The Game of Life Gets a Midlife Makeover

Hasbro Toys is releasing and updated version of its classic board game Life.  Parents complained that the old version of the game wasn’t giving kids a true picture of what to expect when they grow up.

So Hasbro has added “harsh reality cards,” which players will draw when they land on a depressed woman sitting in a dark nook in the kitchen. A harsh reality card example reads, “litigation and subsequent divorce.” If drawn that player loses half his money, house, car, and children and must use the “Ford pinto of shame” game piece for the next 10 turns.

Reception of the revised game from parents has been positive but less so from children. In child trials one child who drew the harsh reality “cancer” card cried for 20 minutes before curling up in a fetal position next to the board. Perhaps the new version needs teenage age restrictions because kids play games for the same reason adults see movies – for entertainment and escapism.

Harsh Realities Enter Game of Life

Would you want your son or daughter to draw a harsh reality card that read:

• Muffin top grows into 30-pound belly bagel
• Aunt Mary leaves and hormonal Helen moves in
• Husband leaves you for man
• Scrapbooking turns to $500 a month addiction

 

Where is your life leading you? Are you driving or still in the passenger seat?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: cancer, divorce, makeover, midlife, muffin top

Category: Health & Happiness