If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition contains more Bowser and fewer bills

Better have health insurance for those Goomba attacks.

Travel along the path through the Mushroom Kingdom to defeat the dreaded Bowser in The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition.

Inspired by the beloved video game franchise, The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition is a tabletop title that takes the classic formula of the original family board game and mashes it up with the recognisable characters and imagery of the Super Mario series. Featuring the likes of Mario, his brother Luigi, Princess Peach and the adorable dinosaur Yoshi, The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition sees players embarking on a journey to stop the evil Bowser from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom.

Rather than having players encounter challenges inspired by real-life experiences - such as deciding whether to go to university or trying to pay off medical bills - like the classic version of The Game of Life, the Super Mario Edition brings more of a fantastical flavour to things. Whilst players will still be spinning the iconic wheel found on the game board to determine how many spaces they’ll be moving, they’ll be gathering coins, power up items and iconic companions from the franchise.

The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition close-up

As players move around the board, they’ll find themselves landing on spaces in the video game board game that will see them engaging in various mini-games, such as Rock, Paper, Scissors and Thumb Wars. Winning these games will give players the coins they need to purchase stars that will improve their battle-spin, thereby increasing the potential number they could spin in their encounter with the shelled king. Whichever player manages to spin higher than a 12 defeats Bowser and wins the game.

The original The Game of Life was first published in 1860 by Milton Bradley under the name of The Checkered Game of Life, before the rights for the game were acquired by Hasbro - a tabletop gaming giant that owns companies such as Wizards of the Coast, the studio behind Dungeons & Dragons and the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. In the game, players compete to acquire the best possible life achievements - according to the game - such as marrying someone with money or being given an amazing award.

The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition is currently available from Target stores and online at a retail price of $28.49 (£20).

Dicebreaker is the home for friendly board game lovers

We welcome board gamers of all levels, so sign in and join our community!

In this article
Awaiting cover image
About the Author
Alex Meehan avatar

Alex Meehan

Senior Staff Writer

After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.

Comments