The Worst-Case Scenario ® Game of Surviving Life ™

Instructions

Components

1 game board

4 playing pieces/ 4 plastic stands

20 body parts (2 arms, 2 legs and a head for each playing piece)

270 question cards

80 gold tokens (punch out)

1 die

Object of the Game

To reach the Game of Surviving Life’s Final Stage (the upper row of spaces on the game board) with the most gold tokens.

Set Up

Each player selects a playing piece, a plastic stand and five body parts (two arms, two legs and a head). Assemble the playing piece by inserting it into the plastic stand and attaching the five body parts. Then place the playing piece at the yellow Start space on the game board (the space is also labeled “Your Life Begins”).
Place the card box bottom inside the card box top.
Remove the shrink-wrap on the question cards and adjust them so that the titles are visible.

Question Cards

Each question card has one question and three possible answers on each side. The correct answers are printed in bold.

Playing the Game

The youngest player (Player 1) goes first. Player 1 rolls the die. If a “1” is rolled, Player 1 moves forward one space. If higher than a “1” is rolled, Player 1 moves to the yellow space labeled “School Daze.” For subsequent turns, if the number rolled lands a player past a yellow space, s/he must stop on that yellow space.
The player to the left of Player 1 picks a question card from the box and reads the question and all three multiple-choice answers out loud. Player 1 chooses an answer.
Gray Spaces – if the player answers correctly, s/he stays put. If the player does not answer correctly, s/he must remove a body part. The question card is then discarded and play passes to the left.
Yellow Spaces – if the player answers correctly, s/he receives a gold token. If the player does not answer correctly, s/he removes a body part.
Red Spaces – if the player answers correctly, s/he can choose to receive either a gold token or a body part, though no player may have more than two arms, two legs and one head at any time. If the player answers incorrectly, s/he must remove a body part and give up one gold token (if s/he has one).
The Graveyard – if a player loses all five of his/her body parts, s/he is sent to the Graveyard on the upper right of the game board. The player leaves the head body part from his/her playing piece on the space s/he last occupied to mark where s/he will re-enter if lucky enough to get another life. A player in the Graveyard must wait to rejoin the game until either s/he rolls a “6” on his/her turn or s/he has spent more than three turns in the Graveyard. If s/he rolls a “6” or is ending he/her third turn in the Graveyard, the player rolls the die again. The number shown indicates how many body parts s/he will have upon re-entry to the game (1-5). If s/he rolls a “6”, s/he gets all five body parts plus a gold token. Players re-enter the game on the space they last occupied but do not answer a question until their next turn.
Golden Years “One Last Roll” – when each player reaches the yellow space labeled Golden Years “One Last Roll,” s/he rolls again. This question will be worth the number shown on the die. Thus, a correctly answered question could be worth as much as six gold tokens and an incorrect answer could mean the loss of up to six tokens (if the player has them). No body parts are removed for incorrect answers on this space.
Life’s Final Stages – entry to the Mega-Million Mansion and the other possible Final Stages requires a minimum number of tokens, as shown on the spaces. After answering a question at the Golden Years “One Last Roll” space, the player tallies his/her tokens and slides to the appropriate Final Stage.

Final Stage Tokens needed

Mega-Million Mansion 10

Comfy Condo 6

Shady Rest Old Folks Home 3

Skid Row 0

Bonus Tokens During Retirement – After reaching Life’s Final Stages, players still have a chance to move up in life. Each player continues to play until all players have reached a Final Stage. For each correct answer, s/he receives a gold token. For each incorrect answer, s/he must give up one gold token (if s/he has one).

Winning the Game

The player to finish with the most gold tokens wins. The game ends when all players have entered one of Life’s Final Stages (including the Graveyard). If there is a tie, the player with more body parts wins. If both players have the same number of body parts, each player is asked to answer a tie-breaking question. If both players are either right or wrong, then each rolls the die. The highest number rolled determines the winner.

NOTES:

Many Worst-Case Scenario Surviving Life situations may have more than one correct solution. The trick is to select the answer that is best, given the three choices.
Players may travel any path they choose, keeping in mind that they must always be moving upwards on the game board, towards Life’s Final Stages. There are risks and rewards for paths of differing lengths. Be careful to retain enough body parts to get to the Game of Surviving Life’s Final Stage! Trust us – you don’t want to end up in the Graveyard.