Biography of a Board Game 223.5 - The Game of Life

Ludology

• Episode: Biography of a Board Game 223.5 - The Game of Life
• Website: Ludology
• Feed URL: http://ludology.libsyn.com/rss
• Duration: 00:17:34
• Published: 2020-04-26 18:00

Scott goes into the checkered history of The Game of Life, which has had many inspirations and incarnations, and is still going strong. 

(Content warning: this episode contains quick, passing references to sex and suicide.)

0m00s: Join Gil's and Emma's remote playtesting groups!
1m44s: A Little Pretty Pocket Book. Fun fact: this book contains the first appearance of the term "base-ball," although that term at the time was an alternative regional name for the sport now known as Rounders.
2m37s: The New Game of Human Life. Here's the original French game that inspired it, which BGG has under the name La Vie Humaine un Nouveau Jeu.
3m19s: More information about the teetotum, which was often used to avoid the impression of gambling. 
5m48s: The Reward of Merit, The Mirror of Truth: Exhibiting a variety of Biographical Anecdotes and Moral Essays calculated to Inspire a Love of Virtue and Abhorrence of Vice, and The Mansion of Happiness.
7m45s: The Checkered Game of Life.
9m17s: The Game of the Telegraph Boy, Game of To the North Pole By Airship, and The Game of Playing Department Store.
9m32s: More information about toy and game designer Reuben Klamer. 
10m48s: The famous blue and pink pegs are, of course, the inspiration for the name of the excellent board game podcast Blue Peg, Pink Peg.
11m44s: Here's a page with a photo of the 1960 edition of The Game of Life.
12m28s: More information about the resolution of the lawsuit between Klamer and Markham. 
13m32s: The Game of Life: Twists and Turns 
14m08s: The Game of Life Express 
16m33s: This would also be a good time to mention some modern board games that handle the same subject matter, and were no doubt somehow inspired by The Game of Life. The Pursuit of Happiness, Funny Friends, CV, and My Story.