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The Game of Life

Board game created in 1960

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The modern version was originally published 100 years later, in 1960. It was created and co-designed by Bill Markham and Reuben Klamer, respectively, 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.

History

The game was originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley as The Checkered Game of Life, and was the first game created by Bradley, a successful lithographer. The game sold 45,000 copies by the end of its first year. Like many 19th-century games, such as The Mansion of Happiness by S. B. Ives in 1843, it had a strong moral message.

The game board resembled a modified checkerboard. The object was to land on "good" spaces and collect 100 points, however if only one player was left alive, they would be automatically crowned the winner. As in snakes and ladders, some spaces caused the player to move up or down to a different space. A player could gain 50 points by reaching "Happy Old Age" in the upper-right corner, opposite "Infancy" where one began, and if they landed on the "Suicide" space, 6 right and 2 up from "Infancy", they would be out of the game. Instead of dice – which were associated with gambling – players used a six-sided top called a teetotum.

Modern game

In 1960 the Game of Life was introduced. A collaboration between Reuben Klamer and Stephen Withers, it consists of a track which passes along, over, and through small mountains, buildings, and other features. A player travels along the track in a small plastic automobile, according to the spins of a small wheel on the board with spaces numbered one through ten. Each car has six holes into which pegs are added as the player "gets married" and "acquires children". The modern game pegs are pink and blue to distinguish the sexes (blue for male, pink for female). Each player starts the game with one peg.

There is also a bank which includes money in $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000, and $100,000 bills; automobile, life, fire, and/or homeowners' insurance policies (depending on the version); $20,000 promissory notes and stock certificates. Other tangibles vary between versions of the game. $500 bills were dropped in the 1980s, as were $1,000 bills in 1992. The rules in all different modern versions of the game are generally the same, even though they may have different cards and spaces. The winner is the player who retires with the most money.

Hasbro acquired Milton Bradley Company in 1984 and continued developing the game. Markham's heirs sued Hasbro in 2015, claiming that he did not get proper credit or reward for developing it. In 2019, Judge William E. Smith ruled in favor of Hasbro, explaining that while developing a game is a collaborative effort, copyright law assigns the copyright only to one entity.

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