Game of Life

You will find a few discussion questions at the end to help you reflect on the experience. Let’s begin.

Click Start when everyone is ready.

Start

You and your newlywed spouse have a modest income of 4 tokens.

Click Next below to collect your income.

Not too shabby, but nothing special. Considering you’re just getting on your feet, your expenses and bills are also 4 tokens.

Click Next to pay your bills.

Now, take a second and decide if you would like to use any funds in your bank towards the options below.

When everyone is finished, click Next.

For every 4 tokens you had in bonds, you received one more (remember, less than 4 produces nothing).

Stocks held even this turn, no losses, no gains.

Click Next to return any investments to your bank.

Congratulations, you got a 25% raise! This turn, you get 5 tokens.

Click Next to collect your income.

Your expenses are roughly the same. Pay 4 tokens.

Click Next to pay your bills.

Now, take a second and decide if you would like to use any funds in your bank towards the options below.

When everyone is finished, click Next.

For every 4 tokens in bonds, you received 1 additional token.

It was a good turn for stocks! For every token in stocks, you received 1 more.

For each rental property you own, you received 10 tokens.

Click Next to return any investments to your bank.

No major changes in income or expenses this turn. You receive 5 tokens and pay back another 4.

Click Next to collect your income and pay your bills.

Now, take a second and decide if you would like to use any funds in your bank towards the options below.

When everyone is finished, click Next.

For every 4 tokens in bonds, you received 1 additional token.

It was another good turn for stocks! For every token in stocks, you received 1 more.

For each rental property, you received 10 tokens.

Click Next to return any investments to your bank.

You’ve made it to middle management! Another raise! You receive 6 tokens this turn.

Click Next to collect your income.

You guessed it, pay back another 4 for bills and expenses.

Click Next to pay your bills.

Now, take a second and decide if you would like to use any funds in your bank towards the options below.

When everyone is finished, click Next.

For every 4 tokens in bonds, you received 1 additional token.

Very rough market this turn. Unfortunately, all tokens in stocks were lost.

For each rental property, you received 10 tokens.

Click Next to return any investments to your bank.

You might not believe it, but you earned another raise, 7 tokens! What a star!

Click Next to collect your income.

The cost of living has also had a bump. Pay 5 tokens back.

Click Next to pay your bills.

Now, take a second and decide if you would like to use any funds in your bank towards the options below.

When everyone is finished, click Next.

For every 4 tokens in bonds, you received 1 additional token.

The market remained choppy, but you came out on top! For every token in stocks, you received 1 more.

For each rental property, you received 10 tokens.

Click Next to return any investments to your bank.

There’s no stopping you now. As a new executive, you earn a whopping 8 tokens.

Click Nexts to collect your income.

Don’t forget to pay those bills! Another 5 tokens.

Click Next to pay your bills.

Now, take a second and decide if you would like to use any funds in your bank towards the options below.

When everyone is finished, click Next.

For every 4 tokens in bonds, you received 1 additional token.

Another good turn for risk takers! For every token in stocks, you received 1 more.

For each rental property, you received 10 tokens.

Click Next to return any investments to your bank.

Things have been going pretty well recently. It’s hard to complain!

One morning, while out on a jog enjoying some fresh air, you began to feel some chest pain. You decide to head to the hospital to get checked out, but the pain starts to get far worse.

It turns out you suffered a massive heart attack. You have an excellent medical team, but despite all their efforts, you unfortunately pass 3 days later with your family at your side.

Click Next when ready.

Let’s take a minute or two and silently reflect on our “lives” over the past 7 turns. Think about how you felt at different points along the way. Think about how you felt at the end. We’ll all share some thoughts in a moment.

Click Next when ready.

You are probably wondering what happened to the 10 turns. Don’t worry, we’ll get there! But first, we’re going to share some of our thoughts.

Think back to the original instructions for the game. What was the goal? If you’re having trouble remembering, don’t worry! There wasn’t one! There were plenty of rules to keep track of, sure. But no explicit goal was given.

After discussing your answers, click Next.

We are given instructions to life in a similar manner. There are lots of rules to follow and lots of strategy to discuss. But what is the goal? We often don’t stop to think about it. But you might argue that it’s the most important question of all.

After discussing your answers, click Next.

Now let’s take a minute to discuss the giving box. Obviously, any tokens used towards giving in the game produced nothing for us personally. Like real life, we often aren’t told how or why to give. But it is only through giving that our money can have any real impact on anyone but ourselves.

You might be surprised to hear that if you simply gave away any excess over your “living expenses” each turn, you would have given away 11 tokens over the course of your “life”.

After discussing your answers, click Next.