Life is a Game so You’d Better Learn How to Play it

When I was just a kid growing up, I loved to play games. As a matter of fact, I still like to play games! I think my favorite board games are Monopoly, Risk, and Clue. The reason I like Monopoly so much is because it teaches you basic financial principles and helps you to understand how quickly you can make money or get yourself into a real, first-class mess. Fortunately, I have had both of those experiences in real life. Risk is a game of…well, managing risk and developing strategy; two things that I enjoy doing. However, if I had to choose, I think my all-time favorite game is Clue. That is the game that I believe has done more to teach me how to use reasoning than any other endeavor I have experienced.

If you have never played Clue, it is a great game and a lot of fun! A murder has been committed in a mansion and the object of the game is to discover who committed the crime, the room where it took place, and the weapon used. There is a set of cards representing each of those categories. One card is drawn from each stack and secretly placed in an envelope. Then the game begins. As the players progress around the game board, they are given opportunities to guess who committed the crime, in which room, and with which weapon. If another player holds one of the cards guessed and produces it, then that theory is disproved and the game continues. When someone makes a guess that no one can refute with contrary evidence, then the secret cards in the envelope are revealed. If that player guessed correctly, they are the winner and the game is over.