IF LIFE WAS A BOARD GAME
In between the beach and BBQ, our team played a lot of board games this summer. Monopoly, Cluedo, Chess – you name it, we played it*. And as we rolled the dice and dealt our cards, I got thinking what it would be like if we played life as a board game.
Here’s where I got to:
If life was a board game, I built a bunch of railways. Criss-crossing through Europe with tunnels, trains and stations. And I learned that people still can’t get where they want to go if you don’t get on and finish that final link.
If life was a board game, I spent the summer indiscriminately buying up property to build tiny townhouses and push up the rent. And I learned that being the wealthiest might make me a winner, but the people who went bankrupt didn’t like it very much.
If life was a board game, I worked with the world’s smartest specialists to fix a raging pandemic. We isolated cities, avoided outbreaks, doled out vaccines and researched a cure. And I learned that it only ever works when you all work together. There are no pandemic prizes for a maverick.
If life was a board game, I jumped past logic to the obvious conclusion: the ex, with the knife, in the back of the car. And I learned that things aren’t always as they seem. It’s always better to look at the evidence before deciding the villain.
If life was a board game, I cut a path through the resistance by dividing the pieces, and boldly jumping into opposition territory before getting nailed. And I learned that strategy is only sound with some balance. Full blown aggression ends badly.
So if life was a board game, I quashed a coup, solved a murder, cured a pandemic, built a property empire and nailed public transport in Europe. But life’s not a board game. Life is life. Board games are board games and summer was fun.
*We also played Sequence, Uno, Codenames, Battleship, Whist, The Chase, Trivial Pursuit, Rummikub, Monopoly Deal, Old Maid, Taco-Cat-Goat-Cheese-Pizza, Azul and more. And I don’t subscribe to the parenting philosophy that it’s good to let the children win.
liking HOW WE THINK?
Get more stuff like this, monthly with Hunchmail.