The (Revised) Rules of the Game of Life

Life isn’t unfair — it’s just a game

“So we see, to play successfully the game of life, we must train the imaging faculty.” ― Florence Scovel Shinn, The Game of Life and How To Play It. Image courtesy Lou Levit.

A postcard from Gracey about hierarchies
July 1, 2035

When I was 4 years old, I started playing Snakes and Ladders. I quickly learned that the game requires no skill or thought, and I asked dad if there were any games that didn’t depend entirely on luck. So, dad taught me how to play Monopoly. It took me a few hours to learn the rules of the game, and I was soon hooked. I became better and better at it and played as often as I could.

Some time later I realised that even though Monopoly required skill and strategy, winning still depended on luck. Every roll of the dice was entirely unpredictable. So dad introduced me to chess, where there is no element of chance. It took me weeks to learn the rules of chess because it’s such a complex game, but with practice I became better and better at it. I still learn new strategies every time I play.

At some point in my teens I discovered a game called The Campaign for North Africa. We used to call it CNA and it’s a detailed and highly complex military simulation game of the North African Campaign of World War II. The game has 1,800 counters, maps big enough to cover several tables, and a three-volume rulebook. It took me many months to learn all the rules because they cover complex rules about logistics as well as combat strategy in extreme detail.

I’ve played hundreds of different board and computer games by now and I’ve learned a few very important life lessons about game-playing:

1. Consequences: During every game, each action I take results in something happening during the game — there is a consequence for every move. Trying to change what happens in the game by changing the rules is called cheating, and I learned very quickly that no one likes cheaters. It dawned on me that consequences are an integral part of the game itself. At the end of every game, the objects used to play the game are put back in the box and everyone heads off to do something else. The loser doesn’t experience any long-term harm, and the winner doesn’t have any lasting benefit after the game has ended. Life simply continues as if the game never happened. Consequences end when the game ends.
2. Conversion: Each game requires different strategies to win and what works in one game doesn’t work in another. The rules from one game have no relevance in a different game and trying to convert the rules from one game to another never makes sense.
3. Concurrency: When larger groups of my friends get together, we’ll often play a number of different games at the same time, in the same room. However, each game requires dedicated players — it never works well when I try to play two different games at the same time. Although I’ve tried many times, I’ve not yet managed to win a game of chess while playing Monopoly.
4. Concluding: Some games take longer than others and we sometimes pack everything away before we reach the end of the game. I think we only ever finished CNA twice, although we played it hundreds of times. We play games not to reach the end, but to enjoy the play during the game. Ending a game to either go and do something else or to play a different game is never a big deal.
5. Complexity: I love board games. There is something about moving physical pieces around a board that appeals to me more than playing a computer game. However, I can’t deny that technology often handles complexity and depth elegantly, without detracting from the fun of the game. Computer games like Human Revolution and Mankind Divided would be impossible to play as a board game because technology handles — and often replaces — the complex rule books that games like CNA require.

The rules of the game of life in your world are incredibly complex. That’s why you went to school for 12 or more years — you had to learn the rules of The Scarcity Game. It’s a highly complicated game based on Capitalism, Democracy and Neoliberalism. After learning the basic rules, you then possibly went on to college or university to learn more about a specific part of the game.

The rules of the game of life in our world are far simpler, and it won’t take you long to learn the rules of The Abundance Game. But as you learn our rules, you will need to keep these simple things in mind:

1. The Scarcity Game has consequences within the game. They include environmental damage, poverty and uneven distribution of wealth, disease and obesity, war and genocide and excessive consumption. If you don’t like the consequences you can change the game, but you cannot change the rules. Just as in any board game, trying to change the rules during play is called cheating.
2. The strategies for success in The Abundance Game are entirely different to the strategies for success in your world. It is not possible to convert Scarcity strategies to Abundance strategies. You will need to unlearn your strategies and learn new strategies, since the two strategies don’t mix well together.
3. It is possible to have two games being played simultaneously — on one planet — but you cannot participate in both games at the same time. You must choose whether you want to continue playing The Scarcity Game, or whether you want to learn about a new game. Don’t try and change the rules of either game, because that’s cheating. Just choose which game you prefer, and don’t try to convince players of the other game to play your game. There is no right or wrong choice — there are only consequences.
4. You don’t have to wait for The Scarcity Game to end before you start playing a different game. You can change at any time.
5. The difference between your world and our world is like the difference between a board game and a computer game. In your world you have complex rule books that tell you how The Scarcity Game must be played. You also have all kinds of authorities to ensure you do not break the rules. In our world we’ve replaced rules with outcomes and we’ve replaced authorities with technology to handle the complexity and depth of the game of life.

The Incredibly Simple Rules of The Abundance Game

• Everyone is equal
• Everyone is different
• Everything is connected
• No one works
• Everyone contributes
• Everyone learns — constantly
• Co-opetition is more valuable than competition
• The invisible is more valuable than the visible
• The spirit is more valuable than the physical
• Love is the economy
• Less is more

Postcards from 2035 is a series of profoundly simple interlinking ideas describing life in a highly desirable society, where everything and everyone is advanced, happy, intelligent and problem-free. It’s a blueprint of the world we need to create. The best thing you can do to help us get there is to share with your friends and get the conversation started.