The set includes Mouse Trap, Twister, Yahtzee Hands Down, and Clue. We haven’t played all them yet – and some were disappointing – but we had fun was playing The Game of Life.
Although The Game of Life has been around forever, I had never played it before this weekend. A few months ago, one of Kai’s therapists had suggested that the board game might be a fun way to teach him about life events. So we looked forward to trying the Wii version.
For anyone else who is not familiar, at the beginning of the game, each player decides whether or not to go to college, and then chooses a job and embarks on life. As the game plays out, players may get married, have kids, earn money, lose money, and have a variety of life experiences as they head toward retirement.
Kai loved keeping track of the money, and was happy when he got big sums and angry when he lost money. And he was thrilled when he was the winner at the end.
Now we do realize that this game is not a serious way to teach about life events. (Ha, I’d like to see The Game of Life: Autism Style for that, but that is for another post.) But it was fun to play.
My wife and I’s favorite part was when Kai got married. His wife actually bore a strong resemblance to my wife, which pleased her. (I, on the other hand, took pleasure when my wife was disappointed with the choice of her husband in the game, who did not look anything like me.)
It is hard to imagine that Kai will ever grow up. And it is tough to think about whether he will be capable enough by then to live independently and be able to take on the responsibilities of being married and having a family.
But for one afternoon, we had a fun diversion.
Here is a preview of what we hope to see in about twenty years or so – Kai and his new bride dancing at their wedding reception:
OMG I love it
ReplyDeleteI adore that Kai is able top play a game like this
and oh that game you talked about - better get a trademark for that ASAP - its a really clever idea
At various times, Kai has been interested in board games and is capable (sometimes) of playing ones that involve some thinking. This one is pretty simple, though, but fun.
DeleteThe Autism Game of Life, on the other hand, would be really challenging. ;)
I had never realized that video games were available from the library. Kai must have had a lot of fun...it is always fun when you win :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if all libraries have them but I was happy to discover them at our library not too long ago. It has saved us from buying bad games, and even with the good ones, we find that having them for a week at a time is plenty.
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