Patrick Carroll
United States
Carver
Minnesota
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." (GK Chesterton)
"That's how the light gets in." (Leonard Cohen)
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I guess I have more vivid memories of late-childhood games of Careers than of any other game. We had Monopoly and Scrabble and other games around the house, but this one got played a lot and meant a lot to me. And after all these years, I'm pondering on why. Here are some of my thoughts:
1. It's a whole set of adventures in a box. As you play the game, you get to live out answers to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" in your imagination.
2. It's customizable. In the beginning, you set your own goal--your preferred mix of fame, fortune, and happiness. (I was always big on happiness. I never stopped and thought about what would be most efficient in the game; to me, it was always a personal statement--a way to tell the world, or at least my fellow players, "This is who I am!")
3. There are pitfalls and treasures all along the way. The career tracks are precursors to the "dungeons" and such that would later appear in RPGs. Getting past the hurdles and collecting the goodies somehow made the game seem realistic--or at least fascinating.
4. Not much (if any) direct conflict between players--at least the way we always played. To me, it was a live-and-let-live kind of game, where each player pursued his chosen life course. Each of us wished the others well, did our best, and cheered when someone won.
In short, it was a fascinating little world of possibilities to imaginatively escape into and explore.
And that's basically my definition of a fine game.
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martin blackham
United Kingdom
belper
derbyshire
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First 'proper' board game I ever played. 1962, aged four, with my baby sitter. This game has a lot to answer for.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
San Antonio, OKC, Miami, and Boston..who will win out?
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It's a terrific game and easily the best of the "classic" games we all grew up with, such as Monopoly and Risk. There's enough scope for skill and decision making to satisfy even the most seasoned gamer as long as you play with four or less. I've always thought it was a tremendously innovative design and decades ahead of its time.
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Philip Thomas
United Kingdom
London
London
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Not much direct conflict between players- but there is a bit if you rigidly enforce the rule that when you land on another player, that player gets sent to the Park Bench. Especially with all those cards allow you to move a set number of spaces or to a particular space.
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Randall Bart
United States
Granada Hills
California
Red October
Earth is one of my favorite planets
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Philip Thomas wrote: Not much direct conflict between players- but there is a bit if you rigidly enforce the rule that when you land on another player, that player gets sent to the Park Bench. Especially with all those cards allow you to move a set number of spaces or to a particular space.
Rigidly? Well I enforce it as rigidly as the rule saying you collect double salary if you land on payday. What rules shouldn't I enforce rigidly?
This game broke new ground in two big respects:
1) The Opportunity and Experience cards give you a choice of where to go, rather than constraining you to roll and move. Later in the game you can also choose to retire to Hawaii. In Monopoly, you never get a choice of where to go, except (ironically) when you choose to stay in jail.
2) The selectable goals.
Neither of these is done terribly well by modern standards, but 54 years ago this was the best there was.
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ackmondual
United States
Virginia
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Wished I knew about this game sooner. In during late 80s/early 90s to be more precise. Monopoly just got worse and worse as time went on. Of course, it took me after 10 years settlers came out to realize it. 2 years if you start counting the time I started board gaming for real.
With Careers, I like how even with the max 6p games, they still easily end around an hour. Longest game was 1.5 hours with 4p. The point is, the game ends. That's even better vs Settlers Of Catan. Also like the choices. You're not at the complete mercy of dice rolls. Also, bumping other players provides more sneakiness, nastyness, and interaction.
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Daniel Eig
United States
Huntington
New York
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Philip Thomas wrote: Not much direct conflict between players- but there is a bit if you rigidly enforce the rule that when you land on another player, that player gets sent to the Park Bench. Especially with all those cards allow you to move a set number of spaces or to a particular space.
For the record the original rules state that you can bargain your way out of Park Bench, or extort money/cards effectively.
Not that this is always a wise move. I got someone to pay me 10K to avoid being sent to Park Bench (on Moon Expedition entrance). She repayed me by playing the Moon career - off I went to the bench and she to the win. Alas.
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