This game stressed me out so much as a kid. I thought adult life was going to be like this. As it turned out, it is. Oi mate.

Milton Bradley's LIFE game goes back to 1966. Art Linkletter was probably paid a hefty sum for the endorsement. His picture disappeared from boxes about 15 years ago. I have an early TV commercial, in which Linkletter made a cameo appearance, from a Saturday rerun of "Top Cat" cartoon show (2/4/67, NBC).

You play by first starting out with $200,000 in cash; then after picking your color car piece, you decide wether you want to go to college or go straight into business. You also stop at the church to get married and (I think) collect $5.00 from each player. The game continues until you have enough money to go to the mansion and win the game as a millionare ; or end up just being a poor civilian, living in a regular house. The player with the most money wins the game. We used to have this game when I was a kid. ^_^

From the Saturday morning cartoon vault, an earlier TV spot for Life. Four kids, 8 to 10 years old, shown playing. A boy and girl wear dark-frame eyeglasses. The catchy jingle, "The Game of Life..." is heard. This aired on the Milton Bradley sponsored "Shenanigans" game show, with Stubby Kaye, over ABC (10/16/65). As the show ends, Kaye tells the kids at home to "stay tuned for The Beatles (cartoon show), next!" Art Linkletter not only had his picture on the box, he had a big hand in creating the Life game, through his company, Link Research. The original game was from 1960, with cosmetic changes from 1966 on, including the MB logo.