The Game of Life is one of those classic board games that I feel like every American house has in their collection. I fondly remember playing the board game with my cousins as a young child. Now, though, everything has a digital version, so it was no surprise when The Game of Life 2 came out on multiple platforms, bringing the board game to life with many different adjustments that would make it more interesting for modern children.
I am not saying modern kids don’t like board games, but in a world of digital games, it just makes sense to bring some of these classics to life on your devices! The Game of Life 2, unlike the original board game, has a bunch of different worlds for you to play. The board itself feels longer; so there seems to be more to play.
This game is very similar to the board game; you and your friends are racing around a board looking to get the most out of life. There are different decisions to make, tiles that can change your life, and a lot going on. You start with a set amount of money, and can decide to go to college, invest in houses or have a family. These routes, apart from college, don’t often guarantee anything, but instead you have a better chance of landing on that tile to achieve it.
The different boards have a few changes between them; different jobs that make sense in those worlds, different outfits so your avatars can match the world, different icons if you want to theme your icon, and different houses you can invest in. All of the action cards are the same between worlds, which felt like an oversight to me. It’s weird that in fantasy land I am still investing in comic books or upgrading my computer. This complaint aside, the different worlds are really pretty and fun to play through!
The game itself allows you to play locally, using pass and play, play online with friends or play with bots. I love the fact that there are bots, which can allow lower numbers of people to play, and smaller children to play on their own. There are various puzzle pieces you can unlock by playing the game and achieving different goals within the game, which are fun if you like collecting. At the end of every game, there is a summary of what each player had done too.
If one person gets through the board quickly, they also get to continue spinning to either add money or add experiences to their life, which can help them in the end. My goal in The Game of Life 2 is always to spin low (though, it is random) and hope that I have more options and experiences! Some areas, like the risk decision, actually can have you hitting taxes a bunch of times, which might require you to take out a loan. The loan will then need to be repaid, or will count as negative points when it comes to the end of the game.
The Game of Life 2 feels like a classic, with a lot of additional character through the map having animations and through spinner spinning games which often have you winning money or paying other players. Our family are really enjoying it, especially playing together and seeing what their lives bring based on luck and decisions they make!
You can find The Game of Life 2 on PC, Xbox, Play Station, Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch.
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