but keep in mind that you can only spend one on a turn. So, if you choose to spend Time, you can only play cards that cost Time. If you choose to spend Money, you can only play cards that cost Money.
Figure: A Career card (Doctor, Degree Required) with Time 3 and Money 8. Doctors get a lot of Money, but not a lot of Time.
When trying to decide which to spend, Time or Money, look carefully at the cards in your hand and remember, you only have as much Time and Money as your Career card lists.
There are two types of cards that allow you to add your Time and Money together. The "Sabbatical" card allows you to add your Money value to your Time value for a turn, and the "Lucky Lottery Ticket" card allows you to add your Time value to your Money value for a turn. You can also save Money for a later turn by playing a "Save for a Rainy Day" card.
Sometimes, playing a card will change the amount of Time or Money you can use on future turns. For example, each child you have takes 1 away from your Time and every promotion you get increases your Money by 1. Sounds just like real life, doesn't it? It is easiest to keep track of the changes by lining these cards up under your Career card.
Figure: A Teacher Career card (Time 8, Money 3), an "It's a Girl" card (Time -1) and a Promotion card (Money +1), lined up together under the Career card. Now you have Time of 7 and Money of 4.
Figure: An Artist Career card, showing its Score value (2) and the Time you get per turn (7) and Money you get per turn (2).
Remember: Look closely at the cards in your hand before you decide what you will spend this turn. Once you've decided on Time or Money, you must tell the other players. And yes, you have to tell them before you play any cards. So, what'll it be?
3. Play One or More Cards From Your Hand
Now it's time to play your cards. Do this by choosing cards from your hand and placing them faceup in front of you. You may play as many cards as you want, as long as you don't spend more Time or Money than you have available to you this turn.
Remember: If you have any children, you don't have as much time as you used to.
Some of your cards may have additional things on them that you must do before you can play them. For example, if you want to play an "It's a Girl" card you first need to be married. See Getting Married, below.
Figure: The "It's a Girl" card (Time 2, must be married; Time -1). MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DONE EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO PLAY THE CARD.
Most cards also have a Score value in the center. This is what the card will be worth at the end of the game. For example, this "Exercise Regularly" card will be worth 1 point when the game ends. Try to play cards that have a higher Score value if possible.
Figure: The "Exercise Regularly" card (Time 2, Score value 1).
Getting Married
On any turn, after you have started your career, you can get married. You cannot get married while still in college. To get married, take one of the Student/Married cards from the side of the play area and place it Married-side up in front of you. It costs Time to get married, so on this turn you can only play cards that cost Time.
Having a Change of Heart
"Change of Heart" cards allow you to change your mind and discard a card that has already been played. By using this card you can discard one of your cards if you want, or you can discard one of another player's. To play a "Change of Heart" card, place it faceup in front of you. Then choose any card already in play that has a Score value of 1 to 6, and place that card in the discard pile.
Cards with a SPECIAL Score value (*), a Score value of 0, or a Score value greater than 6 cannot be discarded using the "Change of Heart" card.
If you choose to discard a Career card using the "Change of Heart" card, the player losing the Career card draws a new one immediately; see Before You Begin: College or Career on the reverse side.
4. You Must Discard a Card to the Discard Pile
At the end of your turn you must discard 1 card faceup to the discard pile. So don't play all of the cards in your hand. Keep at least one to use as a discard.
Letter Cards
There are four Letter cards in the LIFE card pile (an L, I, F, and E). If you draw a Letter card, immediately place it faceup on the table so all players can see it, and then draw a replacement. When the 4th Letter card is placed on the table (spelling out the word "LIFE"), the game ends. The person drawing the 4th card does not get a turn. Life is funny that way.
NOTE: Letter cards may not be drawn in the proper order, so place them on the table leaving room for the missing letters.
Figure: An "L" Letter card.
Scoring
Once the 4th Letter card is placed on the table, all players add up the Score values on all of the cards they have played. Children cards (It's a Boy, It's a Girl and Twins) have a SPECIAL Score value. Your first child is worth 0 points, your second child is worth 1 point, your third is worth 2 points, and so on. Twins count as two children and therefore score twice with the same card.
Don't forget to include the Score values on your Career card and your Married card.
NOTE: Cards still in your hand at the end of the game do not count toward your final score.
Winning the Game
The player with the most points wins! In the case of a tie, the person with the fewest cards played (on the table) wins.
Rules for 4 Players
In a 4-player game, players team up as partners. Sit so that your partner is directly across the table from you. Play using the rules from above but make the following changes:
- All players are dealt 3 cards. Then on your turn, draw enough cards to bring your hand to 4.
- All of your team's cards are played in front of one partner.
- Both partners can use their team's played cards in order to play others.
- Partners may not reveal what is in their hand or tell each other what to play.
- If you and your partner decide to go to college, your turn counts as Turn 1, your partner's turn is then Turn 2, and your 2nd turn is Turn 3. Congratulations! You've graduated. Now pick your career.