The Game of Life was first created over 40 years ago by Reuben Klamer. Since its creation, the game has undergone some changes to keep up with the times. None of the changes have been quite as drastic as they are in the latest edition, The Game of Life: zAPPed Edition for iPad.
The physical board is pretty similar in appearance to the original, with a few adjustments to make room for the iPad. I’ve heard some rumors of multiple changes to the game, and that they were…interesting, but until well had a chance to get our feet wet, I wasn’t aware just how interesting those changes were.
The game starts just like it always has. Each player spins to see who goes first. You get the option to go to college or jump right into real life. The fun begins when you get to choose your career.
In the board game (and the original iPad version), you get to pick one of so many cards, and whichever one you pick, your stuck with. In this game, you automatically get to pick one of three cards (each facing up, so you know what you’re getting). After you pick your career, your peg gets a new set of accessories to match what you’ve chosen.
The game continues and the iPad keeps up with where you are and what you should be doing on each spin. Some of the spots require you to play a game and others play a video from America’s Funniest Home Videos.
The most interesting change we ran across, was when it was time for us to get married.
In the original version and the iPad version, if you were a girl character, you married a boy automatically (and vice versa). In this version, you are given the choice to marry a character of the same sex. If you are playing with a child, take note of this just in case they have questions.
My son thought he was choosing his road trip buddy, not his spouse. He has a “girlfriend” so once we explained to him what was going on, he decided on his own to pick the girl.
The game continues and I ran across my first (and only issue) with this version. When it came time for our pegs to multiply, it asked us what we wanted. Instead of leaving it up to chance and us getting whichever nature intended, it let us chose if we wanted a boy or girl. The same thing happened later when my son had twins. He was given the opportunity to chose the combination of boy and girl that he wanted. This was a little disappointing to me.
In real life, you are not given the chance to chose. You get what you get. On the upside, I learned that my son would like to have one boy and two girls when he grows up.
My favorite part of the game was the ending. After everyone has retired and the points are tallied, you get to go through your “life scrapbook.” Within the scrapbook are the highlights of each player in the game. It was fun to flip through each of our scrapbooks and see all the things our pegs were able to do.
Overall, this version is pretty fun. The videos are all from America’s Funniest Home Videos and gave us a few laughs along the way. It was an interesting way to spend our family time that week.
I would recommend this game for anyone aged ten and up. After playing this with a six-year-old, I just don’t think anyone younger than ten is going to appreciate the choice they are making or fully understand their decisions.
You can find The Game of Life: zAPPed Edition for iPad
In exchange for my time and efforts in reporting my opinion within this blog, I received a free review sample. Even though I receive this benefit, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.
