# The Game of Life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205 "2009-02-03T02:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/1 "2009-02-03T02:42:27Z")
Life is a game. What are you playing? For me, life is a prisoner’s dilemma. But I was too naive to know I was playing. [SIZE=“1”](I won.)[/SIZE] What about you? Is life a gamble? (hey, I was naive, not stupid) Maybe, you’re the one who bet it all on an invention. I remember that American Inventor show that had a guy who put thousands of dollars into his invention. Not me. You?? Or maybe you’ve been dealt a bad hand and are playing poker. How’s that turning out? ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/2 "2009-02-03T04:41:43Z")
This is [The Game of Life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_game_of_life). Yep, it’s mostly all about cellular automatons. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/3 "2009-02-03T05:22:44Z")
I thought this was going to be about that childhood board game where one ended up in either the Poor Farm or Millionaire Acres. ---
**Author:** ![stucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@stucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucky)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/4 "2009-02-03T06:02:44Z")
If life is a game, then I lost. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/5 "2009-02-03T06:37:28Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I thought this was going to be about that childhood board game where one ended up in either the Poor Farm or Millionaire Acres. God, I loved that game when I was a kid. If you wound up rich you got a yacht. caviar, and champagne for breakfast. I always wondered what the hell you would want with a yacht for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/6 "2009-02-03T06:41:49Z")
Fiber, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/7 "2009-02-03T07:22:11Z")
Life is like Monopoly, and I want the Railroads. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/8 "2009-02-03T13:34:38Z")
If it’s an **RPG** then I’ve spent 46 years trying to roll a decent character and still haven’t rolled one I’ve liked. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/9 "2009-02-03T13:37:39Z")
Life is a game. Unfortunately a game of Russian roulette. _Click!_ ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/10 "2009-02-03T14:10:57Z")
I’m only playing if we get one of those spinner things. Let me look for one . . . [Here we go!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Game_of_life_board.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Clivas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clivas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clivas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-game-of-life/484205/11 "2009-02-03T15:50:21Z")
Yeah, I’m going with Monopoly too. You know how after you’ve been playing for three hours and your ex-friend has all the good spots loaded up with big red hotels and the only thing you got left is Baltic and Mediterranean and you know you are going to go under eventually but you keep playing with the hope that you’ll be able to make it one more round? You know how it starts to feel tempting just to go sit in jail for a little while just so you can take a break from the rat race? That about sums it up.