Your Best Life Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Icons
• Happiness and Joy
• Setup
  • Setup Example: 2 Couples
• Gameplay
  • Renew Action Display (skipped in the first round)
  • Choose Action cards
  • Use Action cards
  • Update Stress
  • Extra Action
  • Happiness Scoring
• Details
  • Bonuses
  • Digital Persona
  • Post a Story
  • Romance
  • Children
  • Vacation
  • Opportunities
  • Personal Goals
  • Health
  • Shared Goals
  • Balance
• Game End
• Scoring
  • Character Sheet
  • Family Sheet
  • Happiness/Joy
  • Children and Shared Goals
  • Balance Score
• Solo/Co-op Mode
• Invitation Cards
• Story Variant

Components

• 160 Cards
• 8 Erasable Character Sheets
• 8 Erasable Family Sheets (Couples on one side, Singles on the other)
• 8 Action Tokens
• 4 Stress Dice
• 8 Markers

Icons

There are 6 Actions and a Good Luck (Wild Action): Like, Health, Knowledge, Social, Money, Time, Good Luck.

There are 6 main symbols: Relaxation, Stress, Happiness, Balance, Opportunity, Joy.

Happiness and Joy

Happiness will be tracked each round on the Happiness line found on the Family sheet. For a Couple, this value affects both players. At the end of each round, you will copy the current value onto the Happiness Chart in the row of the current round (also found on the Family Sheet).

The Happiness value is not reset between rounds: the value at the end of the last round is the starting value for the next round. Note: you cannot go below -3 Happiness: ignore any loss of Happiness beyond that value.

Joy is tracked directly on the Happiness Chart: as Couples or Singles lose and gain Joy, change the values on the chart in the current round as necessary. At the end of the round, keep the value written there. Joy does NOT carry over from round to round. Start a new round with 0 Joy.

Tracks and Rows: For the most part these words are used interchangeably.

Setup

1. Choose partners to couple with or play singly. You can mix and match: all play as Singles, all play as Couples or any combination of Couples and Singles at the same table.
2. Shuffle the 8 decks separately: Actions, Background, Personal Goals, Shared Goals, Children (single), Children (couple), Post a Story, and Vacation. (If there are no Single players, return the Children (single) deck to the box. If there are no Couples, return the Children (couple) deck to the box.) Invitation cards are used in the Story Variant, see page 8.
3. Couples sit side by side. Each Couple takes a Family sheet, placed 'couple side' up between them. Singles get a Family sheet, placed 'single side' up.
4. Each player takes a Character sheet, a marker, and the Action token matching the bird or flower on their Character sheet.
5. Each Couple and Single marks 3 Xs on the leftmost squares on the Stress Track on the bottom of their Family sheet.
6. Each Couple and Single draws two different Shared Goals cards from the deck, chooses 1 to keep and discards the other. When all Shared Goals have been chosen, return the remaining Shared Goals cards to the box.
7. Each player draws two different Personal Goals cards from the deck, chooses 1 to keep and discards the other. When all Personal Goals have been chosen, return the remaining Personal Goals cards to the box. Keep chosen Personal Goals and Shared Goals faceup.
8. Each player takes a Background card, then marks an X on the leftmost square on the track indicated, and one of the tracks associated with the action indicated. Return the Background deck to the box.
9. Each Couple/Single writes their family name, where they live, character name, hobby, and profession. When done, feel free to introduce your character to the other players! (For more of an interactive storied game, see Story Variant on page 8.)
10. Each player starts with 0 Happiness and 0 Balance on their Happiness line. Mark these on the appropriate value line.
11. Place the Action Deck in the middle of the table and draw 4 Action cards, placing them faceup to the right of the Action deck. This is the Action Display.
12. Place the 4 Stress dice in the middle of the table.

Setup Example: 2 Couples

The example shows two Couples (Richard and Sam, family Robinson, living in Tampa; David and Mavis, family Cooper, living in Richmond) with each numbered setup step marked on the table. Each player has a hobby and profession (for example Richard: Boardgaming, Accountant; Sam: Movie Buff, Pet Sitter; David: Long Distance Running, Coach; Mavis: Working out, Accountant), and each family starts with 0 Happiness and 0 Balance.

Gameplay

The game is played over 10 rounds. During each round, the following steps occur:

Renew Action Display (skipped in the first round)

At the beginning of each round, discard the Action cards currently in the display and refill with 4 new cards from the Action deck.

Choose Action cards

Simultaneously, in collaboration with their partners, all players place their Action token next to one of the Action cards. Each player in a Couple must choose a different Action card. Multiple players can place their Action tokens next to the same card if they are not part of the same Couple. Players that choose a card with at least one player from a different Couple/Single gain one Like and mark an X on their Digital Persona (see 'Digital Persona' on page 5).

Use Action cards

Each player uses all the Actions on the card they chose to mark an X on the leftmost empty squares on their Family or Character sheet where they wish to advance. Then each player gets an extra Action (see below).

The Good Luck Action is a Wild Action. It can be used to represent any other Action.

Actions that offer multiple rows of advancement can only have one row chosen per Action.

Action Example: After using the Money Action to start on a Home, Richard can use the Knowledge Action to further his Education or increase his Creativity. He chooses Education and marks an X in the leftmost available square on that row. Multiple Actions can use the same or different rows.

Update Stress

On most of the Action cards there are symbols showing one or more Stress dice or the Relaxation symbol.

Each player that chooses an Action card with a Relaxation symbol erases one X from their Stress Track on their Family sheet.

For each Action card with a Stress die symbol that is selected by one or more players, pick one of the players who chose the card to roll the number of Stress dice equal to the number of symbols present on the Action card.

For each Stress icon on the rolled dice, all players that selected that card mark one X on the Stress Track on their Family sheet.

The stress track is built from 3 sections: green, white and red. When you mark the first box in the white or red sections, you enter that section and your Happiness value will decrease by 3. When you erase the last box in the white or red sections you enter to the left section and gain 3 Happiness.

Example: Unluckily 4 Stress was rolled, which requires you to add 4 Xs on the Stress Track. When you mark the first box in the white section, you lose 3 Happiness. Then when you mark the first box in the red section, you lose another 3 Happiness for a total loss of 6 Happiness.

If you are at either end of the Stress Track any time you need to add or erase marks, you will instead add or subtract Joy for each mark you cannot add or erase.

Example: You gain a Relaxation due to an Action card but you are already fully relaxed. Instead of erasing a box you will add 8 Joy. Had you gained two Relaxation symbols, you would have gained 16 Joy.

NOTE: track Joy directly on the Happiness Chart for the current round.

Extra Action

Couples: Each player in a Couple also chooses one Action from their partner's card.

Singles: Each Single can use one Action again on their chosen card.

Note: Players can use Actions in any order they wish during their turn. Actions cannot be saved for future rounds.

Happiness Scoring

When all players have finished their turn, each Couple/Single marks their current Happiness value in the Happiness Chart on the bottom of the Family sheet, in the row of the current round.

Details

Bonuses

Rows are split into sections. Some sections will provide Bonuses you receive immediately when finishing the section.

Bonuses can be:

• Advance your tracks on your Family sheet.
• Increase your Happiness and Balance.
• Provide extra Actions.

Whenever the player marks an X on a Bonus, they gain the Bonus immediately.

One-time Bonuses are marked in blue. A one-time Bonus is only gained by the player completing that section of track.

Couple Bonuses are marked in purple. When a player gains a Couple Bonus, both players will gain this Bonus. Note: a Single player will gain the Couple Bonus twice.

Happiness Bonuses will increase the current Happiness.

Bonuses must be used in the current round - they cannot be saved for future rounds. They can also be used for Opportunities (see page 6). Once you have used your Bonus, you may cross it out to show that you have used it.

Example: Having gained a Time Action, David uses it to finish the first section of the Pet Track. This gains him and his partner 2 Likes each (if he were Single, he would gain 4 Likes).

Bonuses can chain: one Bonus could trigger another Bonus, and so on.

Digital Persona

The Digital Persona Track is located on the Character sheet and is built from 2 rows. Start marking X's from the top row (from left to right). When you complete the top row, continue to mark the bottom row (from left to right).

Players will mark Xs on this track whenever a Like Action is gained.

Example: Upon completing this second section, Mavis increases her Happiness by 2 and gains a Like.

Note: The Digital Persona Track is infinite. When you complete the Digital Persona Track, erase all the Xs marked on it. Mark new Xs from the top row, left to right as usual.

Post a Story

When the Post a Story symbol is marked off on the Digital Persona Track, immediately draw 2 Post a Story cards, choose 1 to play, and return the other to the top of the deck. Place the card you chose in the middle of the table and tell all the players that you posted a story.

You gain the Bonus on that card. All the other players can choose to gain this Bonus as well by Liking your story. If they do so, you gain a Like for each player choosing to gain the Bonus. Only one player from each Couple can get the Story Bonus.

After all players have chosen whether to Like your story or not, return the Post a Story card to the deck and shuffle it.

Multiple Stories can be posted and Liked in the same round.

Romance

Once both players finish the same section on their Romance Track (not necessarily on the same turn), they both immediately gain the Bonus marked below the finished section. A Single player gains the Bonus upon immediately finishing a Romance section.

Example: One partner completed their second section of the Romance Track a while ago, and in the current round, the second partner gains two Relationship Actions, which finishes off their second section in the Romance track. For completing the second section of the Romance Track, the player has achieved 6 Life Achievement points, and they and their partner gain a Like Action. In addition, now that both partners have completed the second section of this track, they both gain the Relaxation Bonus Action, erasing 2 Xs from their Stress Track.

Children

If a Couple wishes to have a child, each player in that Couple must spend one Time Action. A Single player must spend only one Time Action.

Then the Couple draws one card from the Couples Children deck, while Singles draw from the Singles Children deck.

Read the card aloud, then place it next to the Family sheet. Each Child card provides a new track that the parent(s) need to complete by the end of the game, or they will lose Life Achievement points. When you complete a track on a Child card you gain the bonuses listed. A Couples Child card gives both players the bonus in purple.

Note: You can have more than one child in a round.

Vacation

It takes two Money Actions to go on Vacation. You can go yourself, spending both Money Actions, or ask your partner or another player. If two different players are going on Vacation each must spend one Money Action.

Each player that goes on Vacation marks an X on the Vacation Track. If going alone you mark two Xs.

Draw a Vacation card and each player can choose one of the Bonuses on that card. Both players can choose the same Bonus. If going alone, you can choose both Bonuses. Then discard the Vacation card.

NOTE: You can go on more than one Vacation in a round.

Opportunities

Some squares are connected to other squares with the Opportunity symbol. These pairs of squares are Opportunities. The more Opportunities you mark, the more Life Achievement points you gain at the end of the game.

When you mark the left square, you may immediately mark off the Opportunity that is linked to it, if you can spend an Action that matches the symbol in that square (Wilds will work). Actions can come from cards or even Bonuses from completed sections gained on the same turn. When you mark off the Opportunity, then immediately mark an X in the leftmost available square on the Opportunities Track at the bottom of the Character sheet.

Note: It is mandatory to mark the left square of the linked Opportunity, but marking the right square is optional: ie. you can miss an Opportunity. You cannot get that opportunity on a future turn.

When you gain an Opportunity symbol from an Action card or Bonus, mark an X on the Opportunities Track.

Personal Goals

At the end of rounds 4, 7 and 10 (marked in blue on the Happiness Chart of the Family sheet), players gain Joy from their Personal Goals cards based on how many squares they have marked off in the appropriate track, and add their points in the current round in the column, under the Joy symbol.

Every Personal Goals card has an icon that indicates what you want to advance, and a table showing how many points you get when you reach certain milestones in your Personal Goals.

Note: For cards where you gain points for marking Xs, also count covered Opportunities.

Example: David has the Doctor Personal Goals which scores for his advancement in Knowledge. The card's table: X marks >=3 gives 2 Joy, >=8 gives 5, >=14 gives 9. At the end of round 4, he has 5 Xs in Knowledge, which gains him 2 Joy (since he has equal to/greater than 3 X marks but less than 8 X marks in the Knowledge track).

Health

In addition to gaining Bonuses from filling in the various sections, when you completely fill in a column, you gain the Bonus shown at the bottom of the column.

Example: When the first column in Health is completed, the player gains a Happiness.

Shared Goals

Each Couple has a Shared Goals card. By the end of the game, you must complete your Shared Goals, or you lose Life Achievement points according to how far you are from completing your goal.

Balance

When you gain a Balance Bonus, erase the previous value on the top left line in the Family sheet and write the new value. At the end of the game, each player will multiply this value to their lowest scoring (non-negative) category of their Character sheet.

Game End

The game ends after the 10th round.

Scoring

All players will score their Character sheets first, and then their Family sheets. Score in the following order:

1. Your total score on your Character sheet.
2. Your Family sheet score.
3. Your total Happiness and Joy.
4. Negative points for incomplete Children and Shared Goals cards.
5. Your Balance score.

SINGLES ONLY: Multiply your score by 2.

The Couple or Single with the most Life Achievement points wins. If there is a tie, victory is shared.

Character Sheet

Sum the Life Achievement points on the Character sheet for each Life Achievement symbol reached in each row. For some rows, you only score points for the rightmost icon reached. Note: The points across a single row are not cumulative. On the Opportunity Row, the Life Achievement symbol reached is the leftmost square that is not crossed off.

Example: Richard's Education row is completely filled. However, he only scores 9 Life Achievement points for that row, not 13. You only count the rightmost Life Achievement points reached in a row. If Richard had also completed the Creativity row he would gain another 3 Life Achievement points, since it is a different row from Education.

Once you have filled out and totaled the scores on your Character sheet, transfer those points to the Family sheet.

Family Sheet

Sum the Life Achievement points on the Family sheet for each Life Achievement symbol rightmost reached in each row (Home, Vehicle, Vacation, Pet, and Child). Remember, the points across a single row are not cumulative. Write down the score on the Family sheet score line.

Example: The total here is 13 Life Achievement points: 9 for the Home, and 2 for each Vehicle. Since the Vehicles are in different rows, their Life Achievement points are added together.

Happiness/Joy

Sum all the Happiness and Joy Life Achievement points from the 10 rounds and place this total into the Happiness/Joy line of the Family sheet scoring chart.

Children and Shared Goals

Sum up the Life Achievement points lost for any incomplete Children and Shared Goals tracks. Write down the total in the Children/Shared Goals column. These points will be subtracted from your total Life Achievement score.

Example: While the Child track is full, this Couple fell short of the Materialist goal (they didn't finish the last Home section) and therefore loses 8 points.

Balance Score

Each player calculates their Balance score by multiplying their Balance value at the top of their Family sheet by the lowest (non-negative) Life Achievement points number on their Character sheet. For Couples, sum the value of both players and write down the total in the Balance column.

Example: Richard and Sam have 6 Balance. Richard multiplies this by the Health row since it is his lowest value (3). His Balance score is 18 (6x3). Sam has 4 as his lowest value so he multiplies that by the 6 Balance and gets 24. Adding both scores together, they write 42 on the Balance line of the scoring chart. Then add all the scores together and write the total on the last line.

Note: Singles double their final score.

Solo/Co-op Mode

This mode can be played by a Single player or one Couple. Play the game with the same rules and compare your results to the table.

Score	Result
400+	Perfect life!
350-399	Everybody envies you
300-349	You are very happy
250-299	You enjoy your life
200-249	Life is good
<200	Life could be better

Invitation Cards

Place the Invitation cards in the middle of the table. When a special event occurs in your life, such as a wedding, a child, a housewarming, or anything you wish to celebrate with your friends, take an Invitation card and write an invitation to the other players.

Example: "We invite you to John and Jenny's wedding at the Bon Bon Wedding Hall".

Invitation Cards are just for fun and do not affect the game mechanics.

Story Variant

This variant allows players to tell their story as achievements are made. Major life events can use the Invitation cards (see above).

Other, smaller events can be described to fellow players.

When an Opportunity is taken, you can tell everyone about it - how the opportunity presented itself and how it was achieved.

You can tell the other players how your vacation went.

When a child is born, share the child's name with the other players.

When you Post a Story, don't forget to tell everyone what you did and inspire them to do the same and give you likes.

At the end of a round, every player can share what they did with their life this round, and then a new round begins.