The Checkered Game of Life

The Game of Life

Japanese-language version of the modern edition of The Game of Life
Designer(s)	Reuben Klamer Bill Markham
Publisher(s)	Milton Bradley Company and Winning Moves
Players	2 to 8
Age range	9 to adult
Setup time	10 minutes (approx.)
Playing time	45 minutes (approx.)
Random chance	High (spinning a wheel, card-drawing, luck)
Skill(s) required	Counting, reading

The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a board game originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley, as The Checkered Game of Life. The Game of Life was America's first popular parlor game. The game simulates a person's travels through his or her life, from college to retirement, with jobs, marriage, and possible children along the way. Two to six players can participate in one game. Variations of the game accommodate eight to ten players.

The modern version was originally published 100 years later, in 1960. It was created and co-designed by toy and game designer Reuben Klamer and was "heartily endorsed" by Art Linkletter. It is now part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and an inductee into the National Toy Hall of Fame. It later spawned a book, The Game of Life: How to Succeed in Real Life No Matter Where You Land (Running Press), by Lou Harry.

The game was originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley as The Checkered Game of Life. This was the first game created by Bradley, a successful lithographer, whose major product until that time was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln with a clean-shaven face, which did not do well once the subject grew his famous beard. The game sold 45,000 copies by the end of its first year. Like many games from the 19th century, such as The Mansion of Happiness by S. B. Ives in 1843, it had a strong moral message.

Bradley's game did not include dice, instead using a teetotum, a six-sided top. (Dice were considered too similar to gambling.)