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Hasbro Gaming is known for it's popular, brightly coloured games with mass appeal. The Game of Life Junior takes you on some of life's great adventures. You can visit the zoo, visit the chocolate factory and even ride the fun train! Pick your ride and let's dive into this fun-packed adventure for all the family to enjoy together!
Gameplay
You are are about to head out for a day full of fun and excitement! You pick your ride from the Pink Cruiser, Blue Wheeler, Green Rider or Yellow Speedster and head round the board collecting stars. The first player to collect 10 stars wins The Game of Life Junior.
To set the game up place the game board in the centre of the table and then separate the cards into Action Cards, £1 notes, VIP tickets and Book of Adventures. Pick your car and play it on the matching coloured start space and also take the Book of Adventures that matches the colour of your car. Each player receives three VIP tickets and four £1 notes to begin the game. All action cards should be placed face-down next to the game board along with the stars and the remaining money. Now you are ready to play The Game of Life Junior.
The oldest player goes first and spins the spinner. You then move your car forward that number of spaces, in a clockwise direction. You then take the action required on the space and then play moves on to the next player.
If you land at an attraction you pay the entry fee (unless it is one of the free ones) and pop a star onto your Book of Adventures, check your VIP tickets and if you have the matching ticket you get a bonus star! You then turn that VIP ticket over to show you have visited and taken your bonus star. You tell everyone what you did at the attraction! I went to the zoo and I fed the giraffes!!!!!
If you land on an action space this is where the real fun kicks in for the little ones playing The Game of Life Junior. Action cards can give you stars or money, but they can also take them away! We had great fun with the action cards, acting out things like an egg and spoon race, scoring a goal and even humming a song for the rest of the players to guess. These cards have a lot of various tasks on them and the young ones love seeing mum and dad acting silly and joining in the fun!
As I mentioned, there are even cards that take away stars for things like not eating your vegetables or getting caught taking cookies. All this adds to the fun and helps teach children about mechanics that come up in more advanced board games without being too serious or taking away from the fun of the game.
So you continue round the board visiting attractions (although you can only visit each attraction once) and taking action cards until one player reaches 10 stars and can be declared the winner!
Final Thoughts on The Game of Life Junior
This game is a lovely game for children to play and experience their first 'proper' board game. The Game of Life Junior is simple enough to set-up and play, wonderfully engaging and enjoyable enough for all the family to enjoy a game. The game is a good length and is very aesthetically pleasing for young children.
I would say this Hasbro game is great for children in the 4-6/7 ages category (although the game states ages 5+ I think you could comfortably play this with a child from four upwards with some support.) Perfect light family fun for these cold winter afternoons! Definitely a good game to have in your child's collection.
