Game of Life
Basic Rules
This game consists of 10 turns. On each turn, you will receive income from your job, and you’ll pay out your living expenses. These numbers are fixed each turn.
Afterwards, you’ll have the chance to use any leftover money in 4 different ways.
Ready?
Click Start to begin.
Bonds
For every 4 tokens you invest in bonds, you will receive 1 guaranteed token next turn.
Stocks
Stocks have higher risk, but higher reward than bonds. Each token you invest could double, but you could also lose everything you invest. On average, the gains tend to be greater than bonds.
Rental home
You can purchase a rental home for 20 tokens. On each following turn, you will receive 10 tokens per turn from your tenants.
Giving
You can choose to give money away at any point, but it can never be taken back.
Ready?
Click Start to begin.
Bank
2 tokens
Rental homes
0 homes
Giving
0 tokens
Bank
2 tokens
Rentals
0 homes
Giving
0 tokens
You and your newlywed spouse have a modest income of 4 tokens.
Not too shabby, but nothing special. Considering you’re just getting on your feet, your expenses and bills are also 4 tokens.
Congratulations, you got a 25% raise! This turn, you get 5 tokens.
Your expenses are roughly the same. Pay 4 tokens.
No major changes in income or expenses this turn. You receive 5 tokens and pay back another 4.
You’ve made it to middle management! Another raise! You receive 6 tokens this turn.
You guessed it, pay back another 4 for bills and expenses.
You might not believe it, but you earned another raise, 7 tokens! What a star!
The cost of living has also had a bump. Pay 5 tokens back.
There’s no stopping you now. As a new executive, you earn a whopping 8 tokens.
Don’t forget to pay those bills! Another 5 tokens.
Things have been going pretty well recently. It’s hard to complain!
One morning, while out on a jog enjoying some fresh air, you began to feel some chest pain. You decide to head to the hospital to get checked out, but the pain starts to get far worse.
It turns out you suffered a massive heart attack. You have an excellent medical team, but despite all their efforts, you unfortunately pass 3 days later with your family at your side.
Reflection
Take a minute or two to reflect on the “life” you just lived. Notice how you felt as your income grew, as your investments gained or lost value, and when your life ended earlier than expected.
What emotions, disappointments, or regrets surfaced?
What’s the Point?
You may still be wondering what happened to the 10 turns. We’ll return to that shortly.
First, think back to the original instructions. What was the goal of the game? There wasn’t one. You were given rules, choices, and ways to measure your progress, but no definition of success.
Pause and reflect. What goal did you create for yourself? What were you trying to maximize, protect, or accomplish? At what point did that become your goal?
Real Life
We are given instructions to life in a similar manner. There are lots of rules to follow and strategy to discuss. But what is the goal? We often don’t stop to think about it. But you might argue that it’s the most important question of all.
Pause and reflect. Where did your strategy in the game resemble the way you approach money in real life? What are you currently trying to maximize, protect, or postpone?
Giving
Tokens placed in Giving did not return to your Bank or increase your assets. That made giving easy to postpone. Yet Giving was the only choice that allowed your money to benefit someone beyond yourself.
If you had given away everything remaining after your living expenses each turn, you would have given 11 tokens during the life you received.
Pause and reflect. When did giving enter your thinking? What made it easy or difficult to give? Were you expecting to become more generous in later turns? What might that reveal about the way you approach generosity now?
What Happened?
What happened to the 10 turns? Well you might be surprised to find out that the rules to this game aren’t new. Jesus wrote them a long time ago. Let’s take a look.
Luke 12:16-21 (ESV)
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
One of the most surprising things about this passage is that the rich man would generally be considered wise by the vast majority of people today, including most Christians. He was successful in his work, and he planned ahead for retirement. Yet there seems to be something much more significant going on.
Pause and reflect. What does this passage reveal about the stories people tell themselves about money, security, and time? Where do you recognize yourself in the rich man’s reasoning?
What Happened?
The fact is, we all expect 10 turns in life. But we don’t all get them. In fact, many don’t.
Pause and reflect. How does the possibility of fewer “turns” change the way you think about the wealth you currently manage? What might you do differently if you stopped assuming you have another 30, 40, or 50 years to act?
Is this game an over-simplified version of life? Of course! There is plenty more complexity to consider in real life. But there is one principle that holds true amidst all that complexity:
Without intervention, our hearts will create all sorts of goals that distract us from God’s plans.
What is Enough?
The game never gave you a finish line. Without one, it was natural to keep building, saving, and waiting.
Real life can quietly take the same shape.
A financial finish line is a thoughtful decision about how much is enough for your household, not because growth is wrong, but because money needs a purpose beyond simply becoming more.
Defining enough can create greater freedom to live generously and respond to what God is calling you to today.
What Can You Do Now?
The Finish Line Readiness Tool is a short, helpful tool to see if a financial finish line makes sense in your current season of life. Give it a try today and see what you find out.
Bonds ($4)
Stocks
Rental ($20)
Giving