The Game of "Life", How do you like to play it?

I use to love to play the board game called "Life." You started with a car and a little peg person (pink or blue) and than drove your car around a big board. The spinner was kinda of like the wheel of fortune and let you know where to go next. There were not a lot of career choices (I seemed to always get the teacher job? weird, it didn't pay so well even then!) and you usually got married and had a few kids (more pink or blue pegs to add to your car!) and continued on the journey until you either landed in a mansion or the poor house! Game over!

I got the updated version of Life for Emma Grace excited to share this fun childhood memory with her. John, Emma Grace, and I got out the new game and realized that it was not the same simple game we had played 30 years ago! Just reading the instructions and setting up the game to play was almost too much effort to even continue, but we bravely dove into this new version. The career choices were expanded (I STILL ended up as the teacher!) and you even could change careers in your mid-life crisis period! We continued to have to read and reread the rules as we played. The simple game of our childhood was now VERY complicated! We have only played it once. I miss the old version.

It amazes me how that board game's updated version is like a mirror of our world today. We have really complicated life (real and game!). It is not as easy to get around and they seem to be changing the rules mid-play. WE don't have the choice of putting this real life version on the shelf, but I am beginning to think that we do have the choice of which version we choose to play. Simple or complicated?! I am looking for the old one. Let me know if you can find it, too. I just hope I don't end up in the poor house!