Family game
The Game of Life
Spin through college, jobs, family and retirement; richest player wins
- Set-up
- About 5 min
- Reading
- Some
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Families with children aged 8 to 12 who enjoy choices like 'college or a job straight away?' and seeing how they turn out
Think twice if You want a game where good decisions beat lucky spins; most of the result comes from the spinner
How we rate it
Learning curve. You spin, move and do what the space says, with a handful of yes-or-no choices. The only fiddly parts are counting money in thousands and playing banker, so younger children need an adult nearby, but the rules sit with UNO and Connect 4 at 1 on our scale.
Luck & skill. The spinner moves you, sets the price your houses sell for and pays out investments, and Career and Action cards are drawn blind. Choosing college, investing early or retiring early can help a little, but luck decides most games. Even The Strong museum's Hall of Fame page says chance plays the largest part.
Interaction. Everyone mostly follows their own road. The contact comes from Action cards that involve all players and from investments: whenever anyone spins your number, you get paid.
Set-up. The first time, an adult slides the spinner into the corner of the board and sorts the money. After that, choose a banker, shuffle the Action, Career and House cards into three face-down piles, and give everyone a car, one peg for themselves and the matching Invest card. Then each player picks college or a career.
Reading. Action, Career and House cards carry short English sentences that someone has to read aloud, and money is counted in thousands (10K, 50K, 100K). A parent can read for younger children.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
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Is The Game of Life right for you?
Great if
- Families with children aged 8 to 12 who enjoy choices like 'college or a job straight away?' and seeing how they turn out
- A relaxed festival-night game where grandparents, parents and children can all play without learning any strategy
- Talking with children about salaries, loans and saving money in a playful way
- Groups of three or four; the current box has four cars
Skip it if
- You want a game where good decisions beat lucky spins; most of the result comes from the spinner
- You often have more than four players, since the current box only takes four
- Your children are under 8 or don't yet read English, unless an adult reads every card aloud
A place on the honours list
Good company to be in.
Recognition from beyond our table.
National Toy Hall of Fame (The Strong National Museum of Play), 2010 (Inducted)
How The Game of Life plays
Everyone starts with a car, one peg for themselves and an Invest card. Before your first spin you choose a path: college, which costs 100K in fees but opens better-paid jobs, or a career straight away, where you draw two Career cards and keep one. Career cards marked with a diploma are only for college graduates.
- Time to teach: about 10 minutes.
- Reading and language: Career, house and the 55 Action cards carry short English sentences that someone has to read out, and players handle play money in thousands (50K, 100K). Children of 8 who read English can manage; younger ones need an adult as banker and reader. Hasbro India has also released the game in Tamil and Telugu.
How to Play the Game of Life in 3 minutes! (Step-by-Step Guide) · Tabletop Duo
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Spin
Turn the spinner and move your car that many spaces along your road. A STOP! space halts you even if you have moves left, and you make the choice it shows: graduate, marry, grow your family, midlife spinout or retire early.
- 2Land
Do what your space says: collect your salary at Payday, draw an Action card, add a peg for a friend, pet or baby, buy or sell a house, or pay 50K to invest in a number that pays you whenever anyone spins it.
- 3Win
When everyone has retired, sell your houses, collect 50K for each extra peg in your car, repay 60K for every loan and count your cash. The richest player wins.
The full explanation: how a game of The Game of Life goes
On your turn you spin the wheel and move your car. Each time you pass a Payday space you collect your salary, and landing exactly on one pays a bonus salary instead. Action spaces make you draw a card that may give or take money, Friend, Pet and Baby spaces add pegs to your car, and House spaces let you buy a house or sell one by spinning red or black.
Stop spaces halt you even if you have moves left: graduation (spin 3 or more to pass, then choose from four careers), whether to get married, whether to grow your family (each costs 50K), a 'midlife spinout', and the choice to retire early or keep working.
Invest spaces are the main gamble. For 50K you put your Invest card under a number on the board. From then on, every time anyone spins that number you get paid, starting at 10K and rising to 50K, so investing early pays more. If you run short of money you take a bank loan, which costs 60K to repay.
At Retirement you park and collect a bonus: 200K for the first to retire, down to 10K for the fourth. Once everyone has retired, you sell your houses, collect 50K for every peg in your car apart from your own, repay each loan, and count your cash. The richest player wins.
What's in the box
- 1Gameboard with spinner
the spinner slides into a corner of the board the first time you play - 55Action cards
read aloud when you land on an Action space; some give you a choice of two - 20Career cards
jobs with salaries; cards marked with a diploma are only for college graduates - 11House cards
each shows a price and two sale prices, one for a red spin and one for black - 4Invest cards
one per player, matching the car colours - 4Cars
- 36Pegs
in six colours, for you and the partners, children, pets and friends who join your car - 1Money pack
play money in thousands (K) - 1Game guide
English
Box: 40 × 27 × 4 cm, 0.98 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
Contents from Hasbro's F0800 game guide (the Indian print, code 0821F0800IN12) and the contents line on the back of the Indian box. Indian listings give the same parts. Hasbro does not list the money notes. Older Life boxes are different games in the same spirit: the E8277 pack still listed in India has 'Day of Reckoning' and 'Millionaire Tycoon' rules, and the 2017-2020 version (Hasbro item E4304) had 100 cards, 24 people pegs, 12 pet pegs and 'Spin to Win' tokens. The 2021 F0800 box also dropped the plastic buildings that older boards had.
Where to buy
Paid link · We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
The Game of Life is the spin-and-move family game many parents remember, and reviewers still enjoy it for the same reasons: everyone gets to choose college or a job, marry, buy houses and invest, and the stories that come out of those choices keep the table talking. The 2021 version's investment track keeps you involved on other players' turns, and nobody is knocked out before the end. The common complaint is that the spinner decides far more than your choices do, so it is a game of luck with light decisions, and a full game runs close to an hour. Pick it for chatty family evenings with children of 8 or more, not for strategy.
What people love
- Big life choices such as college or a job, marriage, children and houses give families plenty to talk and laugh about
- Spin-and-move rules that grandparents, parents and children of 8 or more can all follow
- Investing in a number pays you whenever anyone spins it, so you stay involved even after you retire
- Nobody is knocked out: play continues until everyone has retired
Common complaints
- The spinner and the card draws matter far more than your decisions
- At around an hour, it runs long for such a light game
- One reviewer found the 2021 spinner flimsier than on older boards and missed the old plastic buildings
Based on 6 reviews and discussions
- Review The Game of Life Review (WGTP, September 2023) · What's Good to Play (UK)
- Review The Game of Life version 2021: A depiction of American capitalism in living, working, and retiring (Kemchanin Pornpipatsakul, December 2022) · PlayLab! Magazine, Tampere University
- Players Is there skill in rolling a spinner? (January 2020) · Board & Card Games Stack Exchange
- Players What if I don't own a house in Life and land on a pay square (January 2016) · Board & Card Games Stack Exchange
- Award The Game of Life (The Strong, page published August 2021) · The Strong National Museum of Play
- Reference The Game of Life · Wikipedia
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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| Why consider it | This game Spin through college, jobs, family and retirement; richest player wins | A different fit Another Hasbro money game, longer and more about trading | A different fit A 15-minute card game with the same buy-and-collect fun | A different fit Another Hasbro family classic made in India, with more thinking |
| Players | 2–4 | 2–6 | 2–5 | 2–6 |
| Best with | 3-4 | 3-4 | 3-5 | 4-6 |
| Play time | 45–60 min | 1–6 hrs | 15–30 min | 45–60 min |
| Age | 8+ | 8+ | 8+ | 8+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Available | Imported | Available | Available |
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Questions people ask about The Game of Life
How long does The Game of Life take to play?
Hasbro doesn't print a playing time on the current box. With four players, expect roughly 45 minutes to an hour, a little less with two. Players who choose to retire early finish sooner and wait for the others, still collecting any investment payouts.
Can more than 4 people play The Game of Life?
The current Hasbro box (item F0800) is for 2 to 4 players and has only four cars. Some older versions took up to six players. With a bigger group, playing in pairs that share a car is one way to include everyone.
Is The Game of Life available in Hindi or other Indian languages?
Hasbro India released The Game of Life in Tamil and Telugu in 2022, and a Malayalam version is also sold on Amazon.in. We did not find a Hindi edition of the board game. The standard box in Indian stores is in English.
How do you win The Game of Life?
The player with the most money at the end wins. After everyone retires, you sell your houses, collect 50K for each extra peg in your car (spouse, children, pets or friends), pay back any loans at 60K each, and count your cash. Retiring first also earns the biggest bonus, 200K.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Reuben Klamer, Bill Markham
- Publisher
- Hasbro (first published by Milton Bradley)
- In India
- Hasbro India Toys Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai (marketer); made for it by Yuno Packaging Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru
- First published
- 1960
- Players
- 2–4
- Barcode
- 630509971886
- Language
- Some English – Career, house and the 55 Action cards carry short English sentences that someone has to read out, and players handle play money in thousands (50K, 100K). Children of 8 who read English can manage; younger ones need an adult as banker and reader. Hasbro India has also released the game in Tamil and Telugu.
- Box size and weight
- 40 × 27 × 4 cm, 0.98 kg
- Awards
- National Toy Hall of Fame (The Strong National Museum of Play), 2010 (Inducted)
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Hasbro - The Game of Life F0800 official instructions page
- Hasbro - F0800 rules (PDF)
- The Game of Life - Wikipedia
- Toycra - The Game of Life Game Classic Family Board Game (F0800)
- Crossword - The Game Of Life by Hasbro Gaming
- Hamleys India - Hasbro Gaming The Game of Life Family Board Game
- FirstCry - Hasbro The Game of Life Game Family Board Game
- Toycra - Hasbro The Game Of Life (E8277)
- Telangana Today - Hasbro launches Monopoly, Game of Life in Telugu
- Funskool - Wikipedia (Hasbro joint venture 1987-2014)